Welcome to the import section of our little tour. Let’s jump right in and ogle some 55-year-old fiberglass in the shape of a lovely Lotus Elan. I must have gone past that car dozens of times, but never saw it because it was always under a tarp. Then, one fine day…
They venerate Lotuses here, but that doesn’t mean they don’t go for a few mods on occasion. Bet this one is faster now than when it was born.
I’m no good at identifying Esprits, but would this be an X180 Turbo from about 1988-89? The lack of a rear spoiler is notable, almost as much as the JPS livery.
We have a few MGs to review, of course. This prewar beauty is, I believe, an F-Type with a tiny (1271cc) 6-cyl. engine made in 1931 or 32.
I wrote up one of these MG TCs not too long ago, but if I had seen this one first, I think I’d have gone with it.
Perfect restoration, very nice colour, spirited temperament – T87 approves.
No approval will be granted to this late-model US market MGB, however. Interesting to see the confrontation with the Mazda roadster that took the MG’s place…
I’ve seen a few Ginettas at the Meiji Jingu Sunday meets by now, but they remain a bit of a conundrum: are these old cars with modern touches, or are they just plain new(-ish) car made to look like classics?
Looks like the genuine article – that tailpipe is a bit weird, but aside from that…?
Hard to believe this TVR Speed 6 is a quarter century old.
A couple of late-model E-Types for you: would you rather go for this white roadster…
…or this US market red coupé? Tough choice, isn’t it? Let’s take a look at the coupé a bit more.
Those massive front bumper overriders look dreadful, but that profile and that dashboard still have the Jag magic.
A superbly-preserved XJ40 is always worth a quick snap.
A Daimler Double-Six, on the other hand, is worth a bit of legwork.
We’ve already had the pleasure of seeing this Zagato-made Aston before, but given that we crossed paths again, I thought another look might be warranted. Conclusion: it’s still weird.
This is essentially the same car, but with the standard Aston Martin body. Easier on the eyes.
R-R Phantom VIIs are rather extreme even in standard trim, but this one took things to a dark place. The Flying Lady mascot looked like it was made of frosted glass.
The Bentley Azure (1995-2003) is not be the best-looking car with a winged B on its nose, but it sure has presence.
The better Bentley sighting was this drop-dead gorgeous S2 Continental coupé, no contest.
I really hope I’ll see it again – hopefully not in motion. The proportions of this two-door design are a significant improvement over the four-door Flying Spur we saw recently.
Before we move on to the Froggish stuff, a quick tour of this adorable Triumph motorcycle. I do hope someone with the knowledge will ID it and let us know what it is exactly, because it’s beyond me.
Ah, the immortal Renault 4. For once, this one looks like it would in its home country – faded paint, replacement panels, rusty bumper. A perfect re-creation of the genuine article.
The Recaro seats are a bit much, but the Alpine steering wheel cannot be faulted. Bravo!
See, this is all wrong and tasteless, like pasteurized cheese. Too clean, too straight. They never looked like that, even on the showroom floor.
Sporty little Renaults have a small but dedicated following here. These Super 5 GTs were imported here back in the late ‘80s / early ‘90s; a few have survived to tell the tale.
In most European markets, these were just known as the Twingo RS. In Japan, the magic Gordini name was applied in 2011-12 to add a dash of nostalgic exclusivity.
Alpine A110s did not look like this in 1967, except maybe racing variants. Impressive example, nonetheless.
I do have another A110 in my files, so no worries, a full CC post about these is on the cards for this year.
The lone representative of the Citroën marque shall be this dignified early ‘70s DS 21 with a vinyl top and SM stainless steel wheels.
The Peugeot of the season will be a ravishing 406 Coupé in the best colour these ever wore, the bleu Byzance.
We seamlessly move from blue Peugeots to blue Ovals, crossing the Atlantic while we’re at it. This very clean Ford van bears a temporary license plate.
I like my ’67 Mustangs plain and unmolested. Add a nice blue colour and a fastback roof, and what we have is a winner.
Aha! The white Park Avenue pokes its grille outside again. Nice to see it’s still out and about.
We’ve seen this one before, but always on the move. It finally landed (butt first) last week so I could capture the interior. Smokin’, isn’t it?
This is more a preview than anything else. Both of these classy Caddies were extensively photographed and will have their day on CC at some point.
I don’t know what I hate more: ‘90s cars with 22-inch rims or these.
Why didn’t Cadillac do a Blackwood? Because it would have been a joke. Maybe not as funny as this, though.
The sweetest-looking El Caminos were the late ‘60s ones, in my opinion. And this one’s being legitimately used as a pickup truck, too.
Not sure what the 69 on the license plate is referring to, as this Scottsdale is more of a late ‘70s truck.
The Chevy of the season has to be this ’66 Impala convertible. Great addition to that collection of lilac cars we’ve had on CC of late – though this one is not AI-generated.
I was a little slow to the draw on this Excalibur. But a drama had just unfolded at the other end of the tree-lined avenue, so I was a little distracted.
