Engine Punk

At the start from left to right, 1900cc BMW 316 of Rob and Michael Holden, 2 litre Escort of Ken Bassett and Liam Hartley, Class winning X90 of Simon and Charlotte Lewis and Darren Ruby with Lisa, Ashley and Zak in their BMW E36 Compact. The 2021 Presidents Trial took place on 18th April, organised by the redoubtable Camel Vale Motor Club and back to its usual slot after Covid caused it to be postponed to October in 2020. After a freshen up of my steed during the winter lockdown and survival in the MCC Pop Up Trial, I entered the Arkley-MG as a singleton although I could have had a bouncer. What we can, and cannot, do changes frequently and I tend to lose track of where we're to. I wasn't the only driver without a bouncer but if you had an MSUK licence holder in your bubble you were laughing and if you didn't you could still laugh but behind a mask. This 454 CID Range Rover  was on recovery duty Conditions were very dry, much drier than when Stuart Palmer and I competed in ...

Car 54 where are you? On Chilli Bridge (Photo : Steven Price) The 2021 MCC Pop Up Trial was no push over. Although conditions were uncharacteristically dry for April, there were twelve difficult sections, many with restarts. Over 130 road miles and including hills regularly used in the Land's End Trial, the Pop Up Trial took competitors through a landscape they were lucky enough to only ever seen by moonlight. If they were unlucky, they got to not see it, as it was shrouded in mist or hidden behind sleet reflected in their headlamps. That's Exmoor in the dark for you. Last year's Land's End was postponed and then cancelled due to Covid 19. Subsequently, neither the Edinburgh nor the Exeter Trials took place, despite hours of preparation work behind the scenes. The postponed Presidents Trial took place last October  when restrictions were briefly lifted and I dabbled with some autosolos and autotests run by local motor clubs. In anticipation of MSUK permitting a gradual ...

This is me getting up Simms! With Simon Knight (Photo : Pete Brown) To celebrate one a half tons of Vintage Things, - yes! 150 of them - here is my cheekily little Arkley-MG. It originally started life as a 1275cc MG Midget in 1973 but by the time I got to know it, over 20 years ago, it sported the bodywork of an Arkley SS and completely different running gear. My car stands a lot taller than other Arkleys The Arkley kit consisted of a new bonnet and boot moulding for careworn Spridgets. The man behind them was Modsports racer John Britten and I first read about the Arkley SS in Peter Filby's Alternative Cars 1979. Production began in 1970, with moulding produced by the Lenham company, and cars based on really early Spridgets needed a bespoke hood. Conversions based on post 1967 cars don't need a special hood so my M-reg example can use a standard Midget hood. (More of that later.) Arkley survival rates aren't bad considering that rust was the main reason they were converte...

As Stuart and I were not from the same social bubble, we had to wear masks to reduce potential infection. Obviously, this also made us much more aerodynamic. (Photo : Pete Brown) The Camel Vale Motor Club did a brilliant job of getting this trial to actually happen. There were 29 entries, all cars, and it was very well run with just a couple of sections where early runners had to wait while thinly spread marshals moved from earlier sections on this single venue event. The view is always good from behind aero screens For the first time, I was passengering Stuart Palmer in his Austin 7 Ulsteroid, which made an interesting comparison with the Candidi Provocatores Allard of Robert Robinson-Collins. I may have slipped mention of that vehicle into posts on this blog before.  That was about as far as we got on the last hill (Photo : Pete Brown) Stuart and I had hatched plans to enter the 2020 Edinburgh Trial but that was sadly cancelled after a supreme effort on the part of the organiser...

September 2014 and Mighty Whitey 's future hangs in the balance I still have my aunt's old C15D van, which she christened Mighty Whitey . It's something of a family heirloom having been supplied new to her by Arnold's of Penryn in 1986. It used to have a dealer's sticker in the rear window that showed Falmouth mis-spelt as Falmoth but it's disintegrated entirely now. My parting comment on VT 44.1 was about sustainability and the intervening 10 years have been a testimony to that.  Following an engine failure on the M5, my C15D van is now a C15TD.  What happened was.... a complete loss of power just the other side of Exeter with lots of white and black smoke. I pulled onto the hard shoulder and when I tried the engine again it span over very quickly. No compression! On a diesel no compression means no ignition. There had been no indication of anything wrong with the engine. I remember a slight whiff of antifreeze going up Haldon Hill but the water temperature ...