Rally - Yesterday's question

Well, that was too easy. Of course the answer to yesterday's question was Niall MacKenzie taking Louise Aitken Walker for a birl round Knockhill.  On that basis I'd better keep an eye open for something a bit more difficult next time.

Rally - In memory lane

Already regretting it. Gawd, it's soul destroying. This is Day 9 of starting to scan all my negatives. So far I've managed just short of 2,000 - at this rate, I'll still be at it at Christmas 2022!!

Mind you it's amazing what lurks in the archives. Who is this famous rally driver with the equally famous motor cycle racer?

Clue. They are both Scottish

Need another clue? The year was 2003 and the venue was Knockhill.

I'll post the 'answer' pics later.

Rally - The Book Club

The indefatigable Robert Smith has already written two books (1963-1989 and 1990-2012) about the history of East Ayrshire Car Club and many of its notable (and not so notable) club members, but he is now nearing the end of yet another gargantuan task to bring the whole 57 year story up to date.

To that end Robert is looking for more information and photographs on events or club members that others might find interesting and/or amusing and would make a valuable addition to the club’s history.

But there is a novel twist to this latest idea. It won't be a printed book. The idea is to publish the latest tome on a USB stick. That means Robert will be able to include more stories, more gossip, more scandal and even more photographs.

The money raised will be put towards the maintenance and upkeep of the Kames facility which is unable to generate any income at present due to the rather unusual times in which we find ourselves.

And just in case there are any cheapskates out there who think they will be able to blag a copy of the USB stick from a mate, the club is looking into the process of making these sticks 'read-only' so that folk can't down load pics or copy the text.

So if you have any genuine and true information and decent quality images which cover the life and times of club members past and present and events, both historical and recent, then please look them out and send them to Robert at:   

RSCMS1@gmail.com

Robert has completed the main portion of the book up to the present day and added additional historical information that he has gleaned from other sources and expects to finish it within the next four weeks. So that gives you time to blow the dust off the shoebox full of memorabilia in the bottom of the wardrobe or at the back of the garage and send copies to Robert.

Copies of the original books may be hard to find and running off 'second editions' will be awfy expensive, but the USB stick solution sounds ideal as additional copies can then be made much more easily.

Who knows? This could start a trend amongst other car clubs. It's sad to say that Scotland is sadly lacking in keeping records of its own motor sport heritage, and perhaps this 'quarantine period' could be put to good use gathering as much information as possible just now before it is lost for ever.

As for my own history of the Scottish Rally Championship, that is still work in progress as they say!

Road - Fascinating Fact

This week the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) released data which showed that the total number of vehicles registered for use on British roads has surpassed 40 million for the first time.

As of 2019, there are more than 35 million cars, 4.5 million vans and over 600,000 trucks in use in the UK, representing a 1.0% increase on the previous year. The van figure is particularly interesting, as not only is it double what it was ten years ago, but it wasn’t expected to reach this level until 2021. Many of these vehicles of course remain on British roads even now, providing essential transport services and delivering supplies across the country.

Anyway, I thought it was interesting!

Road - Awfy disappointed

I shouldn't be here. I should have been at Gaydon. Having missed the world launch of the all-new Land Rover Defender I was due to attend the British launch at Gaydon this week as part of my 'day-job'.

The thought of Gaydon and Land Rover  conjured up images of impossible climbs, deadly descents, bottomless bogs and waatter. Lots and lots of waatter. But the game's a bogey. The event has been called off (for now!) as 'non-essential' journalists are  all confined indoors for the foreseeable future.

Land Rover launches are always extremely good fun. Sorry, I meant to say, sheer hard graft demanding huge levels of concentration, physical effort, determination and stamina to cope with the rigours that the LR staff put the motoring Press through. Those poor sods are left mentally drained at the end of the tortuous exercise. I must stress there is absolutely no fun involved or enjoyment gained, this is work after all!

Aye, right. The LR team puts on some of the best Press launches in the business, so we'll just have to wait. In the meantime I have reprinted (and updated) an article which was written by my Big Pal Jaggy when he was invited to a very, very special and exclusive event 11 years ago. No other journalists were there that day, so how he blagged the invitation we'll never know - and better not ask.

So if you fancy a wee bit of something different, it's in the on-line mag now:

http://www.jaggybunnet.co.uk/car-reviews/23-apr-land-rover-bigfoot/