28 Jul 2016 – Driven To Write

Now that the kaleidoscope has been shaken, what lies ahead for the UK automotive sector as it calculates the cost of Brexit.

Turn right. Turn right. Turn right… Image: davidsonmorris

In the months leading up to the EU referendum the likely fallout of leaving the European Union was known and quantifiable. Every respected financial and business body urged remain, citing economic turmoil should the nuclear option be taken. So while major multinationals probably had every permutation of Brexit modelled and case-studied, according to figures from the BBC, less than 50% of UK businesses developed a contingency for an exit vote. Now, just over a month since Brexit day-zero, only one thing is certain – we face a wholly new idea of North. Continue reading “Taking Leave (of Our Senses?)”

When confronted by a question of taste, I always ask myself, what would Bryan Ferry do?

[First published Oct 10, 2014]

My extensive research has thrown up a nice example of a sub-set of a subset, designer accessories for designer editions of mass produced cars. It’s Gucci fitted luggage for the 1979 Cadillac Seville. Would Bryan Ferry go for this or not? The Big Two and a Half in the US have been more prone to tie-ins and designer editions of their cars than we have here in the social-democratic paradise of Western Europe. Cartier have been associated with Lincoln; Bill Blass added his magical touch to the understated elegance of the 1979 Lincoln Continental Mk V; there was the 1984 Fila-edition Ford Thunderbird; AMC asked Oleg Cassini – yes, that Oleg Cassini – to trim the 1974 Matador, for example. Just recently I have become aware of the Gucci fitted luggage that came with the Gucci-edition Cadillac Seville, truly a part of this very fine tradition. Continue reading “DTW Summer Reissue: Matching Designer Luggage”