Cars of London Supplement to England Vacation
(September & October 2005)
Bob and I saw many cars that are not available in the
Land of Free.
It makes one wonder how free we really are. The most notable are listed in this
page. Enjoy!
This is an
Aston Martin
DB7. If this is a DB7 Vantage, it is powered by a 6-liter V12, otherwise a
still-powerful six cylinder is lurking under the hood. This car is about the
size of a 1990s Ford Thunderbird.
This car is the only one on this page that is available in this country.
As I recall we saw this car near Gloucester Road in South Kensington.
Notice the Bentley and Jaguar XK8 in the background. The XK8 and the Aston are
sister cars.
The
BMW 1 Series is not available in this country. It's a rear-wheel drive
hatchback. Hmm, so it's like my old Chevy
Chevette...
Mercedes makes a competitor (also unavailable here) called the A Series. The
boys at
Top Gear
initially hated it because it handled terribly and tended to roll-over.
As I recall we saw this BMW near Abbey Road in St John's Wood.
These are
BMW C 1 City Scooters.
Yup, that's a scooter with a roof. What will they think of next?
I remember
laughing when I first saw photos of the prototype about a decade ago. Perhaps
that's why this scooter will never make it to our shores?
We saw these scooters near the hideous
Millenium Bridge
on the north bank.
This is a
Morgan
Plus 8. Though it looks old it is a fairly modern car despite having a wooden
frame.
We saw this car in the courtyard of Westminster School near Westminister Abbey.
This is a Nissan
Figaro.
And it was built in 1991. No, I haven't mixed up the photos. That '50s
style car is a curious little thing. I guess it makes
quite splash
too.
It is such a different car that it stumped both Bob and I. I had to use the
Internet to track it down.
I forget where we photographed this car. It looks like Baker Street in
Marylebone.
This is a
Smart ForTwo.
It's a clever city car that is very small in person. There's a modern Mini in
front of it so you can see the size difference. And here's
another picture
for scaling!
We saw this little car near Abbey Road in St John's Wood.
This is the
Smart
Roadster. It's based on the Smart urban car pictured above.
The Smart Roadster is my favorite car on this page. It looks fun and cheap to
run, just like my MG. I would buy a Smart Roadster if they ever come to our
dealers.
We saw the Smart Roadster in Whitechapel behind Whitechapel Road. Notice the
bicycle cop talking to the guy in the background of the first photo? Well, this
area of the East End was quite rough last time I was in
Jack the Ripper's hometown.
Scotland Yard has really cleaned it up. Perhaps it is a result of the Tube
attacks on London because a lot of Muslims live in Whitechapel?
This is a
Tasso Bingo. (or Gee Whiz)
It is tiny. You cannot imagine it unless you see it. I wouldn't mind being able
to park perpendicular in a parallel parking spot!
It's only a little bit longer than a Jaguar sedan is wide. Amazing!
We saw this car near Abbey Road in St John's Wood.
That's most of the unusual cars we saw in London. To read about the rest of the
trip click
here.
