It must have been a thing with the previous generation. My dad was always wary of anyone who wore a hat, particularly a trilby, set right on the top of the head.
Personally, I'm always wary of those who wear their baseball caps back to front and want to turn them round so the peak is at the front. The heads, that is, not the hats.
However, OAP, should you go to the US you will find that all elderly geezers wear their baseball hats (peak forwards) while driving or engaged in any leisure pursuit. I don't think it's the law, but the freedom to do so is guaranteed by the constitution.
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I think when you've got a blower Bentley that you can wear whatever you like on your head. Until then, sans chapeau is most definitely de rigueur.
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I saw an Atom on the road on Saturday (Top Gear loved it). But being little more than a very sophisticated and rapid two-seater roadgoing gokart, it would more or less force its driver to wear goggles at least, and a biker's helmet might be even better.
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As for wearing hats in saloon cars, well, takes all sorts, and some people wear hats. I would say there was something sinister in someone never wearing a hat unless they were driving a saloon car.
I can't help wondering if HJ wears the titfer when driving or only for his mugshot.
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what a lot of old tosh, he says, casting a glance at his smart black and tan Mercedes Racing baseball cap.
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Dad used to where a trilby when at work and a flat cap at weekends and hols, but when he retired he always wore the flat cap when driving, so there you go... flat cap....
Please, please, don't wear one of those dreadful baseball thingies, one of the worst american imports going....
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Seconded, except that one more won't make much difference.
Really tattered ones look almost acceptable though.
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I'm not one for wearing hats but could do with one for the gf's MX5. Its irritating, with sunglasses on, you still get dazzled by sunlight going down the sides of your specs. IMHO thats the only justification - when the car has no roof.
I suppose serial hat wearers get so used to them they forget they have them on?
I once left a building site, walked half a mile and got on a crowded bus, and it took me a few minutes to realise I still had a hard hat on. I had had it on for 8 hours and could no longer feel it on my head. When I took it off my hair was in a quite fetching, flat, matted style, apart from 6 triangular bits sticking up in a symmetrical pattern.
Edited by Rich 9-3 on 12/05/2008 at 18:20
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Wearing a hat has its side effects. As a kid I spent most summers on ponies - until I was old enough to drive, that is. No silly chinstraps on a riding hat those days, just a length of 1/2 inch elastic under the chin. Come summer's end I always had a white line down the side of each cheek just in front of the ear.
With pretty short notice I then went into a job that required me to wear a fetching green bone dome, with flip down smoked visor for those Top Gun moments. Very hot in summer, and if you were very unlucky, you'd puncture the gel-filled seal that went round the ear. This resulted in a warm, sticky fluid running down your neck, and inside the suit. They never seemed to go when wearing a dry suit with the tight neck seal, of course.
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I can't help wondering if HJ wears the titfer when driving or only for his mugshot. >>
Yeah. And has it been photo-shopped onto his head in the one above?
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Only two types of hat allowed when driving
1. Leather helmet as with Tazio Nuvolari, MANFRED VON BRAUCHITSCH or Carriaciola
tinyurl.com/3shuwq
or
2. Flat cap as with Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart (preferably not tartan though)
Even then only allowed in open topped sports cars
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I seem to remember Fangio sometimes wearing a disreputable beret sort of thing, although he also wore those Nuvolari-style leather helmets.
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Thanks for that PhilW!
I've never seen the giant polka-dot job. The one I remember was a black or navy coloured one of more normal dimensions. But perhaps I am imagining it.
There's some wonderful old slowed-down film of Fangio doing racing drifts. He makes it look incredibly easy, as if all you need is to go quickly and relax enough.
Edited by Lud on 12/05/2008 at 20:02
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Lud,
Like on youtube?
Try this
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPteFrpPueo
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbBWeF_idn0
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPteFrpPueo&feature=related
or just bung Fangio into youtube search - hours of fun
This is good - so many heroes - Fangio, Moss, Collins, Castellotti, Salvadori, Behra, Harry Schell in that Lancia - Ferrari
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsGx0voy7aY&feature=related
Proper racing!
Your post reminded me that he wore what appears to be a cotton "flying helmet" early on in his career in that wonderful Alfa 158 (? - I still have a Dinky Toy of it, along with early '50s Maserartis and Ferraris - in those days I played with my Dinky Toys quite a lot!)
I could go on - and might spend a few hours tonight watching youtubes of 1950's GPs (too old to play with my Dinky Toy these days)
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PhilW,
interestingly, two of those youtube videos are fakes! (#1 and #3 are actually the same: titled rFactor F1 1955 Fangio Drift) They are computer simulations, just look at the driver's hands in the in car-shots. But they are indeed well done, too well done.
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Do you know, I wondered about that - couldn't see the hands properly.
My fault - looked up the links rather too quickly and didn't watch the vids carefully enough - there are genuine ones out there honest - Sorry 'bout that!
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The other two were great though PhilW. Thanks again.
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quote from PhilW's link:
Stirling Moss, Fangio?s teammate with Mercedes and Maserati, observed, ?The skill hat that Fangio had was enormous...
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In response to Optimist I wore it drag racing a Golf 1.8T 150 at a Club GTI event, managed to record a 0-60 of 7.1 and won the decanter. But it normally sits on the passenger seat.
HJ
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You just put it on for savage but carefully-metered transmission abuse then HJ?
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"Only two types of hat allowed when driving"
Unless you're a chauffeur of course
Believe that London taxis are so tall in order that you can enter one wearing a top hat but I guess that's passengers only!
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I'm not ashamed to say that I wear my ex tourist aussie bush hat in the middle of summer in open cars. And you can fold it to keep the sunburn off the back of the neck. In my much earlier days I got wind/sun burn driving my Triumph Vitesse Convertible all day cross country including motorways. Ouch.
I've been too old for a baseball for years but the glare without a roof is too much unless I had Dame Edna sunglasses...
And it has a tie-string under the chin so it isn't at risk at speed. Unlike the passengers baseball cap of the car I was following a couple of years ago.
Simon
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