Our friend in the DeLorean saw that the avenue was being closed off, so he did a U-turn. He still wanted to park his pride and joy at the curb, though. He went up the road a few feet, stopped and quickly engaged reverse to parallel-park in front of that white Lotus…
…and smashed, with a painful “crunch” sound, into the front end of this huge Alphard van that had crept up behind. This photo was taken a few moments later, after the DeLorean was parked and the Alphard moved in front of it. Both drivers were on the phone (with their respective insurers, I suppose).
The Alphard’s grille was a bit worse for wear, of course. But it handled the shock pretty well. And it’s all replaceable at your nearest Toyota garage anyway.
The DeLorean’s right-rear quadrant, on the other hand, was going to need a bit more work. It was entirely this poor DMC12’s fault. Guess that cool louvered rear end doesn’t help much with visibility. But then I am saying that with the benefit of hindsight.
See you tomorrow for yet another helping of imports!
Just had to calm my pulse about that souped up Elan, but I guess Professor T87 would have called it out if it were the real deal R26 Mongoose, so I guess the local population of (proper, shelbymade) Cobras is safe for now. But stranger things have happened.
That green MG F-Type is amazing. MGs of that era look just right. I don’t mind the “rubber” bumper MG Bs especially in a nice colour like that. They make very nice drivers.
The convertible vs coupe E-Type choice would be made easy for me given the undesirable automatic gearbox in the coupe.
The Alpine A110 might be the start of this show for me. What a lovely thing.
Lovely selection, as always, Tatra!
Ginetta G4s have been around since the early 60s and had a lot of racing success. One of my favorite small sportscars – they are as light as a Lotus (Caterham) 7, but with much lower aerodynamic drag. I’d love to experience one, as those who have rave about the handling.
That S2 Conti is lovely and the Elan just begs to be driven, as doed that Alpine A110.
Didn’t know Batman had moved to Japan and now drives an RR Phantom – guess you have blown his cover…
Thanks for the great compilation!
Jag E-type was one of the prettiest designs… until they turned into a 2+2 with that overinflated roof. Yuk.
I see Impalas get modded no matter where they are in the world.
As for those tires:both.
Like the Mustang and the green Aston. Come to think of it I am liking green more and more for some reason. Although the red Jag interior is to die for. All those toggle switches that I can play with before telling Mission Control I am ready for launch fire the boosters.
Great selection, I especially like the bi colour R4L. Not sure about the vinyl roof on the DS though.
The Mini is a bitsa with a mk3 shell. I like it though, somebody has put a lot of thought into it. And in comparison with the BMW MINI atrocity photobombing another picture any BMC Mini looks good in my opinion.
Mmmmmm, simply delicious selection as always T87! So many nice cars, it’s hard to work out which I like best. The S2 Conti is simply stunning, but so is the blue Pug coupe despite being at the opposite end of the financial spectrum. I just adore the red ’73 E-Type coupe – yes I know they’re not as slim and lithe as they used to be, but neither am I. If it wasn’t for how low it is I’d snap it up, but as a compromise will take the SIII Double-Six – one of the simplest yet best-sounding nameplates ever!
There was a time when the factory would have been displeased to see “Lotuses” used as the plural. In 1968, ignoring “lotuses” being etymologically correct, it issued a press release attempting to discourage “Lotuses” & “Loti” as plurals and “Lotus’” & “Lotus’s” as possessives, advising the factory henceforth would adopt “Lotus” for both, a strong hint others should do the same. To make sure everyone got it, “Lotuses” & “Loti” were damned as “horrible words”.
The press release seems to have had little effect. Unlike respectable tongues like French and German which have state funded bureaucracies to set the rules and attempt to enforce linguistic hygiene, English evolves more or less democratically, words coming or going according to popular use and social acceptability. Sometimes described as “linguistically promiscuous”, English really is quite slutty.
This is a very common preoccupation of trademark lawyers. My favorite variation is where a business will have a posted trademark policy that repeatedly does some or all the things it sternly advises others not to do, e.g., “It is very important that you use the Brand mark only as an adjective — using any of Brand’s marks as possessives or nouns does serious harm to the integrity of Brand.”
The Bentley Continental is the obvious pick of the bunch but the Jaguar section is particularly ravishing this time round and I’ll happily take that Alpine, thankyouverymuch.
As always with a mini, the “tell” that a later car has been retro-ified is the doors. The later cars have a rectangular front bottom corner (like the example here), and the early ones are rounded. You can easily change the front, the tail lights, the interior etc but it is pretty much impossible to change the doors. The windows are also slightly different but the door is much easier to spot.
I believe the Triumph to be a nice shiny Bonneville. Not oil-in-frame and it has a front drum, which will probably put it somewhere in the late sixties. I’m sure a Triumph afficionado can pin it down more accurately.
Thanks for these posts T87, they are always such a highlight!
Triumph Bonneville, 650, looks better than new, the original exhausts on Minis were a tuned length running the pipe straight back from the manifold is easier,
That MG would have the Wolseley Hornet engine, OHC 1300 cc six,Nice collection, I like Diablo red on 406s my one was that colour looked awesome but wagon not coupe.