Well, it's a good day for British car enthusiasts in downtown Palo Alto.
Although I missed getting to ride in Dick Nyquist's 1948 Triumph Roadster
(we had to reschedule till tomorrow), I still saw quite an assortment,
from one extreme to the other in most ways.
The reason for going to lunch was to visit with Chris Kantarjiev and to
admire his newly-painted '67 TR4A. There is no single modification like
a coat of fresh, shiny paint to change *everything* about a car. Of
course, now I see what Chris meant when he said he was more motivated
than ever to do the interior. Pieces that had seemed honorably shabby,
the mark of a well-used and well-loved sports car kept in daily operation,
when measured against the old bodywork now seemed very much out of place
against cloud-green paint that looked as though it had just been
poured onto the car.
But when we walked out of the restaurant to take a look at Sarah, there
was a brand-new Lotus Elan parked one space behind her, also in whatever
the Lotus people are calling British Racing Green. The Lotus green is a
lot like the Triumph green, a fairly neutral green with a certain grey
cast to it, very much like MG's New Racing Green. On a car with the
surface detail of the Lotus or the TR4A, the lighter green is very
pleasant, since it allows the neat little details (like that wonderful
view over the TR's hood, with the speed bulge for the carburettors
leading down to the little cylindrical sections that cover the headlamps)
to stand out better than a really dark color would.
But parked across the street were an almost matched pair: a black Morgan
with red piping, a car I've seen regularly around Palo Alto, and a putty
grey MG TD. Both appeared to be in fine shape; I know the Morgan, and I
know that it appears to have been restored a few years ago, as all the
details are still good and I've seen it over the course of a couple of
years, so it's not brand-new but it's still very sharp. The MG appeared,
from across the street at any rate, to be in comparable condition, its
grey paint gleaming next to the black and red Morgan, both of them fairly
bristling with pride in their pre-war styling (even if neither car was
actually made before the war; it's a round-rad Morgan with faired-in lights
so it has to be post-1953.)
Fine cars all. Wouldn't turn down any of them...
--Scott "But I have to say the Miata green is still my favorite" Fisher
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