13 replies to this topic

[mab01uk]

When London was a better place and had classic cars on every street!

 

 

 

[MIGLIACARS]

When London was a better place and had classic cars on every street!

 

Wow is that what London used to look like.

It certainly doesn't look like that anymore.

Totally unrecognizable.

[xrocketengineer]

Cool video! For some reason, my brain kept expecting "Austin Powers" to pop up at any time, but not a note pad with derivatives and integrals.    

[Cooperman]

It seems like yesterday to me.
I loved the red Cortina GT at the beginning. In 1967 I had a white one. And the girls - WOW. They were gorgeous and so elegantly dressed. No torn jeans, just lovely mini-dresses.
If only we could go back to what were, for many of us better times. I was 26 and my cars were the Cortina GT and a 1963 Mini 850. I was working on the design team of the Concorde.

[OzOAP]

No one was fat!

[Cooperman]

No one was fat!

 

That is absolutely right and I hadn't noticed.

Also, no-one was black, although I am not saying that is a good thing you understand, just an observation.

Of course styles change, but however did we get to the current fashions for scruffy torn clothes, everyone dressing the same, branded T-shirts and tops. 

To think that I used to wear a jacket, or a suit, and a tie to work every day back then. Had I not, the design office manager would have 'had a word'.

Maybe things are better today. More young people have cars and we do have social media. 

But we had more freedom back then. Our every move was not tracked by CCTV. Crime was lower and less violent.

Driving was so much easier and more pleasant. The Cooper 'S' was a high-performance car, unlike now when it is a slow old car compared to modern small cars (still fun though).

The strange thing is that my 23-year-old grandson says that when he looks at my photos and records it makes him wish he could have been young then.

I guess we all look back with a rosy glow to when we were young, and those on here who are young now will do so when they are older.

But, the mid-1960's were a great time. True there were some social issues like gender equality, social deprivation in some areas, but I do think, in general, we were all happier. There was full employment for those who wanted to work. I could even ask a girl I worked with to go out with me without fearing being accused of harassment.

But the big thing was there was no such thing as 'political correctness' or 'uman rites'.

[jomaoliveira79]

Lovely A35 at 7:25 going psichadelic!

[mab01uk]

No one was fat!

 

Probably because apart from a fish and chip shop there were not several take-away food shops on every high street open all hours. Kentucky Fried Chicken opened its first branch in Preston in 1965 and the first McDonald’s opened in Woolwich, South-East London, in 1974. Also the emerging supermarkets did not yet have the wide selection of ready meals and convenience junk food on sale today.....

Edited by mab01uk, 14 August 2018 - 10:25 PM.

[Mike L]

With the old videos that get posted on I keep wondering when someone is going to say “Hey that’s my mom” or dad or grandma or something like that.

[Cooperman]

I found a Pathe clip of the 1966 Monte Carlo Rally control at Dover and in the first few seconds there was the 25 year old Cooperman with the NSU1000TTS with my driver Alec Lobb.
Then lots of other old friends like Rosemary in her works Imp.
Happy days!

[mab01uk]

I found a Pathe clip of the 1966 Monte Carlo Rally control at Dover and in the first few seconds there was the 25 year old Cooperman with the NSU1000TTS with my driver Alec Lobb.
Then lots of other old friends like Rosemary in her works Imp.
Happy days!

 

 

Cars and drivers leaving snow-covered Dover to take part in the 1966 Monte Carlo Rally.

[Cooperman]

That's the one. I am the guy who walks round the back of the NSU, no.76, within the first few seconds whilst Alec checks the straps on the roof-rack mounted spare wheels which were being taken to our service crews who we met in France. My goodness, our 'works' 1000 cc NSU was very slow with those wheels on, but after they were removed in France before the special stages started it went very well.

[jomaoliveira79]

Sorry to bother you Cooperman but being a british team how/why did you got an NSU with so many period competitive british cars? Please tell us more of that particular adventure and your thoughts about that car so rare nowadays...

[Cooperman]

My great friend an the driver with whom I did a lot of international and national rallies was an NSU dealer.
We were asked by NSU to do the Monte in an NSU1000TTS which was a good little car. It was as good as the Imp in the class.
I recall that I was paid on a per-dium basis for the practice and whilst on the event so it was quite profitable.
Unfortunately the French NSU crew who were running ahead of us and who we were beating had the service crew put a set of our Dunlop studded tyres on their car, leaving us with tyres with less studs for a few special stages. We went off the road on a downhill left hander and lost too much time so we retired.
Most of my rallying then was in a Lotus-Cortina on big events and navigating a Cooper S on club rallies. I sometimes drove my Cortina GT on club rallies.
Great times!