Engine Punk

The camera can lie - this is actually the scene of chaos outside Plymouth railway station this afternoon. All those people standing outside are First Great Western's displaced persons and the British Transport Police policeman was looking more necessary as the confused crowd grew. Well, the end of the world didn't happen and a lot of people are standing around now looking very foolish and at a bit of a loose end. Yes, I'm looking at you First Great Western because you cancelled the 15:12 to Liskeard. Like many other travellers, I knew the world wasn't going to end - not really. I'd finished work art midday today and gone into Plymouth city centre for a very good meal at Lorenzo's tapas bar with some workmates and chumrades and decided to get the 15:12 home to avoid the rush that had been predicted (accurately as it turned out). Consequently, instead of avoiding the rush, I became a part of it. The next train to Liskeard was the 15:57. It was packed wit...

The Liskeard to Looe branch line recently hosted No.93 the reconstructed steam railcar and one of my mates came down from Birmingham to ride on it. The atmosphere on the Looe platform at Liskeard was really good with preserved buses and stalls selling interesting stuff. The weather wasn't bad either although we did experience slight precipitation as the railcar pulled into the station. The engine section was reconstructed out of nothing The previous weekend the railcar hadn't even made it to Liskeard. This was no fault of its own. The diesel pulling it from Bodmin "failed" and when another one was drafted in at short notice that "failed", too. The organisers made the most of this "learning point", however, and for the next event brought it over on the Saturday night. That would have allowed them all night to scour the west country to find a working diesel if it all went frogs. Of course, there were no problems and services began as schedul...

The TreeVee hails from Sweden and is inspired by the Morgan Aero and Ariel Atom. Photo Per-Gunnar Björck I 've described a few contemporary Vintage Things before now, like the Toniq R (VT No. 21) , and here's another. Following my earlier post about the RIP Special (VT No. 112) , Per-Gunnar Bj ö rck e-mailed me about his Morgan inspired three-wheeler that exemplifies what I like to call "rolling sculpture". Per-Gunnar worked for Saab with powertrain and vehicle concept development for over 30 years and his ambition was to make and design something to professional automotive engineering standards despite working in a humble home garage. It goes as well as it looks, too. Photo Per-Gunnar Björck O bviously, it helps if you know what you are doing and have a clear focus of what you want as a final product.   "The actual starting point was when I fell of my Ducati Monster and felt that I needed more than two wheels to keep upright. I also...

Get it on! Ooaawwwah! (Photo : Hilary Beale) If you like T Rex, you'll love T Rextasy. I saw them at Tavistock Wharf last year and would have seen them there again earlier this year except that on that very night The Damned were playing I'm not a great fan of tribute bands per se but T Rextasy cut the mustard. Actually, I don't like mustard. Custard's much more palatable. Danielz is the jiving pixie reincarnated (Photo : Hilary Beale) You're not going to see Bolan again in this life so Danielz makes a very worthy substitute. He looks and sounds just like Bolan and musically the whole band cannot be faulted. But being good musically isn't enough. Do these guys rock?. Yes they do! All it takes is a few opening notes of each song and the crowd can't stay still. Most of us know all the words to the sings and T Rextasy respond favourably to requests. And T Rextasy sound like T Rex, too (Photo : Hilary Beale) I went with a big gang ...

The demonstrator of the Continuation Series at the Goodwood Revival this year One idea that I'm currently working on in one of my books is the idea of digitised automobiles and motorbikes - you design them on a computer or request a replica GT40 or something and then a molecular workshop makes one in double quick time for you. From the Alvis spares specialist and restoration experts Red Triangle you can now get a brand new Alvis 4.3 litre tourer. This car was introduced at the wrong time as 77 cars that had been sanctioned by the board were never built as World War Two intervened. Post war Britain was happy for any sort of car and so those 77 cars were never built - until now. I saw the demonstrator at the Goodwood Revival earlier this year and was immediately struck by the craftsmanship - this is a handbuilt automo. I was also intrigued by the idea of making this kind of replica. It's not really a replica! Red Triangle have provided spares to Alvis owners for yea...

The Rialtopless gives you fun and fresh air on three wheels If you are like me and mourn the passing of VT No. 109 the Old Spot Piglet , you may - also like me - be heartened to see that its spirit lives on in a pair of modified Reliant Rialtos (Rialtoes?). These machines competed in the 2012 Edinburgh Trial and although considerably smarter than the Old Spot Piglet - which isn't saying a lot to be frank - they may have some way to go to match it for competitiveness. Not a great picture but you get the idea. I didn't see this machine later in the day but here it is at the start of the Edinburgh trial at Tamworth, not far away from where it was made. I notice a blue tarpaulin draped over the roll bar so maybe there were some regrets about removing the roof as the intrepid crew of Bernard Pugh and Michael Stead fought there way through heavy rain to the start. I bet they didn't mind a few days later, though. The weather improved dramatically. The running gear is st...

Scrutineering at Tamworth Services was in persistent rain After the Land's End Trial this year, I raised the prospect of the Edinburgh Trial with Binky but he wasn't keen. Then one day in September he e-mailed me to say "We've got a ride! Are you in!" and in I was. I'd never even spectated on the Edinburgh but had heard that it was very rough. The Peak District had also remained unexplored territory for me until this summer when the National Rally of the Hillman Imp Club pulled me northwards and I found a new bit of Britain that I really liked. A Benelli dirt bike! When was the last time you saw a Benelli of any sort? However, the week before the event, the Allard failed its MOT and then there was a roller coaster ride of "we will, we won't" be ready. The problem began as a brake imbalance and, while new cylinders at the front was a partial solution, the nearside brake drum did not want to come off. While getting down and dirty with...

The 2012 Goodwood revival was actually very well attended - this little group was in the airfield enclosure We couldn't have wanted for better weather at the Goodwood Revival, leastways not on the Saturday. It was like the summers we used to have, with a threshing machine again on the inside of the circuit, and the opportunity for many of the lay-deez to show off in their finery. It was a sell out event but not everyone bothered to dress up. Those that did enjoyed themselves more I think - it makes for a far greater sense of occasion. The tax exempt car park was well worth a look The gentlemen were showing off, too, invariably in military clothes of some kind and after a bit I began to feel a bit uncomfortable. The Cold War was at its height during the fifties and sixties but I don't think we ever had quite that many admirals. Or brigadiers. There were even a pair dressed in WW2 German army uniforms at the entrance insisting we got our papers ready for inspection. ...