Engine Punk

As it is today, lovely and clean in a climate controlled garage Ian Headon died in 2018 but I had the good fortune to meet him a couple of times. He was a true enthusiast and created a series of cars that he designed and built himself. On his way to another clean of Blue Hills (Photo : Louise Ransome Headon) The IRH2 is one the of the known survivors in the series and it's returning to competition thanks to the active involvement of Ian's daughter, Louise. Ian gets some air in the IRH2  (Photo : Louise Ransome Headon) I know Louise through the Hillman Imp Club and was interested to hear she shared my interest in trialling. Literally, a few days after our exchange of trialling tales, I stumbled across this photograph in my jumbled up collection.  Louise Ransome Headon piles up some zeds on the 1987 LET I very rarely write on the back of my photos but this occasion I had written Miss L Headon, Ford 1172cc Special .  Talk about serendip...

This is the official photograph of Jerry's Imp from the 1987 Land's End Trial. I am hidden by the screen but Jerry is driving and Mike Evason is bouncing furiously. I think this is Darracott - which we would've failed. This is an ongoing project, one that my old mate Jerry Goater began and one that I hope I will get to a stage where it can be used again, for projects, like cars or motorbikes, are not finished off until they are destroyed utterly, when they have no further future. The Jemp rests in a corner of my garage, dry stored and awaiting its turn. It's not finished - it has a future. It began as a standard Imp saloon in a sort of mustard grey colour and Jerry learnt to drive in it. It belonged to his parents. Sheila and Steve, but it sort of became his in 1985 when we were on our industrial placements. Y'see, we were studying Industrial Design/Transport at Coventry Polytechnic and Jerry's dad was a CDT teacher and they had this grinder and this we...