Happy New Year
everyone, hope you had a 'good one' as the vernacular goes! Welcome to 2017,
out with the old and in with the new and all that. Strange phrase that, and in
the case of classic car enthusiasts, it's surely the wrong thing to say?
In fact, it more
accurately follows that as owners of more mature vehicles we are quite
interested in 'the old', arguably more than most. It goes with the territory it
kind of has to. Therefore, when we are enjoying our ageing prides and joys we
surely realise that we are indulging in the lachrymose state of nostalgia and
that is definitely something that relates to the past.
If you're wondering
why I'm stating what some would argue is the bleedin' obvious I do have a good
reason for my train of thought: Recently, I was lucky enough to be given a
box full of old Autocar magazines. When I say old, I mean very old. The earliest I have is dated 1933; it's the
best part of a century since it was published.
Let's put that into
perspective: It was the decade of Art Deco, typified by the era's most
audacious edifice The Empire State Building on which the paint was only just
dry. The Plaza Cinema in Stockport had been open for a year and was probably
showing the original version of King Kong which was released that year. It
was also the year Sir Henry Royce died.
The most advanced form
of transport was the Airship which still had a smoking room! And, to nobody's
alarm, a one Adolf Hitler had been elected as Chancellor of Germany. How things
changed in the intervening years.
Of the magazines, the
most interesting are the special editions covering the London Olympia car show that
shone a spotlight on the automotive culture of the day where all that was new in the car world was proudly showcased.
It's the same today
of course. When a new car launches it's still at a big car expo in places like
Paris, Geneva or London with copious fanfare, lots of PR and, best of all,
scantily clad women draping themselves alluringly over the latest in car
innovation. Back in 1933, it was much the same except the women were men
dressed in tweeds and smoking a pipe.
What the magazines
reveal is a cornucopia of cars and car-related ephemera from makers that we
have heard of like: Ford, Morris, Riley, Dunlop and Exide. More engaging is the
information on companies that have long since disappeared. These firms offered
exotic, hand-built vehicles that now exist only in legend or when they appear
in exclusive car auctions. Names like Delage, Hispano Suiza, Palmer and Invicta.
One forgotten marque,
mentioned often, is SS cars, which as we all know, became something else: a
brand everybody has heard of and which had its roots in Stockport. If you don't
know that story it's time to read my 'Our William' blog!
As interesting, are
the supporting advertisements that pepper all the magazines. These offer
products that were required to keep you on the road in 1933 some of which we
cannot conceive of needing today. What about a device to convert paraffin into
gasoline or a home chrome plating kit? Maybe you needed the wagtail wiper
system and, best of all, a special light that says ‘thank you’ for considerate
motoring – such a polite society in 1933!
I can't even imagine
many of us look at our cars and consider them the very zenith of modernity no
matter how unique and innovative they were when launched. It's the same with
the contents of these Autocar volumes. Reading the articles, you understand why the writers were enthused by the remarkable advancements in
motor technology however ordinary they seem today. Despite flaunting features
that we would eschew as less than standard, in the early thirties they were the
best the age could offer and features the car owner of the mid-thirties could
look forward to improving their motoring lives.
Flip forward
eighty-odd years to the untrained eye the cars pictured look old fashioned;
heavy and slow. Your nostrils may metaphorically wrinkle from the reek of gasoline and to hear them in action most would have been as noisy as a
steam train and just as unpleasant to drive.
And that I think is
my point. ‘New’ is such a transitory concept. As soon as something new has been
consumed it transitions to become the everyday and ultimately the old. It
doesn’t matter whether it’s 1933 or 2017 the flow of progress, however
remarkable the innovation, will render all things either obsolete or classic
and nostalgic.
That decision is ours
to make and fortunately it’s a personal one too. It’s part of the process by
which we collectively decide the classic cars we own and the films, music,
clothes etc. we consider timeless or nostalgic.
Luckily, because were
all free thinking individuals, it means we have different opinions ensuring the
car showing circuit brims with a diverse range of motors, including some of those showcased way back in 1933, and that, as we can all agree, is a good
thing!
