BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....

Subject: RE: BS: Favoite 50s Cars Thread....
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 06:59 PM

I don't care what you guys say about French cars .....

the Citroen DS 19

One of the finest cars ... ever

biLL :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Favoite 50s Cars Thread....
From: catspaw49
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 08:08 PM

But biLL.......It is just so damn FRENCH!!!


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Favoite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Bobert
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 08:40 PM

Plus, its butt ugly...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Favoite 50s Cars Thread....
From: catspaw49
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 08:57 PM

Which goes with being French.............


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Favoite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Little Hawk
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 09:05 PM

Au contraire! Ze Citroen is a beautiful and charming automobile. It 'as that certain je ne sais quoi, zat cosmopolitan style and elan. When I am be'ind ze wheel of a Citroen I know zat I can do no wrong. Americaine cars, 'ow you say?....zey suck beegtime! Zey are tasteless, excessive, poorly engineered, and redolent weez pointless and crass extravagance. Zey are vulgarity encapsulated in chrome! Zey lack ze subtlety and fine balance of ze classic French automobile designs.

Subject: RE: BS: Favoite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Bobert
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 09:15 PM

Yo, Buffalo everwhere...

If you live anywhere near LH, run!!! I mean, run as fast as you can as far as you can away from this man... I mean, if he thinks that any Cit-ron is purdy then ya'll may be next...

Run!!!

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Favoite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Little Hawk
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 09:36 PM

Mon dieu! Ze tragic lack of sensitivity in ze Americaine soul! I would weep for zem if I sought eet would 'elp zem, but I don't sink it would. Truly, zey are lost. Eet is sad, verry sad... ;-)

Ah, well, what can one do for such neandert'als? I weel try to put it out of my mind, warm up ze beautiful Citroen, and go for a leetle drive on ze West Bank as I contemplate ze timeless beauty and ineffable grace of ze French culture and lifestyle.

(note: The above all works best if you read it with a pronounced French accent! If you're not sure how...watch some old Pink Panther films, and pay close attention to Inspector Clouseau!)

Subject: RE: BS: Favoite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Bobert
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 10:09 PM

Ahhhh, LH... If you are going to take a a peaceful ride in the ugly Citroid then I'd suggest calling a tow truck to pull you down ze Weat Bank...

As fir yer neighbors??? Try a paper bag over yer head...

As fir all you buffalo??? Keep running...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Favoite 50s Cars Thread....
From: frogprince
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 10:22 PM

Once years ago when I went to the Chicago Auto show, the cars I sat down in included at least two French "classics" that have been mentioned in the latter part of this thread. I sent down in one of those Citrusion lumps, put my feet on the pedals, and went "wut the hell?" looked down and the gas pedal was a little dangling spoon, just like in my Dad's clapped out 1946 Ford truck. Then I tried a "LeCar"; the seat in the thing was such a structureless lump that it was like setting on a decomposing mushroom.

Subject: RE: BS: Favoite 50s Cars Thread....
From: frogprince
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 10:25 PM

...I also sat down in a Citreon...

Subject: RE: BS: Favoite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Bobert
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 10:37 PM

Spawzer got it right... French cars suck... Period... Sorry... Great wines, ya'll... Crappy cars...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Favoite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Little Hawk
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 12:00 AM

Funnee zat vous should mention ze mushrooms, mon ami frogprince. We call zem champignons. Ze French 'ave ze best champignons in ze world as well as ze most stylish autos and ze finest wines. I should remind you of zees sings so you realize 'ow much you are missing by not living in la belle France, to say nossing of not living in Paris. ;-)

Zis Bobert, 'ee is 'opeless. Some kind of 'illbilly. I shake my 'ead and wash my 'ands of 'im.

Subject: RE: BS: Favoite 50s Cars Thread....
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 02:20 AM

The Chevvies and the Caddies are amazing to look at and still turn heads when they are driven on UK roads because they are so brash. I like them for that reason but not ideal for most of the British roads.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Bobert
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 08:30 AM

And the converse is true... English cars aren't well suited to American roads and spend most of the time on the side of our roads waiting for yet another tow truck...lol...

B;~)

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Little Hawk
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 10:12 AM

English cars are certainly not what I would call "trouble free". ;-) You have to wonder how they ever managed to put together the British Empire with such bad engineering, but I think they were more on top of their game in those days.

One thing you do have to give the English credit for, though. They have built some really cute looking small cars (like the Austin Mini) and some really snazzy looking sport and luxury cars such as the MG and the Jaguar. What they lack in reliability, they make up for in style.

