Engine Punk

For us the course closing car was never far away So Binky and I couldn’t manage to repeat our performance from last year but we still had a great event. It was a difficult trial and by the time we got to the sections the already wet conditions had been churned up quite badly. There were a couple of hills that we cleaned that were so difficult we were euphorically elated when we cleared them. And those feelings lasted for a long time afterwards. Having replaced all the joints in the steering linkage and also the central idler bearing by the time of this year’s Exeter , Rob recently had the toe-in re-adjusted and now rates the steering as good instead of vague. His regular car is an MX-5 so he has a good benchmark. Backalong, the MCC used to swap the order of starts around – the others being Cirencester and Plusha Services in Cornwall - but since 2013 Popham has always been the latest starting point. On the Exeter 2015, we thought this affected our performance. T...

Following on from our "outstanding failure" on the Exeter and Silver-that-would've-been-a-Gold-had-we-not-muffed-up-a-special-test in last year's Lands End (but we've put that behind us now), Binky and I have high hopes for the 2015 Land's End Trial. The only thing is, we're right at the back of the pack so may be renewing our acquaintance with the course closing car. The sections on the Exeter were said to have deteriorated significantly by the time we got to them but for this event I'm hoping that pervious entrants will have laid a sticky layer of rubber just where we need to find any grip. Binks hasn't had to much to the Allard since our last outing so I'm looking forward to this year's Easter motorsport extravaganza. We aren't really in it for the pot hunting, just for the crack. However, at Candidi Provacatores our policy is one of continuous improvement. Attitudes may change if we find we're getting up the hills a...

You may well stare in wonder Pete - you're looking at the interesting side Pete Low and I spotted this little beauty in the paddock at Wiscombe Park hillclimb in 2014. There was no-one to ask when I spotted it and I've been trying to find out more about since then but to no avail. Regular readers of Engine Punk may remember the Imp-powered Vixen single seater that sent me into raptures some time ago so it was inevitable that I should be drawn to the site of an upside down Imp gearbox again. It's just a Hillman Imp gearbox, there's nothing to see here, move along now The vehicle in question was clearly labelled a Raven but despite being pretty well up on Imp lore this didn't ring any bells with me. The inverted Imp gearbox enables the mid-engined layout and is often used with Imp engines as in the Vixen. But the Raven had a 1600 Ford crossflow lump in it - so it must be quite a well-built box, then, with an engine almost twice the size of yer ordinary Imp....

The sun begins to set on the Allard's new wiper motor After the pleasant excess of Christmas and New Year, I was in the mood for adventure again in early January. Fortunately, for me this coincides with the Exeter Trial. Team Robert, also known as the Candidi Provocatores - or me and my mate Binky (Mr Robert Robinson-Collins to you) - had an entry in the 2015 Exeter Trial and, unlike last year , the weather did not interfere with me getting up to Popham Airfield which is our chosen point of starting. It had been raining hard and there was a lot of standing water visible in the fields as I travelled up by train. Regular readers may recall that last year lightning strikes struck the signalling in Cornwall and Devon, which meant that I had to drive to Honiton. That was the most westerly point from which trains were operating but this year the weather was relatively benign Binky had been busy on the Allard since we cleaned all the hills on the last Land's...

I doubt that it will be this sunny on the 10th January Blimey - it wasn't so long ago I was getting warm again after the 2014 Exeter... My inability to learn sees me passengering Binky again in the Candidi Provocatore Allard J1in the 2015 Exeter Trial. We didn't get a Gold Award in the 2014 Land's End Trial because we messed up on of the special tests by not stopping astride the final line. On of my mates got penalised for arriving too early at a holding control so we will be on our best behaviour for this event. It really is about the taking part, though. If we were pot hunters we wouldn't be doing this, we'd be doing something else (probably less enjoyably). Binkers is gradually working his way through the suspension on the old war horse which now rides on new springs. Experiments with the tyres have proved interesting. He's happy with the mud clearing Pirelli Cinturatos on the front and the grippy Bridgestones on the rear. However, he's not happ...

I'll be looking out for this device again! Driven by Duncan Pittaway, it appeared in the 2014 Land's End  Trial running as a 3400cc GN. Combining the looks of a Brescia Bugatti with those a Shelsley special it sounded bloody brilliant, too! Binky told me the barrels and heads came off a WWI aero engine but that's all I've learnt about it so far. My immediate thought was what sort of crankcase does it use?   Transmission is of the GN/Frazer Nash school. Duncan's in his TVR 4000 in the Exeter Trial but I hope to catch up with him and quiz him about this device.

Continuing the theme of Shelsley specials after the trip to Wisombe, here's Miss Bacfire. Or maybe that should Miss BACfire. That 2.4 litre vee twin originally lived in a 1920's motorcycle used for bicycle pacing. I'd never heard of this sport but it's basically going as fast as you can on a push bike whilst slipstreaming behind a motorcycle or car. It used to be incredibly popular because of the speeds involved and velodromes sprang up all over France to sate the demand. It was even worth Louis Bac building motorcycles especially designed for this very purpose. These had big engines with a direct belt drive off the crankshaft and would build up speed slowly and inexorably dragging the hapless cyclist along behind them in their wake. You can see the sort of device on Silodrome . The A Meier BAC, to give the machine its full title, was built around 1928 and featured rollers on the back to avoid any mishaps if the pursuing push bike put its front tyre to clos...