Last day on road

The end of october has come and my road tax is expiring tonight so I thought I would take Carrie for a final blast before I start to strip her for a respray.It was also the first road test of my rear mounted spare. I fitted the spare a week or so ago but felt unsure of the strength of the glassfibre boot and boot lid so I had a couple of substantial steel frames (2.5" wide and 6mm thick) welded up to go inside the lid and the boot surround and it has really stiffened it up. a pair of mini hinges and two chrome turn button locks in addition to the existing boot lock have made it extremely rigid. The balance of the car feels a bit different with the extra weight at the back making the steering a touch lighter. I think it looks so much better now than with the sidemount. I'm still toying with the idea of a leather strap as a 'belt and braces' effort as I am still a little worried that the spinner might vibrate off depositing the spare in the path of following traffic. The trip out was fantastic, it's a lovely time of year here on the edge of the Lakes and the roads were virtually empty, The new stainless exhaust system has a really rorty note and sounded awesome in the narrow country lanes. I loved every minute and took a few pics.

Intermeccanica Squire for Sale

This 1973 Intermeccanica Squire is for sale on eBay in the USA http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Jaguar-SQUIRE-SS100-73-INTERMECCANICA-SQUIRE-SS-100-MANUFACTURE-CAR-NOT-KIT-/160494569597?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item255e38c87d#ht_11840wt_1167

There are some great pics of this lovely factory built car. The Squire has a very interesting history with only around 50 being made as, if I recall, 50 engines exported to the Turin plant got 'lost' at the Italian factory.

I've just googled and this is a very interesting site http://www.intermeccanica.org/vehicles/squire/Squire_History.htm

A starting bid of $10000 is sought though the reserve is anyone's guess.

Have a look though as they seem beautifully made

Carisma comes out of hiding

Kevin Furnish sent me some terrific pics of his latest acquisition. This car has been mothballed for 12 years and sadly the previous owner has passed away. I was contacted by his daughter via this blog and was able to put Kevin in touch. I am so envious as it looks as though it doesn't need a great deal of work.(famous last words). Kevin is really enthusiastic and aims to be driving it by Christmas (I think he'll need to ask Santa for a flying jacket). I haven't got room here for all the pics but here are a few to savour