Dear Listers,
Anyone out there ever analyze what elements in your
childhood are responsible for your interest in British
cars? I know that many of us are car nuts and motorheads
in general and are into ALL cars in one way or another,
but it takes a certain sort to be a British car owner.
I personally have three major influences that got me
going in a British direction very early in life. To start
with, my mother informs me that I showed a major
interest in cars from about the time I began to talk.
My first three words were mama, dad, and Buick!
The only toys that I seemed to like had wheels on them.
Being that this was going on in the late Forties, might
explain why my favorite cars come from the 1938-1954
era and in particular, Morris Minors, that are the LBC embodiment of this era
of styling.
1) I come from San Francisco, a place that was steeped
in British cars during the British "Export or Die" years
right after the war. These cars were everywhere. We had neighbors with Austin
A40s and family friends with a
Hillman Minx convertible. My father, a non-motorhead who didn't buy a family
car until 1954 (there is great public transportation in SF) took me to the
road races held in
Golden Gate Park in the early Fifties. Even though I was
only four or five years old at the time, I vividly
remember those races. I can still hear the Cad-Allards
and Jag XK120s winding up to a roar on the straights,
then backing off and popping little backfires of rich
mixture as they slowed for the corners.
The little MGs looked, to me, exactly what a car should
look like; swooping fenders separate headlamps and a
tyre on the back. It took me 33 years to finally own one
of these (a BRG '50 TD) and I wasn't disappointed.
I'm sure that there were other nationalities of cars
there, but the only ones I seem to remember were British.
This makes vintage racing such a great experience for
me as I'm one of the few of my generation who actually
saw many of these early cars race.
2) Dinky Toys and to a lesser extent Matchbox Toys.
Though I never actively "collected" them, I had many
and knew the whole line. Here was an American five
year old who knew what a Riley Two-and-a Half Liter
series RM saloon and a Morris Oxford was! I had a model
of every postwar Austin including the FX3 taxi, an
Atlantic drophead and an A40 Van. My first model kit
was a Revell "Highway Pioneers" MGTD that my mom
built for me. She painted the interior with nail polish
that "crinkled" it up like real leather! I didn't stand
a chance.
3) When I was about six, my folks took me to an English
film called Genevieve, a comedy about the London to
Brighton race of brass-era cars . At this point I was
able to see the place where the cars came from.
I was hooked. At six, I decided that outside of San
Francisco, England was the place to be. I didn't get to
go there either until many years later and also was not disappointed.
This was long before Carnaby Street, Monte Python and
The Beatles. Mick and the Stones were still in school!
All Americans are Anglophiles to one extent or another,
but I feel that most British car owners have an earlier
or "past-life" connection to an English way of life.
How about the rest of you out there? Why do you like British cars? See you
on the Funway!
Rick Feibusch
Automotive Journalist/Appraiser
http://www.EnglishCars.com/rick.html
mailto:RFeibusch@aol.com
61 Minor pickup
60 Minor Saloon
59 Minor Convertible
69 Chevelle Malibu 350
|