Behind the wheel!

One of the advantages of wearing that little blue ribbon that says "Judge" at a car show -- aside from the (temporary) fawning attention paid by car owners to your every word -- is the right to step over the ropes that separate cars from spectators and take a close look at the goodies.

To end the photo series, here is what the drivers of some of the great cars from the show get to see (lucky dogs!):

First, the interior of the 3-liter Bentley. The gearshift lever is uncomfortably close to one's right leg and, as was the practice on some early racing cars, the gas pedal is between the clutch and brake pedals. Once you learn, you never forget...



Here's what the driver of a 1929 Alfa-Romeo 6C (not the car pictured before) had to look at...



Even better, and so traditionally British, is the driver's compartment of the SS100 Jaguar. Those large steering wheels were necessary to give the driver some leverage against the front wheels, let me tell you...



More civilized, but certainly a nice piece of mechanical art, is the dashboard of the Tatra 87...



And finally, the pure-1950s cabin of the Lincoln "Indianapolis," a bit calmer design-wise than the exterior...



Here endeth the car pictures, at least for now. Hope you've enjoyed them; putting them all up here has distracted me from a bunch of real-life crap....