Cats and champagne

Sir,

The Jaguar video that came with April’s edition of Motor Sport is most enjoyable. And like all old footage, gives a nostalgic and sometimes amusing insight into the mores of the times — Mike Hawthorn gaily blinding around Le Mans on open roads, weaving in and out of cyclists and cars.

The one thing I found particularly interesting, though, was Peters, Whitehead and Walker, at the end of the 1951 Le Mans 24 Hours, having a bottle of champagne carefully opened by their mechanic and then toasting their victory by drinking the stuff — from glasses.

Fashions change, style doesn’t.

I AM, YOURS, ETC

Mike Baker, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire