Great find Mark! Awesome color! Congrats!!
John
Gorgeous car Mark!!!
Ron
Ron
Congrats Mark. What a find....
These LongChamps really starts to grow on me, and when seeing an example as Yours, I really want one. What a beauty !!!!
These LongChamps really starts to grow on me, and when seeing an example as Yours, I really want one. What a beauty !!!!
quote:Originally posted by Mark Charlton:
Thanks for the kind words guys,
....
Norbert, yes, two gas tanks. I'm told the car gets much worse fuel mileage than a Pantera (weighs more of course). I guess I'll find out what its cruising range is.
.................
Mark
keep us posted ! i'm curious
BTW again , beautifull car ! i want one
Just saw this post - of course I knew about it for a while but was under gag orders.
There's a guy with good taste, a great eye and a fine appreciation for these cars. Now all he needs is more time and money.
Nice new avatar, dude - but you should find a way to include the GT40. Adding one more car to the mix would work. Hey, a 5S would fit well!
There's a guy with good taste, a great eye and a fine appreciation for these cars. Now all he needs is more time and money.
Nice new avatar, dude - but you should find a way to include the GT40. Adding one more car to the mix would work. Hey, a 5S would fit well!
I like the Avatar just as it is, a slight favouratism towards DeTomaso cars is appropirate here. I don't bother you guys with pictures of my Camaro or my Jeep...
Mark, only now do I see the detailed pictures, it's in better shape than mine I must admit. Except that they couldn't afford to put an automatic in it 
Is the interior green?
I would get another air filter, either orig or black crinkle/wrinkle, what's it called, that looked like the valve covers, just my $0.02.
Nice to see the orig front disc cooling ducts.
Wonder why they painted a Bentley logo on it?
Is the interior green?
I would get another air filter, either orig or black crinkle/wrinkle, what's it called, that looked like the valve covers, just my $0.02.
Nice to see the orig front disc cooling ducts.
Wonder why they painted a Bentley logo on it?
Paint looks awesome - nice sand and buff!
Mark, congrats!
Can't wait to see this in June.
LS
Can't wait to see this in June.
LS
George, Jon, Michel, John, Ron, Heine and Norbert: Thanks! And, Heine, you have no excuse. You NEED a Longchamp!
David, thanks for keeping it quiet until everything was finalized. And, yes, once I get the GT5-S, I will update my avatar to include that AND the GT40 again. Don't hold your breath. It could be a while… What was that about time and money?
Mikael,
No, the interior is black leather. That's just a crapy picture. It was a lot darker than it appears in the pictures. Yes, it's a real shame they couldn't afford to put in that slush-box three-speed automatic. The subtle Bentley logo is just so people will know when looking that this car is something special. Otherwise they might confuse it with a 1980's Mustang. 
But, yes, I have already got a list a few things that need doing. Thankfully all are, as far as I know, fairly minor. Dressing up the engine bay a tad and giving the whole car a good detailing and polish will be early on the list. Once I have driven it a bit I will know more about what needs tending to.
John, yes, I'm very happy with the body and paint work. Barely a mark on it so my work will be much easier than some (EVERY?) other cars I've purchased. The trim is not quite at the same standard, but I will bring that up over time. Like David said, I just need more time and money!
Mark
David, thanks for keeping it quiet until everything was finalized. And, yes, once I get the GT5-S, I will update my avatar to include that AND the GT40 again. Don't hold your breath. It could be a while… What was that about time and money?
quote:Originally posted by No Quarter:
Mark, only now do I see the detailed pictures, it's in better shape than mine I must admit. Except that they couldn't afford to put an automatic in it
Is the interior green?
I would get another air filter, either orig or black crinkle/wrinkle, what's it called, that looked like the valve covers, just my $0.02.
Nice to see the orig front disc cooling ducts.
Wonder why they painted a Bentley logo on it?
Mikael,
No, the interior is black leather. That's just a crapy picture. It was a lot darker than it appears in the pictures. Yes, it's a real shame they couldn't afford to put in that slush-box three-speed automatic. The subtle Bentley logo is just so people will know when looking that this car is something special.
Otherwise they might confuse it with a 1980's Mustang. But, yes, I have already got a list a few things that need doing. Thankfully all are, as far as I know, fairly minor. Dressing up the engine bay a tad and giving the whole car a good detailing and polish will be early on the list. Once I have driven it a bit I will know more about what needs tending to.
John, yes, I'm very happy with the body and paint work. Barely a mark on it so my work will be much easier than some (EVERY?) other cars I've purchased. The trim is not quite at the same standard, but I will bring that up over time. Like David said, I just need more time and money!
Mark
quote:Originally posted by Mark Charlton:
And, Heine, you have no excuse. You NEED a Longchamp!
