Villain
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Nine Elms, 1970, looking for the loot...
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Post by Villain on Jan 16, 2023 19:48:10 GMT
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Post by D.C. Burtonshaw on Jan 16, 2023 19:54:49 GMT
Fantastic photos and thank you Villain for uploading those - enjoyable to look and as well as the celebrity photos, nice to go back in time looking at everyday life once again for a few minutes.
As you've guessed I've looked carefully at the backgrounds and checked some Divla records which are always interesting and 2 cars seem have survived at least with a couple more or so that were still taxed up past the turn of the 21st century so may be sitting in someones collection or survive abroad hopefully, or with different reg numbers.
Interesting square lamp conversion on the Mini and I've seen it on a Radford Riley Elf too - but that look is better on the proper Mini Sprint I think with the roof chop and deseamed body.
No record of that Mini now though.
That's quite considerate of the young paint sprayer of the VW to cover the car parked behind, - maybe it's his parents car - but surely the Renault 6 in front needs it's back covered too.
Love the shots of Birmingham, the Cortina was popular in it's day evidently. One photo I find interesting, with firstly a very clean HB Vauxhall Viva GT; the first series 1 model with the black bonnet and silver painted wheels with chrome trim rings which looked like Wolf race slot mags, but Vauxhall took on board criticism that the cars looked gaudy. So they toned them down for the series 2models for the final year of 1970 with body coloured bonnet and Rostyle wheels.
Also noteworthy is the more lesser seen 2 door base model MK3 Cortina and the 2 Vauxhalls on the right. The photo looks early 70's so the PA Cresta would have been doing well to be still on the road maybe over 10 years after the model ceased production (Well looked after by a mature owner maybe) and it's even older predecessor the E type Vauxhall next to it would have been a rare survivor then, as they ended production in 1957. Still in everyday use it seems with it's now dull paintwork.
Great to see a pic of the late and great Sir Alan Whicker in his heyday with his Bentley - I believe that car was kept by him till his dying day and in documentary that was made - he was briefly shown driving the British Racing green beauty round his home island of Guernsey (I believe). Hope it's gone to a good home now.
We had the Bristol LD "Lodekka" double decker buses round my way and some fond memories! The red Ford Consul is a 2 litre (V4) base model which lasted till mid 1983. Quite an early one registered in Apr 1972.
I would say the Petrol station photo below it with the 2 Fords is the early or mid 80's. The Granada lasted till 1987 and is a 3.0GXL with a replacement facelift black grille. The MK2 Escort is according to HPI a 1300 Sport but had a 1.6 crossflow engine transplant updating it to 1600 Sport spec. (A common upgrade). Has all the typical extras added by the enthusiast like the Webasto roof, quad spot lamps and Mexico front spoliler but alas lasted till late 1988.
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Post by D.C. Burtonshaw on Jan 16, 2023 20:09:28 GMT
I wonder what happened to some of those Rolls Royces and other cars the celebs had? The only 2 definate survivors in the photos according to Divla are Dame Margo Fontaine's 1961 Mini which is on SORN and that 1965 Bentley S3 Coupe in blue snapped in London. Some of the cars are on the records but the P reg Silver Shadow was last on UK roads 2011 (It looks like it's parked across the street from the Canadian embassy which probably explains why there appears to be a few black painted North American looking cars parked outside, partly obscured by a Rover SD1.) Barry Gibbs Lotus was around till the end of 2001.
Nothing of Sir Elton's has a record although the Daimler Sovereign lasted till 1986.
Villain mentioned the Piper sports car in the background of Sir Alan Whicker's photo but I-SPY another classic rarity with what I'm sure is a Gordon-Keeble GT coupe in the background down a side street in the 2nd shot down of the "Apple" physchedelic Bentley - Just 99 G-K's were made and the majority have survived so that one might too. No record of the Bentley though.
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Villain
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Post by Villain on Jan 16, 2023 20:38:16 GMT
I wonder what happened to some of those Rolls Royces and other cars the celebs had? The only 2 definate survivors in the photos according to Divla are Dame Margo Fontaine's 1961 Mini which is on SORN and that 1965 Bentley S3 Coupe in blue snapped in London. Some of the cars are on the records but the P reg Silver Shadow was last on UK roads 2011 (It looks like it's parked across the street from the Canadian embassy which probably explains why there appears to be a few black painted North American looking cars parked outside, partly obscured by a Rover SD1.) Barry Gibbs Lotus was around till the end of 2001.
Nothing of Sir Elton's has a record although the Daimler Sovereign lasted till 1986.
Villain mentioned the Piper sports car in the background of Sir Alan Whicker's photo but I-SPY another classic rarity with what I'm sure is a Gordon-Keeble GT coupe in the background down a side street in the 2nd shot down of the "Apple" physchedelic Bentley - Just 99 G-K's were made and the majority have survived so that one might too. No record of the Bentley though.
