Post by Verbivore on Aug 21, 2008 13:04:25 GMT
I titled this thread as I did because my first impression, aged about eight, of the term picturesque was that it sounded thus. 
It's not terribly often that one finds humour in books about motor cars, but I have been somewhat amused of late with a couple that I've read.
Describing the stable, reassuring ride and handling of the air-suspended Mercedes 600 "Grosser" (that enormous, very square one favoured by European royalty and John Lennon, amongst other '60s and '70s squillionaires), the writer compared that car to the contemporaneous Cadillac and Phantom V Rolls-Royce - both of which "became rather unstable under rapid cornering" (creating a lot of body roll and wallowing that tended to throw the rear passengers around).
"While the big Benz gave its occupants the magic carpet ride of air bags, Cadillac and Royce provided cart springs, live rear axles, and sick bags."
The author also described the weight of these cars (much favoured by oil sheiks for hooning across the desert) as "equivalent to approximately five camels", which I found most apt and certainly conjured the right picture.
It's not terribly often that one finds humour in books about motor cars, but I have been somewhat amused of late with a couple that I've read.
Describing the stable, reassuring ride and handling of the air-suspended Mercedes 600 "Grosser" (that enormous, very square one favoured by European royalty and John Lennon, amongst other '60s and '70s squillionaires), the writer compared that car to the contemporaneous Cadillac and Phantom V Rolls-Royce - both of which "became rather unstable under rapid cornering" (creating a lot of body roll and wallowing that tended to throw the rear passengers around).
"While the big Benz gave its occupants the magic carpet ride of air bags, Cadillac and Royce provided cart springs, live rear axles, and sick bags."
The author also described the weight of these cars (much favoured by oil sheiks for hooning across the desert) as "equivalent to approximately five camels", which I found most apt and certainly conjured the right picture.
