Pierre Terblanche Hired by Royal Enfield

Pierre Terblanche, the South African designer that created bikes for Ducati, Piaggio, Norton, and Confederate, has been hired by Royal Enfield.   This guy changes jobs more often than I do.

This is an interesting combination of an ultra avant garde designer with an ultra traditionalist brand.  What does it mean for the future of design at RE and how will it affect the RE fan base?  That fan base appears to be grounded in the Way of the Bullet and not likely to take kindly to radical changes to that icon.  Also, looking at Terblanche's résumé in the last ten years would lead one to question how long will he remain with RE.

Is this a good thing?  It could be, it could also be a disaster.  Only time will tell.

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Coco Mats

Black and Natural Coco Mats

The UPS truck delivered the Coco Mats I ordered about a month ago.  Drew, the owner* at Coco Mats, sent me a VW pattern that had to be altered to fit the compartment of the MiGi II.  Once I made the new patterns and sent them in, I go a call from Drew to make sure everything was fine and then they began making the mats.  I ordered the coco in black and natural to go with the carpet kit already in the MG.

The mats fit like a glove, they are incredibly well made, and they look like they were original "factory" fit.  I am really happy with the quality of the product and the service from the company.  Drew worked with me, was helpful, friendly, and stayed on top of my order to make sure everything was as I wanted it.  I highly recommend them to anyone interested in quality custom mats for their cars.

*(Errata:  Since this posting, I've received an email from Drew who told me hes is not the owner, just "a simple vice president."  Well, I assumed he was the owner because he certainly took care of the customer (me) as if his personal interests were involved. Kudos to him!  That's what happens when you hire good people.)

Passenger's side

Driver's side

Interior

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K&N Performance Air Filters

K&N High Flow Air Filter

Yesterday afternoon UPS delivered the K&N High-Flow air filter from Nfield Gear. I wish they would have delivered it a little earlier in the week because at least I would have had a chance to test it out.  The temperatures have dropped to the low 30s today and they are forecast to remain that way for quite a few days.

Regardless of all that, the filter got installed as soon as I had it on hand.  It is a rather easy task.  The filter is in the box on the starboard side of the bike.  The older filter boxes were attached with screws but in the newer models there is simply a bolt and a 13 mm nut holding the box in place.  Once the nut is removed the box has to be worked out around the key latch and a bolt and nut that protrude from the lower inside of the filter housing.  The OEM filter is held in place by a black metal plate that in my case had fused with the OEM filter.  I had to use a screwdriver to separate the filter from the metal plate.

The easiest way to replace the filter is to lay it on to the filter box and then place everything together into the filter container and move it around until the bolt falls into the metal plate hole and the filter box hole.  After that is a simple matter to reattach the washer and nut to the outside of the filter box.

I commute on the Bullet yesterday morning and took it to the dentist's office in Newtown Square for my afternoon appointment.  After replacing the filter I took a quick spin around my subdivision just to make sure everything was good.  Not a big ride but it appears to me like there is a definite improvement on performance just by changing this filter.

Part numbers from Nfield Gear.

Filter housing on starboard side of bike.

Filter Box held in place by 13mm nut.

OEM filter held in place by metal plate.

K&N High-Flow air filter.

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Green Tesla

Not this green Tesla

This week the temps have been low in the mornings but rising to the low to mid 60s by the afternoon so I've been commuting on the Bullet every day so far.  Unfortunately, the sun is on its way down by around 17:00 so by the time I leave work the light is on its way out.

Yesterday on the way home there was an accident on the bridge that crosses over Darby Creek on Sawmill Rd blocking my way home.  It was already dark and I couldn't see what had happened, but I could see a car astride the road blocking the bridge completely.  To get home, I had to continue down Church to St Davids up to 252 and back to Goshen.  It wasn't much of a ride because there were quite a few other commuters doing the same thing but it was a couple of extra miles on the Bullet.

This morning on the way in to work, there was a dark green Tesla making a turn onto 30 from Spring Mill Rd.  I know I have seen this particular Tesla before at this same spot but never while on the Bullet so today it goes onto the exotic car tally.

The tally now stands at 8 Ferraris, 3 Teslas, 2 Lambos, 2 Maseratis, 2 Cobras, 2 Unknowns, 1 Bentley, 1 DeLorean, and 1 MGA.

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Bogart's 4th Annual Open Car Show

Headlight Bucket Reflection

Not as cold as yesterday although the morning started at about the same temps but by midday it had warmed up to the low 50s.

So with fairly good temps and a clear and blue sky it was time to head out to Bogart's 4th Annual Open Car Show.  The flyer I had said that the show was starting at 13:00, however, by the time I got there at 12:45 there were cars everywhere.  When I pulled up one of the organizers sent me over to a spot between the hot rods and the Corvettes.  Shortly after that, my friend with the Mercedes 500K replica rolled up and took a spot across from me.  

