2 May 2016 – Driven To Write

Another Reason Not To Buy This Car

According to a new report, Cadillac is America’s least wanted brand. No car spends longer on the showroom floor.

Lens flare, clicheed modernist house, no signs of life. Vile: source

This image accompanied the story. As you know I really dislike adverts that show cars parked on sterile pavements outside modernist houses. The vast expanse of dark grey hardcore caught my attention here. Can you imagine how hateful it is when all that crushed rock throws out its stored heat on a hot evening? And how large is that runway of stone anyway: it seems to be at least half the length of the house and twice as wide, with the actual countryside well off in the far distance. Continue reading “Another Reason Not To Buy This Car”

Ashtrays: 1972 Fiat 130 Berlina

“Dignified Italian” is how Autocar described the 130 saloon in 1972. Having had a chance to sit inside one of these cars recently, I can confirm that this actually undersells what is a remarkably lavish saloon.

Fiat intended the 130 to take on cars from the higher echelons of the mainstream luxury marques. Presumably this meant the middle and higher level Mercedes saloons such as the W-110 (which would have been in production when the 130 began development). As it happened the year before launch, Mercedes produced the W-114 and went on to sell nearly 2 million examples between 1968 and 1976. In about the same time, Fiat sold just 15,000 of their 130 saloons. The received wisdom is that the 130 was a failure – one of many also-rans in the executive class from this time. Continue reading “Ashtrays: 1972 Fiat 130 Berlina”

Up To The Col

An inhospitable ascent. Taking the scenic route to Italy by motorcycle, reader, Dave Fisher discovers some uncomfortable truths.

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Still raining.

I stood in the gathering dark looking down at the bike, rain and sleet pinging off my ancient XJ 900’s hot exhaust. 700 miles from London through the rain and it wasn’t happy; like me, it was waterlogged, refusing to start and feeling cursed. All this way for a birthday party in an Italian villa, via the Alps, but it’ll be a great ride said some envious friends, it’s summertime and only a day or two to get there. So much for the wisdom of friends. Continue reading “Up To The Col”