Shittycar cards are back!

[Karmann Ghiaman]

The charity shops have, once again, unleashed their treasures and I have amassed a few more postcards featuring our favourite theme, SHITE DOWN THE AGES.

 

Here's one that's 101 years old; little do those horses know, their days are numbered:

 

 

Talking of The City, I find this newspaper report from 1929, the Year that is twinned with 2009:

 

Shares of 7 companies controlled by 50-year old City financier, Clarence Hatry, had been falling early in September, and at the end of the third week these companies, valued at more than £10,000,000, collapsed. Hatry was arrested on charges of fraud. The following year Mr Justice Avory sentenced him to 14 years' imprisonment. After listening to Hatry's defence, the judge said: "It is nothing more or less than the threadbare plea of every clerk or servant who robs his master and says that he hoped to repay the money before his crime was discovered by backing a winner."

 

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Let's hope that the present bunch of crooks get similar sentences, ha ha ha.

 

Now there's only one horse left in London but we find FOUR cars (front one is a taxi) and a motorised omnibus:

 

 

(That's the kind of bus Boris Johnson will soon be bringing back.)

 

This card is from a place called WENDUINE - is it in Holland?

 

 

It was sent to Mrs V.J. Allard in Isleworth, but as the message was written in postwar biro, I think it was already old when posted. Unless that ancient car was still pootling about there in the '50s? The church is horrible, but the photographer seems to have appreciated the fine piece of Bauhaus in front of it. Apparently The children are a bit of trial in the morning and getting to bed, though luckily the weather has been grand.

[Karmann Ghiaman]

Staying in Europe for a bit, here's the classic tourist shot of Gay Paree:

 

 

...including a lot of shite. Note the Mini, 3rd from the left, and that red Beetle which seems to get everywhere. You Renner fans will, of course, find some old friends here too:

 

 

Meanwhile, over in Germany we have a Drive in the Black Forest (to the shite-infested town of Triberg):

 

 

It will forever remain a mystery as to why Edmund von Koenig (Kunstverlag) focussed specifically on the carpark, but as you see, that day it was full of beauties!

[Karmann Ghiaman]

Time for the Lavenham Saga. Anybody ever been there? It seems like a pleasant place, once blessed with its own postcard photographer, B.O. Sewell (could it be Brian Sewell, poncey-voiced art critic & occasional car reviewer? Probably not.)

 

 

The scanner is not being helpful about magnifying details of Medieval Lavenham, but there's a very nice two-tone Cortina top left, and a blue MG in Water Street. Some sort of Austin A40 outside the Guildhall? And a yellow Zephyr (I think).

 

More interesting parking outside the Guildhall. Back of a Zodiac and a bit of a Minx?

 

 

Sewell makes a fatal mistake and takes a picture without classic shite in it!

 

 

Didn't really want to buy that one, but it must have got stuck to one of the others. Nice street furniture however. No doubt many more ugly roadsigns & double yellow lines have since been added.

 

Where is Lavenham anyway?

[pogweasel]

 

 

The scanner is not being helpful about magnifying details of Medieval Lavenham, but there's a very nice two-tone Cortina top left, and a blue MG in Water Street. Some sort of Austin A40 outside the Guildhall? And a yellow Zephyr (I think).

 

 

I think top left your two-tone car is actually a Ford Consul Classic.

 

And bottom right is (correctly) A40, yellow 100E popular/Anglia & blue Ford Corsair.

 

Lavenham is Suffolk isn't it?

[Jason A]

Lavenham's in Suffolk I think.Nice postcards from a golden age of park where you feel like it and not have to pay. Blackforest looks lovely by the way, anyone ever been there?

[Karmann Ghiaman]

Thank you pogweasel & Jason. I have been to Germany a couple of times and did walk in a big forest, possibly part of the Schwarzwald (near Solingen). It was black alright; no sunlight shone through the thick trees and the ground was covered in pinecones. Expected to find a gingerbread house any moment and was quite relieved to get out without meeting any giants, trolls, witches or dwarves...

