412 virtues

[lansdownplace]

I find posting from my mobile is the biggest bar to good grammar (It
is spelt with an A, my english teacher literally beat that spelling
lesson into me during prep in my first week at senior school!) and
spelling. Personally I don't care how people write so long as they
write something. I am dyslexic and I never ever hand write anything
as a result, if I have to write something on flipcharts in a meeting
for example I ask someone to do it for me, it never causes me the
slightest embarrassment. One thing I have learned though, is that a
lack of formal education is absolutely no bar to success in life,
academia included (story for another place).

One of the big attractions of the Bristol brand, as they put it
themselves, is that they are cars for individuals. That is pretty
inclusive I think and it is a passion that can be indulged on pretty
much any budget. I find that wherever I turn up at in a Bristol I make
new friends. My Landie doesn't seem to offend anyone which is why I
drive that as a backup. Other than that I have found that pretty much
every other premium brand car I have driven has caused someone a
problem somewhere. I wouldn't even consider something with a prancing
dobbin on the bonnet as it is the quickest possible way of getting up
everyones' nose.

Anyway, back to the virtues of the 412. I was at the Haynes Motor
museum today enjoying the huge array of cars they have there. What I
did find very striking was that some of the most iconic cars which
photograph really well don't look that good in real life from many
angles. I was quite gutted when I saw a real Corvette Stingray for the
first time. It looks absolutely stunning in pictures, but quite odd
when viewed at the front three quarters angle from eye level. It quite
put me off the car. The american muscle cars were the same. The
Countach lacked the presence it has in photos. On the other hand, I
have always wondered what the fuss was about the Gordon Keeble, but
having seen a real on today I get it now. The Jenson CV-8 headlights
look marginally less awful than their pictures.

The 412 doesn't always photograph very well from the conventional
shooting angles, which is a shame as it has great presence and scale,
it looks fantastic from other angles particularly with the roof off or
with the hard top on. Because there are so few of them most people
won't get to see a real one. Morgan estimated that you need 3000 cars
on the road in UK to ensure that everyone will have seen one at some
point. On that basis there is probably less than a 50:1 chance
somebody will have seen a real 412 at some point.

regards

Paul