Winter is Here. As January draws to a close we’ve had a couple of unseasonably warmer days here in Chicago. Don’t let that fool you! It’s forecast to snow later this week and plunging temperatures are anticipated again. Here’s a classic image of an AA officer coming to the help of a broken-down Hillman Minx.
Sassy Siren – sunny smile under a blue sky. Personalized scrambler with funky tank graphics and well lagged pipes. Workmanlike clogs too. Rosie the Riveter lives!
Throwback Thursday- what better way to enjoy the ‘back-end’ of the week than leap o’er the bumps that can populate the weekdays and head in breakneck fashion towards the weekend. A ’56 Triumph TR5 would be the ideal vehicle…
Sage Rage – a wonderfully detailed Thruxton in mint green with a nicely balanced Dunstall fairing. Built by Mike Sadler of Division Motorworks in Canada as directed by owner Patrick McGregor. The side panel is adorned with the clan crest and the motto: Royal is my Race.
LEGO – brick by brick here’s an accurate model Triumph Rocket Three. Mostly recognizable pieces put together with typical assembly methods. It would make a cool kit.
Happy New Year – as another year passes and the beckoning days of the year ahead loom large let’s consider the excitement of heaving a Triumph chopper into a wheelie and gunning it along the road…
T-Shirt – a year-end clear out saw several old tee’s being relegated to cleaning rag status. All had seen better days, and it’ll make room for new Moto-themed tops…
Lord Snowdon – one-time aristocratic fashion photographer looking every bit the bohemian yet louche husband of party-girl Princess Margaret. This photo taken by Bryan Forbes for Vogue in 1976 just before his separation from HRH. He’s cruising around the courtyard of Kensington Palace on a shiny Triumph.
Saint Nick – we have snow falling here in Chicago so we’re in for a White Christmas. Hope Santy can make it on his desert sled…
Murder is Easy – Agatha Christie jape with multi-talented actor Benedict Cumberbatch as the lead detective in a 2008 television adaptation. Originally published in 1939 it was the successful mystery writers first step away from Hercule Poirot, though this TV show rolled in Miss Marple as the main protagonist with Benedict’s character Luke Fitzwilliam as a younger less-experienced ‘sidekick’. More to the point: what’s ‘e ridin’? Well a marvelous 1950 or 51 Triumph Speed Twin in glorious amaranth red. When are Triumph bringing that color back? It would look smashing on their new Bobber.
The blue car, tell us about the blue car! Well, that’s in the story too, the love interest, Bridget Conway, drives a powder blue 1960 MGA open top roadster.
Leather driving gloves, silk scarves and cases lashed to the parcel rack… how very English!
Icon – “Rebellion is the only thing that keeps you alive!” Chanel’s model du jour Edie Campbell adopts a sixties look in this fashion shoot ‘channeling the house’s broody androgyny.” Photo by Alasdair McLellan for the August 2011 issue of British Vogue. Gorgeous fifties Triumph supplied by Ace Classics.
Beryl & Tony – a current series on Netflix is The Crown, about The Queens life as a monarch from early days post WW2 to the present day. Its second season is covering the late fifties which, whilst the country has to deal with the Suez Crisis as well as Sputnik, her younger sister Margaret-Rose is enduring life as a royal single gal. She’s just met Antony Armstrong-Jones a hip photographer and lad about Town. He sweeps her off her feet for a tear through London’s streets on a peachy period TriumphThunderbird. Goggles and domed lids keeping them protected as they scoot over the Albert Bridge and along the Embankment. Ably played by Vanessa Kirby and Matthew Goode it reminds me of my days taking my wife-to-be home from her job at a bookstore in Kensington. The main photo is the real couple on a Norton. He snapped his photos with a Leica Rangefinder for naturally lit spontaneity.
Hair: Birds-eye view of a Triumph Thruxton and its lucky owner. Some motorcycles sure do have a good shape when viewed from this angle.
Black Electrical Tape – this about sums it up. After poring over maps to memorize roads, junctions, towns, and other landmarks; you’d take a folded-up map and either stuff it in a front pocket or, as in this case, tape it onto your bike. Ideally in a waterproof Ortlieb clear map case.
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