Engine Punk

I had a Matchbox model of a VW Fastback. This is the real thing of Tom Coles and Edd Wagner.  Remedial work on the Arkley-MG has taken much longer than I expected but it is now back together and running again. I hope to make the start of the Land’s End Trial at Easter. Experience tells me to keep my expectations low but I remain like that guy in Shakespeare in Love . “Don’t worry. Everything will turn out all right.” In the tranquil mists of the Camel Vale - but wait, what are those cones and markers for? In the meantime, I turned out to marshal on the Bodmin Heights and the Lewdown Trial. My section for the Camel Vale MC’s 2026 Bodmin Heights was Eddy’s Incline on the Eddy’s farm at Pendavey. Eddy’s Branch Line has featured on the classic Land’s End Trial for the last few years but Eddy’s Incline was a straight up blast and turn off the MCC section. Despite the wet winter the conditions were friable and, after a spectacularly misty start across the Camel Vale, the sun came out. ...

Martin Matthews and Colin Satchell approach the restart on Eastcott 1 in their UVA Fugitive As the Arkley-MG’s recuperation from the Exeter Trial continues, this year I marshalled on the 39 th Launceston Trial held in Lew and Eastcott Woods. I already knew access to the start at the wood yard was challenging for road cars and, with a bumper entry this year, parking would be difficult so I parked just off the road in and set off to walk. Fortunately, Becky Macey gave me a lift and, among the front-wheel drive vans struggling with loaded trailers and a Land Rover helping where it could, she polished up the steep and muddy concrete slabs in her Skoda that made up the entrance to the woods. Schmokin on the start line - not M ötley  Cr üe  but Richard and Katie Kinver in their Class 8 Ford Special  It was a good thing I blagged a lift off her for my felloe marshals for the day, Joe Caudle and Andy Prosser, were just setting off. Together with Chris Jory on his Honda XR, we ha...

Gareth entered the 2018 Camel Classic and is seen here in his Marin V8 with Roger Hancock's buggy and event scrutineer Adrian Booth Gareth White’s Marlin runs a Rover V8 and its custom zorst means you usually hear it before you see it.  Marlin Roadsters are typically based on either Triumph or Marina components and evolved over a long production run from 1979 until the present day with the drivetrain out of BMW 3-series. Along the way, the Marlin Roadster also used Ford Cortinas and Sierras as donors, growing slightly in the process to accommodate the wider track. Not so many V8s were built, however. Most common seem to be the Marina B series variety and with the back axle from a Marina van they make tough trials irons for Class 7. They’re nimble enough for the twisty bits and have a reasonable power to weight ratio. They are also very robust. Marlins don’t need much modification to be competitive in Class 7 but they usually sport 14 inch wheels and twin spare wheels and external...

I'd wanted to see the Zetec-powered Singer Chamois of Nick Symons ever since I heard of the build On the morning of the 2023 Launceston Trial, the Arkley-MG ( VT No.151 ) burst into life but then stopped as I warmed it up. It had been playing up the week before, cutting out at low revs but then firing up again a minute or so later. At the time, condensation inside the brand new distributor cap was my favourite theory for not wanting to run. As the car warmed up, the issue seemed to go away. This time, however, it played dead for much longer. I checked for a spark but there was nothing and nothing at the king lead from the coil, either. This was a bugger because I'd been a non-starter for the Exeter Trial in January. After replacing a rather corroded distributor car and rotor arm, I thought I'd cured the poor starting and backfiring. Lovely MG J2 of Jon Moores, originally had 847cc but this time has a Duratec motor. Graham Beddoe arrived and we went through it again. Fault...

Team Robson with their Rickman Ranger and Graham Beddoe at the start of the 35th Launceston Trial For Graham Beddoe and me, today’s Launceston Trial was a trial of two halves. Before lunch we seemed to be lacking grip. After some post Exeter Trial fettling, the Arkley-MG felt soft on the rear during the drive to the venue in Lew Woods. The weather conditions were ideal but the mud was not to my taste. It was frequently deep and not very liquid, often taking on the consistency of modelling clay. The mud filled the cleats of the Arkley-MG’s tyres, front and rear. The front end could wash out and, if I throttled back to get the front tyres to bite, I struggled to get going again. This was a surprise because the Radar Dimax Classics on the rear had acquitted themselves well on the Exeter in January, despite taking a beating. The conditions then had been much wetter and we weren't in Lew Woods.... We began well with Zak’s Track, which turned this way and that throughout the trees. T...

Best picture of the day. I love the dappled lighting effect on this and it's a red/amber/green! Photo : Graham Beddoe This year’s Launceston Trial was supposed to have occurred on 9 th February but Storm Ciara span out of the Atlantic and the Launceston and North Cornwall Motor Club postponed the trial to 15 th March. The weather on the day was wet to begin with but dried up in the afternoon and was even sunny by the end of the trial. Class 7 line up of Phillip Thomas, Francis Thomas with their Dutton Meloses and Steven Ball with his Marlin. The Launceston Trial is a single venue trial and when I travelled to Lew Woods with Mr Graham Beddoe through the backroads, it was raining and had been for some time. Water was running off the waterlogged fields and onto the road. Conditions once in the woods were very wet. After scrutineering and signing on, we received a beautifully executed map of the woods, similar to last year’s. I believe the map was the work of Warin Kelly. ...

Did we clean Angel Steps? Read on (Photo : Peter Brown) This year's Tamar Trial was brilliant, just brilliant, tough but tasty and with some very soft centres. Under the able guidance of bouncer and navigator, Mr Graham Beddoe, I took the Arkley-MG up to the start at Tresmeer Village Hall, Tresmeer being the first of many places that I would visit for the first time despite living here for years. The sunshines on the Fergusons Liege at scrutineering oustside the village hall at Tresmeer. What a moment - don't Fergusons have four wheel drive? Nigel Cowling was there to greet us and he said we would be climbing some sections that would be new to us. As this was my first Tamar Trial, this was no surprise, and he said we would be going round the "other way." Many of the sections looked like they hadn't had anyone walking along them for a long time and where the hedges broadened out from sunken lanes young trees were often growing in the middle so we had ...