Engine Punk

I'd never seen one of these before. I saw it on the industrial estate at Doublebois just up from Adrian Booth's workshop and didn't know what it was, so just had to find out. And after a deal of scrabbling about, I managed to identify it as a Honda S-MX. If you wanted a cube on wheels with an automatic box and fold down futon-style beds inside then this is the car for you. It's a good example of the kind of speciality cars the Japanese do so well. Any other car producing nation would never even try something like this. "Oh no they would say, there'd never be any call for something like that." So despite the slush box, I start to like it because of the odd niche that it's aimed at. There's a kind of "can-do" approach that the designers have followed and I like that. I was dropping an A series cylinder head off at Adrian's to be reconditioned and he said there was a whole set of camping gear available as standard from the factory w...

Something lurks in the wood shed (Photo Jon Clark) Just like the Siva Llamas, another UAZ-452 has come out of the woodwork. The woodwork in question belongs to Jon Clark's neighbour's shed and the UAZ is a bright blue pickup version, registered in 1979 and with right-hand drive. Since September it's belonged to Jon and he's planning to re-commission the little wagon. Considering the stories I've heard about build quality the panel fit doesn't look too bad. The 2445cc 4 cylinder engine turns over and he's freed the brakes off by hammering and pulling it a bit with a tractor. Here's picture of this impressive machine, bodily pulling a Massey Ferguson tractor backwards up a steep slope. (Photo Jon Clark) Actually, for some reason this photo won't upload in any other orientation except this one. I've no idea why it won't lie down properly. Currently, the fuel pump is blocked and due to be replaced by an electric one sourced in blight...

My efforts last year at a re-design seem to have been endorsed. I went into my local bookshop last week because it's under new ownership and found the same staff behind the counter as before. I got recognised as a local author in front of the customers which was - I have to admit it - a very nice feeling! I asked how the shop was going and it seems it's doing well which is always good to hear. The lady behind the desk remembered that they'd returned The Horsepower Whisperer just before the business was sold. "I'm afraid we didn't have any luck with it," she said. She went on to mention that she didn't like the cover - then apologised when she realised that I'd done the cover. "Why didn't you like it?" I persisted. "It looked too cartoon-like," was her reply. This was the cue for me to take a copy of the new revised version of The Horsepower Whisperer out of my rucksack (I always have one to hand for just such an ...

I've just been talking to the owner of yet another Siva Llama. Chris Griffin has owned his car from new. It's his only car and the mileage is just coming up to 27,000 miles. He works on a farm and only has to travel about half a mile to work, which he usually cycles. He's regularly covered the chassis in old engine oil and the only things that have rusted so far are the steel brake pipes outboard of the flexible hoses at the rear. Apart from two or three water pump seals and the occasional throttle cable, Chris's car is just as it left the Aylesbury factory. I asked him what attracted him to the Llama in the first place and he said that he was looking for something reliable, fun, adaptable, rustproof and that looked a bit different. He first came across the Siva Llama when it was advertised in one of the farming magazines, probably Farmer's Weekly. He visited the Siva factory in Aylesbury with his father in the summer of 1974 and saw a number of cars under cons...

I spent some time this week following up leads about book reviews. With The Wormton Lamb coming out at Easter, I want to create more of a media splash than I managed with The Horsepower Whisperer. The ultimate is to arouse (good word) some interest from the national media but this seems to be a closed shop. If you are not a buddy of the editor I don't think you get a foot in the door. I could send them a copy but from remarks Bill Bryson made in his introduction to The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W E Bowman, newspaper offices are awash with books sent in for possible review that either get pulped, binned, sold on eBay and Amazon or used as Christmas presents by skinflints. Not that Bill Bryson would ever do this, of course. The point of his introduction was how pleased he was to have discovered The Ascent of Rum Doodle , which enjoyed a kind of cult following among rock climbers against all the odds. As you can imagine, that kind of story interests and inspires me great...

Although I am a confirmed car and bike nut, I am also an enthusiastic user of public transport. It's so agreeable to look out of the window as you fly over rivers and roll through the rolling countryside. You can talk to your fellow passengers (they are a lively and fascinating lot) or you can have a nap if the day job has been strenuous. Since, embracing rail travel between Liskeard and Plymouth, I have become something of a leisure driver and enjoy being the behind much more. I am there because I want to be, not because I have to be. Rail ticket prices rose by about 6% at the start of this year but even with petrol at about 85p a litre I still think rail travel is preferable. Punctuality has improved in the seven years I've been using the train and there's less crowding. Fewer trains than seven years ago but still less crowding, which must indicate a migration to the roads. Last week this insidious little sign appeared on the fence at Liskeard station announcing ...

Remember when the future was good ? A Vintage Thing? Or not a Vintage Thing? That is the question. The best Vintage Things are obvious. They are high performance cars and motorbikes that are either rare or look great, an engineer or designer's dream come true. It's a very simple definition but occasionally I like something just because it's odd. And I'm often surprised by what I stumble across and get enthusiastic about. And some of the Vintage Things have been dangerously close to the kinds of vehicles I have come to despise. See what doesn't make a Vintage Thing. what doesn't make a Vintage Thing. During my teens, I went through a passing phase of drawing multi-purpose vehicles. I drew them everywhere and got into trouble at school for doing so. I didn't break windows or smoke, I just filled my rough book with drawings. At the time, I felt particularly inspired by buses and coach designs from the 1950s and early 60s. I was exploring a different...

