Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Aug 28, 2014 21:21:36 GMT
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Couple of little local pointers for those of you travelling to The Gathering, from a local yokel (well kinda...I live in Bromsgrove but work in Worcester).
1. The M5, for those of you travelling down from the frozen tundra of The North, is currently blessed (for want of a better word) with not one but TWO sets of horrific roadwaorks between J3/4 and just south of J5 at Wychbold. One set has a 40mph restriction, the other 50mph, both are liberally festooned with SPECS average speed cameras and the amount of accidents since they began in February has been nothing short of staggering. Don't be a statistic, either for being in an RTA or by getting caught speeding.
2. The A4440 Worcester Southern Bypass is currently being upgraded to dual carriageway along part of its length. This has necessitated the remodelling of The Ketch island where the A38 crosses the link road just east of the Carrington Bridge over the River Severn. Again this is an horrendous traffic blackspot at the minute, being one of the only crossings of the River Severn that doesn't mean having to negotiate Worcester City Centre. Allow time in your journey plans.
Once you're safely esconced on the campsite, you'll probably have a need to go shopping at some point. I'd recommend getting your shopping done en route, as there are no out-of-town supermarkets on that side of Worcester. Your best bet is to use the Tesco in St.Johns on the west side of the River Severn, or else have a jaunt over to Bromyard where there's a large Co-Op superstore on the B4214 Tenbury Road to the north west of the town. The villages of Martley and Clifton-on-Teme are nearby but I wouldn't recommend either for anything shopping-wise unless you're A.desperate and B.just after essentials.
Whatever your weekend brings, I hope you enjoy it. Doubtless I'll bump into some of you on Sunday (look out for the big red Gung-Ho Rally Team service barge).
Brian
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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events on saturdayBrian Damaged
@damaged
Club Retro Rides Member 33
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Aug 28, 2014 13:19:41 GMT
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That's because there aren't any local breakers. I'm fairly local and I work in Worcester, so I'll try and knock up some sort of local guide (including shopping and schnizzle) later when I'm home from work.
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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events on saturdayBrian Damaged
@damaged
Club Retro Rides Member 33
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Aug 28, 2014 12:02:56 GMT
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Loton Park has a Hillclimb on. Same distance as Prescott to Shelsley last year only head towards Shrewsbury. Or head for Ludlow and watch the Woodpecker Stages Rally run through Haye Park, just west of the town.
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Wouldn't have thought it would be a problem. Race cars on trailers use the venue all the time. We've got a 24' Iveco van with an Escort Cosworth on a trailer to fit in!!
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Mewla rally picsBrian Damaged
@damaged
Club Retro Rides Member 33
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Aug 27, 2014 10:38:18 GMT
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I've just spoken to Andy. I'm sure he'd be ok with me saying, for those who are interested or know him. He has bad back ache from the incident but is otherwise ok. Paul, the co-driver, has a swollen hand but again is otherwise ok. Lucky boys. I'm told the darrian will make a return. Rich Thanks for that, pass on my best wishes. I watched the (smaller) off they had on the Harry Flatters last month from about 50yds away!! That Darrian is a beautifully prepared car, and Epynt has been kinder to neither it nor crew this year!!!!!
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Tell me about 4AGEs Brian Damaged
@damaged
Club Retro Rides Member 33
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We've been looking at options for the 'new' rallycar (Talbot Sunbeam, the shell's already finished) for 2015, one of which is a move down a class from 2-litre to 1600 with a modified 4-AGE 20v. Apparently there's a guy in Ireland who does the conversion parts. Not a cheap move, but cheaper than trying to extract any more power out of the XE we run now....besides which the new shell's about 200kg lighter.
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Mewla rally picsBrian Damaged
@damaged
Club Retro Rides Member 33
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Aug 25, 2014 19:54:28 GMT
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Awesome, thanks for sharing. That surface looks to be incredibly good and with a lot of excellent open sight lines. I bet the pace is high through there. Looking at these made me realize that it's exactly 3 years since my last event this weekend. I need to get back in the saddle. This happened yesterday. Thankfully the crew got out OK, but up there (despite the road surface, which is gorgeous) there's no margin for error. If you go off on Epynt, it's usually a biggie.
