Pop-Up Bookshop

The next outing for the mobile book boutique will be the RSAC Scottish Rally this Friday and Saturday (19/20 July). Apparently permission has been granted to set up shop at Scrutineering on the Friday and then a pitch at the Service Park on Saturday probably near the large TV screen – look for the red Transit. I will of course have copies of ‘The Scottish Rally Championship 1980-1989’ and ‘Murmurs on Mull 1993-2010’ for sale although there has been some talk about stocking some motor sport books by other Scottish authors – we’ll see!

Anyway, work is progressing on the next book in the ‘Scottish Rally Championship’ series covering the decade 1990 to 1999. The main text is more or less complete and the photograph selection process is well underway but there are difficulties here, not so much what to put in the book, but what to leave out.

The introduction to the book has also been completed, although in writing it, many memories resurfaced.

Rallying in the 1990s faced uncertainty and indecision as the sport’s direction came under scrutiny. Remember the handicaps? The sport’s governing body dithered over what to do with the rise of the 4WD ‘supercars’ so handicaps were suggested and then introduced to try and ‘equate’ the competition. With the MSA unsure, the various clubs and championships took it upon themselves to introduce a penalty of 1.5, 2 or 2.5 seconds per stage mile depending on the event and the championship.

That was ultimately dropped as unworkable and the MSA introduced a 2.5 litre cap on engine size and tried to restrict power output to under 300 bhp. They also banned many of the ‘home-brewed’ specials like Allan McCleary’s 4WD Quastra, Duncan Jaffray’s Rover S20  and Andy Burton’s Peugeot Cosworth. Looking back surely that was an ill-considered move frustrating the creativity and inventiveness of private individuals as many of these ‘specials’ were perfectly designed engineering triumphs in their own right. Perhaps the trouble was that some of these cost effective ‘shed built’ one-offs were capable of beating the financial muscle and engineering might of the manufacturers’ own attempts to build rally winners! We couldn’t have that, could we?

Another ploy to replace the Group A 4WD machinery in the British Championship with Formula 2 machinery failed too although it has to be said that the blame cannot be laid totally at the door of the sport’s governors. Much of that was down to the engineering ingenuity of manufacturers, private preparation companies and talented individuals who could ‘exploit’ the rules and maximise the limitations to their advantage. Remember the F2 ‘screamers’ with their Maxi, Super and Kit car evolutions?

As a result costs escalated as automotive development advanced and the demand for more usable power and better handling cars created ever faster cars.

As in all forms of motor sport, as soon as new regulations are introduced to try and ‘level up’ or down (to borrow a political phrase) the competition, the designers and engineers are poised and ready with their slide rules, computers and innovations to create the next world-beater.

I suppose it’s called progress. It’s also called competition – but that’s why we love it, eh?

As for the photos, here’s some which won’t make the next book !!