Engine Punk

I think the new white wheels really suit the Candidi Provovatores Allard My John Aley trial experience began with a rail journey to Andover near where Binky lives. Ever since we broke a perch bolt on the 2018 Lands End, he’d been chasing down parts for his Allard J1 to sort out the damage and engineer a better solution in keeping with the character of the car. At last! The only thing he needed to do on the day of our departure was drill holes for split pins for the hub retaining nuts on the freshy rebuilt rear axle and we’d be off! Imagine his disappointment to discover that the headlamps and front sidelamps didn’t work. Imagine, then, my disappointment to discover not only that but the prospect of missing the trial and having to make an alternative journey back home to Cornwall. However, maximise the positive. If Binky waggled the headlamp relay, the headlamps worked. This was regardless of the headlamp switch position. I tried a similar waggling technique and succeeded in sto...

The future of classic trials? The Suzuki X-90 is a car that has only just begun to have its day and even then it's having it in the obscure world of classic trialling. Not only that but it's the unloved two wheel drive variety that's found favour. The X-90 was one of those niche cars that may have made sense when the concept was pitched to senior executives but, once let loose in the market place with everybody else looking at it, it didn't actually make a lot of sense. I can sort of understand where Suzuki were coming from. So many people aspire to the lifestyle that a four wheel drive vehicle apparently indicates that you are enjoying that it could be sensible to offer them the look of it without all the tiresome heavy duty stuff that any self-respecting hairdresser doesn't need. And no disrespect to hairdressers - for many years the MGB was known for being a hairdresser's car. The MGB had the look of a sports car without all that tiresome performa...

The Candidi Provocatore Allard J1 is now home to many new components After the disappointment of being a non-starter last year for the 2011 Land's End Trial, Team Robert are entered in the 2012 Exeter Trial this weekend. We will be running as number 255 out of an entry list of 265 not including the 68 Class O competitors. Binky reports that the Allard is all ready for the the trial with new tyres and the latest refinement is a full flow oil filter system. Meanwhile, having suffered terribly from wind over the last week, I'm hoping the storms have blown themselves out and that the event is not cancelled due to snow, which is what happened in 2010. The forecast is light rain on Friday night and cloudy thereafter so we'll see. Since I last saw the car - engineless and in the dark - Binkers has been tacking up the road miles, so we are quietly confidently of making the start for the Exeter on Friday and hoping for a coveted Finsher's Certificate. A mudbath ...

Among VW buggies this machine manages to look quite distinctive without being consciously styled. In the 2008 Exeter it was crewed by Ben Johnson and Barry White ("Ah feel like makin' lurve") from Shaftesbury. Could this be the ultimate VW based trials special? I've heard it cost upwards of £30,000 but in the entry lists I've seen so far it's described simply as a VW Special. I'd like to know who built the thing. It's certainly very effective. I stumbled across these images while looking at pictures associated with my earlier posts on the Exeter Trial.  Y'see, I'm entered again, which makes 3 times so far but for the other two I was unfortunately a non-starter. You've probably read all about those adventure on Engine Punk already. Anyway, I'm quietly confident that with Rob Robinson-Collins we'll do better than before. With a record like mine, the only way is up. And we're going to be in Candidi Provocatore Allard, too. ...

Goff Imhof's competition Allard J1 This picture of a splendid old war horse basking in the sunshine at Wiscombe Park hillclimb back in 2008 defines the concept of Vintage Thing. The ghosts of many competition successes hang heavy on this Allard J1. Not many cars have been haunted by so many benign (petroleum) spirits. It started life as Geoffrey Imhof's works team car and he campaigned it vigorously in trails, rallies, hillclimbs and races until the powers that be decided Allards were a bit too successful. Never knowingly over-restored but extremely sympathetically maintained, it bears its history proudly and although some people may turn their noses up at its allegedly scruffy appearance, to me it is a thing of great and brutal appeal. To learn more about this car's illustrious history visit the Candidi Provacatore site here . For some years it's belonged to Roger Ugalde who still campaigns it in classic trials whenever he gets the chance. With a 3917cc (8...

Nice to see such a wonderful old car out and about in January Now that the dust - well, mud - has settled after the Exeter Trial, I find myself returning to these photos of a splendid Frazer Nash that was nonchalantly parked at the bottom of the section at Fingle Bridge. There's something of Chitty-chitty-bang-bang in this view They only made chain gang Nashes in penny numbers and this is the six-cylinder variety. That means a double overhead camshaft 1660cc designed and built by the Blackburne company lurked under that bonnet but it would have been incredibly rude to have had a look without the owners present. It was tempting, though. According to my info, the six-cylinder Blackburne engine powered the Colmore, TT replica and Shelsely models of Frazer-Nash but none of the illustrated examples feature bodywork like this one. There's nothing quite like wood when it's been worked by a craftsman The most impressive bit about this car - I thought - was...

The boys dun good! Dave Turner and Rob Robinson-Collins cleared all the sections in Dave's BMW 318S, which means they won a Triple award. This is the first time ever for Rob my erstwhile sidecar pilot. I think Dave has a few under his belt. He certainly looked very nonchalant going up Fingle but apparently just floored it at Simms and cleared it in style! Here are some more photos. Unfortunately, I wasn't ready when Dave and Rob came by, either, because I swapping tales of derring-do and mechanical mayhem with my mates on that corner, plus a couple of knowledgeable strangers and - well - anyone who would listen, actually. And I didn't take any of the yellow Dutton, probably for the same reason (see comment on previous post below - can't believe I was first on the web with some smudges of the Trial!). First is John Adams on his Honda MT5, yes that's a 50cc sports moped that somehow survived all the learner abuse over the last 25 years. An astute choice of mach...