Author: Kim du Toit

Old Broads

Gratuitous Chick Pics

You know, when I were a lad, women in their late 50s looked like old women:  they wore old lady clothes and shoes, their hair was gray, they did things like knitting and sewing, baked cakes and stuff for their grandkids… you get my drift, I think.

Well what then, to make of these old broads?  (links in the pics)

Salma Hayek, 57

I mean, if you look closely at her hands, you can see she’s no spring chicken.  But who the hell looks at her hands?

Then there’s Item #2 on this little list:

Shania Twain, 58

Apparently, Our Shania has recently discovered the joy of walking around the house naked.  (you may go off and take that heart pill, now)

Finally — and I could do this for ages, but I have to end this sometime — there’s:

Liz Hurley, 58

Well, we know all about her, of course.

Another gin, Kim?  I think so.  I don’t think it’s healthy to take so many heart pills in a row.

Simple Fix

Drive Time

Watch as Harry Metcalfe tries to get his ancient Fiat 500 to start, after a 5-year layoff.


(yes, that’s Harry, back in the 1980s)

As it looks now:

Much frustration follows, as Harry and Charlie try one thing, and then another — and along the way, we get a lesson on how the Fiat’s simple engine works.

But… all is to avail, and in despair they start talking about having to drop the engine out.

And then… a simple fix, and there is much joy in Harry’s Garage.

Now, a tour of Harry’s garage.  And there’s a sequel to this, in the very next post.

Kim’s Garage

Drive Time

No of course it doesn’t exist — for one thing, I’m not a zillionaire like Harry Metcalfe, and nor have I been a petrolhead like Harry for decades.

That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t (and who wouldn’t?) like to have a 10-car garage like Harry’s, filled with all my dream cars.  The only question:  could I keep it to only 10?  Let’s have a look, and they’re not in any order of preference.

Firstly, Longtime Loyal Readers will not be surprised by any of the cars in my garage, because they’ve heard me bang on about them for years.  So I’ll start with the most-frequently-mentioned ones:

1972 Dino 246 GT

Okay, honestly:  it was Ferrari’s first attempt at an entry-level Ferrari — Old Man Enzo didn’t even want to badge it as a Ferrari, at first — and it’s not really a very good drive, by Ferrari standards.  The gear shift is clunky and the clutch needs Lou Ferrigno muscles to work if you’re driving it in stop-start traffic. But:  it is to my mind, and to the minds of many others, one of (if not the most) beautiful cars ever built.  And if like me you will occasionally say, “The hell with function;  what about the form?” then you’re not going to quibble (kinda like Salma Hayek’s inability to make a decent fish ‘n chips:  who cares?).

The same is true of the next one in Kim’s Garage:

1966 Jaguar E-type Series 2 Speedster

Yes, I’d probably prefer to have the resto-modded Eagle version, but truthfully, I don’t care.  And this car needs no justification, because E-type.

2001 BMW Z8

BMW’s successor to the 1959 Model 507, it’s one of the very few “modern” (made in the 21st century) cars that made me catch my breath the minute I saw it for the first time.  As did the next one:

2015 Maserati GT

It has a Ferrari 4.7-liter V8 engine, and looks to put Lollobrigida in the shade;  what’s not to worship?  But enough of the youngins.  Let’s go back in time a tad…

1954 Mercedes 300 SC

Quite possibly one of the best cars Mercedes has ever built.  The engineers were told to design a car that could cruise at top speed all day on the autobahn without ever suffering a mechanical breakdown of any kind.  So they did.  (I’d even accept the larger 300 S sedan model of the same year — same car, really.)

1967 Austin Healey 3000 Mk III

Yeah I know:  oil leaks, Lucas electrical system, blah blah blah.  Don’t care, I love it dearly.  As I do the next sports car:

1970 Alfa Romeo Giulia GT Junior

Alfa pura.  Tiny, raucous, spunky and glorious.  Like the next one.

