Spotted: How not to use an aftermarket spoiler

My friend Pete Brock sent along this photo of a sub-optimal loading job at a Washington State racing track. They used a forklift to get the car back on the ground.

Few accessories are as misused as the aftermarket spoiler. Exhibit A: this Honda Accord. I spotted it in Toronto.

Reader Steve Reid spotted this Citroen 2CV in Chicago. Check out that blue tweed interior and the (uninstalled) baby seat. The 2CV is dead slow, and it leans around corners like a drunken Legionnaire, but it’s an amazing car – only the French can make a machine like this. The 2CV is a motorized baguette.

The street in front of my house is like an ATM for the city’s Green Hornets. (There’s a rink on the street, and the Hornets come every morning to ticket the parents dropping off their kids.) As you can see here, the parking officers don’t always park legally themselves. (If you want to read more about revenue-based policing, I wrote a column about it a while back)

The Bristol 411 may be a very English car, but the power plant is All-American – that’s a 6.3-litre Chrysler V8 under the hood.

Reader Ross Mason, who lives in Arizona, sent along this picture of his 2000 Toyota MR2 Spyder parked next to a Lotus Elise. The common element: both cars use a mid-mounted Toyota engine. The mid-engine configuration improves handling by centralizing mass and reducing what’s known as polar moment – taking weight out of the ends allows an object (like a car) to rotate more easily.

Reader Keith Marshall sent along some photos of his beautiful Lotus Elan. Keith and his Elan have quite a history. He bought it as a kit in 1969, when he was living in England. After assembling the Elan with friends, he drove it around the U.K., then shipped it to North America. It’s been everywhere from Dallas to Daytona Beach, and the Elan served as a daily driver in Ontario for several years. Keith gave the Elan a frame-up restoration a while back, and won a Concours trophy at Watkins Glen. And if you want to know where the inspiration for the Mazda came from, you’re looking at it – Mazda’s design team bought a Lotus Elan back in the 1980’s, and studied it carefully. The resemblance isn’t hard to see.

Keith included a shot of Elan’s restored twin-cam motor. This engine was based on a Ford block, but used Lotus-designed cylinder heads and valve gear. Back in the 1960s, these were the kind of motors that enthusiasts would sell their souls for – one look at those crackle-finished cam covers, and you were a goner.

I spotted this 1970’s Pontiac in Toronto. I’ve always been amazed at the way cars from the seventies rusted. Back then, galvanized steel construction, moisture-proof coatings and perforation warranties were all pipe dreams – and this is the result.

Reader Ivor Langley sent along this photo of his E-Type Jaguar, which he describes as his “project car.” It looks like a pretty successful project.