[AXrescuer]

I love Lavenham. A lot of the Lovejoy TV series was filmed there back in the 90s.

[Spottedlaurel]

What a neat coincidence. I was walking around Lavenham (which is definitely in Suffolk, just a few miles from where I was born and grew up) but two days ago. Had tea in The Swan and walked past The Guildhall. Regrettably the cars parked up were nowhere near as interesting, although I did manage a couple of spots elsewhere including a rather intriguing Commer food van of some sort.The parking is still free, in terms of cost and where people actually leave their car.The barn used for filming Lovejoy was where we got married.

[michiel]

Nice cards & words, Wenduine is on the Belgian coast actually, but great card that one!

[Karmann Ghiaman]

Nice cards & words, Wenduine is on the Belgian coast actually, but great card that one!

Thought you might know, michiel. that explains why the card is labelled in Flemish & French - should have realised! Imagine Lovejoy and spottedlaurel being in Lavenham. Small world.

[lovejoy]

Did someone mention my name ? Blast ! I've been rumbled.....(answers on a period postcard, please, to "Tinkers Cottage", 22 Laurel Lane, Lavenham, Sufferfolk. This first correct one wins a purple moggie 1000 convertible)

[Karmann Ghiaman]

Here's another Belgian card, this time it's the big St Peter & Paul's church (not cathedral) in Ostend. Maybe the Allards got this at the same time as the trip to Wenduine?

 

 

Well, there is some very nice stuff parked here. Good view of a commercial VW splitty and there is a 2CV just visible towards the far right. And is that a black KG parked opposite the van?!?

 

 

Note how the photographer has just managed to squeeze the ugly parking sign in. I'm sure michiel can i/d a few other cars there. Not to be outdone by the Belgians, the man from Judges manages to get a couple of interestingly-parked vehicles into this shot of Norwich Cathedral:

 

 

A black Minx and perhaps part of some sort of Ford?

 

A nice four-framer from my birthplace:

 

 

Much excellent tat, including a soft-top Land Rover parked in the famous High Street, drowning any architecture which might get in the way. The crowd of people further down are waiting for buses as that was (and still is) Queen's Lane bus stop. The pretty traffic island markers have long since been replaced with plastic crap ones like everywhere else.

 

 

Closer up. The 'Bridge of Sighs' that links two bits of Hertford College looks quite good until you see the real thing in Venice. People obviously used to enjoy parking on that corner.

 

Talking of Oxford, here's a shabby car I photographed during an enjoyable moment in a traffic jam on Magdalen Bridge there last year:

 

 

(A fox skull to ward off traffic wardens).

[pogweasel]

Black car in 'Norwich Cathedral' is I think an ADO16 of possible Riley flavour. Or I might be totally wrong and it's a Simca 1301. Other one is deffo a mk1 escort, which today is worth £8.3bn

[Karmann Ghiaman]

Certainly Rileys had those wraparound front bumpers. Escort must date Norwich to early '70s.

 

A bit of trouble with the technology, but here's a close-up of Nikita so you can read their witty stickers (which are probably holding that Shitroen together):

 

 

No doubt those students would be very proud to know that their decorations, if not the car itself, have appeared on the net (even if it isn't Facebook or YouTube).

 

Finally a classic postcard and not a car in sight:

 

 

This card is still important, though, because it clears up some of the Mystery of the Allards. It is addressed to the Rev & Mrs V.J. Allard, now (1975) living at Stanstead. As they always lived near them, I therefore suspect that Rev Allard was an AIRPORT VICAR.

 

Those rocks don't look too comfortable. Lucky they've got good thick flourescent towelling bikini bottoms! (I was hoping that Pedro's boat said WEST END SHAG on it, but sadly, SKIING seems more likely).

 

Anybody else got a few shiteworthy postcards?