> William Clay Ford also has an interest in classic cars and he's looking to
> buy a 1960s Jaguar XJS roadster or a 1960s Aston Martin DB4 or DB5, which is
> the Aston model used in the 1960s James Bond movies. Ford owns Aston Martin
> and Jaguar.
Quite a coincidence that the above message arrived while I was typing
in the following:
Took the family on a short vacation (4 days) to the Smoky Mountains
the weekend of July 17. Talk about some winding roads! Even though
we were in the family car (Mazda 929), loaded to the hilt, it was
great fun tossing around the hills, even though the speeds never got
much above 25 mph.
There's a very nice car museum in Pigeon Forge, TN, (home of
Dollywood, Dolly Parton's amusement park!) that I like to visit.
Only one British car, though: the customized Aston-Martin DB5 used
in two James Bond movies. I purchased a postcard containing 3 shots
of this car and have scanned it in. I'll post another message once it
is converted to GIF and put on hoosier. The propaganda on the
postcard states:
"James Bond Secret Agent 007 Customized Aston-Martin DB-5
This car was used in the movies 'Goldfinger' and 'Thunderball.' Has:
Opening Roof & Ejector Seat, Bullet Shield, Telescopic Over-Riders,
Retractable Machine Guns, Revolving Number Plates, Tire Cutters, Radar
Scanner & Screen, Telephone."
Other cars of interest at this museum are: Buford "Walking Tall"
Pusser's 1968 Olds Toronado Patrol car; Al Capone's bullet-proof 1928
Cadillac (small rear window flips down to allow machine guns to be
fired); a Mercedes-Benz sedan once owned by Elvis Presley; a must-be-
seen-to-be-believed early '70s vintage Pontiac Bonneville convertible
formerly owned by Hank Williams, Jr., in which every possible
hand-operated control is a six-shooter (door handles, steering wheel
[several six-shooters connected into a circle], gearshift knob,
radio controls, you name it). Besides the Bond car, perhaps my
favorite was a car called an Allstate, which was sold through Sears.
Only about 300 of these were built. Kind of neat, looks like an
early Triumph GT6 (with the small tail fins), only bigger and with a
back seat. If you are ever in the Gatlinburg, TN area, I recommend a
trip through this museum.
Another side trip was to take the youngster to a nearby petting zoo.
Well, the brochure said it was nearby, but it was at least 20 miles
from our rental condo. We took a different route coming back, and I
glanced over to a row of dead cars in a field by the road, and there
in the weeds was a Sunbeam Alpine. I should have taken a picture,
diamonds in the rough etc., but the kid was acting up, so we didn't
stop.
On the main drag in Pigeon Forge, just up the street from the above-
mentioned car museum, used to be a row of Nash Metropolitans in front
of a gas station. There were at least 4 of them, all different
colors. I recall a blue one, pink, yellow, and black. Each time we
drove through Pigeon Forge I looked for these cars so I could take a
picture, but they were nowhere to be seen. I guess the city officials
decided they were an eyesore and forced the owner to move them. Too
bad, they were always fun to see, quite a distinctive line-up.
I've also scanned in a photo of a Daimler SP-250 Dart at speed in a
vintage race. As with the DB5 photo, I'll post a separate message
when it is available as a GIF on hoosier.
--
T.J. Higgins | higgins@ingr.com | Intergraph Mapping Sciences | Huntsville, AL
"You have entered the Twilight Zone
Beyond this world strange things are known" -- Rush
|