Engine Punk

Hallo - I'm back from Le Mans and will be posting my thoughts about this fantastic event on this blog dreckly (good Cornish word). There were loads of Vintage Things that Ill share with you soon. This was just one. I didn't travel down to the Sarthe circuit in it but a whole bunch of other people did. This Bedford TK was parked in the campsite hard by the Porsche curves and I really its livery. There's an obvious London Transport influence and those who know anything about graphic design will know what a towering contribution Harry Beck and Edward Johnston made to simply catching the eye. Applied to a classic British lorry, the effect is highly pleasing and not only recalls the home city of many endurance spectators at Le mans but also reminds me of the wonderful support vehicles and racing car transporters of yesteryear. There were some models of theses I haven't just got back, I've been making the most of what has so far been a brilliant summer here in Cornwa...

By the time you read this I will be gone. I will be on the camp site in the middle of the circuit enjoying the 24 hours of endurance racing at Le Mans. This will be my third visit to the circuit for this event and I am really looking forward to it. Everybody says that it's so much better value for money than Formula 1. I think that Bernie and Max should dispense with the racing and just concentrate on the refuelling and tyre changing because that's how Formula 1 cars overtake these days. At Le Mans, I will have virtually a very long weekend of proper job racing and razzmatazz.

The sun shone again on the Run to the Sun this year and in addition to peachy 23 windowed microbuses like this example there many other fine examples of automotive art present at the show'n'shine on Sunday. My sister said I was mad to go for many people who have live around Newquay believe RTTS causes nothing but trouble with the local toughs picking fights with louts from a line when I saw nothing but people having a good time, admiring each other's handicraft and relaxing in the weather. This machine won spirit of the event award and I featured it on this blog last year. At that stage, it still looked a bit like a Beetle but now resembles a tannalised log cabin on wheels that -- against all the laws of probability -- has been souped up. In the space of just 12 months, it's had a pretty radical reworking and about the only clue to the retention of the running gear underneath was the voodoo dolls head gear knob. Rust patination was demonstrated by a...

I read this book for the first time many years ago. It was recommended to me by a friend, which is always the best way with anything. He lent it to me which meant that I had to give it back afterwards and is part of the ongoing thought processes concerning the development of the Sole Trader Trilogy, I wanted to read The Wild Wood by Jan Needle again. Getting hold of a copy proved surprisingly difficult. Amazon listed it but, on closer inspection, this proved to be an entirely different book altogether. In the end, I notified eBay that I was looking for one and after a few weeks found an original paperback complete with illustrations by Willie Rushton in good condition -- and all for the princely sum of 50p. The Wild Wood retells Winston Grahame's The wind in the Willows from the point of view the working class stoats, ferrets and weasels. I had often wondered what Ratty, Moley and the Badger did for a living. Toad was clearly gentry. Although he was a menace to everyone wh...