Va Va Vrooom

Part of the reason that I haven't had a great deal of travel to talk of late about on what is, after all, a travel blog, is that I've been trying to keep a low profile and avoid spending too much money until I get a job. Which means confining oneself to the cheaper pursuits in life. Yesterday however, I managed to go and see the National Portrait Gallery and the British Motorshow, all for the cost of a 5 pound train ticket. Not a bad effort. The first port of call was the Portrait Gallery, which houses all the paintings of the royals and various other famous Brits, dating from the 16th Century onwards, when paintings first came into existence as a valid means of preserving someone's image. Some of the paintings are magnificent in terms of scope and size. When wandering through the gallery, particularly the earlier era, when the Tudors and Stuarts ruled, you are constantly reminded what a grim and merciless bunch they all were. Lots of people depicted in the portraits died of what would definitely be described as unnatural causes, although undoubtedly they were quite natural at the time. Beheaded, killed in battle, syphilis, murdered, poisoned, stabbed etc. I would recommend paying the gallery a visit, since you don't really have to be interested in art to appreciate it, which is always handy for someone like me, who couldn't give a rats arse about bowls of fruit or vases of sunflowers.

From the Portrait Gallery I made my way out to the Docklands, rattling my way along the District and Jubilee tube lines, then on the Docklands Light Rail. I normally wouldn't have bothered going all the way out to the motorshow except a friend of ours managed to score some free tickets, so I felt obliged to go and see what was out there. I'm glad I did as well, since it was worth the effort. It's brilliant. Apart from all the standard car companies, you've also got companies like Aston, Lotus, Bentley and you can go and climb into their cars. The line up for the Bentley and Aston stands was enormous, so I confined myself to photos, but I did manage to get myself into a Lotus Elise. The driving position is great - you sit a long way down into the car and your legs extend out horizontally from your body to the pedals, like if you were sitting up in bed. The result is a low down driving position that would be perfect for when you're going around corners at 100 kph, something that's perfectly feasible in a Lotus. I would've loved to have gone there with Evan, one of the guys I used to live with at Enoggera - he's far more educated in the way of the car than I, and undoubedtly would've been able to appreciate the finer points of what was on display than me, who is limited to saying "Ohhh, shiny."

So, onto the photos.



This is the AF10 concept car. This is made by a company called Arash Cars, who I had never heard of before today. But this reportedly will do in excess of 220mph.Which is fairly brisk, all things considered.


This little number is an Ariel Atom. It has no bodywork, and a supercharged engine from a Honda Civic. But don't be fooled. It will do 0-100 km/h in 2.5 seconds, and will outcorner a motorbike with the greatest of ease. It's mainly designed to be driven on tracks and closed circuits, rather than a practical means of day to day transport.


Standard Aston Martin DB9 Coupe. My theory that this is the best looking car in the world was tested on this day, I can assure you. But I still maintain it is. Like the Spitfire, it just looks right from every angle.


A Citroen C1 that's been attacked by an airbrush, which isn't an uncommon sight here. These cars seem to be very popular amongst ricers. Needless to say, my sister liked this.


A Ferrari F60, better known as a Ferrari Enzo. This is number 20 of the 399 that were built, and is the finest machine ever to come out of the factory at Maranello.


A Ferrari F50, predecessor of the Enzo. This isn't quite as fast, but it's far more brutal. This was designed as a road car for the race track, and from all accounts it was an absolute pig to drive. I say from all accounts because there's no way in hell I'll ever get to drive one.


The Ferrari F40, predecessor to the F50, oddly enough. This would be over 10 years old now, but is still one of the fastest accelerating cars in the world, primarily because it's so light.


The Ford GT. This is the new one, based on the legendary GT40 that won Le Mans 4 years running. This has the same muscular looking body, and huge rear haunches, but is a hell of a lot faster and ruthless. On a flat straight it would actually beat the Enzo for top speed.


This is the new Honda Civic Type R. Now, we haven't seen the new Civic design in Australia yet, which is a pity, because it's quite a good looking car. This keeps the same looks, but adds a faster engine and better handling. I would be quite happy to own one of these, as you could definitely fit a tuba in the boot. Not sure how that would affect the handling though.


Again from Honda, we have here their Formula 1 car that Jenson Button drove, as well as a motorbike that I have no idea about. Dan may be able to elaborate for us.


In the absolute pinnacle of excess from Hummer, we have a Humvee Limousine. Miles per gallon on these things is listed as N/A. How nice. I saw a few of these in America and cursed myself for not taking a photo, so I was quite happy to see one here.


