Automotive posters: why do we choose specific ones?

Charlie Johnson of Retro and Classic Cars fame has been writing again. This time he digs deep into the world of automotive posters to ask what's behind the choice of cars we pin to our walls. What makes us choose between a Countach or a Testarossa. What will become clear is that much like many of the guest blogs on this site, the article might start with a question, but doesn't necessarily finish with an answer.

It would be fair to say that over the years it has been television and the numerous car events I have visited that have had the most influence on what cars I choose to place on my wall, as have the car events. But, how do we eliminate particular cars over others?

Top Gear was one of the TV programmes I always looked forward to on a Sunday night at 8pm, week in and week out. As automotive TV goes, Top Gear was one of the better ones offering advice to those of us who wanted to know on what to buy and what cars to avoid while featuring cars that were discussed. To those readers of a younger age group, yes there was a time when Top Gear was relatively formal. This later lead to me buying Jeremy Clarkson’s VHSs when they were realised as well as asking for them as Christmas presents. There was one particular VHS that set the bar; this was ‘Jeremy Clarkson Unleashed On Cars’. The video featured a ten car shoot out between the TVR Cerbera 4.2l V8, Dodge Viper RT/10 (first generation), Porsche 993 Turbo, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Lotus Esprit V8 and a Caterham 7. As the 8l V10 from the Viper roared off the start line, I knew I wanted one. In fact so much so, I’ve got a scale model and a poster of the GTS up on my wall.

[caption id="attachment_982" align="aligncenter" width="590" caption="First past the post"][/caption]

Next on my list is the Ford GT40. I actually I ended up with second best on my bedroom wall - the Ford GT, the GT40’s contemporary brother. It was at the age of fourteen or fifteen I discovered Supercars.net which holds a database of supercars, concepts and galleries of the latest automotive events. This soon lead to me looking through each of the cars alphabetically and it was at the letter ‘F’ that I came across the Ford GT40 1966 MkII. A four time winner of Le Mans back in the 1960s which settled the score between Ferrari and Ford. I had to have one. So the hunt continued for sixties nostalgia clips.

[caption id="attachment_983" align="aligncenter" width="590" caption="Wait a minute Mr Postman"][/caption]

Coming up fast on the list is the Jaguar XJ220, although yet to reach to the wall. It was a car that was hyped up before being released in 1992 to the public, with claims that it would have a V12 and be four-wheel-drive. This didn’t happen, as the Metro 6R4 engine was slung in with its twin Garret turbochargers. So it didn’t meet the hype but it didn’t stop my lust for the underdog; hence it ended up on wall, almost.

[caption id="attachment_984" align="aligncenter" width="590" caption="Post and rail fencing"][/caption]

So to conclude this, there isn’t actually a specific influence of where our automotive posters come from. Well, I had to finish it somehow didn’t I?

If you want to read more questions without answers or have a specific fascination with retro and classic cars, you can follow Charlie at http://twitter.com/retroandclassic. Me, I'm off to dust off my old posters of Stig Blomqvist, Juha Kankkunen and Cindy Crawford.

Images courtesy of Charlie Johnson and supercars.net.