I did try, to go cold turkey on eBay, I really did. But to no avail. I blame Saturday shifts at work, where I arrive early and the internet is just..over...there and there's all that lovely stuff out there for such low, low, prices.
Anyway. This weeks bounty came slithering through the letterbox and plopped right down onto the mat, causing great joy in my soul. It's a 1966 US Ford catalog(ue) and a brochure for the Seat Malaga.
It's been an exciting week, as you can see.
Let's start with the Paellamobile, a Spanish confection with connections to the Fiat Regata. It was also proudly home to the OHC System Porsche engine. But no undercover 944 in any way shape or form.
Check out the greyness of that interior. That, there appears to be a set of vehicular innards with absolutely no design flair whatsoever. Of course, mere photos can't convey whether or not this was a finely crafted automobile with class and solidity beyond its humdrum looks, but I will leave it open to the reading masses to let us know either way.
The greyness is everywhere! Extra basic-ness is hinted at by the gaping chasm where a stereo would be if you had spent a few dozen pesos more, and an absolutely enormous illuminated "S" for SEAT where the tachometer would be. It is these features, or lack thereof, that gave the Malaga its Special designation.
More showy are the offerings from Ford back in the mid sixties.
As you might imagine, the cars are long, low and positively glow with chrome, gadgets and powerful multi-cylinder engines.
Stacked headlights prevail throughout, and buy-lines are scattered througout the publication. And there are snazzy trademarks all over the place: Stereo-Sonic Tape System, Silent-Flo Ventilation, Cruise-O-Matic, SelectAire, Synchro-Smooth Drive and Super Diamond Lustre Enamel were all features notably absent on a '66 Cortina.
"Seven Litre" boasts the badge on the front fender, and indeed, the smallest engine you could have was a 240c.i "Big Six", (150hp and 3.9 litres), but the 427 Cobra V8 (423hp) was available, too. But the other interesting thing about this brochure was the way it was packaged. I have come to expect cardboard reinforcement to the envelope, maybe even a Jiffy bag. But not this:
