COOL CLASSIC CAR SPOTTERS POST! (Vol 3)
Discussion
Rumdoodle said:
Stick Legs said:
Smiley would have been MI6. International business.
Actually the business of catching a mole & the whole Connie Sachs counterintelligence role is firmly MI5 territory as is the relationship with Special Branch (Mendle’s character).
However the character George Smiley was very much in an MI6 role in the early books, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold being the best example of MI6 type activity.
The interview with Karla in India is also the kind of gig MI6 would have undertaken.
So there is much blurring of lines in fiction between departments of SIS and no one who isn’t actually inside really knows how it works (and yes I have read Chris Andrew’s books).
LeCarré himself worked in both departments and I suspect the blurs are deliberate as the SIS was still officially denied at the time of his writings.
I stand by my MI5 comment on the basis that what Smiley is doing is more of a counterintelligence defensive affair.
Am also very aware that nothing is more naff than middle aged men nerding about spy fiction.
So I’ll end it there.
Yertis said:
When I see those types of car now, in real life, rather than get excited I just think "That looks just a bit toooooo claustrophobic – no thanks". Must be age.
The vendor of a car I was buying had a Ferrari 365 and a Safir GT40. Me: I'd like a ride in your GT40.
Him: You wouldn't.
While I appreciate there were different ways to interpret his response, as he was an amiable bloke I've always preferred to think he meant I wouldn't like the claustrophobic interior, the uncomfortable ride and the noise. Amiable? Well, he sent me tickets for the Silverstone Classic for years afterwards. So I believe he thought he was doing me a favour.
DickyC said:
The vendor of a car I was buying had a Ferrari 365 and a Safir GT40.
Me: I'd like a ride in your GT40.
Him: You wouldn't.
While I appreciate there were different ways to interpret his response, as he was an amiable bloke I've always preferred to think he meant I wouldn't like the claustrophobic interior, the uncomfortable ride and the noise. Amiable? Well, he sent me tickets for the Silverstone Classic for years afterwards. So I believe he thought he was doing me a favour.
Probably a much better ride, less claustrophobic and definitely quieter than the WW2 Sherman tank I was offered a ride around a field in many years ago, but no way was I going to not turn down that chance because of that... Me: I'd like a ride in your GT40.
Him: You wouldn't.
While I appreciate there were different ways to interpret his response, as he was an amiable bloke I've always preferred to think he meant I wouldn't like the claustrophobic interior, the uncomfortable ride and the noise. Amiable? Well, he sent me tickets for the Silverstone Classic for years afterwards. So I believe he thought he was doing me a favour.
Would be the same for me for a real GT40 or decent rep (which would include a Safir) despite the fact that I would now likely need a crane to lift me out of the feckin thing afterwards
I did try an blag a ride in a Holman Moody Mk.2 30 odd years ago around the Charlotte Motor Speedway, but my blagging skills were not quite good enough on the day, and I had to make do with a free Holman Moody T-shirt instead
Yertis said:
Air-conditioning has rendered us weak
How true. I've been commuting in the GT6 this week and I've survived, despite 30deg heat one day. That said, I arrived at work looking like I'd run a marathon and it took me a while to dry off. Really must get my dashboard eyeball vents reconnected. For everything else, there's quarterlights.
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