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Gurston Down Hillclimb Brian Damaged
@damaged
Club Retro Rides Member 33
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Aug 25, 2014 16:58:13 GMT
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Smashing stuff! Given that Prescott, Shelsley Walsh, Loton Park and the sprint course at Curborough are all less than an hour from here I don't go nearly enough. Treasured memories of seeing Hannu Mikkola's Audi Sport Quattro running up Shelsley in 1985, though. RRG14 attendees who fancy something to do on the Saturday and are interested in seeing what the sport's all about would be advised to have a look here.
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Mewla rally picsBrian Damaged
@damaged
Club Retro Rides Member 33
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Aug 25, 2014 16:39:32 GMT
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Pictures from my third and final visit this year to Epynt, this time for the Old Forge Garage Mewla Rally, organised by Epynt Motor Club.The rally is a qualifying round of the REIS MSA National Asphalt Rally Championship, Quantum King of Epynt, Steve Harkness Welsh National Tarmacadam Championship, the ANWCC Stage Rally Championship and the Millington RWD Challenge. Yet again (and very unusually for Wales....) we stayed dry all day though conditions were bracing at times, to put it mildly. A definite Autumn vibe in the air! Enjoy this selection of shots, taken in the morning on Cileni Way just to the east of the German Village and in the afternoon we moved down to the famous (and tricky) hairpin at Llandeilo Fan Triangle..Those of you who know the Epynt Military Ranges well will recognise both. ![](http://i.imgur.com/T1xuHgb.jpg) Rally winner (and this year's King Of Epynt) Damien Cole. ![](http://i.imgur.com/DD9t34o.jpg) Second place (by just 14 seconds) went to Steve Simpson ![](http://i.imgur.com/XJY89Fw.jpg) First 2WD home in 4th was Simon Mauger in his incredibly rapid Escort. It's a testimony to just how well-prepared and powerful this car is that after 80-odd competitive miles Simon was only a minute down on Cole in the Focus WRC. Talking of Escorts: ![](http://i.imgur.com/pyyn7dq.jpg) ![](http://i.imgur.com/d6AjsPE.jpg) ![](http://i.imgur.com/hCrcI5n.jpg) ![](http://i.imgur.com/yisNDsj.jpg) ![](http://i.imgur.com/lPHhkUN.jpg) Full album here.
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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![](http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k518/polojon/Churchill%202014/Unnamed-6_zpsa80299ba.jpg) That's a fairly faithful replica of a works MGC GTS (the S stands for Sebring). The MGC was a short-lived (1967-69) big brother to the MGB which was fitted with torsion bar front suspension instead of the B's coils and an all-new 2912cc six-pot engine as fitted to the (equally unsuccessful) Austin 3-Litre. They were given a drubbing by the motoring press when they were launched for fairly ponderous handling thanks to all that extra weight up front and a distinct lack of grunt compared to the Austin-Healey 3000 it was supposed to replace. Indeed top gear acceleration was actually slower than the four-cylinder MGB! The race versions were developed in 1966/67 and were actually ready before the MGC was ready for production, so initial competition outings were made with a 2-litre version of the B-series four-banger. ![](http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/images/mg/mgc.jpg) The car was never a great success. Only 9000 were ever built, most of which ended up in the USA. A nicely-modified one does go well, though.
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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You have to love anything with an interior as mad as a Cerbera. Makes even sitting in one into an occasion. And who else spent HOURS trying to tame the Speed 12 in Gran Turismo? ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png)
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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My mate John's Cosworth-powered X-pack RS2000 which will be on our stand at RRG14. ![](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3778/9545104757_75f53cf82f_c.jpg) I do love seeing a Mk2 waving a wheel in the air whilst about 250bhp tried to twist seven bells out of the bodyshell. ![](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3856/14773450331_2b3d10ced2_b.jpg) Or powering across Epynt. ![](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3880/14589974428_022ac2e307_b.jpg) Or trying to put the power down in the woods. ![](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7196/6858882487_614b8f27ba_b.jpg) Or slithering around on a greasy tarmac stage. ![](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4128/5193087874_b3e5dc98e6_b.jpg) Or even on a bone-dry airfield! ![](https://farm7.staticflickr.com/6116/6371692349_33cfc4ee8b_b.jpg)
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Truck breakers are full of old Leyland Roadrunner/Leyland DAF 45's. The rest of the truck basically falls apart around the fabled Cummins 6BT engine, which could probably withstand a nuclear war. 160bhp in this guise, up to 210bhp as fitted to bigger Leylands. And if they fit in a Landy, they'll fit in just about any Yank pickup. And they sound lovely. ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png)
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Jalopy conundrum Brian Damaged
@damaged
Club Retro Rides Member 33
