60 posts tagged “1960s”

I was, of course, referring to Simon Templar, or at least the TV incarnation of him as played by Roger Moore. For today I spotted the following down the road from the office:

It’s a beautifully maintained Volvo 1800S from 1967 (and yes, I could tell without looking at the registration certificate).
   A few hours before there was this beautiful 1959 MGA hardtop on the other side of Latimer Park:    Earlier today, I also spotted a Karmann Ghia Typ 3 and yesterday, a 1972 Volkswagen Typ 4.
   Christchurch seems to be the home of many a classic car—two months ago, I came across a beautiful old Ford Falcon Wagon. These Cantabrians seem to love their classics.

Chambers & Partners did a few opening titles to ITC shows and TV movies in the 1960s and 1970s. There was the original Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) (the remake employed Tomato, which also did a great job), but I really love this one for Department S. It shows what a difference design can make, and Chambers had a nice, modernist approach here. The Century Expanded Bold type suits the style of the series, and the titles have aged rather better than Peter Wyngarde’s hairstyle.

   The spin-off, which had Wyngarde on his own in Jason King, felt cheaper, and the titles seem to have lost their sophistication. The Laurie Johnson theme tune was quite cool and was one of the few things that were better about the new series.    However, there are folks who are out there with their own ideas on how the Department S theme can be improved. Groovy!

It was great seeing the brilliant Bernie Kopell again, even if his voice is a little hoarse. He tells some great stories about Sinatra, Martin and the Rat Pack, and his days on Get Smart.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do you sing?

If 1 is an American Idol reject and 10 is Matt Monro, then I would give myself a 6.
   Meanwhile, here’s some real singing from Matt.

For me, Vox is fixed. The ‘Compose’ screen comes up reasonably quickly, and I can add stuff quite easily (books aside).
   On that note, here is a video. I don’t know why, but this has been in my head all day. From the cult TV series Department S, which was far more baffling than The X-Files ever was.

If anything, this post was an attempt to figure out whether Vox had been fixed or not. The ‘Compose’ screen came up pretty quickly this attempt, though an earlier attempt resulted in a blank screen after a minute.
   Here are some rare cars from Autocade, anyway, since I’m not going to waste the opportunity to blog something. When I started Autocade, I expected some old cars that were around before my lifetime; what I didn’t expect was actually covering a good number of them. Here are some for those pub quiz nights.

Italia 2000 Coupé. 1959–62 (prod. 297 approx.). 2-door coupé. F/R, 1991 cm³ (4 cyl. OHV). Hand-made, rebodied Triumph TR3, with attractive Michelotti-designed bodies by Vignale, shown at Torino in 1958. Made under contract to Ruffino SpA. Never officially a Standard–Triumph model, particularly after Leyland Motors’ takeover and the company’s withdrawal of support. Often referred to as Triumph Italia. Very expensive when new, and not popular; underpowered considering the price, though reasonably competent.

AMC Marlin. 1967 (prod. 2,545). 2-door coupé. F/R, 232 in³ (6 cyl. OHV), 290, 343 in³ (V8 OHV). Marlin shifts to the full-size AMC Ambassador (1967–8) platform, but production dropped further due to poor sales. Deleted after one year. Price up from 1966 as Marlin became a full-size car, with more luxury appointments.

Ford Anglia Torino. 1964–8 (prod. over 10,007). 2-door saloon. F/R, 997 cm³ (4 cyl. OHV). Rebodied Anglia, with body made by OSI of Italy. Created for markets which might have found the original 105E to be too unconventionally styled, but export plans were never realized and the car remains very rare. Doors and front windscreen shared with English Anglia, but other panels new. Michelotti design: attractive to some, ugly to Angliaphiles. Two one-litre engines: standard tune with 41 hp and Torino S with 52 hp from 1965.

Volvo P1900. 1956–7 (prod. 67). 2-door convertible. F/R, 1414 cm³ (4 cyl. OHV). Flimsy fibreglass convertible from Volvo, with uprated engine shared with export model of PV444, developing 70 hp. Inspired by American roadsters of the 1950s, but killed off after new Volvo boss, Gunnar Engellau, felt the quality was under par.

A miracle! Finally got in to Vox to write a post.
   Sure hope they get this glitch fixed ASAP.
   Some more pics to share—kind of lost the inspiration to write something cheeky since it took a few hours to get the ‘Compose’ box up on this site.

Dented in the right rear wing but otherwise, looking really good.
   Slightly more upmarket:

Goodness me, this is the first time I have been able to get to the ‘Compose’ page on Vox since yesterday. What is going on there?
   And all I wanted to do was share these with you:

Someone has a beautifully kept ’66 Mustang here in Wellington. Pretty sure this had a four-barrel V8 under the hood.
   Meanwhile, here’s something more stock:

You do not expect to see an Iso Fidia in New Zealand—one of the 192 the company made. This is a 1970 model that I spotted earlier today in Christchurch, in incredibly good condition. I am not sure if I have ever seen one of the Iso Rivolta supercars before—if I have, it would only have been in a museum—so to see one in everyday use was a real privilege. The registration is from 1980, which suggests it was imported at some expense by a wealthy owner that year.
   Naturally it now has its own Autocade entry, with one of these as the illustration.

Someone has a beautiful 1963 Ford Falcon in Christchurch. This station wagon was beautifully restored, but also appeared to be now in daily use.

   I love the brightwork on this—this was a lovely American design before things got too gaudy at the end of the decade. This particular Falcon was, of course, an Australian model, possibly assembled in New Zealand.