Showing posts with label Convertible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Convertible. Show all posts
Thursday, 28 April 2016
Saturday, 19 March 2016
Thursday, 10 December 2015
Thursday, 24 September 2015
Thursday, 30 April 2015
Sunday, 14 December 2014
Tuesday, 2 December 2014
Saturday, 4 October 2014
Thursday, 29 May 2014
Thursday, 24 April 2014
Thursday, 17 April 2014
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
Sunday, 28 August 2011
'It should be a convertible !' - Bristol 407 Viotti Convertible
Among the many tales in Bristol Cars folklore several are connected with the actor Peter Sellers who one day after filming at Shepperton Studio's approached Tony Crook, Bristol Cars sole retailer, with a Buick asking if some improvements could be made to the handling, when Tony replied that he couldn't do much with the Buick Peter said 'Well I'm going to leave it here.'
Eventually Peter Sellers bought a Bristol 407 coupé but he soon returned to Tony with it saying 'It should be a convertible !'. Tony went to some lengths to explain that Bristol Cars did not make any convertibles, though in fact he was preparing one with coach work by Viotti for his daughter Carol.
Legend has it that Carol Crook was part of the London 'in' crowd and counted among her friends Britt Ekland, who posed with the Viotti 407 at Earls Court. Peter some how found out about this car and persuaded Tony to let him become the Viotti 407's first owner.
Tony Crook says that Peter, notorious for regularly acquiring new cars and leaving them with Tony who had two mechanics and a service bay dedicated to maintaining Sellers cars, 'drove it a bit - not an awful lot - and then we sold him other cars and we took the Viotti back'. All of this appears to have occurred before Peter Sellers had met the model who posed with the Viotti 407 at Earls Court his future wife Britt Ekland.
The unique Viotti 407 was very much a prototype, the suspension had not been modified to cope with the extra weight of the all steel body, the 88 other 407's had lighter aluminium bodies, when Peter Sellers had the car, however when Tony Crook got it back the suspension and brakes were upgraded to later Bristol 410 specification, and his daughter Carol owned it for many years when it was seen with the registration number 'AC 1'.
From what I can work out Tony Vaughan, seen in the Viotti 407 here at last weeks Bristol Owners Club Concours held at Greenwich, is the fourth owner of this car.
The one off styling exercise Viotti 407 appears to have strongly influenced future Bristol designs from the 408, 409, 410 and the early series 411.
Thanks for joining me on this Viotti edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres', I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !
Eventually Peter Sellers bought a Bristol 407 coupé but he soon returned to Tony with it saying 'It should be a convertible !'. Tony went to some lengths to explain that Bristol Cars did not make any convertibles, though in fact he was preparing one with coach work by Viotti for his daughter Carol.
Legend has it that Carol Crook was part of the London 'in' crowd and counted among her friends Britt Ekland, who posed with the Viotti 407 at Earls Court. Peter some how found out about this car and persuaded Tony to let him become the Viotti 407's first owner.
Tony Crook says that Peter, notorious for regularly acquiring new cars and leaving them with Tony who had two mechanics and a service bay dedicated to maintaining Sellers cars, 'drove it a bit - not an awful lot - and then we sold him other cars and we took the Viotti back'. All of this appears to have occurred before Peter Sellers had met the model who posed with the Viotti 407 at Earls Court his future wife Britt Ekland.
The unique Viotti 407 was very much a prototype, the suspension had not been modified to cope with the extra weight of the all steel body, the 88 other 407's had lighter aluminium bodies, when Peter Sellers had the car, however when Tony Crook got it back the suspension and brakes were upgraded to later Bristol 410 specification, and his daughter Carol owned it for many years when it was seen with the registration number 'AC 1'.
From what I can work out Tony Vaughan, seen in the Viotti 407 here at last weeks Bristol Owners Club Concours held at Greenwich, is the fourth owner of this car.
The one off styling exercise Viotti 407 appears to have strongly influenced future Bristol designs from the 408, 409, 410 and the early series 411.
Thanks for joining me on this Viotti edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres', I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !
Friday, 19 August 2011
My Word Is My Bond - Ferrari 250 GT Boano Convertible
Today's uniquely bodied Ferrari images come straight from the Carmel By The Sea Concours on the Avenue which was held on Tuesday courtesy of GALPOTS regular contributor Geoffrey Horton.
In 1955 a New Yorker Robert Lee set off on a Safari stopping over in Rome for a week on the outward journey. While in Italy Mr Lee went to Modena and visited Enzo Ferrari who suggested that if Mr Lee should ever want to buy a Ferrari he should buy one direct from the factory in Italy.
Mr Lee responded that he did not think a Ferrari would be up to running on the streets of New York, to which Enzo replied "If you buy a Ferrari, I guarantee it will run in New York City".
In 1956 Mr Lee saw this 250 GT Convertible on the Ferrari stand at the New York Auto Show, when Mr Lee enquired about the possibility of purchasing it he was informed by Luigi Chinetti, Ferrari's New York representative, that the car was not for sale and would be returned to Modena after the show.
Mr Lee then sent Enzo a Telegram reminding him of their meeting and offering $ 9,500 dollars, all he had, for the Convertible.
Soon after on the instructions of Mr Ferrari, Mr Chinetti asked Mr Lee to bring him a cashiers cheque for $9,500 and the worlds only 250 GT Boano Convertible, which is alleged to have cost $20,000 to build, would be his.
55 years and two restorations later this unique car still belongs to Mr Lee, possibly making it the worlds oldest Ferrari in continuous original ownership.
My thanks again to Geoffrey Horton, seen above with his sister Vanessa and XK140, for today's photographs, I hope you will join me in congratulating Geoffrey on winning second place at the Carmel By The Sea Councours on The Avenue.
Hope you have enjoyed this Boano Convertible edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me again tomorrow when I'll be looking at a large Bristol. Don't forget to come back now !
In 1955 a New Yorker Robert Lee set off on a Safari stopping over in Rome for a week on the outward journey. While in Italy Mr Lee went to Modena and visited Enzo Ferrari who suggested that if Mr Lee should ever want to buy a Ferrari he should buy one direct from the factory in Italy.
Mr Lee responded that he did not think a Ferrari would be up to running on the streets of New York, to which Enzo replied "If you buy a Ferrari, I guarantee it will run in New York City".
In 1956 Mr Lee saw this 250 GT Convertible on the Ferrari stand at the New York Auto Show, when Mr Lee enquired about the possibility of purchasing it he was informed by Luigi Chinetti, Ferrari's New York representative, that the car was not for sale and would be returned to Modena after the show.
Mr Lee then sent Enzo a Telegram reminding him of their meeting and offering $ 9,500 dollars, all he had, for the Convertible.
Soon after on the instructions of Mr Ferrari, Mr Chinetti asked Mr Lee to bring him a cashiers cheque for $9,500 and the worlds only 250 GT Boano Convertible, which is alleged to have cost $20,000 to build, would be his.
55 years and two restorations later this unique car still belongs to Mr Lee, possibly making it the worlds oldest Ferrari in continuous original ownership.
My thanks again to Geoffrey Horton, seen above with his sister Vanessa and XK140, for today's photographs, I hope you will join me in congratulating Geoffrey on winning second place at the Carmel By The Sea Councours on The Avenue.
Hope you have enjoyed this Boano Convertible edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me again tomorrow when I'll be looking at a large Bristol. Don't forget to come back now !
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