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.

Classic cars at Thirlestane

Sun is shining at Thirlestane Castle for the BVAC Classic - but the wellies are in the van! Cars and exhibits arriving in a steady stream but the 'booktique' is open for business and blether.

Thirlestane on Sunday

I’ve now got my Pass and ticket for the BVAC Classic at Thirlestane this Sunday the 8th of June and it looks as though I will have the same pitch as last year, right beside the pedestrian entrance gate from Lauder and opposite the Border Reivers stand so there might be some weel kent faces within a bunfight flinging match from my own pitch!

Last time I had two books for sale, this time I’ll have four – three of mine plus Eric Dymock’s authoritative (and accurate) biography of Jim Clark.

Joining last year’s launch book on the Scottish Rally Championship covering the decade 1980-1989 will be this year’s tome covering the 1990-1999 decade. This latest book follows a similar format to the last but with more pages and more foties – by public demand!

The first half of each book features reports from all constituent rounds of the Scottish Rally Championship during those ten year periods and lists the top ten results and class winners from each individual rally, both drivers and co-drivers. The second half is devoted to photographs and there is a separate section on the first family of Scottish rallying ‘The McRaes’ plus a few personality profiles. It’s also worth noting the vast majority of the 400 or so photographs have never before been published and the majority of them come from my own collection.

I’ll also have copies of the ‘Murmurs on Mull’ book – the only publication (in the world!) which features every single ‘MullMurmurs’ bulletin as they were published during the rally in the years 1993-2010. I thought it would appeal only to Mull Rally addicts but I even sold some at Knockhill’s 50th motor racing celebrations the other week including to one young lady who walked past the ‘booktique’ three times before stopping and buying one. Apparently her Dad lives in Oban and is a Mull Rally fan so guess what he’s getting for Father’s Day!! Mind you she had a good look through the book (and a wee chuckle or two!) before making this momentous financial commitment.

Anyway, if I don’t have the same pitch as last year (arrowed in the photo) just look for the red Transit and the wee blue topped marquee.

https://bvac.org.uk/bvac-classic/tickets/