Today's Bargain??

On sale in the stall opposite mine. Tempted to buy them for the red van so I can flash all those inconsiderate '(censored)' motorists with their 'intelligent' LED headlamp systems that blind oncoming drivers at night!!!

 

Pre-show

A couple of early arrivals

! But don't tell Ian Forgan (Snr!). He's in the process of restoring a Moggie 1000. Note the additional item in the background and the supplier - possible advertiser for next book, eh?

Open for business

Early doors at Moffat, and all is quiet .... traders said it was quiet yesterday because of the rain in the morning but the weather predictions are much better for today. Cars are just arriving in the field now, and gates are open although public not expected till after half nine. 

Show - Moffat Classic

Books on Tour …. This weekend the destination of choice for the mobile book-tique is the Moffat Classic Car Rally on Saturday and Sunday the 28th and 29th of June, although the ‘public’ day will be Sunday 29th.  That’s because on the Saturday the entrants and enthusiasts participate in the traditional annual rally run round Tweedsmuir, Tala and Megget reservoirs, St. Mary’s Loch and the Grey Mares Tail.

First held in 1988, the Moffat Classic is one of the friendliest such shows in the calendar and has grown to such a size that they have to limit entries to 900 cars! And that is only because Moffat showground cannot hold any more! Late entries are often frustrated.

It’s probably the biggest show of its type in the south west as last year there were lots of visitors from Dumfries, CD, NS and Stranraer. There was a good selection of trade stands and autojumble stalls last year too and it provides an ideal stress-relieving family day out.

The gates will be open from 8.30am on the Sunday morning and the entry fee of £5 (U16s free) represents a lot better value than many other shows around the country!

And why was a photo of this particular vehicle chosen for this post? I’ll tell you on Sunday, but only if you ask nicely, it was ever so slightly embarrassing!

 
 

Politics

I don’t do politics …. Part 2 …. but whether it’s an age and/or grumpiness thing or just something to rage about, I am becoming increasingly annoyed with and critical of our political classes. Regardless of their individual party political affiliations and allegiances, it does seem that things have been getting steadily worse over the past 40 years - and getting worse quicker over more recent times.

Governments of whatever colour and flavour talk about openness and democracy when in fact they operate like secret societies. They tell us what they think we should know rather than opening the books and letting us see for ourselves. Of these promises of billions in investment how much is spent on bricks and mortar and how much goes to professional fees and consultancies? They boldly talk about all the private investors who will contribute to society, glossing over the fact that these investors want returns, and why not? But just look at the state of the water companies down south. Big salaries for the high heid yins and huge bonuses for the investors. The result? Huge eye-watering debts, poorer services and increased charges for the long suffering general public. And why the hell are we importing oil and gas at vast expense when we’re bluidy well floating on our own?

The politicians themselves don’t actually manufacture anything, they don’t grow anything and they don’t sell anything, so they don’t actually make any money and yet they are tasked with managing billions of pounds in income. In fact it is the tax payer who pays their wages, covers their expenses and finances their pensions.

The tax payer also provides their place of work in Westminster, and other capitals, and underwrites all their respective government costs and overheads which includes utilities like electricity, gas, water and subsidises their canteens, sorry, restaurants!

It begs the question - How many of our elected representatives have ever had a ‘proper’ job, what life experience have they had, what do they know about running a business let alone a country? What qualifications do they have for this job – a degree in politics? That’s about as useful as a guy with a red flag walking in front of Michael Dunlop at the TT.

As well as funding these positions of power and influence, it’s the taxpayer who grants them the right to do this job, and yet they think they have the right to tell us what to do and how to do it.

Having ‘served’ the state, these lofty personages are then entitled to a ‘state pension’, but not for them the standard state pension that is financed by the working general population. Nope these exalted members of the community couldn’t afford to live on such a meagre pittance, they get an enhanced ‘state’ pension. And they have the temerity to dictate how much we get.

Having earlier said they don’t make any money, there does need to be a bit of clarification here, because many of these MPs have other jobs, outside interests, consultancies and directorships which enhance their taxpayer salaries. Which begs another question, how many of these jobs would be offered if the ‘buyers’ didn’t think they would gain access to the corridors of power and influence when it comes to their own company’s interests and business dealings. And there are the other ‘altruistic’ contributors who provide staff for the MPs, advice for the great offices of state and other facilities and services.

So they are indeed well salaried and recompensed. And what do they do? They hire highly paid special advisors and order civil servants to do the donkey work. They also farm out huge service contracts to management companies, accountancy firms, consultancies and ‘think-tanks’ so they don’t have to get their hands dirty, and if the system fails, they can always pass the buck.

It could be argued that we are simply paying the untrained and inexperienced to hire the business professionals to do their jobs! Wouldn’t it be nice if we could cut out the middle men/women?

And another thing. They are setting a bad example. They talk about the bad behaviour of schoolchildren and other youngsters and warn us of becoming a nation of strangers and yet their constant bickering and slagging each other off across the floor of the House of Commons is surely setting a bad example to the country’s youth. If they want to teach manners and humility in debating skills they should look to their own behaviour before preaching to others.

This unedifying sight of supposedly educated grown-ups shouting at and insulting each other should cease and instead they should be putting their collective heads together and jointly working for the benefit of the country. We don’t pay them extravagantly to be adversarial, we pay them to run the country for our benefit – not theirs!

