On Saturday David Roots kindly invited me to join him and the Bath & West Car Club for the Classic and Sports Car Action Day at Castle Combe.

Among the cars on display was this Triumph GT6 MkII which reminded me that GT6 enthusiast Hazen Wardle is soon to release the third of his Reche Plimpton, The Triumph Detective stories.

With out a doubt car of the show for me was this third Generation 1969 Buick Skylark, with the post modern descending curved chrome that harks back to an all together different age of motoring before the use of unitary bodies became commonplace.

The 1972 Honda Z600, from the Honda S800 Sports Car Club, preparing to take part in the on track parade above predated the Honda Civic range and is powered by 36 hp 598cc / 36.4 cui two cylinder single overhead cam motor that could be taken up to 9,000 revolutions per minute and was recorded as capable of using less than 130 mpg (imperial) at a steady 30 mph.

The Lotus Seven Club were in attendance in large numbers, above two Lotus Seven S2’s one of which was the feature on my regular Lotus blog on Saturday.

Despite his far better judgement David kindly took me round Castle Combe on the parade laps, here we are passing through the Bobbies Chicane.

Coming all the way from Wales in the Club Lotus (South Wales) area was this 2000 Lotus Esprit Sport 350, the final iteration of the Esprit line of which just 50 were manufactured.

Four years after acquiring Lotus, GM handed Lotus the task of upgrading the mundane Vauxhall Carlton, The 177 mph Lotus, Type 104, Carlton was the result, capable of reaching 60 mph in just 5.2 seconds with the aid of twin turbochargers, Corvette Z1 gearbox and Holden rear limited slip differential. This was a Q car of the first order, very popular with both police forces and security services when helicopters and light planes were in short supply. All Lotus Carlton’s and Lotus Omega’s, for the European Market, were painted a shade of green so dark it looks black in all but the strongest sunlight.

We don’t see too many Romanian built Dacia’s in the UK and when we do they are usually on Romanian plates so it was a surprise to see this Dacia Duster on French diplomatic plates. The Dacia Duster is based on a Nissan platform and running gear with 2 and 4 wheel options available, they are priced to compete with second hand cars. Expect to see a Dacia powered by an 850 hp Nissan GTR motor on Pikes Peak in the not too distant future.

Looks like someone borrowed a 1996 Volvo 850 while Dad was still asleep last Saturday morning.

There used to be an advertisement on British TV that advised us to go to work on an egg, this Cadbury’s cream egg was built on a 1995 Bedford Rascal Microvan.

Marcos which used to be based in Bradford upon Avon in Wiltshire used to be one of several local car manufacturers during the 1960’s and 1970’s prior to moving to Kenilworth in 1981, following insolvency in 1972. So it was no surprise to see a strong showing from the Marcos Owners Club.

The 1972 Beetle Cabriolet and 1964 VW Type 2 show that my own ’99 Golf Mk IV still has an achievable if long way to go before becoming a classic !

Thanks for joining me on this “Classic & Sports Car Action Day” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !