Clarkson on Cars Read Online Free PDF

everywhere except on the bodywork and because I usually did the red stripe down the side before the green job was dry, it all ran. If anyone out there will offer me 30p for a sludge-coloured Citroen DS Safari with a fingerprint on the bonnet I’d be willing to consider a trade.
    The best Citroen I ever had was a Citroen Pallas coupe finished in a metallic cherry red. That is still in perfect condition as are all the models I bought when rubber wheels were being phased out to be replaced by the plastic variety. There’s an Alfa Pininfarina and another white Alfa with a gold spoiler and no roof. Looks like something from Thunderbirds but at least it enables me to trace the roots of my current love affair with the GTV6.
    I suppose my trips to Youngsters in the high street every Saturday ceased in the 1970s when die cast went out of fashion and Dinky died. An Esso oil tanker was, I believe, my last purchase.
    I was once given a plastic kit of the MR2 by Toyota which I tried fashioning into something resembling a car but the disaster which ensued convinced me that model-making is an avenue I should not pursue. The finished article is a bloodstained mess that visitors to my house think is an aubergine.
    In recent years my preoccupation with cars has centred around the variety that are too big for my sister to tread on.
    However, as she is now a solicitor and presumably responsible enough not to smash up her brother’s belongings, I have recently begun wondering whether a foray into the world of toy cars might be a good plan.
    On a recent trip to Sicily I noticed every shop window was full of die-cast toy cars made by Burago. They’re a good deal bigger than my Dinky and Corgi collection and, even allowing for inflation, they’re a good deal more expensive too but I swear on my Buick’s lost headlight, they really are superb. And you can buy them here.
    Foolishly, I went all the way to Hamleys to check on prices only to discover that my local filling station sells them. In case you’re interested, set aside around a tenner for the best examples.
    There’s a massive range encompassing all kinds of models and all kinds of sizes but having scrutinized the line-up, considered my age and the use to which I would put them, I reckon those which are produced to a scale of 1/18 are best.
    For sure, an eleven-year-old who has a penchant for Hum-brolising his toy prior to racing it through a sandpit would be better off with the tinier, and therefore cheaper variety but the bigger ones are so beautifully crafted, they don’t look out of place among the Lladro and leather-bound Britannicas on your bookcase.
    Without question, the best of them all is the Testarossa which is mounted on a lovely piece of wood. Now, I don’t like the look of full-size Testarossas with their Vauxhall Astra front ends, their silly door mirrors and boot scrapers down the side but in model form, they look superb.
    The bonnet, boot and doors open to reveal faithfully scaled-down copies of the car’s innards – even the tyre treads are accurate. Another masterpiece is the 250GTO which comes with chromed bonnet catches and the E-type – a proper one from 1961 – can’t be ignored either. Others are the Mercedes SSKL, the Bugatti Type 59, the Jaguar SS100, the 250 Testarossa, the Alfa Romeo 2300 Spider, the Mercedes SSK, the Lancia Aurelia Spyder, the Bugatti Grand Prix, the Mercedes 300SL and the Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza, drool drool drool.
    There’s also a model of the Rolls-Royce Camargue though I swear that if you painted it pink, it would look just the same as the car Parker used to chauffeur for Lady Penelope. Also, the windscreen wipers look like a pair of silver telegraph poles sprouting from the bonnet.
    Burago’s best sellers are now sitting in moist soil at home receiving a daily dosage of Fison’s Make It Grow fertiliser.

Watch It
    I suppose if one were to weigh up all the pros and cons, one would probably decide that it is a good idea to wear