Engine Punk

In my recently acquired copy of Hot Car magazine for January 1973 I've spotted this advert for an original GP Centron. This is the one as originally conceived with the lifting canopy instead of doors by Pierre du Plessis at GP Concessionaires Ltd and just look who's selling it. Then check out the spec. There's a Porsche flat-6 engine in the back and an ominous comment about being for experienced drivers only. I interpret this as meaning that it was far too fast for its chassis. It would still have had a Beetle chassis and all the joys and disappointments that brings. Nowadays there's quite a lot of chassis tuning expertise for Beetles but back in 1973 cars like these were pioneering ways of showing the limitations of rear-engined swing-axle layouts. But the invitable question is - does this car still survive? And if it does is the paperwork straight? And if that admin hurdle can be overcome, can the latest corner better goodies be applied to it?

My Allegro 1.3 Super in its element - summer time in the Cornish lanes Just over a year ago I chap called Steven (sorry, I don't know your second name) got in touch about my thoughts on the Austin Allegro. It seems I'm not the only one who thinks a fast one would be a Good Idea and a bit of a joke. His remarks were so encouraging I thought I'd share them. "Read your blog on the Allegro Equipe and felt compelled to write. "Like you, I've been looking for the Allegro SuperVroom TV ad. A crummy ad for a crummy car, what with its wobbly Hydragas suspension, floppy body-shell, square steering wheel, lumpen looks, and gutless, under-square engines. "Except that, like you, I can't help feeling that there was a decent car in the Aggro struggling to get out. "The first inkling I had of this was when Rover finally developed the car’s Hydragas suspension system as it always should have been developed – for the K...

The cover of my original copy fell to bits so long ago I'd forgotten what it looked like Today I received in the post a copy of the first ever car magazine I bought. I was nine and a half years old and it made a significant impression on me. I bought it with my Christmas money and got the February edition, too, but by then I'd ran out of cash as my pocket money back then was five new pence. I proceeded to read both these issues of Hot Car until they literally fell apart. So getting my scuffed fingers on a replacement issue of my first ever car mag has been a real trip down memory lane. Pictures like these kept me drawing for years It was the article about the grass track banger racing that really caught my imagination. Here were every day saloons, just like my parents' car, being used in competition. I was hooked and the following summer my father took me to see the 1973 World Banger Championships at the Cornish Stadium at St Austell. I was 10 and it was my ...

There's something mighty fine about early drag racer paint jobs While I prefer Vintage Things that go around corners, there's always something impressive about sheer acceleration. I've recently been in touch with Martin Gleadow who noticed an Allard theme on this blog and and 2012 marks the 60th anniversary of Sydney Allard winning the Monte Carlo Rally in a car he designed and built himself, a feat that is unlikely to be repeated. Martin pointed out that a successful campaign has achieved funding for the restoration of Sydney Allard's dragster as a running exhibit. Coincidentally, I clocked this car at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, last autumn. It's of immense significance because it is the first ever European dragster. Sydney Allard had always enjoyed motorsport ranging from trials to sprints to hillclimbs to rallies and another form of competition that majored on acceleration inevitably attracted him. It needs to go, though He built thi...

Flying helmets are in this winter. Allard J1 is never put of fashion Now the mud has settled it's occurred to me that Team Robert's exploits in the 2012 Exeter Trial gave rise to  the best competitive result we've ever had. Subject to confirmation, we only failed two hills and found out later that one section was subsequently disregarded. But there were some highs and lows along the way and I don't mean the ruts on Marilyn - more on that/her later. My lasting impression is of how well organised the 2012 Exeter Trial was. Bearing in mind that the marshals, and officials are all volunteers, they did a superb job. The queues were short and the holding controls metered out competitors like a well adjusted carb. Although closure of some sections was a shame and meant we didn't do the competitive sections we'd hoped to do, it was entirely the right decision and kept the entry field moving in a trial that tested the ability of the organisers as much as the cre...

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 ...

Following my earlier reminiscences about the GP Centron - the first ever VW based exotic kit car - none other than Colin Clifford got in touch. Regular readers may remember that I  recently had an exchange with him on the comments to one of my earlier Centron posts in which he mentioned some old photographs. Well, Colin's come good and sent me some, via his brother Gerald. This Centron has mismatched wheels - are those Wolfraces on the front and chrome Wellers on the back? Most intriguing of all though is the background, which contains another shell in white gelcoat. Could this have been a convertible version? The first picture shows the Centron in an industrial unit, which matches my memories of the Statestyle set up in Threemilestone. Note that I'm not referring to the car as a GP Centron. As originally conceived by GP Concessionaires it did not have conventional doors but by the time this car was built it the folding canopy arrangement had been dismissed as too exo...