My Lola @ AutoRama

[henk4]

That one has 40,000 road miles.

Best

I never doubted that, but now she looks like a trailer queen

[LandQuail]

I'd like to write a book someday about the intricacies of the clean car/dirty car dilemma.

Sure, a Porsche 917 in Gulf livery is a gorgeous, gorgeous thing. But isn't it best viewed as it crossed the finish at Le Mans — complete with oil streaks and pitted windscreen?

Following this logic, my Subaru spends a good deal of its life looking like it's just been pulled from the bottom of the ocean — or finished a stage of the Rally G. B.

However, there's a fresh coat of Zymol under there somewhere, and she cleans up pretty good. If I was taking it to AutoRama (that'll be the day), it'd be shiny. But if I am on my way to go autocrossing, you'll catch me ridin' dirty.

Racers put out to pasture like Jim's T 70 sit astride the clean/dirty line. Their double lives muddle the equation. Other cars are much simpler:

Best Presented Dirty.
• MGBs (and anything else you'd need a tweed cap and mustache to drive)
• Range Rovers/Discos (duh)
• Anything that ever bore any conceivable connection to a famously successful rally car (that's you, diaper-polishing Stratos owners and EVO/STi addicts)
• Nissan Sylines (for that 'I just got back from an illegal race through downtown Tokyo, what did you do with your Saturday' look)
• Pre-993 Porsches (they're all dirty in America anyway)
• American Musclecars

Best Presented Clean.
• Ferrari roadcars. All of them.
• Anything from BMW's M Division
• Post-993 Porsches
• Anything by a designer/coachbuilder with more vowells than consanants in his name (good rule of thumb)
• The Rolls/Bentley contingent and their ilk (except Camargue, which is best presented with coked-up cut-rate callgirls draped casually over the wings, relaxing with bottles of Vermouth in chaise lounges bungee-corded to the roof and hanging out the boot)

Of course, for every rule, there's an exception. The book would need such chapter titles as 'Dirt vs. Grease: You think you know, but you have no idea, 'Look, Mom, I've bought a Maserati! Oh, Shit! It's a Biturbo!' and 'Suggesting to a Concourse Judge where next to place his White-Gloved Finger' to fully explore this fascinating subject.

Yep, I've got the makings of a NYT bestseller. All I need is some financial backing, so if anybody on this thread knows anybody...

Just kidding.
Cheers.

[Napolis]

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

Nice shot you lucky git. That P4/5 was awesome, btw. Just saying.

EDIT: And LandQuail, you crack me up dude. Ta much.

[LandQuail]

Wow. I guess imagining a T 70 (or anything like it) sharing the highway with all the rest of it isn't the same as seeing a photograph. That's something.

Way to keep em' on the road — damn the torpedoes.

[Pando]

[IMG]

How about a game of guess that car interior?

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

Rolls-Royce, methinks

[rev440]

Jim, I saw your car on FCHAT. I wish I coulda made it up to Detroit but couldnt. Will the P4/5 be there anytime soon?

Thanks,
Nate

[McReis]

How about a game of guess that car interior?

Too easy. It's a Daytona.

[Napolis]

Jim, I saw your car on FCHAT. I wish I coulda made it up to Detroit but couldnt. Will the P4/5 be there anytime soon?

Thanks,
Nate

P 4/5 will be over in Europe for Villa d'Est, The Historic Targa Florio, and possibly FOS.

Best