PaulGerard.bsky.social

When it was new, a German magazine pointed out the similarity in the front and rear styling to the Renault 15/17.

IMHO it’s clearer if you compare the two-door Passat with the R15.

Not so many north European tourists bring their classic cars to the Mediterranean by the second half of October, so it was nice to see this Swiss-registered Mercedes 350SL in Italy.

#weirdcarBS #CarBlueSky

Sorry to hear this.

Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the new policy it seems illogical that they apply these rules to people who applied two years ago. Surely the new rule should apply to new applicants only.

Self-parking 🙄

I’m thinking more like Bleak House😢

It would have been so much easier if they’d called the character “Sean the Sheep”….

Lovely Toyota LiteAce street parked in Perpignan, France. Chrome and whitewalls!!

#weirdcarBS #CarBluesky

TIL that while the Peugeot 202 has a front-mounted radiator, 1930’s Renaults had the cooling radiator mounted behind the engine, which doesn’t seem very logical.
Apparently they do overheat very quickly.

Albert proudly showing the engine of a 1936 Rosengart

Albert - owner of the Aiguës-Mortes Auto museum - proudly showed us each of his cars in turn, opening the doors, lifting the hoods.

A self-taught mechanic, he did all the restoration work himself. He also claimed to be 90.

Quite a character!

Mainly older cars, but some moderns too.

#weirdcarBS

Calling #weirdcarBS!

I can’t think when I last saw a Fiat Coupé. Chris Bangle’s controversial design still looks quite fresh.

#weirdcarBS #CarBluesky #FIAT

Ouch!

Before | After

#tagderdeutscheneinheit

With analog version of Tesla Sentry mode.

Franks United? The First Treaty of Meerssen (Feb 847) You know what we haven’t had a lot of in a while? Carolingian treaties! (All those who answered ‘hope’ are sentenced to read the complete Opus Caroli until they learn what true despair looks like).…

Today on the blog, the year is 847 and the Frankish world is in turmoil. Can three Carolingian brothers stop plotting against each other for long enough to do some much needed firefighting? Find out as they have a little family get together. #medievalsky

salutemmundo.wordpress.com/2025/10/02/f...

My colleagues in Germany used to call weak coffee Blümchenkaffee.

(from the days when coffee cups had floral patterns inside and the coffee was so weak it was transparent)

I only had one more - I was trying to get the idea of the elegance of the French street together with the Mercedes, but I’m not sure it worked.

David Attenborough voice:

“In late summer each year the Magill climbs into his trusty Fiat and begins the arduous journey to warmer climes…”

Mercedes W114/5 (or Strich-Acht) street parked (front three quarter view)

1970’s Mercedes 280CE parked street side

The perfect car for late summer touring, the Mercedes W114/5’s elegant lines catch the early evening sunlight.

#weirdcarBS #CarBlueSky

Exhibition of the real cars of the Tintin cartoon stories in Mulhouse, France

The French really love Tintin!

Pachyderm Presents: Elephant Diplomacy in the Twenty-First Century I’m delighted to be able to announce that my book, The Emperor and the Elephant: Christians and Muslims in the Age of Charlemagne, is coming out in paperback on 23 September 2025![1] In addition to…

Today on the blog, I celebrate the forthcoming paperback release of The Emperor and the Elephant by looking at elephant diplomacy in the twenty-first century. #elephant #diplomacy @princetonupress.bsky.social

salutemmundo.wordpress.com/2025/09/18/p...

The Emperor and the Elephant: Christians and Muslims in the Age of Charlemagne by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby

Now in #paperback, The Emperor and the Elephant by @samottewillsoulsby.bsky.social is a new history of Christian-Muslim relations in the #Carolingian period that provides a fresh account of events by drawing on Arabic as well as western sources.

Learn more: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...

The elephant rides again! 🐘 Join us on a journey from the palaces of Baghdad, through the streets of Córdoba and all the way to the forests of Aachen #medievalsky

Oh no! Now I have to take a cold shower…

BMW X4

BMW X4 like this one.

I never thought I would like a car like this - all style and no substance - but this was a great cruiser for a long distance trips in Italy and France.

Plus, it was the only car I owned that my daughter said she thought was cool.🤣

Citroen 2CV

Citroen 2CV.

I was on the way to a shop to buy a sun shade for my house & thought this would be a good color. So I showed it to the shopkeeper.

Spoiler alert: my wife wants green.

Time was, when you had tickets for Newcastle, you were hoping for an asteroid to hit the earth in advance 😳

Even 50 years later, I can still remember this scathing takedown of the Cortina advert in Car magazine almost word for word.

Alfa Romeo 1600Z in dark blue

Alfa Romeo 1600 Z

Dark blue Alfetta GTV

There was a very rare Alfa Romeo 1600 Zagato at the Autogiro d’Italia this week.

Its fastback styling seemed to be a forerunner of the Alfetta GTV (also at the Autogiro).

#weirdcarBS

Cue stampede of young academics racing to find the mythical pot of academic funding at the end of the rainbow.