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Post by EspadaIII on Jan 8, 2024 13:49:42 GMT
The boys reminded me that it is about eight years since we last went to Paris for Retromobile. They fancy going again for a bit of bonding with their aging father... So off we go in February. Quite looking forward to it. Somehow it has a bit more style than British shows and fewer cars all sporting the same BMC engine...
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Post by Humph on Jan 8, 2024 13:59:29 GMT
…and there’s the wine, the cheese, the coffee, the croissants…
😉
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jan 8, 2024 14:14:19 GMT
…andouillette…
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Post by Humph on Jan 8, 2024 14:21:04 GMT
Are those the ones where ya have to stand up?
😉
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jan 8, 2024 15:11:02 GMT
No, but they smell similar.
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Post by EspadaIII on Jan 8, 2024 16:55:04 GMT
…and there’s the wine, the cheese, the coffee, the croissants… 😉 What did the Romans (French) do for us...  I secretly suspect they only suggested it to get some decent food paid for by Dad. A nice crispy baguette with slices of creamy brie or camenbert. |
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jan 8, 2024 17:59:26 GMT
Won’t a Prêt one do?
(I know the answer. Prêt hasn’t been worth a visit since it dropped Crayfish & Rocket — although possibly not a favourite of la famille Esp.)
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Jan 8, 2024 20:12:37 GMT
A nice way to spend time with your boys when you share a common interest.
My boys have no interest in anything automotive, my daughter is the petrolhead. She's already got her eyes on the ST. I've told her she can pay the extra insurance if she wants to drive it knowing no one will insure anyone under 25 to drive it. Oops, did I forget to mention that ?
Enjoy the trip EspIII, creating memories.
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Post by Humph on Jan 8, 2024 22:14:06 GMT
An Italian friend tells me that it’s more or less impossible (maybe he even said illegal but I’ll not swear to it) to insure anything over 1000cc for under 25 year olds in Italy. Hence there being quite a choice of reasonable sized vehicles with small engines available in that market.
Come to think, they do a 1 litre version of the Renegade for example.
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Post by dixinormus on Jan 9, 2024 1:14:55 GMT
Hence the Fiat twinair engine too, perhaps?
Maybe the Japanese had it right years ago with all those 660cc microcars?!
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Jan 9, 2024 1:32:24 GMT
Surely with today's forced induction engines this is bullshit?? A 1.2l 3 cylinder Stellantis/PSA engine can do 130PS with lots of torque. Much more flexible than a 2.0l GM/VX engine in the early 90s. So similar power/torque advantages for the smaller petrols mentioned too.
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Jan 9, 2024 6:49:51 GMT
As a result of the 1970s fuel crisis Italy introduced a punitive tax on anything over 2 litres. This led to Ferrari sleeving down the 308 and creating the 208. A turbo was then added to the 208 in the early 80s once Ferrari got to grips with them in F1 (yes SAAB, BMW etc were doing it on road cars before then).
Quite a few interesting V6 and V8 2.0 turbos existed in the Italian market like the 2.0 Alfa 75 V6 turbo. We didn't see these, we had access to 2.5 and 3.0 V6.
Now the Bollo tax (road tax) is based on horsepower. At €2.50 per PS it quickly mounts up. You don't see many, if any, Mercedes A45S AMG models.
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Post by EspadaIII on Jan 9, 2024 10:28:27 GMT
That's the beauty of the European car shows; they exhibit a wide variety of cars we simply didn't see in the UK. Last time I saw a beautifully restored Porsche 912. I didn't realise they existed until then. Having a lighter rear end probably made it much less tail happy in the 1970s.
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Post by EspadaIII on Feb 5, 2024 15:43:42 GMT
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Post by EspadaIII on Feb 5, 2024 15:45:29 GMT
Apropos of Humph's retirement I was at retromobile yesterday and saw this lovely Austin Healey 3000 for sale at only EUR 99,500.
Saw lots of other stuff which my boys photoed but I also have some nice Fiat 500 (1950 - 1070s) model pictures and a 1991 Panda for Humph to go all warm and fuzzy over
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