The Guillotine Falls

France, lovely country filled with lovely architecture and history.  In fact the only thing that really spoils France is the French, oh and their profound inability to build cars of any substance.  I mean, historically we Brits are pretty well the World leaders in historic motoring icons with our Bentleys and Astons; we obviously have a soft spot for the Yanks and their crude but so-fucking-horny V8 technology; and even the Germans and Italians can lay claim to some pretty fantastic machinery over the years.  The French however, have given us - at best - some quirky little tin cans which never really aspired to be anything other than comfortable.  Performance and elegance, no - but comfy, yes. Comfort in French cars is important.  Especially as you're going to be sat in them for hours on end waiting for the emergency services to turn up - which is kind of inevitable given that their wiring looms are still made by Fisher Price.

It's possibly this abject failure to create anything worthwhile on an automotive footing that has prompted the Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, to propose a ban on any pre-1997 car from entering the city (although it's alegedly for 'green' reasons).  He's also proposing that motorbikes over ten years-old and trucks over eighteen be include in the ban, which some supoporters are saying should not only be within the Paris ringroad, but also within the much, much wider perimeter of the outer ringroad, the A86 Francillienne.  Of course, this not only has a massive effect upon the residents, it would also see the extermination of many classic car restorers in that area.  Significant classic motoring events which have historically used the city as part of their routes, or in some cases the start/finish will of course become immediately obsolete.

Still, that's France and not here, right?  Because Boris Johnson would never do such a thing, would he? (RIP Wimbledon Stock Car Arena which died overnight when his Low Emission Zone came into force - along with countless other businesses).  The enemy are out there alright, and they're not all the rifle-toting ragheads we see on the news.

Enjoy your hotrods whilst you can folks, I get the feeling they won't be here forever.

Ed Gasket