Show me a nice old car

In 2020 I attended a monthly gathering of classic car owners in Launceston one miserable, wet, Tasmanian winter's morning. I was not excited by what I found, a few late model Porsches that did little to interest me, and not much else. The event was, literally, a washout. Then, this turned up.

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Rolleiflex 3.5F Planar; Delta 100; ID-11 (1 + 3 20C/21 min).

The car has been in the same family since 1947, when it was bought by the owner's grandfather, for his father. Eventually it passed down to him. Rather than being kept under wraps and cosseted, he keeps it fully registered and regularly uses it. It was driven 20 miles or so through pouring rain to attend the gathering. I didn't like the owner's style: I loved it. This is his 1925 Bentley 3 Litre.

1925 was a very big year for Bentley.
Most of their success in motor racing was achieved competing in the famous 24 hour race at Le Mans. In 1925, the company won at Circuit de la Sarthe outright, for the first time with their 3 Litre.

Chatting with its owner revealed an interesting history of this particular 3 Litre. Chassis number is consecutive to Bentley's 1925 race winning chassis. It's fitted with a Le Mans fuel tank and there are some other minor peculiarities shared with the winner. When manufactured he thinks it might have been intended to be a spare team car. But this never happened, because it was originally sold to a private customer as a new car.

Here is the engine bay. Near side:

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Off side:

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I took one more image in colour during a brief break in the weather.

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500C/M; 80mm Planar f/2.8; Kodak Ektar 100.

I sent the owner the photos later, he loved them and has offered me a ride in the 3 Litre. I must take him up on that.
 
I spoke to the owner of a similar Bentley once on the ferry from Calais to Dover. He had overtaken me in the rain on the way back from Paris at approximately 100mph. He made the point that he sits so high that he can see what is going on for miles ahead.

I think Bugatti described them as the fastest lorries in the world...
 
I'm pulling BBCode from Flickr same as before, and it seems to be working.

Chevrolet Corvette (C3). Not sure of the exact model year, maybe seem of the keen eyed experts here on the forum can help.

Leica M5, Canon 50mm f/1.5 LTM, Kentmere Pan 400, developed in LegacyPro L110 at 1:31 for 5.5 minutes.


2021.06.13 Roll #280-06477-positive.jpg by dourbalistar, on Flickr
 
Ah well, back to the BBC code

DSC02840 by dralowid, on Flickr

The Fiat arrived in my garage last week, I am the second owner, the first bought it new in Mombasa in '67, hence right hand drive. Most elderly Fiats (and I dare say Lancias) that came direct to the UK as right hand drive in the '60s have long since rusted away.
 
^^ True, that. One learned to examine the areas of the lower front/rear window trim and the rocker panels for signs of rust. The grilles for the interior ventilation would often allow fallen leaves to accumulate within, stay wet, and rust that unseen area as well. Some places would add some salt air into the mix! ^^
 
Dralowid said:
...and yet US imports into the UK often seem to be described as 'from a rust free State'!
Click to expand...

That usually means a car that lived most of its life in a US state in the southwest, like Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, or New Mexico, where precipitation is generally very low, average humidity is low, and there's only rarely snowfall thus usually no salting of the roads, etc.

My Fulvia Coupe was originally sold new in Los Angeles, California. It didn't spend a lot of time near the beach nor was it used much in rain or snow, evidently, and was bought by the owner I bought it from in rust-free condition as a consequence. It was on its second paint job when he got it, the prior paint was sun-blasted and burnt away from sitting in the open behind that owner's shop. So the fellow I bought it from had the body stripped and repainted to the current color—it was originally black, when he got it, it had been repainted in a dark Alfa Romeo red; the current color is a Fulvia beige color from their paint catalog. I have photos of the entire restoration/refurbishment/repaint sequence and there was/is no rust. Since the repaint in ~2005, it was not used in rain or winter, and was always stored in a dry garage. There's no rust on it now—that's one of the reasons I bought this one. Such cars from that era are rare even in the USA. 🙂

G
 
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