April 18, 2016
MG to Monte (Part 2 – Paisley to France)
Posted by morewheelspin under MG, monte carlo rally, regularity rally, Uncategorized | Tags: austin a35, croft motor circuit, daily express production touring car race 1953, Derby Bentley 3.5 litre, ford popular, ford zodiac, gregor grant, ian glass, lamotte, MG YB, monte carlo rally, nick green, nick ward, per jonsson, rally monte carlo historique, rallye monte carlo classique, Robert van Rheenan, Silverstone, terry mower |Leave a Comment
April 17, 2016
MG to Monte (Part 1 – John O’ Groats to Paisley)
Posted by morewheelspin under Uncategorized | Tags: aviemore, bertie sutherland, cairngorms, caithness, douglas anderson, ford popular, gleneagles hotel, gregor grant, john o groats, lord lieutenant of caithness, mcgibbon, MG YB, monte carlo rally, paisley, paisley abbey, provost of paisley, rallye monte carlo classique, rallye monte carlo historique, rover 2000, scottish coronation rally 1953, triumph herald coupe, volvo amazon |Leave a Comment
There are a number of videos on YouTube showing the evening at Paisley including this one which (at 7.45) inexplicably focuses on yours truly treating the car to a general tighten up after the long run down from John O’ Groats.
June 29, 2014
Out and About at the Festival of Speed 2014
Posted by morewheelspin under Audi, BMW, ferrari, formula 1, Goodwood Motor Circuit, jaguar, Le Mans, mclaren, mercedes benz, motorsport, peugoet, porsche, sportscars, stuttgart, Uncategorized, volks wagen | Tags: andy wallace, audi e tron, dougie lampkin, ecurie ecosse, emerson fittipaldi, felipe massa, Ferrari, ferrari 512, ford mustang, grand prix, jaguar d type, jaguar f type, jaguar xjr9, Jaguar XKR, jenson button, johhny herbert, John surtees, le mans, max smith hilliard, McLaren, mclaren 650s, mclaren m23, McLaren mp4-12c, Mercedes Benz, mercedes benz uhlenhaut coupe, mini cooper, monte carlo rally, Motorsport, paddy hopkirk, Porsche, renault twingo sport, stuttgart, sunbeam 1920, surtees TS9B, toyota hybrid, vw xl |Leave a Comment
Some interesting new iron (aluminium, carbon fibre …) at the FoS this year. Highlights below.
There is always a fine selection of Le Mans sports cars at Goodwood ranging from those from the earliest days of racing to the very latest winning machines.
Due to restrictions on testing (!) there were no contemporary Formula One cars tackling the hill at Goodwood this year. That did not stop some of the teams bringing cars for static display or bringing cars from previous seasons for their drivers and test drivers to run up the hill. Even then runs were restricted to demonstration performances with plenty of doughnuts and burnouts and very little speed. We had to look to the historic guys for real pace.
One of the best things about the Festival of speed is the close access to the drivers available for fans.
June 26, 2014
The Lenham Roadhouse Cafe
Posted by morewheelspin under brighton speed trials, motorsport, regularity rally, sportscars | Tags: 2080PO, austin healey sprite, Brighton speed trials, john sprinzel, lenham, lenham roadhouse cafe, monte carlo rally, pierre lequex |Leave a Comment
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of driving my friend Pierre Lequex’s immaculately restored Racing Sprite to the Lenham Roadhouse Cafe in Kent. From the 50s to the 70s the Cafe was a regular stopping point for rally cars on their way to Europe, particularly for British Monte Carlo Rally contestants. Coaches running between Dover and London also used to stop there and it is said that Ian Fleming wrote much of his first Bond novel whilst eating breakfast at the Cafe when travelling up from his house in Folkestone to his publisher’s office in London.
After many years as a truck stop the Cafe now has new owners who have made an effort to try and capture the custom of classic car owners who might be interested in the Cafe’s old links to rallying. Having seen an advert for the Cafe in an MG club magazine Pierre and I decided to head there early one Saturday morning for breakfast in his recently restored Sprite. Unfortunately Pierre broke his arm the week or so before our trip so could not drive. Instead he very kindly let me drive his very precious car. So his bad luck was my good fortune!
We had great weather and a fantastic trip down through the back roads of Kent to Lenham. Pierre had bought the Sprite minus it’s engine in a pretty poor condition a number of years ago. He had spent the intervening period having the car expertly restored whilst he investigated its history. He new it had been raced but he managed to find out it had competed not only in events in the UK such as the Brighton Speed Trials, but also in international events on the continent. The car is a hoot to drive as the engine is powerful and the car weighs very little – even with two passengers! You can find out more about Pierre’s fantastic car on his website http://www.cyberspot.co.uk.
Then Lenham Roadhouse Cafe is not easy to find being hidden back from the road and with no signage to alert you to its presence. Once you do find it you have to navigate a porthole filled parking area to get to the entrance-not ideal in a low-slung sportscar. The Cafe building itself has clearly seen better days but the interior has recently been repainted and the walls adorned with many of rally (and Sprite) legend John Sprinzel’s rally plates. These and the large number of accompanying photographs make the trip worthwhile. The huge breakfasts at a reasonable price are also an incentive to make a visit!