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That they did, in 1966. Allpar list them as having 318ci motors installed. At least one still exists (pictued below), one of the classic car magazines road-tested it a few years back, but I seem to remember reading that they were too fast with the 318 in so were re-engined with the smaller 273ci mill. Lord Rootes had one, as did the president of Chrysler UK Operations. ![](http://www.cunninghamclassiccars.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/JOB1063W217.jpg) I'm fairly sure there was a pretty in depth article in SM or Hot Car ( could even have been Custom Car) that I read about way way back in the late 70s/early 80s. IIRC, there were more than a few made, starting out with the most potent one which topped out at some 125MPH around ( Millbank?) with a 0-60 time way quicker than anything else comparable at the time. Basically, according to my recollections of the article each Humber was deemed too fast until they eventually built the final one with a V8 which was no quicker than the standard 6 pot. I think the final nail in the coffin was the creation of British Leyland which killed the car off and any hope of a wolf in sheeps clothing. I will be happy to be corrected and educated on that point. Honestly, IMHO, this is a no brainer, the Humber is just a brilliant choice, the Rover is, to be honest, as bit ten a penny, even though this is an earlier 3ltr which is a lovely car but lacks the Humber presence. For what its worth..... It was MIRA at Nuneaton, at the time the Snipe was built the Vauxhall Proving Ground at Millbrook was just fields (I think that opened in 1969). Had the Hawk/Imperial range been not so long in the tooth at the time, Chrysler might have developed it further, rather than canning it....I think you're thinking of the Sunbeam Tiger which had been developed and put into production before the US giant got involved with Rootes Group in mid-1964, the fact that the Tiger (which had only gone on sale some two months prior to then) had been fitted with a Ford V8 always stuck in Chrysler's proverbial craw. Their own small-block engine as fitted to the Imperial wouldn't fit in the Tiger's engine bay. I'd go for an Imperial as well, for what it's worth. It's just a better-looking car IMHO.
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Jalopy conundrum Brian Damaged
@damaged
Club Retro Rides Member 33
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Humber - if I remember correctly I believe Humber built a few of those with a Mopar V8 dropped in just as a trial.... ![8-)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/cool.png) That they did, in 1966. Allpar list them as having 318ci motors installed. At least one still exists (pictued below), one of the classic car magazines road-tested it a few years back, but I seem to remember reading that they were too fast with the 318 in so were re-engined with the smaller 273ci mill. Lord Rootes had one, as did the president of Chrysler UK Operations. ![](http://www.cunninghamclassiccars.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/JOB1063W217.jpg)
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Jul 30, 2014 19:30:36 GMT
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Thanks guys. I'm pleased to say that Brian's now been released from hospital and is back at home. He's still got quite a way to go with his recovery, but it's a great step forward to be home. Both him and Paul have already said they're keen to get back in a rally car and back on stage, so the hunt for a new car will commence once the dust has settled a bit more. Great news! I'll keep an ear to the ground for any suitable rally cars (Sod's Law dictates that Dean's lad campaigned a scruffy but strong and fundamentally well-sorted Mk2 Astra GTE on a couple of ACSMC events last year, and he sold it ten days ago for silly money.... ![:|](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/plain.png) ) Keep us posted as to Brian's ongoing recovery, would ya?
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Jul 29, 2014 20:50:48 GMT
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Retro Parking is right next door to the club stands anyway this year, so you can feel part of things without being part of anything.
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Jul 29, 2014 16:11:33 GMT
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Great stuff BD, perfect yump captures! Interesting plate mount on the Clubby, I'm guessing it doubles as a spot pod mount too. I think the backing plate is made from very fine mesh, as being an 8-port A-Series it's got a crossflow cylinder head on it and there are some dirty great intake trumpets lurking just behind.....
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Jul 29, 2014 10:30:50 GMT
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![](https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/74700_102022516629253_1638622472_n.jpg?oh=3778b9afcadf1539a310f65c920dd03a&oe=5442836A&__gda__=1414849414_d869adec59150631ab58b97465ad2bbf) Have shared this so many times, it's one of my favourite pics. June 1967, Trecco Bay near Porthcawl. That's me aged 2 1/2 sat on the bonnet of 22 year-old Daddy Damaged's '58 Zephyr 6. He's celebrating his 70th Birthday this coming weekend and I'll be hitting the Big Five-Zero in three months' time. Both of us still dicking about with cars in some form, him with his MGs/Bedfords, me with rallying. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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