September 15: Merry Old England, part 2

Question of the day......you have a palace, which has been your family home for years and you want to have a few folks over on the weekend. Now, keep in mind that you won't know most of these folks and they'll be roaming the grounds and the inside of your humble pile. What would be an excellent way to attract these commoners to your palatial digs? Great idea, hold an exotic car show. Those pricey rolling supercars will fit right in with your home's excessive early 18th century vibe.

So, here we were on the day after, just a week ago Monday, checking out the Churchill family's Blenheim Palace on the way to Oxford with our very long time British friends from Windsor (relax, it's not who you think). I love those old English estates, but this car guy's eyes lit up when we came across the remnants of the annual Salon Prive' (Google it) and what remnants. If I thought that chrome Lambo, shown in my last blog was something.......well, be still my heart.

To start, here was what I came across in the parking lot........

Just the car for the tree huggers amongst you, as this Porsche 918 is a plug-in hybrid. Save on your gas bill, even as you deplete your bank account to the tune of over a million bucks. Being a conservationist has its benefits.

Or how about a gem like this Jaguar concept........

Subtle in a "Hey, look at me!" way. How many of you even knew that this car existed?

Sick and tired of the traffic around around your local burg? Why not saddle up this track only Aston Martin Vulcan? By the way, this wild child has a Toronto connection, as some of the work on it was done by Multimatic, who also built the limited edition One-77.

Get away from the car, kid. That scratch will cost your folks your college education.

Favour a more streetable Aston and with a common place Ferrari thrown in?

Back to those, what I think are strange, European supercars, that go like a North Korean rocket, but have looks that are questionable at best and super ugly at worse. And who cares that Lewis Hamilton drives one?Expensive? Goes without saying, old chap.

 

And for those observant ones, you'll notice a couple of garden variety Ferrari F40's lulling in the background.

Koenigsegg? Rolls off the tongue like phegm on a "day after" morning, but high powered and high priced.........

Rare, of course, and just the car for those who live in a Ferrari infested 'hood.

What a treat for this car guy. Seeing cars that I'd never seen before and thought I never would. And, I also got to tour a very British estate. A nice compact 2000 acre spread in the English countryside. Who says this little island is over crowded?

All you Zagato lovers start drooling........

Another of those, "I didn't know it even existed." cars for many of you. Did I? Good question, but like the Jag concept, I think I've seen this one in one of my numerous strolls thru the inter web. Beautiful, beautiful car.

All I can say, is thank goodness, that I wasn't at the Blenheim Palace on Sunday. Keep those defibrillators handy, as supercar overload might well have stopped "this ol' heart of mine" (with thanks to the Isley Brothers). And special thanks to my loving wife and my good friends, who stood patiently by while I hyperventilated.

Merry old England! There's nothing like it.

Until next time........