The Jensen Owners' Club

That's beautiful, do you remember Martin in kings Cross at the American Car Clinic(i think it was called) Barrie? He used always have plenty of Bristols there that he worked on? Lovely Cars, sort of always bought by Doctors, Dentists that sort of Ilk of people... Strangely Barrie I have just built a 400Ci for my Interceptor, they are short stroke so rev quickly like a 383ci but have the same pistons as a 440Ci, they were low comp engines though, so we up't the comp ratio on our one to 10.5:1 and put Alloy heads on it.. hoping it won't Detonate though

Talking of Bristols, I have just been reading an article about Bristol which sums up the well known story. For the unaware amongst us:
http://www.curbsideclassic.com/automoti ... velopment/

Spotted this Triumph earlier in Dartmouth outside Royal Castle Hotel.

Had to get a closer look.

Daily driver ....

John P

I had a Cortina MK3 with mirrors up there out on the front wings, you could never see much and I removed them. I wonder what the thinking was having them so far forward? Probably OK on a car that was short.

Steve

Steve Payne wrote:I wonder what the thinking was having them so far forward?

I would think that so far forward there will not be much of a blind spot which of course is an advantage. Whether this weighs up against the impracticality (tiny view, setting the mirrors would be a chore) remains to be seen. I kept the original mounted wing (bonnet) mirrors on my Imp, these give an excellent view. No need for door mirrors.

One thought at the time as that you don't need to re-focus your eyes so much, or move your head so far. I'm happy with either.

Mike

A few shots from my trip around west London on Saturday. I have no idea what's under the covers though.

The frustrating traffic jam scuppered my plans to get home early on a Friday. But that did allow me to grab this pic.
Does this count?

Richie wrote:Does this count?

.. Thank you Richie, Barrie will proud of you too

What the pic doesn't show is that there was lots of smoke from the chimney.
Smelled great.

Richie wrote:What the pic doesn't show is that there was lots of smoke from the chimney.
Smelled great.

Like the front room of your Grandma's house in the late 60's.. beautiful smell of burning coal Richie

Just seen in New Jersey,US.

Steve Payne wrote:I had a Cortina MK3 with mirrors up there out on the front wings, you could never see much and I removed them. I wonder what the thinking was having them so far forward? Probably OK on a car that was short.

Steve

As with many things you have to view this in a historical context. Until it was legislated, car manufacturers did not design external mirrors into the car design and made no specific provision for them to be mounted anywhere. Until speeds and traffic volumes increased significantly they were considered a luxury and an aftermarket accessory only.
If you then go back to cars like this there was nowhere else to fit them except the front wing (or fender if you are in the US) so external mirrors in the main were designed by accessory manufacturers to fit this type of panel on multiple cars. Although it was possible to buy aftermarket door mirrors they would usually be clip-on that would fix to the quarter light vertical but not all cars had those and remember, because they were made by aftermarket accessory manufacturers they had to be for the most part universal fitments. It was easy to fit them under the wings which in those days mostly had no wheel arch protection panels so the mirror manufacturers and dealer and DIY fitters just continued as they always had done. Back in those days no one really gave a thought to how much better they might have been if mounted on the doors. Even into the 1970's they were still an optional extra and many drivers still thought them un-necessary.

A nice little gathering at a local pub today.

Just a couple of Maserati's from their club's European tour today. Two hundred entrants apparently but I only counted around the hundred mark. Still not something you see everyday. No idea what models they are but I'm sure there are are plenty that know.