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.
On the one hand, when I travel with my family I like things to be orderly. My mission** is to have all the luggage in the boot and all the luggage in closed containers with a handle. Isn’t matching, fitted luggage the natural conclusion of this? In 1979 lucky buyers of the
Gucci-edition Cadillac Seville could add a set to their options list. Tacky? But still on the one hand, I find this quite charming. Looking at the black Seville in the publicity photo, one is almost ready to fall for the idea.
On the other hand – asking myself the Bryan Ferry question – I tend to feel that having everything neat and ready to hand is quite cool. Nobody likes a fuss over luggage as the porter brings your belongings into the Hotel de Bergues in Geneva. But Bryan Ferry is also about not overdoing things. And I feel that, on balance, to have obviously
matching luggage is on the same level as monogrammed shirts. What Bryan Ferry would do is to have the luggage coloured so it did not clash: charcoal greys, black and maybe one warm colour. That would be the tan of the Bridge of Weir satchel in which the Filofax and Apple tablet are kept. So, to answer the question, what would Bryan Ferry do? He’d walk casually but firmly away from the Gucci fitted luggage.
**I seldom succeed. Nobody co-operates with my vision of uncluttered, calm motoring. My wife likes to bring a surprise extra item just when the car is 100% full, the “inflatable elephant moment”.
Driven To Write 
Bryan Ferry’s car packing list:
✓ Champagne
✓ Girls
✓ Clothes I am standing in
Good to go.
✓ Swimming trunks
(http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/see-nick-cave-tell-strange-bryan-ferry-tale-in-book-teaser-20150408)
You forgot more clothes. The champagne is bought wherever he goes, I’d have assumed!
No the champagne is just for the journey. That, and the special bag under the seat.
Did I see Bryan Ferry in Hampstead in the mid 70s driving a Citroen Dyane? It seems unlikely now, but I was certain at the time. It was, of course, the ‘Carrefour’ special edition with fitted plastic shopping bags.
Sounds quite plausible to me. It was possible back then, whereas now hardly anyone would want to be seen in e.g. a Dacia Sendero, or a 2004 Ford Fusion, or so it seems.
Was it orange by any chance, or maybe blue?
I think it might have been a Cabane Special Edition. I do find it unlikely, though times were different back then and, maybe, Mr Ferry still retained some irony.
Laurent. Did you mention orange (tenere) because you considered it a stylish choice, worthy of Mr Ferry? I only ask because my second Dyane was orange.
Although to back it up, I was driving a Dyane too, and he didn’t wave. Practically every sodding Dyane driver waved at each other back then. Except me (and maybe Bryan).
In my childhood memories, all Dyanes were either orange or blue, or beige. Unlike 2CVs which seem to come in a wider array of colours.
The light blue seemed to turn matt quickly. Yellow was popular in the UK, and a strong green. Can it be that the French were even more conservative than the British regarding colour?
I don’t know really. I just assumed they were the only colours available.
Here’s a link for you, to bring back some memories:
http://jalopnik.com/1978-citroen-dyane-6-confort-jalopnik-classic-mini-rev-1629771185
On the subject of the fragrant Mr. Ferry, I recall a contemporary interview where it was stated that he drove what was described as an unprepossessing Alfa Romeo 164. No mention was made of his luggage arrangements, which was rather remiss I feel.
I also have a vague recollection that chanteuse, Dusty Springfield aka Mary O’ Brien, drove a Citroen XM up to her death in 1999. Make of that what you will…
So she did.
Goodness, it’s a Series 1 as well.