Tuesday 21 September 2010

Unrequited love finally....err....requited

As an eleven-year old schoolboy I fell in love with the new E-type Jaguar. Over the years I lusted after one, but somehow it never happened. Now, 50 years later, I finally admitted that I'm never going to buy one so I decided to treat myself and hired one for a long weekend. I persuaded a lady friend to accompany me with the promise of a tour of the leafy lanes of the south of England and a couple of nights away in historic old hotels. Friday we collected the car, a 1969 series 2 convertible in red, from central London under blue skies and unseasonable warmth. Unfortunately for us the Pope had decided to visit London that day so the whole of central London was gridlocked - it took 2 hours to travel the length of Euston road and Baker street. This did however give us a taste of things to come - virtually every other car driver and most pedestrians looked, waved and shouted approval as we crept past them, top down in the sun. I felt like a millionaire pop star; men admired me, women desired me, children wanted to be me. Of course LF reminded me it wasn't my car and burst that little fantasy bubble, but the grin didn't leave my face for the whole four days.

Friday night we stayed at an old coaching inn in Farnham in Surrey, having spent a very pleasant afternoon cruising around the Surrey country lanes.Saturday morning we set off early with no particular plan in mind.

We gradually noticed an unusual number of classic cars seemed to be heading south, so we tagged along. We then realised it was the weekend of the Goodwood revival, held at the old Goodwood racing circuit. Old racing cars and a retro theme to the weeknd meant thousands of classic cars, bikes, and buses with many of the owners dressed appropriate to the age of their vehicle in that way only middle-class English can. Unfortunately I'd left my flares and cuban heels back home, so we parked in the public car park then spent the day admiring the show.



Saturday night we stayed in Salisbury in a nice 4 star hotel, had a great Thai meal in the evening then a hearty full English breakfast the next day before setting off. Driving the E-type was pretty much how I imagined it, loads of smooth power in a rattly old body - it still looked stunning though; every time I got out I had to stop and admire her. LF had made me promise to take her to some 'sacred sites' as part of the deal of accompanying and old man and his fantasy, so Sunday saw us wend our way across to Stonehenge, the visit to which was quickly despatched as the public are no longer allowed near the stones in case they get damaged - a bit different from my first trip there in the 60's with a bunch of hippies celebrating the summer solstice...lots of prancing around and smoking big spliffs as I distantly recall...

Quickly on to Avebury, which is a whole lot more impressive in scale.There was even a bunch of hippies, or New Agers or whatever they call themselves drumming and hugging the stones - groovy, man.




A nice lunch then spent the whole afternoon happily driving across to Glastonbury. I still had the stupid grin on my face, although LF was flagging a little with being windswept and deafened; she actually asked why I hadn't put the radio on all weekend which gave me the no-excuse-needed opportunity to change down and blip the throttle yet again and say " why do we need the radio when we have that lovely noise?" I'm not sure but I think I heard the word 'childish'  float away in the deafening roar of the engine and wind. We had a quick whisk around the town then a huge vegan macrobiotic meal in a hippy-dippy cafe. Monday was spent driving back to London, top-down in the sun.

So that was it, a long-held childhood fantasy finally realised - which was pretty good, as my other fantasies were to go to bed with Marilyn Monroe and spent a night out drinking with James Hunt neither of which could happen anyway. So, as Meatloaf could have sung, 'one out of three ain't bad'.
Next week - walking on the moon with Buzz Aldrin and partying in a French chateau with Keith Richard.

6 comments:

  1. Nice hat...

    Let me know how you get on with Keith Richard!

    Nick

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  2. El Diente:

    ahhhh, the joys of being young with the wind in your hair and the growl of the "E" types engine, and your greying hair fluttering in the wind.

    I used to have collector cars; MGB's, Alfa Romeo, 67 firebird convertible muscle car, 67 mustang convertible but I still have my Corvette C5 Roadster which I use sparingly. I think people look at you and think too bad that nice car is being driving by that "old" guy, but what a nice LF he has sitting beside him

    what a nice way to fulfill a dream

    did you purchase your new camera yet ?


    bob
    Wet Coast Scootin

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  3. Bobskoot, I think I could've bought a nice DSLR for the cost of the rental plus hotels. I've decided to take a little time and research the subject a bit more thoroughly - the new Nikon D7000 looks like it could be a good buy. Unfortunately my mind is also telling me to look for a red convertible to continue the dream with so I'm a bit torn at the moment, especially with the siren call of my local motorcycle dealer further distracting me.

    Still, its better than facing reality, right?

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  4. El Diente:

    I think you made the best choice between Camera or Beautiful LF for the weekend in a hot car. Now we have to go back to . . . either a camera, Motorcycle, or convertible (red or not)

    I am going on a trip in 2 weeks so I purchased a Canon T2i (550D) with a few lenses. I think I really wanted the D7000 as it has better specs, and also I already have Nikon lenses, but it won't be in the stores until after my trip, so I had no choice. (that's my story and I have to stick with it). I wanted higher quality photos and my D80 was too old. The D7000 is getting very positive reviews but is much heavier than the T2i.

    I noticed that Sony has just released a software update to address the interface issues with their NEX5 models, but I would still wait for the NEX7, or GF2, or the new rumoured Canon EIS system, or Nikon (EVIL) Rangefinder . EVIL stands for = Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lense, ie: mirrorless dSLR type similar to micro 4/3rds

    I must say that you look right at home in the driver's seat of that "E" type convertible.

    bob
    Wet Coast Scootin

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  5. Cooooool! I always think it's a shame that at Avebury one can get up-close-and-personal with the stones, but at Stonehenge, one can't. I'm sure it can't be anything to do with English Heritage making money....

    The E-type looks great - the LF a perfect accompaniment!

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  6. Way to go on renting the Jaguar and going on the road trip. It looks like you had a fabulous trip. And to just happen to run across the Goodwood Revival, you can't go wrong. Great story and pictures, thank you for sharing.

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