Day: Mar 28, 2017

May The Song I Sing Be Seamless As Its Way Weaves From the World’s Beginning To Our Day

Lamb wool rugs, coverlets, wraps. I’d forgotten about the 2003 Continental’s rugs until now.

2008 Bentley Continental Flying Spur: source

The 2003 Bentley Continental Flying Spur came with lambs wool rugs if one ordered the “Premium Specification”. This detail deserves a little reflection.

To purchase a Conti Flying Spur one needed more than two hundred thousand dollars. One rug could not really have cost more than a few hundred dollars. The very nice Norwegian Roros rugs cost about 150 euros. Adding a Bentley crest adds another twenty euros. I would have thought the rugs would have been standard too. However, the rugs are also a bit extraneous. First, I can’t imagine a lot of passengers would need the rugs except perhaps small napping children. The grown adults won’t Continue reading “May The Song I Sing Be Seamless As Its Way Weaves From the World’s Beginning To Our Day”

Theme : Simca – Making The Turkey Last

A title chosen more for a cheap laugh than accuracy, the big Simcas actually did OK for a while and, as usual, their manufacturers ensured they wrung the most from them.

The UK’s only surviving Simca Ariane – Image : Eóin Doyle

I have three particular memories of the big Simcas. First was in France in 1961, driving across the Camargue with my parents. On a long stretch the bonnet of a light blue Ariane coming in the other direction flipped fully open, completely blinding the driver who swerved into the side of the road, thankfully without injury to anything except his pride. Seeing that at a tender age has always made me Continue reading “Theme : Simca – Making The Turkey Last”