I checked my website stats over the Christmas hols and found this. Now, I know that I had not been publicising my enterprise as assiduously as I might have done while revising my book covers but this looked a bit disappointing to me. Back in the summer, my Anarchadia site was getting nearly 700 uploads and 200 unique visitors a month. During August this fell away to almost nothing. Then it occurred to me that since smartening up my Anarchadia site in Serif WebPlus X2, I'd omitted any stat counter code. I didn't know how. Fortunately, Serif WebPlus offers on line help and pretty soon I had identified where to insert the code from Statcounter. A couple of page loads to test that I'd spliced things in properly and everything was set up again. Suitably encouraged, I found where to insert the code on my blogs, too. Boy, am I glad I did! When I checked Statcounter again about a week later, I found that my Anarchadia websit e is getting 40-50 visitors a week with about...

Now I know I should be blasé about this and not get excited but I can't. I don't see the point of even trying. I was in The Herald again last week. Yes, The voice of Plymouth was talking about me again. It's to do with my unconventional approach to raising funds for my publishing adventures but it's still publicity and who knows what connections it'll make with the general public? I'm using what's called peer-to-peer lending with Zopa and it could be the answer to the banking system's problems. There are no brokers or bankers or middlemen - just the good old internet, matching lenders and borrowers with each other. Here's the link - Author Bob's sci-fi dream

The Buzzcocks began their latest Another Bites tour on the 13th January 2009. The idea is very simple - they play their first two albums - Another Music In A Different Kitchen and Love Bites - in their entirety plus some of their other hits. They even do the intro and outro using bits of Boredom . This is the music that established their reputation and introduced a load of people to the more cerebral side of the punk rock revolution. These are thoughtful songs that pull you up short and it's very difficult not to move about to them. And the crowd on their first date at the Lemon Grove, Exeter University were highly appreciative and really had a good time. I was there with the usual reprobates - Gary, Rich and Nick. Actually, that's not a bad name for a band. Support was by The Lurkers, a band who I'd somehow contrived not to notice over all this time. I suppose that's what lurking is all about. I don't (whisper it) like every song by The Buzzcocks. Their ...

In response to Kevin Barnes' request following my previous post for a photo of his car - I can happily oblige. In fact it's such a good photo - even though I say so myself - I'm surprised I didn't use it earlier. But let's not stop with just this photo. Anyone else got a snap of this crew's derring-do?

The weather was good and the going was dry for the 2009 Exeter Trial over Friday night and Saturday. Here's Barry and Fiona Smith in their 939cc MG PB "getting it on up" as Kool and The Gang might have said had they discovered the wonderful world of classic trials and not made a successful career out of disco, in which it is frequently necessary to -- and I quote -- "get it on down, get it on down, get it on down." Or maybe they're taking Curtis Mayfield's advice to "Move on Up." (My personal favourite trialling track is In a Rut by (appropriately enough) The Ruts. Listen to the words if you can. The middle bit always reminds me of looking for Warleggan in the mists of Bodmin Moor. I spectated at Simm's this year, which is generally reckoned to be one of most spectacular trails hills anywhere. Blue Hills on the Land's End Trial must come close but since they put the wriggle in at the top, I think it has to play second fi...

As part of my publicity push I've just updated my listing on Author's Den. I first heard about this site on a self publishing discussion group. I uploaded some very discreet personal details some months ago but have taken the opportunity of the free time over the Christmas and New Year season to update my very low profile. I was stirred into action when I did a web search on my name -- Bob Blackman -- and the first entry that was actually about me was on Author's Den. Consequently, I thought that, if this site was getting so many hits, then I ought to raise my profile on it. There are opportunities to upload examples of your writing, post photographs of yourself (portrait of the author just before he made it really big) and even the ability to advise visitors to the Author's Den of any events. Hmm. I suppose the opportunity here is to advise the world at large of book signings, book tours, successful reviews and your latest book releases. Planning "events"...

Looking back at the machinery that has been featured on this blog as a Vintage Thing, I am rather surprised about the variety. When I started out on my enthusiastic ramblings, I thought high performance cars and motor bikes made by blokes in sheds would make up the vast majority of entries. I did not anticipate the numbers of four-wheel-drive trucks that have sneaked in under the radar. There have even been commercial vehicles - one with only three wheels and all the naff-ness that implies - and even some military vehicles. What's been going on? On reconsidering them all I can see that they remain worthy of the title Vintage Thing. For some reason, I like them. The original intention was to feature Vintage Things that were distinctly esoteric and not featured widely elsewhere on the Internet. I didn't expect to see much in the way of mass-produced vehicles, or 4x4s or commercial vehicles because what interests me most of all are specials, those rare creations made by so...