Wirral Life’ s February front cover star Oli Webb was in attendance to sign copies of the magazine for the crowds- what a Gent!
East Germany met North West England last month at Cars and Coffee Liverpool. Even after a flooded wet weekend, it was no surprise that the weather cleared for the die hard motorists bringing their precious metal. Supercars, classics, old, new, special, custom and the weird.
Apart from Shaun’ s quirky Italian Lambro featured last month- a little thing from the little streets of Italy. We can assure you there has never been a dull day here at Cars and Coffee. A surprising arrival was Simon Gallimore’ s modified German Trabant( 601 Universal-estate version) fresh from the Eastern Bloc. These Trabants are highly regarded- a symbol of the old East / West divide.
The car had a reputation for being uncomfortable, slow, noisy, and dirty. Nevertheless, it was very sought after in East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall. It had a hard plastic body mounted to a single-piece steel chassis( a so-called unibody or monocoque), front-wheel drive, a transversely-mounted engine, and independent suspension- all features that were unusual for the era in which it was manufactured. Well, it looks like Simon has transformed the car to be better than when it left the factory with a perky Volkswagen engine and a solid stance with the wackiest banded steel wheels.
It shows that quirky and ugly and the least expensive can be an object of beauty at the meet on the day. Remember the U2 album cover Achtung Baby? The Trabant was one of 16 images featured on the cover.
Pop culture takes all enthusiasts on a nostalgic journey. We have an abundance of cult classics, from Phil Holme’ s patina sooted black GMC van like the‘ The A-Team’ to an amazing Steve McQueen VW Beach Buggy( from The Thomas Crown Affair). The sheer variety is a sight to behold.
The Cars & Coffee Liverpool crew would like to thank everyone who came and showed their support. See you next month. wirrallife. com 93