1966 Mini-Moke

Not the modern electrical one;  this is the underpowered runaround with the famed Mini 850cc engine;  famous, that is, for being the engine that when you put your throttle flat to the floor:  nothing happens.  And speaking of underpowered runarounds;  if I couldn’t find the older Austin Moke, then I’d get a decent substitute:

1960 Fiat 500 Jolly

Just the wicker seats alone make this worth the price of admission.  But let’s get serious, now…

1976 Mercedes 450 SEL 6.9

The Q-ship of the Mercedes line, with a standard W116 frame that concealed a roaring 6.9-liter V8 monster under the hood.  What the 1954 Merc engineers would have designed if they’d had the technology.  (In today’s money, it cost the equivalent of $195,000 back then.)  This, and the ’54 300 SC would be my “refined” drives.

At some point, I have to acknowledge that several of the sports cars listed above would be, shall we say “occasional” drives, the occasions being that they were actually working and not in the shop.  So for the last one, I’m going to go for reliability above all.

1994 Honda NSX

It’s the sports-car equivalent of the two Mercedes on the list:  reliable to a fault, but with all the grunt I’d ever want or need.  And it’s not bad looking, either.  (I don’t like the more recent model NSX because it’s pig-ugly and vulgar.)

 

See Ya

Crime, Psychos

I don’t really have a big dog in this fight, but I do like this news:

A pro-abortion extremist has been sentenced to 7.5 years in prison for firebombing the Wisconsin Family Action pro-life clinic on Mother’s Day in 2022.

Biochemist Hridindu Sankar Roychowdhury, 29, was caught by police using DNA from a half-eaten burrito that they left at the scene of the crime. Roychowdhury had thrown two Molotov cocktails through a window he broke, set a bookcase on fire, and spraypainted “If abortions aren’t safe then you aren’t either” on the front of the building.

The arsonist was facing up to 20 years in prison but has accepted a plea agreement to reduce his sentence.

I wish the sentence was longer, but that’s the legal system for ya.

Just remember my words, though, when some asshole gets arrested for firebombing an abortion clinic.  Because I’m going to feel exactly the same way, and most likely use the same words.

Bombing is bombing, regardless of who throws the bomb at whom.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Mauser 1896 “Target” (6.5x55mm)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Anyone who has known me for longer than 30 seconds will be aware of my fondness for the venerable Mauser Model 96 a.k.a. Swedish Mauser, chambered for the excellent 6.5x55mm cartridge a.k.a. 6.5mm Swede.


(That’s “mine”, nicknamed Princess Inge and stolen from me by the Son&Heir, who shoots 1-MOA groups at 400 yards with the iron sights as fitted.  Unfortunately, he loves it as much or more than I do, so I never get to shoot it anymore.)

Truth be told, I prefer it over the German Gew. 98 and the later K98 Mausers — in fact, I pretty much prefer it over any bolt-action rifle ever made.  Ditto the 6.5mm Swede, which when shot out of that 29″ barrel has a flat trajectory and due to its long bullet, boasts exceptional sectional density, which means it’s going to penetrate just about anything it hits, especially if it’s the steel-core Hirtenberg mil-surp ammo.

Anyway…

One of the actions the Swedish Army took over the years was to identify which of the rifles showed exceptional accuracy (out of a group which was already very accurate), and turn them into both scope-fitted sniper rifles (M41b) and designated “Target” rifles.  Here’s an example of the sniper version:

…and from Collectors Firearms, an example of the “Target” version:

The sniper rifle above was purchased for about $1,500 at Collectors (not by me, but by a Reader), but that was back in the early 2000s.  Gawd knows what it would sell for now, because the Target rifle as shown is going for just under $1,300 at the same Merchant Of Death.

Doesn’t matter.  It seems as though all bolt-action rifles of any quality sell for around a grand these days (aaaaargh), but I would suggest that this Target rifle is actually a bargain at that price — because it has proven accuracy and of course, being a Mauser, its reliability is unquestioned.

What a beauty, in every sense of the word.

Want.