Killboy's British Roadsters

Shortly after I discovered Killboy's remarkable images, I searched his archives for cars and shots that I really liked, and came up with about 60 pictures.  Since then, I've added 2-3 pix from each week's highlights.  Every month or so, I cull the herd.  Sometimes a better image of an existing make/model shows up; sometimes I decide an image isn't as much of a keeper as I first thought it was.  The point is to use My Killboy picture file as a rolling screen-saver.

What makes his images so great?  One obvious answer is good equipment and a photographer's eye.  Beyond that, the background draws your eye back to the car: the Dragon is scenic, but neutral.  Most of all (I believe) it is because the cars are real, doing what they do, occupied by people having fun.  Just think back to the images you've seen of iconic cars parked on a putting green with an ocean behind them.  Or parked in front of a mansion.  The main reason Killboy's pictures work so well is that they bring the cars to life and give you a feel for what they're like to drive.

My collection is broad-ranging: old and new, supercars and and not-so.  Just images that I like.  It includes lots of makes and models, foreign and domestic.  And some bikes and hot rods.  A few  images were saved just because Killboy's captions were hilarious.  A couple of art shots were saved to remind me of what a great experience the Dragon is.

As an example of what I'm trying to say, here is a class of cars I know reasonably well.  I would not want to own an old British roadster, but they are huge fun to drive.  These pictures are a reminder of just how good Killboy's work is.

MG TC: prettiest and slowest of the postwar MG's.  They always look like they are going faster than they are.

Austin Healey 100: once again, Killboy slays the image.

Austin Healey 100-6 or 3000 (not sure which): what the 100-4 became when it grew up, or made too many concessions to creature comfort, depending on your viewpoint.  The charm of this car was its torquey in-line 6.

MGA: faster than a TC/TD/TF, the first "modern" MG.  But you still had to reach inside and pull a cable to open the door. 

Lotus 7: beginning of the legend.

Triumph TR-3: the car for someone who wanted something faster than an MGA: 2 liters of torque instead of 1.6.  But you had to stoop to reach the exterior door handle.  Roadsters were hard-core.

XK-E: without occupants, they look bigger in pictures than they really are.  This car was a sensation when it came out in 1961: almost as fast as a Ferrari 250 GT for half the money.  And (some say) better-looking.

Austin Healey Sprite: countless road racers got their starts in this car.  This one appears to be a Dragon regular: blue stickers on the windshield.

Triumph TR-4: do these people look like they're having fun?  Love the (non-standard) Minilite wheels.