Cafe Racers and a 'British' style for cars...

Just found this on e-bay.



I reckon a better-looking roll bar (or two roll-hoops) would bring this right into the café-racer criteria

EDIT: Let's see if this pic comes out any bigger

You know those threads you come across every now and again that are just downright dangerous.

This. This is one of those threads.

Seems to be that there are a couple of consistent themes coming out here, which fit brilliantly with our cultural DNA. The first is a late-60s racer style speedster, cut-down windscreen or stripped out as light as possible, muted colours and/or race livery, dark wheels.










It seems we've had an obsession with lightness beyond pretty much any other country, even before Colin 'never give a washer a free ride' Chapman. Dead happy if obsessional and creative spartan lightness was one of our things. The pig-headed determination to drive around a completely roofless car in a country with an average of 133 days of rain a year feels very British too.

Then on the other side, you've got the Bentley Boys. Racers of the worlds fastest tractors. Honking great luxury tanks (for our standards), still modified with an eye to lightness, but definitely speed of the freight train variety. Again, subdued with darker wheels and not-so-shouty paint. Cars that will take walnut trim as fast as walnut trim has ever traveled.





Yep. I'd be dead happy with those as themes.

Have me eyeing up the spare Spitfire shell I have in my garage and the XJ40 sitting outside...

I think it is real, but it's a scale model. 1/18 at a guess.

That was the one in particular that has me looking at my Spitfire shell...

Although looking at it the dish on the rear wheels looks achievable (they're quite far in on rotoflex models), but you won't be able to get that much dish on the fronts without arches...

Still. Do want.

On you go then, and put up a build thread, that would look awesome as a road car!

More info required, if you pleeease 

I like the Vincent


But I like the Sammio Spyder more, and I'll add that to my list of cars ive never heared of before.


Both suited to the cafe racer look, but the Spyder moreso.

My only concern with the Spyder is a bit of a banana profile, looks good in that shot above though.

Black wires on a dark red/plum car with (satin?) gold details looks to be a very safe cafe racer formula. I like that lots.