And there’s another thing that infuriates, the so-called ‘honours’ system. Our elected politicians can select and appoint friends, colleagues, sponsors, financial backers, potential future employers and other folk they want to influence or thank for past support and grant them ‘political favours’. Of course, there are a great many folk and public servants who richly deserve such public accolades, but there is an awfy lot who don’t merit such acclaim and reward, and yet we, the great unwashed are expected to acknowledge these exalted positions.

This abuse of ‘privilege’ detracts from those who rightly deserve such distinction, not retired footballers, TV ‘personalities’, financiers, industrialists, personal benefactors and political donors living off the fat of the land and the sweat of our brows! Politicians, and those they rub shoulders with, should not be allowed to pick and choose nominations for the ‘honours’ lists, that should be left to ‘ordinary’ independently minded folk who could also be granted another important job – marking the annual report cards of our elected MPs and MSPs – and if they are not doing the job, get them out.

On the other hand, this is a democracy. It may not be perfect and (badly, very badly) needs change, but it is better than a dictatorship – just look at North Korea, China, Russia – and now America.

As Private Fraser once said: “We’re all doo-oomed!”

Books on Tour

The pop-up booktique will up-pop at Dunoon Stadium tomorrow, Friday 20th June, ahead of the Dunoon Presents Argyll Rally, so anyone looking for late Father's Day gifts may avail themselves of this unique service - and get themselves out of a jam if they had forgotten!!

https://fife-motor-sports-agency.square.site/

At the show

No real reason for these pics other than it's nice, really nice!!

Show at Lathalmond

Interesting mix of vehicles arriving at the Festival of Transport show at Lathalmond, ground wet but sun shining, for now! Full marks to the Fife Historic Vehicle Club volunteers. The rain washed out all their set-up markings yesterday and they had to beg, borrow and steal (?) cones from all over the place to mark the site for today, finishing awfy late last night.

Show - Festival of Historic Trasnport

This weekend the rally-book ‘booktique’ is headed east to the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum at Lathalmond in Fife for the 2025 Festival of Historic Transport for the first time.

Organised by the Fife Historic Vehicle Club this annual classic, veteran and vintage vehicle show features everything on two, three, four and more wheels and attracts enthusiasts from all over the place. It’s only a stone’s throw (well maybe a catapult would really be needed!) from Knockhill Racing Circuit so it will be easily found if you fancy a day out this Sunday 15th June. The 49 acre site is on the M90 Commerce Park just off the A823, 2.5 miles north of Dunfermline on the B915 (KY12 0SJ).

The Bus Museum itself is well worth a visit but it’s only open to the public on Sundays during the Summer season so hopefully it will be open this Sunday when the classic show is set up on the grounds around the huge hangar building. If you think restoring a classic car is complicated and time consuming then spare a thought for the bus enthusiasts restoring a 14 tonne, 30 foot long doubledecker bus.

The last time I visited was in 2019 when I was appraising a Mitsubishi pickup for the magazine and the boys wondered what I was up to. So I asked them what they were up to and they wheeled out their latest completed project, a 1978 Daimler/Leyland Fleetline bus for the photographs. Powered by a choice of six cylinder Gardner, Leyland or Cummins engines these buses were the mainstay of many British (and foreign) fleets back in the day. I also got a wee peek inside the hangar where many other restorations were well under way. Fascinating, absolutely fascinating, and well worth a visit, even if you’re not a bus fan.

I have no idea how books on Scottish rallying will go down at this show but there’s only one way to find out. Looking forward to it already.

https://fife-motor-sports-agency.square.site/

 

Rally - Extreme H

Do you remember the Extreme E racing car series which visited Glenmuckloch in Galloway a couple of times in 2023 and 2024? Well it’s coming back, only this time as Extreme H, but perhaps not to Scotland, although individual event location details will be announced shortly.

The previous Extreme E off-road racing series comprised eight teams, each with one male and one female driver, driving electrically powered, custom built 4WD cars. This round the world competition series was designed to highlight a number of important global issues and not just the advances being made by electric cars. Event venues were chosen in specific countries to highlight particular local environmental concerns with regard to that magic word ‘sustainability’ which seems to cover a multitude of topics and headlines these days.

Perhaps of more specific interest to motor sports enthusiasts was the technological and engineering expertise behind this which made it all possible. Of course the organisers and ‘big-tech’ sponsors behind it were also keen to promote the engineering innovations and hopefully inspire a new generation who might be fearful of what alternatively powered motor sport had for their future. 

Anyway, the aim was always geared towards the production of their own hydrogen powered cars as previously the organisers generated their own electricity supply and recharging infrastructure through their own on-site, self contained, transportable hydrogen powered electricity generators. As for the production of hydrogen fuel, well that’s another problem, but apparently it is preferable to drilling holes in the seabed or digging dirty great holes in the ground searching for rare minerals.

Anyway that’s for others more qualified to sort out, rather than us mere politician tax-fodder generators. What’s of real interest is the outcome and this latest breed of hydrogen powered competition car produces some 550 bhp and has a top speed of around 120 mph with a nought to 60 acceleration time of 4.5 seconds.

Extreme H’s technical director also explained that each car is comprised of a common package of standardised parts, while the individual teams have some latitude with utilising the hydrogen fuel cell plus the ability to style bodywork elements – which could be made to replicate the look of everyday car models. That last part is important to everyday motorists and other competition users as the ‘testbed’ cars which the Extreme E and H series use look like the progeny of a successful mating between beach buggies and ‘Dakar’ monsters. In other words, there is every possibility that you could fit the drivetrain into a Mk2 Escort !!

Elsewhere in the world work continues apace on the development of alternative fuels for internal combustion engines, including hydrogen, so the ICE ain’t quite dead yet.