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Last weekend Tash and i went up to Coniston (famous for being the place where Donald Campbell lost his life) and took in a few sights as well as the Lakelands motor museum. Naturally, the camera came too! ;D Prior to going i had managed to get in touch with a chap called Paul Allonby who took loads of pictures back in '67 when Donald Campbell made his last attempt. His photos are used throughout in the book "the bluebird years", and there was one pic i loved. He had it blown up to 36" for me and we stopped off and collected it from him as we were coming towards Coniston. Heres a pic of the pic We stayed at the Black Bull Inn where they brew Bluebird beer, and is a place where Donald Campbell has stayed in the past when using the lake for WSR attempts. Upon arrival friday early eve we went down to the lake. Its still really nice and quiet there, very local, its good to see tourism hasnt taken over. the next day we wandered around, saw the memorial to Malcolm and Leo Villa (mechanic to both Malcolm and Donald Campbell), and went to the Ruskin museum. The tail section is the actual part from K7 and will go back onto the craft assuming the grant comes through and they get to rebuild it in the afternoon we popped over to Windermere and saw this cool steam bus and on the way back did a lap on Coniston stopping regularly to take loads of pics. I wont bore you with them all! ;D I spent ages just looking out. Its mad to think of a 'boat' doing 320mph+ - especially back in '67! On Sunday we went to the Lakelands motor museum. There is a fairly large selection of Campbell/LSR/WSR stuff here, and some other interesting automotive displays. Some are a little too crammed in to get decent pics tho ... Anyway, this is all the campbell stuff; this is a pic of a pic of Malcolm Campbells LSR car and outside there is replicas of K4, K7 and Malcolm Campbells LSR car which was comissioned by the BBC for a film in '79. the other exhibits were ...
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looks like a cool day out
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Great stuff! I've been there.
I recently bought and read the book about that Africar, very interesting. anyone know what happened to it or the guy whose idea it was? I have it in my head that he got himself into a lot of trouble with the inland revenue, can't find any bumf about it though, Anthony Howarth was/is his name.
SOZ for the thread hijack!!
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Last Edit: Aug 22, 2006 8:06:35 GMT by Mr_Bo11ox
1972 Fiat 130 1985 Talbot Alpine 1974 Lancia Beta Saloon 1975 + 1986 Mazda 929 Koop + Wagon 1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica 1977 Toyota Carina TA14 BEST CAR EVER!!!!!!!! 1979 Datsun B310 Sunny 4-dr 1984 Audi 200 Quattro Turbo 1983 Honda Accord 1.6 DX GONE1989 Alfa 75 2.0 TS Mr T says: TREAT YO MOTHER RIGHT!
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,538
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Nice photos Keefy We went three or four years ago. That photo is awesome! Did you find the little cafe on the shore of the lake? (I think it might be where you took the first pic?) Also full of Campbell stuff. The Lakeland museaum is pretty cool too. what, no pic of the mural painted Trans Am with the big fin?!
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
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have a look here seth, you can see a load of other pics that Paul took during the attempt www.racingcampbells.com/content/paul.allonby.photography.aspi presume you mean the bluebird cafe? We saw it, but didnt go inside. Should we have gone inside? theres the little memorial/plaque outside it by the jetty, i presume that was the old headstone before they found the body in 2001. didnt see the trans am at the museum - you got any pics?
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,538
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Bluebird Cafe, that's it. Yeah the inside is plastered with pictures adn other bits and bobs. A nice place to sit with a coffee and soak up the vibes of the place. I posted the Trans Am a little while ago but just for you.....
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
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Great stuff! I've been there. I recently bought and read the book about that Africar, very interesting. anyone know what happened to it or the guy whose idea it was? I have it in my head that he got himself into a lot of trouble with the inland revenue, can't find any bumf about it though, Anthony Howarth was/is his name. SOZ for the thread hijack!! He did indeed incur the displeasure of the IR, although I believe that it was due to the collapse of the project rather than a deliberate attempt to defraud anyone. The engine & gearbox (iirc horizontally opposed with a 6 speed box) was designed & built by a friend of the family, but he was fortunate enough not to be one of the creditors! edited to add:
More details here:
www.oldwoodies.com/feature-africar.htm
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Last Edit: Aug 22, 2006 10:04:40 GMT by Paul H
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Wow quality! I thought they had Citroen GS engines and boxes. Maybe that was just a prototype or other early incarnation.
Do you know any more about what happened to him Paul H?
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1972 Fiat 130 1985 Talbot Alpine 1974 Lancia Beta Saloon 1975 + 1986 Mazda 929 Koop + Wagon 1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica 1977 Toyota Carina TA14 BEST CAR EVER!!!!!!!! 1979 Datsun B310 Sunny 4-dr 1984 Audi 200 Quattro Turbo 1983 Honda Accord 1.6 DX GONE1989 Alfa 75 2.0 TS Mr T says: TREAT YO MOTHER RIGHT!
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bryn
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,913
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Aug 22, 2006 10:30:42 GMT
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Places like Coniston are magical, glad to see it's not over run with tourists either. I've got a couple of the Bluebird models on my desk, the Campbells were/are quite a family. Quality weekend all round it would seem.
(tangent) Does anybody else remember the programme about the Africar on TV? I just remember loads of different variations, plywood and some plugging away through a muddy track...
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Volvo, Buggy, Discovery and an old tractor.
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Aug 22, 2006 11:06:31 GMT
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Yeah I remember that programme bryn; If you havent got the book its worth a read, i bought it for £2 off the bay. It doesnt say a great lot about the cars, its more like a diary of their journey across Africa in thse 3 prototype Africars, its an enjoyable read all the same.
Be great to meet the bloke now, I wonder what he's up to?
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1972 Fiat 130 1985 Talbot Alpine 1974 Lancia Beta Saloon 1975 + 1986 Mazda 929 Koop + Wagon 1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica 1977 Toyota Carina TA14 BEST CAR EVER!!!!!!!! 1979 Datsun B310 Sunny 4-dr 1984 Audi 200 Quattro Turbo 1983 Honda Accord 1.6 DX GONE1989 Alfa 75 2.0 TS Mr T says: TREAT YO MOTHER RIGHT!
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bryn
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,913
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Aug 22, 2006 11:21:15 GMT
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Must be a strange experience having done what he did, then have it fail. Bit like seeing somebody from Grange Hill who's an estate agent now... No bad thing, but just kind of odd.
Oh, back on topic. That's a fine picture you went for there Keefy, very evocative.
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Volvo, Buggy, Discovery and an old tractor.
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Aug 22, 2006 12:05:38 GMT
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Wow quality! I thought they had Citroen GS engines and boxes. Maybe that was just a prototype or other early incarnation. Do you know any more about what happened to him Paul H? The one-off engine was just a prototype (I think the earlier, running Africars used normal Citroen units). I don't know much more about that engine, although I have read some very harsh comments about it elsewhere online (some based on incorrect facts) and also the opinion of another company who apparently said it was scrap when asked to develop it much later on. Given the reputation of the engine's designer / builder*, I find it hard to believe that to be a fair opinion, especially as the prototype engine itself was never developed further by him (IIRC, Howarth collected immediately after the first test run) unless the criticism is due to the basics of the engine format / design as specifically requested by Howarth (IIRC, in his book he credits himself for most of the engine design). *Whom I used to work for, and who has carried out engine development work for Ford, Jaguar and other car companies, as well as being CAA certified to recondition light aircraft engines. He has even built (& had certified) a light aircraft engine of his own design, as well as designing & building everal other specialised engines.
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Last Edit: Aug 22, 2006 12:07:54 GMT by Paul H
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