*****

Now ze French, of course, ze 'ave utterly superceded anysing ze English or ze Americaine can do in achieving automotive elegance. After all, where do you sink ze expression "Grand Prix" came from? La Belle France, of course!

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 11:26 AM

I'd like to mention two other aspects of French greatness.

But both are somewhat unprintable.

And neither is cheese.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Bobert
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 11:49 AM

I did, however, own a '53 Jaguar 120S for a brief time... I was doing carpentry & maintenance work at a high rise apartment building in NoVa and spotted the very dusty car sitting in the parking deck and found out who owned it, knocked on his door and ended up buying it for $600 in 1972 money...

Had it roll-backed 5 miles to my house and spent the next two weeks cleaning it up, tuning it up and tinkering with SU side-draft carbs...

Man that car cleaned up like new and ran just about as well...

There used to be a dealer in Clarendon (Arlington, Va.) who specialized in foreign cars so I took it to him to see what he's pay for the car... He offered me $2700 which I took... Purdy big pay day for 1972...

Wish I had kept it 'cause that car is prolly worth $100,000 today...

Oh well...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 12:27 PM

I'd like to mention one other aspects of French greatness..... and that is Serge Gainsbourg .... Hmmmm, in fact I think Citroen modeled the DS 19 after him. They look somewhat the same.

biLL ... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 01:41 PM

What planet are you on Bobert? At LEAST double that.

But I know someone who sold a C series Vincent 1000 for a thousand pounds back in the 50s. Boy is he kicking himself now.

Me? I passed up a J2 series Allard for £50. I was still at school but had a driving licence, and I could have afforded to put two gallons of petrol a week into it.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 01:43 PM

No, I apologise, the recession has obviously halved values recently.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Bobert
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 01:44 PM

You ***DIDN"T HAVE*** to tell me that, Richard!!!

B;~(

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Little Hawk
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 02:50 PM

What I most deeply regret is my failure to hang onto an 1890's vintage steam-powered dildo machine that I found in an old steamer trunk among my Grandmother's things. Can you imagine what that would be worth in today's money? It's surprising what they were able to do back then using relatively primitive technology...

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Bobert
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 03:03 PM

How'd that thang work, LH???

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Little Hawk
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 03:05 PM

I didn't get a chance to find out, Bobert. One of my ex-girlfriends absconded with it on a trip to see her folks in Sudbury, and I haven't seen it since.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 04:49 PM

Geeziz.....If you had a girlfriend that lived in Sudbury, she probably NEEDED it!


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Little Hawk
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 04:52 PM

You're not kidding! Sudbury is very, very low on the list of places anyone would want to live in.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: gnu
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 04:57 PM

LH.... "English cars are certainly not what I would call "trouble free". ;-) You have to wonder how they ever managed to put together the British Empire with such bad engineering,..."

Yeah? Stack up a Rover against a Toyota, a Ford, a GM or a Jeep 4X4 and ya got a hands down blowout. The Rover will bite their ass worse than a junkyard dog. Stock, of course. Modified, the Yote wins on accounta they are so cheap that aftermarket makes them cheap to modify. Almost the same with a Jeep but the Jeep is shit compared to the Yote for comfort.

Unimog anyone?

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: gnu
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 04:58 PM

Oops... FIFTIES car thread... ignore my last post.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: gnu
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 05:00 PM

Was that dildo nickel plated?

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Bobert
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 07:02 PM

Yer half right, gn-ze... The Rover bites...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: Little Hawk
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 11:16 PM

gnu - It wasn't nickel-plated, but it had real elephant ivory parts plus rhinoceros horn, and it was set up to blow the steam whistle loudly if and when the user attained orgasm! I suspect that Sherlock Holmes may have had one of these things tucked away in his "digs". It looked quite Victorian.

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: GUEST,Chip2447
Date: 08 Jul 11 - 04:01 PM

Who says this isn't cool...

Subject: RE: BS: Favorite 50s Cars Thread....
From: frogprince
Date: 08 Jul 11 - 04:33 PM

Saw an immaculate '58 Edsel sitting at a nearby service garage an hour or so ago. I wouldn't try to say that it's the greatest looking thing to come out of the '50s, but, looking at it after all the years, I personally can't see it as actually ugly. The '59 looked like a half-hearted attempt to apologize for the '58. The '60 would just have looked so desperately nondescript that it didn't look anything , except for the rear end, which I declare to be the ugliest, most inexplicable styling decision ever committed on an American car.