After yesterday’s forty-plus years old Mercedes W123, today we are looking at the modern side of the Moroccan taxi trade with these Dacia Sanderos. The Sandero is manufactured locally in Morocco. Photo taken in January by my brother.
One more beautiful car from the display at Mercedes-Benz World at Brooklands in 2013. This is a 1962 W112 Mercedes 300SE Cabriolet - basically an open-topped version of the then S-Class coupé. The grille badge signifies that the owner of this car is, like me, a member of the UK Mercedes Benz Club, which I believe is the oldest national club worldwide for Mercedes owners.
Yesterday, we viewed the Austin Montego from the front. Today we are looking at it from the back. First, the saloon with its slightly awkward wraparound rear window, seen at the Allegro 40th anniversary celebration at Gaydon in 2013. The second car is the more handsome estate model, seen at the 2024 NEC Classic Motor Show. (1/2)
By 1968, Rover had found a great solution to the up-engining of the P6 2000 model. This involved buying the rights to an all aluminium alloy 3.5-litre V8 from GM. The V8 was about the same length and weight as the 2000’s four-cylinder engine, so few modifications or compromises were involved. This late model 3500 P6 has an interesting history as a Metropolitan Police ‘plain clothes’ car. Snapped at the Practical Classics retro show in March.
Today, another French vehicle converted for use as a coffee/food truck, a Citroën H van. Like yesterday’s Peugeot J9, this one was in action at the recent #SMMT Test Day for journalists. (1/2)
Today we’re back at the Zeppelin museum in Friedrichshafen with the Gaylord Gladiator. Production of Maybach’s luxury cars such as yesterday’s magnificent Zeppelin DS8 did not resume after the Second World War. But there was a fleeting return to car making (sort of) in the 1950s when manufacture of the Gladiator, an attempt at an American Rolls/Bentley class vehicle, was contracted to FIF, which became part of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin.
Today, the modern successor to yesterday’s Bentley Continental R coupé, the more affordable (it’s all relative) Continental GT line. The first two generations of this car were sisters of the Volkswagen Phaeton and Audi A8 but this third-generation car and the latest fourth-generation models are aligned with the Porsche Panamera. My brother found this one in police trim in Turkey. Apparently it was seized from an organised crime gang.