In spite of a busy schedule on the work and domestic front I managed to steal an hour to go to the Classic Race Aarhus where, in an associated event, a lot of old cars filled a meadow.
It looked liked a re-run of last year and I took a different tack this time. I walked through the field and took some photos at the end.
If any one of most of the cars had been parked on the street it would have made for a 1200 word essay. Today you get 580 words, or three per car. When so many vehicles stand together it is excessive, no? A mint Ferrari 412 stood between me and the rest of the contingent and I walked past it in search of something even better.
I did eventually find a rather rare Italian vehicle – more on this at another time – but overall the effect of so many vehicles crammed together is numbing. Somewhat frustratingly none of the owners stood about. That’s more than half the interest of an event like this; to chat to someone about their museum-quality Ford Escort or Honda Civic (there was one Honda Civic and one early Accord, neither of which I photographed).
At the back of the field I found this nearly immaculate 1985 Citroen CX Turbo. Enough ink has been spilled on this car so I won’t add any more. Ordinarily I’d have spent a good ten minutes inspecting such a machine if it was on its own. I did notice the very space-age head-restraints. The whole car is space age in a way modern cars just aren’t; perhaps the BMW i3 is getting there with its digital appearance and deconstructed panels yet it is more of a post-modern car than a space-age car. It doesn’t suggest the future but a particular take on right now, somewhere around Munich or St Tropez.
Two examples of my favourite sport saloon, the Alfa Romeo Giulia from 1962-1978 lurked elsewhere. One represented the restorer’s art and had a very tasteful brown leather interior, appearing to be more spacious than the nice 2000 I examined recently. The other car had undergone rally-trimming and evidently sometimes raced about. No bumpers, numbers on the side. The car spans the two extremes with ease. It is a car for the hurried executive or go-faster dad and also a car to hurl around country lanes on closed sections. No photos though. You’ll have to imagine it.
Overall, I reflected on the confusing background conditions for photography at an event where 200 interesting cars and a VW Beetle are parked together. The light came from the wrong direction and the reflections created a lot of noise. And it’s just too many damn cars It´s like seeing a 34 kilo mound of steak. That kills the appetite while 200 grams perched next to a lot of lettuce, a blob of Löwensenf and new potatoes is entirely a different proposition. In a way, I get more fun out of the young-timers that gravitate to my street than I did from this panoply of pampered machinery. As I say, too much of a good thing.
I noticed from a distance a lot of the American classics had red paint. And as was the case last year, no recent cars were there. It was all James Dean/50s Diner/Elvis Presley stuff. Not one Granada, not one Senator, not one E23 BMW 735i, no Toyota Crowns, Nissan Cedrics.
Driven To Write 
No Renault 18s or 25s or 5s, no Peugeots at all, nothing from Austin (Montegos). There were a lot of missing cars.
What is it now? Too much or not enough? You have to make up your mind!
There were too many cars in one place and the cars that were there were not representative. I saw a lot of Mercedes, Porsches, Triumphs and Ferraris. Opels and VWs were quite common though all the Opels had been modded and most of the Fords as well. Jaguars: the usual suspects.
I know what you are talking about. The last meeting for classical Citroëns I attended had rows and rows of DSs and Traction Avants, and quite some SMs. My GS was the only one there. Mind you, I’m talking about a car of which over two million were built. Not representative, that’s it. The everyday cars are missing, your Renaults are just one example.
Old Frog Car spoils view of West Bromwich’s finest…
And were are the Nineelevens?!? Cannot take a guy seriously who isn’t into Nineelevens!
Richard, have you ever attended the classic car meet at Kalø Slotsruin (every Tuesday night early spring – late summer)? Well worth going if you can stand the ubiquitous barbecue smell.