2006 Maserati

This show was not as big as the HCCP or Delco Cruisers shows but there were quite a few cars none the less.  It is another benefit show, so no registration and no judging.  Things were fairly low key but there were quite a number of people and I talked to several of the other drivers and some of the visitors.  I also took the opportunity to take some pictures, the light conditions were not great but some of the shots turned out OK.

The show ran from 13:00 to 16:00 officially but when I left there were quite a few people still milling around.  This is a nice, small, local show.  I saw some cars from Delco Cruisers and some that were at yesterdays show including the Rolls I had photographed.  There was also a really nice 2006 black Maserati.  Ordinarily, I would count a Rolls and a Maserati in the exotic tally but a car show is like shooting fish in a barrel so they are not going in.

With the Hot Rods

Mercedes Benz 500K replica

To see more photos of the Bogart's show, please, check out my Flickr Cars album.

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Delco Cruisers' 7th Annual Salute the Troops Car and Bike Show

Spirit of Ecstasy

Cold today, not quite in the freezing range but in the low 40s most of the morning.  No riding but we did drive out (on the closed car) to Rose Tree Park in Media for the Delco Cruisers' 7th Annual Salute the Troops Car and Bike Show.

The show is fairly big and informal.  Not as big as the HCCP show we went to last month but definitely good sized.  It is also very informal in that the cars are not arranged in any particular way, it appears that they are parked as they come in without having designated areas.  Part of this must have to do with the nature of the park as it mostly an open grassy area.  But it must also have to do with the set up of the show itself as a fund raising event without any formalized judging and need for categories.

As a consequence of that, there weren't as many classic cars as at the HCCP show and definitely nothing before the 1930s.  I did see some cars I recognized from that other show as well as the 1961 Porsche that I parked next to at HCCP and the 1936 Mercedes 500K replica from that show.

Not a huge deal but I guess a fine way to spend a fall Sunday morning and a good way to support the troops.  Next year, if the weather cooperates and we are still here, I plan on showing Montse at this event.

To see more photos of the Delco Cruisers' show, please, check out my Flickr Cars album.

Packard

Drop Top Cadillac

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AutoRéplica AR50

While trolling the web this morning I found this webpage about a MG TD replica made in Spain in the early to mid 80s called the AR50.  This is the link to a photo of an ad for the car on Flickr that lead me to search the web for the AR50.

I lived in Barcelona between 81 and 83 and I never heard of it.  Supposedly there were only twelve made.  The link will lead you to a page in Spanish which I have translated for you below.  It's worth it to check the link because there are some nice pictures of the car at the bottom of the page.  The bottom two pictures were taken at a car show in Spain in 2011.

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The AR 50 was the product of a prototype made from an original MG TD, which was presented at the Barcelona Motor Show 1981.  Francisco Pueche, the maker of the prototype, embarked on an ambitious project founding the “Autoréplica” (AR) company in 1983. Its aim was to handcraft a small series of AR 50s, a magnificent replica of the legendary 1950 MG TD.

The body and mechanics of the AR 50 rested on a classic steel frame rail, it did not use a self-supporting structure, which was unusual in the making of replicas since usually they used the chassis of another car. The wheelbase was the same length as the original car, however its width was 7 cm wider to match the axles used.

All the mechanicals, engine, gearbox, axles, steering, brakes etc ..., like so many replicas of that age (in Spain), came from a Seat since they did not give too much trouble. Specifically chosen for the AR 50 was the Seat 1430 for its length, front engine, and rear wheel drive. The engine was the well-known 4-cylinder 1438cc, 77 hp at 5400 rpm. The gearbox was a 5 speed with rack and pinion steering. Originally it was equipped with regular wheels that could be optionally replaced with wire spokes wheels. The top speed was 137 km / h.

The dashboard of AR 50 was varnished burl wood, full of gauges. The wood and aluminum steering wheel, made by Motolita, was imported directly from England. The passenger compartment could be covered with an easy to install top.

Offered as optional extras were side curtains, heating, luggage rack, radio wiring, and additional color options for the leather upholstery, since originally it was offered as standard in white, black, red and green. The price (excluding taxes) was 2,160,000 pesetas.  (I was living in Barcelona at the time and I remember the exchange rate to be between 93 and 97 pesetas to the dollar making the price around $21,600 USD.)

According to the manufacturer, their intention was to also develop another version using a 1.6 liter Seat engine and later to make a replica of the 1955 MG TF.

The original production schedule for the AR 50 was 8 units per month, which would be built purely handmade.

At any rate, the project did not come to fruition possibly due to the high price for the time, so after making twelve units, the doors of Autoréplica finally closed in 1985. 

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