'Regardless of Risk' - My Motoring Days in Classic Cars



In Napoleonic mode at the Castle at Liw, Poland, on the former Lithuanian frontier 1993      
1975 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
This great and underestimated touring car was featured in the adventurous cultural and motoring rally around Poland I participated in the summer of 1993. I recounted the saga in one chapter of my book
A Country in the Moon: Travels in Search of the Heart of Poland (Granta, London 2009)

The castle of the Dukes of Mazovia dates from 1420 and on the right the small baroque country house (now a museum) was added in 1780. The adjacent water meadows are delightfully picturesque.

I have now owned this car for 30 years

In Palmiry Forest near Warsaw, summer pic-nic  2012  
1949   MG TC

In more tragic times this forest was the Polish and Jewish killing field for the Nazis just outside Warsaw . Many brilliant Polish and Jewish middle-class professionals, sportsmen, engineers and priests were executed here. It is hard to expunge the historical horror of it imprinted on the air, niggling away when simply on an innocent summer pic-nic in peacetime.  A large war cemetery and harrowing museum are nearby. One must move forward yet not forget.

1949 MG TC at speed in the Las Bielanski near Warsaw.
Black with an Apple Green Collingburn interior and correct fawn fabric tonneau cover

Rev Counter on the 1949 MG TC
Note the Apple Green Rexine dash covering, carefully matched to the leather upholstery by the Collingburn brothers- all correctly in period for the 1949 model

MG TC -  period company promotional photograph somewhere in an England that scarcely exists today

It is unlikely many of you who read my classical music blog also share my passion for classic cars, but I have recently begun writing for a new, rather glamorous, Polish, large format quarterly car magazine called 'RAMP'. 

The first article they asked for was about my life with classic cars - a tall order. I entitled it 'Regardless of Risk' - the risks were mainly financial I might add.

I will not burden my blog with what is probably a minority interest compared to the music of Chopin but if you would like to read about this subject and see some excellent photographs of a 1949 concours MG TC in action click on: 

https://www.box.com/s/zzhp7vjlzho4po288ypn     (English language version)


 https://www.box.com/s/73rztlrf2xfafr9ub00u        (Polish language version)



Popular posts from this blog

XVIII International Chopin Competition Warsaw, October 2-23, 2021 at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw.

Image
XVIII International Chopin Competition, Warsaw   Events Schedule  https://app.box.com/s/3nvk44oqo5hpwdpreaw1alu92n2ikpkf *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *   Calendar for Finals https://chopin2020.pl/en/calendar *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * Some important cultural context for you concerning the E minor Piano Concerto Op.11 before reading the reviews The Young Chopin in 1829  Ambroży Mieroszewski  (1802–1884)   Warsaw Panorama from Praga 1770  - Bernado Bellotto Allegro maestoso Romanze. Larghetto Rondo. Vivace Chopin wasted no time in composing his next concerto in 1830 after that in F minor. At this time Warsaw was an extraordinary melange of cultures. Magnificent magnate palaces shared muddy unpaved streets with dilapidated townhouses, szlachta farms, filthy hovels and teeming markets. By 1812 the Napoleonic campaigns had financially crippled the Duchy of Warsaw. The French Ambassador commented ‘Nothing could exceed the misery of all classes . . . I even saw princesses quit Wa
Read more

16th.Chopin and His Europe Festival (Chopin i jego Europa) 15-31 August 2020, Warsaw, Poland

Image
'Chopin and  His Europe’ Festival  Warsaw, Poland  15-31 August 2020 Chopin and his Europe Festival Website https://festiwal.nifc.pl/en   Programme and Programme Notes https://festiwal.nifc.pl/en/2020/kalendarium We regret to announce that due to the progress of the pandemic in North America, pianists  Garrick Ohlsson  and  Charles Richard-Hamelin  have been obliged to withdraw from the 16th Chopin and His Europe Festival.  As the festival programme (link above) now has full and informative online background historical notes on the genesis of works to be performed by eminent musicologists, this aspect of my reviewing is no longer necessary.  I shall restrict myself mainly to personal assessment of performances Profile of the Reviewer Michael Moran https://en.gravatar.com/mjcmoran#pic-0     The pandemic and seat distancing in the audience, all wearing masks of various hues and patterns, has created a rather melancholic although occasionally lighthearted vista of depriva
Read more

76th International Chopin Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój, 6-14 August 2021

Image
Statement on the 76th Festival by the Artistic Director  Piotr Paleczny Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I again have the honour to welcome all the magnificent and steadfast friends of the Duszniki Festival. Today we inaugurate the Chopin Festival for the 76th time. Unfortunately, we again meet in Duszniki in conditions that only vaguely remind what we have become accustomed to over all these years. Just like a year ago, the festival we’ve prepared was ridden with massive uncertainty, amongst the dynamic changes of the pandemic, extreme emotions, and concerns, but also the hope that we will perhaps succeed with what we have found a highly risky task, at times downright unfeasible. I hope that after a range of the necessary corrections of the previous assumptions, the festival will finally follow its final plan. I would like to apologise for all the inconveniences, hindrances, and surprising situations that may occur due to the continuing pandemic. All the limitations and the n
Read more