The Dark Wob

christine wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 11:58 pm Not a car . Early seventies , a black leather clad rider ,goggles and open face helmet , clinging onto a gloss black JPS colours Norton 750 cafe racer ,( maybe a Rickman )noisey as fuck ..bikini fairing ,twin headlights clip ons, flat out on the main road bend , overtaking everything into oncoming traffic ..Blam, blam , earthquake noise , doppler effect ...then fading to silence .. Stayed in my mind ever since

Now that I would have remembered as well.
What I do remember however is my own grandpa and his friend, both always having the latest and biggest rubber cow, also kitted out as cafe racers with Heinrich tanks, clip ons, set back footrests and loud pipes kicked up so they terminated just that inch shy of the rear axle, as they are supposed to.
Oh, and the boyfriend of my favourite aunt had a Giulia. Only when I was much older and visited them in his native Italy I learned that he had a latifundium big enough to warrant owning six Claas combine harvesters, was an ex Ferrari works driver and had a car collection that would give many a heart attack today. Lancia Astura, Ferrari Superamericana, several other Ferraris including a 250 GTO, an array of Alfas, a Holman Moody '65 NASCAR Galaxie among assorted other chod and a delightful Moto Guzzi moped is all I have to say. He gave my aunt an Alfa 2600 Spider as a Valentines gift, but she never married him.
One of my father's school pals and subsequent lifetime friends was a carpenter and undertaker and had a superb 1962 Country Sedan he used as a hearse. Our next door neighbour, Herr Schulz, had a Taunus 26m XL I found naff, but when Frau Schulz got her driving licence, he bought her a shonky Auto Union 1000 Sp which I adored no end.

When I was a child we generally had boring cars, most remembered the Transit minibus that we went everywhere in for years. The car that really made an impression belonged to someone my father knew. An Alvis TE21, pale chocolate brown, cream leather and wires. As far as I know it still exists with the family of the original owner, don't think it's been on the road for years since a wedding about 20 years back.

Back in 1975 when I was a mere five year old my best friend lived around the corner from this house...
Under the car port was a yellow 1968 E-Type FHC on blocks that never moved and just rusted away until it got thrown into a skip sometime in 1984.

Fast forward to 1981 and there was a MK2 Jag parked in the street next to my middle school. Registration 297LAF.

I'm pleased to say it's still there to this day!

Vile hatred wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 10:49 pm Giving shit then running off does seem to be a characteristic of yours

A blue Mk3 Escort estate, ADM177W

It belonged to the only woman that ever managed to truly break my heart and turn me into the cynical cunt I am today even after nearly 30 years.

John F wrote: ↑Wed Oct 02, 2019 10:03 pm

Vile hatred wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 10:49 pm Giving shit then running off does seem to be a characteristic of yours

[media] https://webm.red/7iR5 [/media]

I can't believe someone went to all the trouble to make the fonts etc look right then didn't use a decent picture....

Yeah, it's a bit budget.

Junkman wrote: ↑Wed Oct 02, 2019 1:51 am
What I do remember however is my own grandpa and his friend, both always having the latest and biggest rubber cow

That's a BMW Boxer for all you non Teutonic types. There is a stunning late seventies R100S not far from me that I occasionally see.

LJKS once opined that the cheapest Gummikuh, the R45, was the perfect vehicle for the working man as a tool for a job - fast enough in the right hands, utterly foolproof and well made enough to outlast the Jap bikes.

I had a go on an R45 once, I thought it was dog slow & didn't handle. Might have just been that one though, I suppose, or the fact I was used to my 1100 Kat.