The 70th Anniversary of the first Porsche production car had the highly beneficial side-effect of reviving the Brands Hatch Festival of Porsche.
Brands is a lovely compact circuit that’s easily and quickly accessible from London and unlike some of the airfield based circuits (e.g. Silverstone and Goodwood) it offers excellent viewing opportunities over large parts of the circuit without having to walk too far.
Continue reading Brands Hatch Festival Of Porsche – Sun 2nd Sep 2018
Whilst listening closely to the Yellow Peril’s engine earlier this week (as you do) – I noticed a bit of a mechanical clattering noise coming from left hand throttle body as I revved the engine using the throttle linkage.
This odd noise and the fact that the engine had gone a bit off-song since its trip to Le Mans Classic in early July prompted me to arrange a visit to see Steve Winter at Jaz Porsche for his expert opinion.
I’d not visited the Goodwood Festival of Speed for some time but the promise of rare and interesting Porsche cars – there to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the company was too difficult to resist.
To be more accurate – the 70th anniversary relates to the first Porsche badged car being built in 1948 as Porsche GmbH, Konstruktionsbüro für Motoren und Fahrzeugbau was actually founded in 1931!
A visit to Le Mans Classic has long eluded me but this year all barriers and sensible-head reasons-not-to-go seemed to disappear.
The Yellow Peril was running well (bar a last minute clutch change) and the problem of abandoning the Mrs for a long weekend to go off on a car related jolly was resolved by taking her along .
After what has seemed like an eternity of positively tropical (by British standards) weather – it was something of a tragedy that rain arrived in abundance over the weekend of the first Luftgekühlt GB meeting at Bicester Heritage Centre!
To paraphrase John Cooper Clarke – “the weather was just like the brothers……………………Grimm”!
Traditional English village events during summer are great!
Locally organised and vehemently supported get-togethers of all sorts have given rise to what in some instances have become major events.
Just look at how Classic Cars meetings have mushroomed into massive national or even international events and consider the tiny Pilton Pop, Blues and Folk Festival attended by 1,500 people in 1970 which morphed into the glorious musical extravaganza that is Glastonbury!
Holton Classic Car Day on Sunday 17th June is a classic example of such great village events and who know – in years to come it might become the Pebble Beach or Villa D’Este of deepest, darkest Suffolk!.
Purchasing tickets for Prescott was something of a last minute decision – one which I started to regret when weather forecasts threatened dawn till dusk lightning storms.
Oh well – we’d never go anywhere in Britain if it was dependent upon uniformly good weather would we?
Continue reading Prescott Speed Hillclimb – Sat 26th May 2108
With this year’s 356 International Event being hosted in the UK – it was essential to attended at least one of their many outings in order to see such a large concentration of these wonderful vehicles.
The gathering at Castle Hedingham seemed like the best option with it’s beautiful setting and the added bonus of some mediaeval jousting!
Continue reading Porsche 356 International (Hedingham) – Fri 4th May 2018
Such is the variety and age range of cars that turn-up for the Goodwood Members Meeting – it can sometimes be difficult to come up with natural grouping topics in a blog post.
Participants in a particular race or demo run is the safest option as these are normally related to a former race category from a specific time period unless it’s to celebrate the career of a racing driver in which case it might span many years.
Certain cars, marques and models however merit greater focus.
Continue reading Goodwood 76th Members Meeting – Sun 18th Mar 2018 Part 2
There’s a time and a place for snow and mid-March at Goodwood ain’t it!
Of all the bloody weekends to dump snow on the delicate and fragile South of England – it had to be the weekend of the Goodwood 76th Members Meeting!
“Snow! You belong up-North – get thee hence!!!”
Oh well – at least I can comfort myself in the knowledge that the Siberian origins of the cold air precipitating the snowfall can be blamed on Vladimir Putin!
