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Bonnet Flash on Ebay

napa 1

Donation Time
Oh, its only the most desirable, beeeautiful, sought after, rare, original accessory ever to grace the hood of a British sports car. :D

See attached photo courtesy of Mr. Atalla
 

Attachments

  • Bill Atalla 1961 Harrington Alpine.jpg
    Bill Atalla 1961 Harrington Alpine.jpg
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Limey

Donation Time
Yes! I finally got a bonnet flash from ebay today! Can't wait to install it on the Le Mans and show you guys what a great looking accessory it is.:D

Congrats, Napa.
Looks like it is in good conditon to.

I stopped bidding at £156 (I have one already) so I'm glad it's you that won it.

In the UK club, two owners have sworn factory fitted flashes but they are not in the same place. Is there an official positon guide out there?

All the best,

Oliver
 

Ron67Alpine

Silver Level Sponsor
Oh, its only the most desirable, beeeautiful, sought after, rare, original accessory ever to grace the hood of a British sports car. :D

See attached photo courtesy of Mr. Atalla

Ya' mean that little chrome thing on the hood?
Oh, OK, thanks.
 

napa 1

Donation Time
I'm going to have Bill give me the dimensions of where his is installed on the Harrington. Apparently the shape of the curved base allows it to be installed (properly) in just the one location. We'll see.
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
with-and-without-flash.jpg
 

Limey

Donation Time
I'm going to have Bill give me the dimensions of where his is installed on the Harrington. Apparently the shape of the curved base allows it to be installed (properly) in just the one location. We'll see.

yeah, I heard that as well about the curve. Let me know when you know.

Many thanks and post a pic when the deed is done

All the best

Oliver
 

atallamcs

Donation Time
Rare Hood Motif (s)

Hey John,
You missed this rare rootes option. Maybe you want to sell the motif you picked up and go for these.
Bill
 

napa 1

Donation Time
Wow. Honestly, I was going to go that route, but I didn't want to step on your toes since you are currently the only one with that rare twin hood rocket option.:D Thanks for the suggestion.

John
Anxiously awaiting arrival of the ultimate accessory.
 

agmason

Donation Time
"Am I the only person who wouldn't fit a bonnet flash if I got one for free?"

No, you are not alone. We may be few in numbers, but we will make up for it in our refusal to go along with the rest! I think the car with it installed looks like a British version of "Pimp My Ride".
 

atallamcs

Donation Time
Bonnet Flash/Wood dash

I think John sure got everyone stirred up about a little piece of chrome. Most of you have probably never seen a Bonnet Motif let alone one on a car. It certainly is not for everyone but I have seen worse with some of the home made items owners think are enhancements, like wood dash boards and other crafty creations. Some are well done, most look like high school shop 101.
Bill
 

agmason54

Donation Time
Beamers,
I had a bonnet Flash once. I remember looking at it right before tossing it in the trash knowing it came off an Alpine....
I think it looks nice on Wild Bills Harrington or even better on Allan Ballards SIV.
This is my list of personal no-no's in order of 'pukifullness'

Chrome bezels-look awful and ruin the lines(I've painted them)

White wall tires-detract from look of the wire wheels( black shoe polish will hide them until you reach a tire shop)

White wall tires with steel wheels - get a Karman Gia

Flash-get away from my hood with that drill or else I'll call Spiderman

To each his own....
Agm
 

65beam

Donation Time
bonnet flash

one thing everybody needs to remember is that those of us that were driving these cars in the sixties probably could not afford items like these so that may be the reason they are so rare. we also tended to remove items such as bumpers,etc. for those of us that could afford it, we usually sunk our money into items to make them faster or to keep them on the road or we added big lights to the front so we could see better . that was if the generator would keep up with the power required to use the lights. these cars were usally our main source of transportaion. you hardly ever saw whitewall tires either. there were a couple of reasons for that. we could not afford them ,we were too busy having fun and could not find time to keep them clean or one other reason i won't mention. this is rural appalachia. after all it was the sixties and it was a different world then. my point is that in this part of the world there was no demand for items such as a bonnet flash or many other items that were available. after all these were considered a sports car and that is what it was all about. fun not flash! when the alpine wasn't fast enough to stay with my buddies driving their TR's,MG's,etc i went home and got either my 1970 Z28 or the 340 duster. again, it was a time of fast fun, not flash. look at the cars of that era. stripped down and fast.
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
I agree with all said, save one... I must confess that I do like the conservative white-walls on a Sunbeam. Not the wide whites, mind you, but the simple white-walls that were common in the 60's look really nice.

Sue me. :p
 

65beam

Donation Time
bonnet flash

puff,
it was tough to afford new tires, let alone paying extra for whitewalls. i was working three jobs, going to school and paying for three cars. heck,i didn't have much money left to chase girls. i did manage to save some money to buy a few things at auto world when i was in scranton visiting family but no rootes items.
 

John Boggis

Donation Time
I think the Alpine had a different type of buyer here in the UK from that in the US. A guy who was in sales at the Leicester Rootes main dealership in the 60s told me that more than half the sales he made of Alpines were for women...as my own car was.

My car was a wedding anniversary present back in 1964. Kept by the lucky lady but not driven much... 3577 miles in ten years !

I still have the original receipt which shows the cars options, Auto gearbox, Smiths clock, Dunlop white-wall tyres and a Radiomobile 900T radio. Now for that specification he probably did get a bonnet flash... from his wife !
 
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