Cars and bikes I’ve come across in my travels

What’s the thing you’re holding in your left hand?
A 35mm camera, a Zenith IIRC, Chris.
My first job out of school: a holiday snap photographer.
Back in the black and white days, many people didn't own a camera and, therefore, appreciated a memento of their holiday. Beaches by day, pubs by night.
£10 a week, plus commission on the number of photographs sold.
Back when petrol was 35p a gallon and beer 15p a pint, it kept me in both.
 
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My mate Simon ran a same day developing service on a train station platform, drop off film on way to work and pick them up before you catch the 5.45 to King’s Cross. He used to get loads of “ saucy “ ones and would run a spare set off for himself. I can remember most of them were Gloria Hunniford lookalikes on the bonnet of a Vauxhall Chevette with no knickers…..coooooooorrrr!🥵
 
My mate Simon ran a same day developing service on a train station platform, drop off film on way to work and pick them up before you catch the 5.45 to King’s Cross. He used to get loads of “ saucy “ ones and would run a spare set off for himself. I can remember most of them were Gloria Hunniford lookalikes on the bonnet of a Vauxhall Chevette with no knickers…..coooooooorrrr!🥵
Oooh Matron.
 
Not really, Steve. It was off the road more than it was on. Luckily I had my mother's C100 to fall back on. Slightly down on performance, massively up on reliability. After the Tiger Cub died, I made things worse by getting a C15SS.
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Is the C15 still in the harbour Hamish? 😉

We lived across the firth on Rosneath peninsula, apparently the US army dumped load of Harleys and Jeeps there in the river rather than ship them home after the war 🫣
 
Just been on the Waverly paddle steamer- haven’t been on it since I was eleven in 1980 on the Clyde. I made for the engine room as that’s what I remembered as a kid- 120 degree triple no less rotating at a dizzy 35 rpm. Now running on light oil instead of coal with computer controlled boiler! Only needs 2’ of water to float and can hit 19 knots- incredibly the last ocean going paddle steamer. Big boys Mamod.
 

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Coeur d'Alene, Northern Idaho, car show with a few motorcycles in the mix. The good thing about this event is that there are no 'trailer queens'; every entry must be driven/ridden to the show. The black bike is a Suzuki Rotary RE5 with a Super Wedge fairing, the red bike is an American-built Motus V4 1650cc. Not one Italian bike entered the show; my Laverda resting on its sidestand in the wings drew a lot of attention.
 

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Coeur d'Alene, Northern Idaho, car show with a few motorcycles in the mix. The good thing about this event is that there are no 'trailer queens'; every entry must be driven/ridden to the show. The black bike is a Suzuki Rotary RE5 with a Super Wedge fairing, the red bike is an American-built Motus V4 1650cc. Not one Italian bike entered the show, my Laverda resting on its sidestand in wings drew quite a bit of attention.

😳 The RE fairing mould could have been made from my Macedonian friend’s nose, we call him Concorde.
 
And NOW ! For Something Completely Different...Most N. American and certainly I'm sure UK
and Euro car guys will have never heard of. When General Motors around 1962 (?) organized a
full blown attempt to cross the Darien Gap in Central America !!!!!....with a fleet of Corvairs. It is
hard to fathom that this was even remotely feasible but who can deny a General ? Sheer lunacy.
 
And NOW ! For Something Completely Different...Most N. American and certainly I'm sure UK
and Euro car guys will have never heard of. When General Motors around 1962 (?) organized a
full blown attempt to cross the Darien Gap in Central America !!!!!....with a fleet of Corvairs. It is
hard to fathom that this was even remotely feasible but who can deny a General ? Sheer lunacy.
1962 Darain Gap, crazy Americans. There is no way you could cross it without marine transport. Even in 2025, there is no road; it is a marine highway. Ahh, but it was GM, and it was the Corvair. I never heard of such an attempt, but perhaps others know better.
 
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