Dame Margot's wickerwork Mini was at the NEC about two or three years ago, it belongs to a guy in the Cooper Register who also owns one of Peter Sellers Minis, I had a really good look at it and the wickerwork was painstakingly applied by hand in several layers. Pleased to hear that Alan Wicker kept his Bentley S3 Conti all those years, I would dearly love to own one of those one day. Pleased that you spotted the Gordon Keeble parked down the side street in the Bentley S2 pic! You mentioned ninety nine being built, but it was actually a hundred, as another was built using up a left over chassis and body c.1969. The owner's club reckon around ninety of them have survived. Here's another one from that same crop of London pics.. And this rare NSU R080 also from the same batch of pics still looks neat and modern even now... Nyree Dawn Porter drove a blue one in 'The Protectors' in a few episodes... David Frost had a Bentley S3 Continental Flying Spur Drophead, in this 1969 pic he's stopped on Westminster Bridge to use his car phone, a real novelty at the time... Mick Jagger had a white one in 1969 / 70... Pete Townsend went one better and bought a Mercedes Benz 600 Pullman... Michael Palin and Graham Chapman of the Pythons had to make do with a couple of granny chairs in 1974... they appear to have missed nabbing David Frost for illegal parking by about five years... Villain
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Post by Perfect Pseudonym on Jan 17, 2023 17:14:46 GMT
A real feast there Villain I'm going to guess that the Luxton & District-alike Bristol Lodekka was snapped in Colchester, but can't confirm. Love the pics of Sir Tom and Engle on their Rollers. The modernist office block behind just screams sixties, and presumably is no longer there now. Did Sir Frost go into the back of the camera car? Looks like he's phoning his insurance company. Or lawyer! And those East London pics. Wonderful captures. Even if one of them has been on this forum before relatively recently! Excellent stuff as ever.
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Villain
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Post by Villain on Jan 17, 2023 19:52:15 GMT
A real feast there Villain I'm going to guess that the Luxton & District-alike Bristol Lodekka was snapped in Colchester, but can't confirm. Love the pics of Sir Tom and Engle on their Rollers. The modernist office block behind just screams sixties, and presumably is no longer there now. Did Sir Frost go into the back of the camera car? Looks like he's phoning his insurance company. Or lawyer! And those East London pics. Wonderful captures. Even if one of them has been on this forum before relatively recently! Excellent stuff as ever. Thanks PP The office block at Elstree is still there as far as I know, it was used in 'UFO' back in 1969 / 70 but more recently was used in 'Holby City'. Some more golden oldies, starting with Simon Dee in his 1966 Aston Martin DB6 Volante... An early E-Type Jag cutting a dash down Whitehall in 1966... The mother of all parliaments in 1973... Sir John Gielgud with his Rolls Royce Silver Shadow in Powis Terrace, 1969... A couple of Mk2 Jags outside the main office block at the Browns Lane factory in the '60s... The famous Chelsea drugstore in 1968, the Mk2 Morris Mini 1000 has been tarted up as a publicity stunt by Stewart & Ardern, the country's largest Morris dealer in the '60s and '70s... The Bee Gees' drummer Colin Peterson was a real petrolhead, he bought his girlfriend a Hillman Imp and treated himself to a Ferrari 330GTC and a Broadspeed Mini GT, these were taken in March '69... the 'newfangled' looking reflective black and silver perspex number plates on the Mini were becoming more common by the late '60s but were first made available way back in 1959... A feast of future classics in the Kings Road in 1966... Ginger Baker had three Jensen FFs one after the other, he crashed at least one of them... In this pic he's parked his FF rather casually on the corner of Church Street in Barnes, just round the corner from Olympic studios which is where he, Eric Clapton, Ric Grech and Stevie Windwood are off to, the wine merchant in the background bare's my grandad's surname Hassell, he lived nearby in Nassau Road and had 'a hand in the business', although we're not sure how official his involvement was, as he had his fingers in many pies at the time... Villain
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Post by Gene Hunt on Jan 17, 2023 20:44:51 GMT
Simon Dee brought the Aston Martin from actor Robert Shaw. The car is still on the road today, though it is now green rather than red.
Gene.
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Villain
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Nine Elms, 1970, looking for the loot...
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Post by Villain on Jan 18, 2023 9:48:10 GMT
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Post by Perfect Pseudonym on Jan 18, 2023 11:36:58 GMT
Sir John Gielgud with his Rolls Royce Silver Shadow in Powis Terrace, 1969... Why do I keep seeing Regan sprawled on the pavement on the extreme right in this pic? The interior of that Chelsea drugstore was used in A Clockwork Orange when Alex is wandering around before settling on the record store to do a bit of roistering. Nowadays a Maccy D's I believe. Good stuff again Villain
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Villain
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Nine Elms, 1970, looking for the loot...
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Post by Villain on Jan 18, 2023 13:02:33 GMT
Just over twenty years ago we lived in a small block of flats which used to be part of a coaching stables in town, the landlord lived in one of the flats and always had nice motors - not long after moving in (in 1994) we found a box of old photos belonging to his family including this one, on the back of which was written 'Charles and Celia with Bentley', it was taken in the early '70s... A few years ago I posted it in the 'period classics' thread on Pistonheads and got a reply from someone who knew the car, detailing its entire history from new, it is still around and at some point wore a different registration number. A Mk1 Mini Cooper and a Series 1 Rover 2000 parked up in West London in the '70s... A standard 1964 Mk1 Austin Mini Cooper almost dwarfing a 1966 cut down Minisprint, these conversions had metalwork sliced out of the shell in the lower body area and the A, B and C pillars to reduce the frontal area and make them more aerodynamic, it's a lot more involved than you'd expect as the angles of the front and rear screens are changed considerably... A 1970 Radford Mk3 Cooper S photographed when brand new, one of only three Mk3s they ever modified, the headlamps are from a Facel Vega... Looking very much like a typical Sweeney location, the Thamesmead estate in all its brutalist modern glory... Villain
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