This is a great ad for the 300SL roadster. It would probably be seen as Sexist today but it tries to cover the softer personality of the 300SL in roadster form but still the maintenance of the Gullwing’s performance. The Velvet Glove or Male Fist caption and some of the wording in the ad invokes powerful imagery. Unlike most of the...
The British car show has such a selection of cars that its hard to pick favorites, but these represent the standout cars for me on the day. Healey Elliott I found this to be a really striking car and not one I had seen before. Apparently it has the 2.5 liter Riley engine and was capable of 100mph, quite a feat at the...
In my view, the British car show is probably the pick of the Sydney car shows each year. It might not be as big as the Eastern Creek show, but it has a broader range of really interesting cars, and there is always something new you’ve never seen before. This year the new one for me was a 1948 Healey Elliott. Quite...
This weeks Ad is a Pennzoil ad that ties their engine oil to the high performance XK engine and its over inflated performance specs. Still the ad had a great cutaway of the engine and the triple carburettor setup. The Jaguar E-Type had a lot of suppliers trying to associate with it during the early 60s. This is the power plant built for...
Today I started troubleshooting a potential engine issue in my Traction Avant. When the engine is hot, it will sometimes smoke out of the valve cover and there is a single pulse of black exhaust like it is being caused by one cylinder. My first test was to check the compression of the engine, quite easy on a traction engine as the spark...
This weeks ad is interesting that it tries to take the biggest weakness of the DS – the engine and try and turn it into a strength. I prefer the other ads that focus on its real strengths like the economy, suspension etc. In sales trying to turn a weakness into a strength can work well, but not sure if this approach...
Late August means its time again for the 2016 Shannons Eastern Creek car show, which is organized by the CMC and sponsored by Shannons. It’s probably the biggest car show in Australia and has a small selection of cars from each club affiliated with the CMC. Normally the selection is more everyday enthusiast cars rather than high end, but it is nice...
I went to look at an 2006 E350 W211 Estate today and had learned on the Topklasse forum that the M272 engine manufactured from 2005-2007 suffers from a potential defect. From what I understand as this engine is a 90 degree V6, there were additional components required to make it run smoothly and these and the timing gear can suffer from premature wear....
In 1955 direct fuel injection was a big deal, and I believe the 300SL was the first production car to have it. It certainly provided fearsome performance out of only 3 liters. This weeks ad focuses on the 300SL and in particular the direct fuel injection.
I had the opportunity for a short visit to the Peterson Museum, after my flight out of Los Angeles was canceled. I had always wanted to go to see the museum after seeing a few of the cars featured on Jay Leno’s Garage (for example Steve McQueen’s XKSS). The museum has two parts, the public exhibits over three floors and three basements with...
This weeks ad is on the E-Type, this time 1964. Its not clear if it covers the then current 3.8 model or the upcoming 4.2. A different breed of Cat The 1964 Jaguar XK-E is unlike any other car on the road today. For one thing, it doesn’t look like any other car you have ever seen. And it is capable of phenomenal...