Mark
You're absolutely right. I will tell my wife that later this afternoon
I gotta make room for it, so maybe I should sell my CopCar ? But then Again.... If I sell that car, I don't need a Longchamp, as I will be 7 feet under...... - My wife love that car, and would kill me in a heartbeat
I will try'n figure something out, haha
quote:Originally posted by danishcarnut:quote:Originally posted by Mark Charlton:
And, Heine, you have no excuse. You NEED a Longchamp!
Mark
You're absolutely right. I will tell my wife that later this afternoon
I gotta make room for it, so maybe I should sell my CopCar ? But then Again.... If I sell that car, I don't need a Longchamp, as I will be 7 feet under...... - My wife love that car, and would kill me in a heartbeat
I will try'n figure something out, haha
kill her first , then get a Longchamp ?
David and I, along with our respective spouses, had the good fortune to be hosted for a wonderful dinner by Mark and his charming wife a couple of weeks ago at their beautiful country estate. To those of you who have considered making the pilgrimage to Ottawa to see Mark's collection, I warn you that, if you do, you will be treated so well and so warmly that you will never want to leave. You will also catch Mark's De Tomaso-itis virus, because it is highly contagious upon exposure to his jealousy-inducing car collection, and to his massive De Tomaso technical information and memorabilia archive.
Not only has he meticulously photo/videographed every step of the disassembly of his Mangusta, but he has collected, collated and bound virtually everything ever written or posted anywhere on the planet about the Mangusta (and every other De Tomaso, I expect). I mentioned a rather obscure and very old magazine article I happened to know of about efforts to sort the handling of the car, hoping I could make a contribution to Mark's collection, but his response was, "I know that article, just wait a minute." Whereupon he took precisely half the promised time to reach for a catalogued and bound collection of articles from one of his fully organized bookshelves, and pull the article to show to me. A professional archivist, witnessing this, would prostrate themselves and launch into the "We are not worthy!" chant with gusto.
I would be remiss to fail to note Mark's professional photography of his and others' De Tomasos, the products of which are displayed in his workshop. I confess to some disorientation during my visit, because I did not know where to look first; at the amazing photography on the walls, at the memorabilia in the display cases, at the archives, at the warehouse-grade parts storage or at the dream collection of cars.
You can't call Mark a De Tomaso hoarder, because that would imply a messy accumulation just for the sake of accumulation. In Mark's case, this could not be further from the truth. The evident love lavished on each of his cars, the medical-grade sterility and precision of the parts bin organization of his disassembled Mangusta (which, by the way, is a solid, rust-free basis for a restoration bound to be world-class), and the fact that he and Yasmin actively drive these cars, attest to this. Mark is simply one of us, a De Tomasoholic, but dialled up to 11. He is what I want to be when I grow up.
Mark, my hat is off to you. You are an inspiration. Which is a polite way of saying your disease is contagious. The next time Alix and I come to visit, we are wearing full hazmat suits with respirators.
- Peter
Not only has he meticulously photo/videographed every step of the disassembly of his Mangusta, but he has collected, collated and bound virtually everything ever written or posted anywhere on the planet about the Mangusta (and every other De Tomaso, I expect). I mentioned a rather obscure and very old magazine article I happened to know of about efforts to sort the handling of the car, hoping I could make a contribution to Mark's collection, but his response was, "I know that article, just wait a minute." Whereupon he took precisely half the promised time to reach for a catalogued and bound collection of articles from one of his fully organized bookshelves, and pull the article to show to me. A professional archivist, witnessing this, would prostrate themselves and launch into the "We are not worthy!" chant with gusto.
I would be remiss to fail to note Mark's professional photography of his and others' De Tomasos, the products of which are displayed in his workshop. I confess to some disorientation during my visit, because I did not know where to look first; at the amazing photography on the walls, at the memorabilia in the display cases, at the archives, at the warehouse-grade parts storage or at the dream collection of cars.
You can't call Mark a De Tomaso hoarder, because that would imply a messy accumulation just for the sake of accumulation. In Mark's case, this could not be further from the truth. The evident love lavished on each of his cars, the medical-grade sterility and precision of the parts bin organization of his disassembled Mangusta (which, by the way, is a solid, rust-free basis for a restoration bound to be world-class), and the fact that he and Yasmin actively drive these cars, attest to this. Mark is simply one of us, a De Tomasoholic, but dialled up to 11. He is what I want to be when I grow up.
Mark, my hat is off to you. You are an inspiration. Which is a polite way of saying your disease is contagious. The next time Alix and I come to visit, we are wearing full hazmat suits with respirators.
- Peter
Peter,
The very first photo from this thread caught my eye, because it was taken in my "neighbor" George's place. (I say "neighbor" because we're a few miles away. But out here in the country, that's a neighbor.) George has a very nice collection and home for them.
From your description, the car has found a fine new home.
The very first photo from this thread caught my eye, because it was taken in my "neighbor" George's place. (I say "neighbor" because we're a few miles away. But out here in the country, that's a neighbor.) George has a very nice collection and home for them.
From your description, the car has found a fine new home.