Pilgrim65

Wish he was dropping off the blue one at my place.?

Great ,amazing dedication, you must be proud, I would be. thanks for sharing cheers pilgrim

Caught my eye to as had no idea thought a luxury liner was RMS Queen Mary , but wiser now , nice car . Those seats look especially luxurious thanks for posting cheers pilgrim

Sure but I'd rather be unhappy with money than without?

No , but would like one pilgrim

Mr Earl century or special , still a cracker. cheers pilgrim

Snap what a beaut. Century?

Sassy lady

Sorry to read about your troubles , you seem positive and that's good had my xjs engine burst into flames , back in the 80s , whilst taking kids to school , got them out ok , but car needed front end respray , local garage said V12 's were prone to that. Soon traded it. cheers pilgrim

Well done mate , crackin pilgrim

Followed from beginning , awesome project , absolutely beutiful result , love the colours stunning , well done is Not a strong enough statement cheers pilgrim

Beautiful classic, lucky man pity I don't live in the states if you can pick finds like this. cheers pilgrim

Arron , love the colour of your 53 special, great looking car, probably same driving experience as mine , 3 speed manual. cheers pilgrim

Think my above post may be a duplicate, don't know how to remove. anyhow been reading the recent interesting posts on this thread , three things caught my eye. lucky chap who started with a four year old XK 150 , some entry level! One of my favourite British cars. liked the comment about other drivers thoughts when they flash recognition agree , driving some 50s cars like mine without power this and that ,is sometimes a challenge , but you soon adapt and that's part of the fun, and folks around at that time coped well and thought it normal, just we are spoilt with our newer cars. Cheers pilgrim

Hi Steve i think the US was ahead technically from the mid 30s , having power steering , air con etc years before our standard cars had such options and only after the war German technology started to lead the way in Europe and personally feel still do. Music wise your right , big Motown and blues fan. Saw the Motown show in London last night, great. like European cars now , wish list ( actually just dreaming list) M3 BMW , Audi R10, Alfa , merc E 350 convertible. like English 50s sports cars , bought project healey ,currently restoring ,couldn't afford early jag. just a thought, note you have merc 560 SL , nice car but not exactly a small car! ? Cheers pilgrim

Silly me , just rexamined Cuba photo , before someone corrected me. Although what appeared at first to be a small red convertible , which I thought was a Morris minor , it is in fact a lovely American 40s convertible , even more collectible and I know which I'd prefer. Cheers pilgrim

Jimmy Stewart , my dads favourite actor , class.

Note the pic with no foriegners, but note the Brit in Cuba , Morris minor convertible , very collectible now. thanks again , one of the best threads on this forum , keep em cumin .

Mr Earl , first time I've seen your photos , awesome! paraphasing you It was never just a hobby , it's a life! cheers pilgrim

Marty , Sounds my sort of evening , see you next year !?

Hi Steve i think the US was ahead technically from the mid 30s , having power steering , air con etc years before our standard cars had such options and only after the war German technology started to lead the way in Europe and personally feel still do. Music wise your right , big Motown and blues fan. Saw the Motown show in London last night, great. like European cars now , wish list ( actually just dreaming list) M3 BMW , Audi R10, Alfa , merc E 350 convertible. like English 50s sports cars , bought project healey ,currently restoring ,couldn't afford early jag. just a thought, note you have merc 560 SL , nice car but not exactly a small car! ? Cheers pilgrim

Hi guys good thread , but being a lover of late forties and fifties till say 56/57 , love the curved lines masses of chrome etc, pure style and elegance. Personally think cars became more boxy from 58 onwards , therefore not so keen on styling with exception of 1960 Buick 225 convertible( on my wish list) Read with interest some of your theories on reasons for decline in popularity of this era of cars , but Have a slightly different veiw of some of the assumptions First I must add that being a Brit , my love of American 50s autos is probably a bit biased, as they were the dream cars of my youth. Someone mentioned these cars being perhaps perceived as old fashioned as their parents had them. I think standard of living in US must have been better after WW2 as we were by your standards poor , my dad couldn't afford a car until mid 50s and that was a 1932 ford 8 , what we termed a 'banger' , and for the majority of the population it was much the same ,not jealous, but you were lucky if your parents drove new cars at that time , so little chance of an American beauty over here. British cars apart from top end makes like jaguar etc were boring.My first car in 69 was a 52 Austin A40 , which would have been a dream car to my dad in 52, but in truth was a black blob on wheels , strongly made though like a tank! I wonder then if we were able to survey a part of the American population who lived through harsh circumstances at that time, I think maybe 50s cars are still popular with them and as their parents never owned such. May be still considered as old fashioned , but no relation to parents having one, but still very desirable. Also perhaps because quite a few of us are fortunate to own a classic car , like me we have our preferences and this can sometimes influence our perceptions slightly without us realising and thus subconsciously interpret information we consume towards our veiw. Nearly finished and apologise if I'm doing a good job annoying a few of you , but just because a model is expensive and is unobtainable to many of us , I don't think that makes it less popular. Personally I think Popularity is about what people like and price change is a win or loss. Wouldn't love my buick any less if it's value falls. After all l bought a hew juke 2 years ago , dropped 3k as I drove off forecourt, now worth 2/3 what I paid at best. That's life with cars. cheers pilgrim?? pilgrim

Gud on yer mate , ace car. cheers pilgrim

Enjoyed reading with interest all the various extremely literate and colourful views , However Probably on the fence with this issue as I have a Middle ground view , which therefore excludes the extremes of both camps Such that I love original and barn finds , and understand how you can and appreciate them , if they are still a reflection of original and in state which still allows my sort of enjoyment. I.e. Being to sit in and drive , can live with patina , rust , holes in upholstery etc ,but don't appreciate the idea of keeping wrecks unless there is sum intention to improve at some time. Being lucky enough to have a pretty good restored car , not concours ,but mechanically dependable , I am able to enjoy excursions , meets etc , so fulfils my requirement . However my requirements would not be anymore fullfilled by a showroom concours car or any less if she was what you term a daily driver, in fact a showroom car could be a liability for me personally as storage and maintenance issues are more vital. That's me, My conclusion , how we enjoy our hobby or obtain enjoyment from it plus our views relating to its aspects are down to the individual , and that's what makes this forum. cheers pilgrim

60FlatTop, sound logic, Nice xjs , I had a V12 in Monza red think it was a 82 and mine in 86 , fond memories , one of the prettiest cars I've ever owned, I remember used to polish it , admire it, and sit in it in my garage , just smelling the leather and listening to music . Amazingly quiet engine which took me to the fastest I ever driven 155mph , may have gone quicker but I chickened out on a slow bend as g force felt like it would go! However although my fondest memories also one of my scariest moments , one morning whilst taking my young girls to school the engine burst into flames , luckily near to a garage pulled in with flames and smoke pouring out , got the girls out, and staff tended to fire with extinguishers , car needed front end and engine bay respray . I was told afterwards, Apparently not a uncommon problem with that model, so Didn't feel comfortable after that and decided to px for a BMW. cheers pilgrim