A White Car and a Red Car

I lived in Switzerland for most of the 1990s. Somewhere along the line I bought a Mercedes 280SL (See Above. My wife and the car outside our house). I don’t know much about cars, but after acquiring this one for a brief period of time I developed an interest in classic/vintage cars. One of the cars I came across in my reading was the red one below. I believe it’s a Porsche 944 (or maybe a 924. I don’t know enough about the differences to be sure. I also quickly learned that Porsche afficionados don’t care for this this model very much. This seems to be because of a combination of different factors:

  • To some, the 911 is the only ‘real’ porsche and so the 944 didn’t have the same prestige.
  • The 924 that came before it was developed with the Volkswagen Group and featured a modified Audi engine.
  • It was less expensive (you’d think that that would be an advantage but status-wise in the Porsche world probably not)
  • A lot of them were built (in looking for information I discovered that over 163,000 cars were produced. It was the most successful sports car in Porsche’s history until the introductions of the Boxster and 997 Carrera).

I came across this one during one of my recent walks. I loved the way it looked in the 1990s and I still do. You can keep your 911s (unless of course you feel like giving one to me). I know I’m very much in the minority, but I’ve never liked the way they look.

Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Sigma 18-50mm f2.8

A man and his motorcycle

During a recent visit to a nearby cemetery I spotted a motorcycle by the side of the road. The owner had apparently gone into the woods to find something to weigh down the banner hanging from the pole. After a couple of minutes, he returned. I walked over and asked him if could take his photograph. He agreed. I took the photograph and we chatted for a while.

He told me that a member of his club had recently passed away and that some of his fellow members were going to pass by in his memory. He also told me that the club expected about 100 riders to pass through the cemetery. Furthmore, there was to be an outdoor celebration somewhere afterwards, and the club anticipated that about 300 people would be there. I guess the deceased must have be quite popular.

The club in question is the Yonkers Motorcycle Club. He told me that it was the oldest motorycle club in the world. And indeed, that’s how its website describes it too. The first few paragraphs of the history section of the website describe it as follows:

The Yonkers Motorcycle Club originally started as the Yonkers Bicycle Club, which was founded by Elliott Mason on Nov 19, 1879. The club consisted of 25 men, who wore a greyish brown corduroy uniform with a polo cap bearing the clubs initials, and the club colors were of crimson and gold.

Elliott Mason was a “Columbia” bicycle agent in Yonkers, who went to work as a general manger for the Pope Manufacturing Company at 12 Warren Street, establishing the oldest cycle depot in New York City. Over the years, he became one of Colonel Albert Augustus Pope’s most loyal and trusted companions.

Elliot Mason was also one of the founders of the League of American Wheelmen, created in Newport, Rhode Island on May 30, 1880. One hundred fifty bicyclists from 32 different clubs came to Newport, where they officially formed the organization, and wrote and ratified its constitution the next day. Their mission, as stated in the constitution, was “to promote the general interests of bicycling, to ascertain, defend and protect the rights of wheelmen, and encourage and facilitate touring.”

This History section provides much more information. You can find it here.

Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Sigma 18-50mm f2.8