Less is definitely more

I'm still trawling ebay trying to find that bargain of a lifetime Barcelona chair in chocolate leather. You know, the one that doesn't bloody exist anywhere.

Imagine my excitement then whilst idly browsing through some chair porn to find this, the Barceloneta. Serralunga collaborating with designer Raffaella Mangiarotti have created a modern interpretation of the classic chair.





it retains the distinctive capitonnè


it's even stackable


So I tracked it down to see how much...

Why? Why oh lord do I have the unnerving ability to always be attracted to items that cost an arm and a leg. Grrr. Back to ebay.

the edge is still out there

punch it Chewie

found at jalopnik

Rockingham 6/7/10

Some footage of me taken from Mike's blade. I expect he doesn't want get too close in case my leathers screw with the camera.

The way you look tonight

And a good time was had at Rockingham. Somewhat nervous about my first time back on track after breaking my collarbone at Anglesey eight weeks ago gently does it was the idea. It took the whole morning to get some semblance of mojo back especially braking into the two hairpins. Curiously looking at the Video VBOX playback between sessions revealed that although I felt I was really wussing out braking early and gingerly and then pootling through the corners in fact I was carrying pretty good speed... there's a lesson in there somewhere.


One unforeseen advantage of the new leathers is that it allowed swift identification... strangers walking up and saying 'you must be driverchris from the Performance Bikes forum' ha take that you trackday sheep in your cookie cutter Alpinestars and Dainese!


Sid from Lucky Shot reckons I'm showing off a Chris De Burgh tee-shirt. Get a grip man, I don't want to look like a twat do I?

Video footage coming soon.

Range Over

Charles Spencer King (1925 – June 26, 2010)

Just discovered this morning that Charles “Spen” King has died. Not a name very familiar even to the average petrolhead but one of the greats if you're a fan of a particularly functional, honest and very British kind of design.

Joining Rover in 1945 he became chief engineer of new vehicle projects in 1959 and is best known for leading the teams that developed the advanced Rover P6 series and the hugely successful Range Rover. It's hard to overstate the ongoing impact of the Range Rover or just how honest and capable the original was. The authenticity and robustness was reflected in a functional, pure design.



Latterly the Range Rover has come to signify something quite different but we shouldn't blame King. In 2004, he criticised SUV owners who drive their vehicles in urban areas, saying that vehicles like the Range Rover he created were "never intended as a status symbol but later incarnations of my design seem to be intended for that purpose."

It seems a cruel twist of timing that he dies in the month that Land Rover's current design chief Gerry McGovern revealed a new member of the design team - Victoria Beckham - although he did not outline any specific role for the former singer. Beckham said, "I'm incredibly excited to be collaborating with Range Rover. I like to take on a challenge and I'm ready for it."

It was announced on June 28, 2010 that King had died after suffering complications following a cycling accident.

Nice garage