This blingy looking thing is actually a Hyundai - it's a new concept car SUV designed for the American market, hence the gigantic wheels. I think it may prove a bit brash for England or Australia, but you never know. Tastelessness isn't just an American thing.


This is what you would see if you were inside the Jaguar XJ V8. Unlike Holden, you actually get real wood, not plastic woodlike stuff, you get real, proper leather, shagpile carpets underfoot and a sense of absolute contentment. The clock even ticks along for you. It's sort of like sitting in a large, mobile couch.


This is the new Lexus LS460, soon to be on sale in Australia I believe. I was surprised at how large this car was - it's quite a bit bigger than the Jags or the S-Class I saw, and should be a pretty good contender in the prestige saloon market. I would wager that Meakin's Dad is already casting eyes on of these for the future. And well he should. It does look the part.


This is the Lexus SC430. This car is brilliant in every respect but one. It has undoubtedly the most stupid seating arrangement, bar none, of any production car in the world today. For some completely unknown and ridiculous reason, Lexus designed to try and fit 4 people into what is plainly a 2 person car. Granted, this car will only have at most 2 people in it, 99% of the time. So why have the extra two seats at all? It is beyond belief. Let me show you.


You'd struggle to fit a baby in there, let alone a child. I have no idea why they built it like this.


This bizarre gothic looking thing is actually a Maybach concept car, called the Excelero. It's the world's fastest limousine, although how you can call something with 2 seats a limousine is beyond me. However, it is very quick, and represents a substantial departure for a company renowned for it's fairly placid and understated multi-million dollar limos. You would not miss this coming, I assure you.


Same car, but the view from the rear. Make no mistake, this car is lonnnnngggg.


This is another concept car, this time from Mazda. While the car looks somewhat out of place, I was amazed with the interior of this thing. It really does look bizarre. And I don't see how it's possibly going to save you if you have a crash, given it all seems made from plastic and tissue paper. But I guess I don't think they worry about that when they design concepts.


A close up of the interior in question. I mean, look at it. There's no backing in the seat for chrissake, and the gearstick looks like something you'd find on a computer. Maybe that's the point.


The daddy of them all, the mighty McLaren F1. For over a decade, the fastest road going car in the world, until the advent of the Bugatti Veyron. Note the central position of the steering wheel - this car was designed like a Formula 1 car, and so the steering wheel was placed centrally to give the driver the best possible view and handling - which this car needed. It was, frankly, dangerous, with a skittish back end and a penchant to spin wildly.


Another McLaren, this time the McLaren Mercedes SLR. This car draws it's inspiration from a classic which I'll show you shortly. It, like all it's competitors is ludicrously fast, but this one, because it is based on a Mercedes SLK, still retains an element of comfort and leisure. Which is important when you're doing 350 km/h.


One of the most famous, if not the most famous silhouettes in motoring. This is the Mercedes 300SL, more commonly known as the "Gullwing", owing to the birdlike shape the doors make when opened. The door design formed the basis of all supercars today, being the first to employ lifting doors, rather than the more conventional horizontal opening doors on our day to day runabouts.


This is the inevitable fate that awaits Dan Meakin if he persists in his ridiculous trend of riding a motorbike. Get off the pillion and back in your Falcon Dan.


This is the Noble M15. Noble is a British car company, and are almost unheard of outside of Britain. However, they make cars that go like all hell set loose, and, compared to the various supercars, are very affordable. But still, at 75000 pounds for this one I don't think I'll be getting it anytime soon. It's still far cheaper than the next contender though.


The Pagani Zonda. One of these will set you back over 400000 pounds. But you do get the most radical looking car on the market today, and an interior more reminiscient of Versailles than the inside of motorcar. And of course, it goes like hell.


The TVR Sagaris. Top Gear Magazine calls it a car named after a weapon, and says we need more of these. Well, it would certainly keep the birth rate down. TVR's are lethal. They have no airbags, to which TVR's argument has always been "don't crash." However, without ABS, traction control, stability control, steering best described as loose and a rear end with a habit of stepping out wildly, this isn't as easy as it sounds. For 50000 pounds you get something equivalent to machines the Americans build with NASA painted on the side. For madmen only.


And finally, because this is an Australian blog, we have a Monaro. The Vauxhall Monaro as they call it over here. Vauxhall and Holden are both owned by General Motors, so we have the oddity of an Australian car with an American engine sold in Great Britain. The poms seem to like it though.

Well, that concludes the sample of motorshow photos. Hope you enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed wandering around taking them. I'm going to be on tenterhooks a bit tonight - tomorrow I'll find out if I have a job or not. If so, happy days and I'll start on Monday. If not, sod it, and back to the list of applications. We shall see.