I-spy in the city

A STALWART of British motoring - the I-Spy Cars booklet - survives today in glossy form. For decades, the original occupied children and postponed the inevitable, "Are we nearly there?" question from the back of the car on long journeys.

A 1954 edition has on its cover a two-seater zooming round a bend. The driver has a handlebar moustache and a young chap beams from the passenger seat. You want to shout "Hurrah! Ginger beer all round!"

The new version is less prosaic. Being a modern version, it is glossy throughout, of course, but is it any good for spying cars? The only way to find out was to take it out on the streets of London.

Knightsbridge produced a crop of high-score models, most of them Mercedes sports cars. Curiously, the SLK rates 35 points, but the racier SL only 15, the same as a Honda Civic.

The Jaguar S-Type, popular on Lowndes Square, is not mentioned so wins no points. But a Ferrari F355, a 456GT and a Bentley Continental, helped produce a score of 240.

Mercedes also ruled the roost on Bond Street. This time it was E and S classes that stood out. The preponderance of Mercedes kept the score low: 55.

I-Spying needs variety.

Lined up in a City garage were XK8s, an Aston Martin DB7, a Ferrari 456GT, a Range Rover, BMW 3-Series and more Porsche Boxsters than in all of Africa.

A Fiat Panda tried not to look intimidated. Outside, a Lotus Elise and a Renault Spyder pushed the Square Mile's score to 205.

Along the way, I used the 1954 version to spy Fifties cars. But my tally was dire. With only 10 points (for a Beetle in Hoxton), it was time to cheat.

I had heard there was an Austin 7 at the Inns of Court which would provide a much-needed 20 points.

But it wasn't there. A gaggle of Volvos, Astras, a Maserati and several B M W Z3 roadsters did not justify the detour. Then I saw the majesty of the law: a two-tone Daimler Regency, worth 18 points.

In politically-correct Islington, the macho Cherokee is replacing the Volvo estate on school runs while the elegant Alfa 156 is for dad's trips to the ad agency. The only 1950s car was an Austin A30.

I-Spying cars in London also raises questions. You expect Porsches in the City but why are there so many Mazda MX5s in Bloomsbury? Why do lawyers prefer the Z3?

People carriers have reduced the profile of Volvo estates but why is the Renault Espace common in Clapham?

Why are Knightsbridge Mercedes pearl, while Bond Street ones are navy?

Come to that, why are areas associated with the arts and media best for old cars? Soho produced a Morris Minor, two Beetles and a superb Citroen Light Fifteen. A sedate Rover P4 (the kind only pipe smokers drive), and a Ford Zephyr w ere parked in Notting Hill along with several 1960s Alfa Spiders.

However, diners at 192 drove Saabs, Kas and Golfs.

Disappointingly, no Lamborghini Diablo (50 points) was seen, let alone a McLaren F1, the top-scoring car at 100. Then there was the one that got away, a roadster - possibly a MG TD - that tore down Doughty Street.

Whatever it was, it was lilac.

Like the production quality of the booklet, most aspects of motoring have improved since 1954. But not all.

With London's roads clogged by ten times as many cars compared with 50 years ago, the easiest way to go I-Spying has to be by Tube.

I-Spy Cars (Michelin) price 1.99.

Meanwhile, back in the Fifties

WINSTON Churchill was Prime Minister in 1954 when food rationing finally ended. This was the year our original I-Spy Book was available and, in that year, all ten of the lowest-score marques were British-made.

Long-gone names like Standard and Armstrong-Siddeley appear in the 1954 version but not Swedish makes or Peugeot, let alone Nissan, Hyundai or Proton.

A Jowett Jupiter merited 13 points but in that year, the Bradford company ceased production.

The only Mercedes mentioned is a prewar 540K, the kind popular with the Gestapo in war movies. BMW receives a passing mention as "a German car of modest proportions".

Two models feature in both the 1954 version and the new Michelin booklet: the VW Beetle and the Morgan, three if you count Land Rover.

But the language has changed. Who would say: "Hark to the music from the gearbox!" in 2001? Knave plates have been renamed hubcaps, presumably because knaves started nicking them. The new edition mentions "aerodynamics" and "compressor". The most technical phrase in 1954 was "copper hammer".

Copyright 2001
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