Now that I would have remembered as well.christine wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 11:58 pm Not a car . Early seventies , a black leather clad rider ,goggles and open face helmet , clinging onto a gloss black JPS colours Norton 750 cafe racer ,( maybe a Rickman )noisey as fuck ..bikini fairing ,twin headlights clip ons, flat out on the main road bend , overtaking everything into oncoming traffic ..Blam, blam , earthquake noise , doppler effect ...then fading to silence .. Stayed in my mind ever since
What I do remember however is my own grandpa and his friend, both always having the latest and biggest rubber cow, also kitted out as cafe racers with Heinrich tanks, clip ons, set back footrests and loud pipes kicked up so they terminated just that inch shy of the rear axle, as they are supposed to.
Oh, and the boyfriend of my favourite aunt had a Giulia. Only when I was much older and visited them in his native Italy I learned that he had a latifundium big enough to warrant owning six Claas combine harvesters, was an ex Ferrari works driver and had a car collection that would give many a heart attack today. Lancia Astura, Ferrari Superamericana, several other Ferraris including a 250 GTO, an array of Alfas, a Holman Moody '65 NASCAR Galaxie among assorted other chod and a delightful Moto Guzzi moped is all I have to say. He gave my aunt an Alfa 2600 Spider as a Valentines gift, but she never married him.
One of my father's school pals and subsequent lifetime friends was a carpenter and undertaker and had a superb 1962 Country Sedan he used as a hearse. Our next door neighbour, Herr Schulz, had a Taunus 26m XL I found naff, but when Frau Schulz got her driving licence, he bought her a shonky Auto Union 1000 Sp which I adored no end.