Tag Archives: Skoda

Blingin’, Slamin’, Surfin’ ‘n’ Driftin’ – Spring Performance Car Action Day Castle Combe

A week ago on Saturday immediately after the Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival I proceeded to Castle Combe thanks to David Roots who gave me a couple of tickets to go to the Performance Car Action Day.

Mitsubishi EVO, Castle Combe, SPCAD

On arrival aft Castle Combe I couldn’t help but notice a lot of bling on an otherwise cold and rainy day dry and shiny metal work stands out like a sore thumb as can be seen from the Mitsubishi Evo above.

VW Golf Driver, Castle Combe, SPCAD

Slammers, car with lowered suspension like the 1989 Volkswagen Golf Driver above were picking their way carefully through the mud,

Peugeot, 206 GTI, HDI, Castle Combe, SPCAD

while the surfers had to be the only ones dreaming of a wetter environment than that experienced at Castle Combe last weekend. Note the F, denoting France on the European Union Style number plate, on the 2005 Peugeot 206 GTi above, an odd choice for a car registered in, and that may well have been at Ryton, in the United Kingdom.

Nissan Skyline, Castle Combe, SPCAD

I have kept an open mind on drifting, never having seen it in person before last Saturday, until then I had the feeling drifting was akin to sheer hooliganism but with some entertainment value. Saturdays demonstrations of varying degrees of skill included a hand full of cars like the Nissan Skylines above running the wrong way round part of the Castle Combe track. With temperatures barely above freezing the entertainment value of the drifting demonstration was significantly diminished by the absence of smoking tyres which are usually associated with the ‘sport’.

HSV Maloo,Castle Combe, SPCAD

Further delights to be found in the car included vehicles of antipodean GM descent inclding this 2004 HSV Maloo.

Vauxhall Carlton Club, Castle Combe, SPCAD

Back in the day when I worked in the motor trade I used to delight in taking on near worthless cars and seeing how far I could drive them. My best effort was to drive 10,000 miles in a £50 Volvo, the legend on the door of this 1993 Vauxhall Carlton Club Estate asks “How far can a £250 car take you ?” and points readers in the direction www.streetsafari.com worth a visit if you have ever had an inkling to take part in a banger rally. Something I have filled away in my to do before I die list.

Mazda MX5 Le Mans Special, Castle Combe, SPCAD

The 1991 Mazda MX5 Le Mans Special above celebrates what was probably the nosiest victory, certainly the noisiest I have ever witnessed, at Le Mans in 1991 by the Wankel rotary powered Mazda 787B driven by Volker Weidler, Johnny Herbert and Bertrand Gachot.

Ford Transit 100D SWB, Castle Combe, SPCAD

Sadly there were not many in need of engines needing their engines cooled down last Sunday but this Cars themed 1993 Ford Transit D 100 SWB ice cream van was a nice touch.

Ford Cougar, Castle Combe, SPCAD

Among the 111 cars clubs present at Castle Combe was the Ford Cougar Owners Club, several with cars displaying Mercury brand badges as these New Edge styled cars were marketed in the USA. Was it really 14 years ago that Denis Hopper appeared in the Cougar television advertisement seems like only yesterday ?

Skoda, Castle Combe, SPCAD

Another club with a large number of members present was Briskoda.net the Bristol based Skoda Forum and Community, could be handy folks to know when I get round to participating in a banger rally if there are any £100 Skoda’s left.

Subaru Impreza Sport AWD, Castle Combe, SPCAD

Ampng the predictable masses of Subaru’s one might expect to see at a Performance Car Action Day, this Impreza Sport AWD combo really caught my attention, I wonder how difficult it would be to add drive to the trailer wheels ?

Rage Against The Scene, Castle Combe, SPCAD

I left the Spring Performance Car Action Day with a head full of ideas as to how I might personalise my recently acquired Golf Estate.

My thanks to David Roots for passing on the tickets so that I could attend the Spring Performance Action Day at Castle Combe.

Thanks for joining me on this “Blingin’, Slamin’ ‘n’ Drifting” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an early monocoque racing car. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Surprising Sunday Spin – Škoda Estelle 130 L

The Skoda name can be traced back to an Austro – Hungarian, based in what is now the Czech Republic, arms manufacturer established in 1859, the story of their involvement in the automotive dates back to 1924.

Skoda Estelle 130 L, Oulton Park,

In 1895 after a disappointingly arrogant correspondence with German cycle manufacturer Seidel and Naumann, regarding the repair of his bicycle, the Czech bookseller Václav Klement opened a cycle repair shop in Mladá Boleslav now in the Czech Republic in partnership with apprenticed locksmith Václav Laurin who had established a bicycle manufacturing business in Turnov a year earlier.

Skoda Estelle 130 L, Oulton Park,

By 1899 the Klement – Laurin had developed the Slavia motorcycle which they started exporting the following year, by 1905 they had started manufacturing 4 wheeled motor vehicles. In 1924 Klement – Laurin which by now had further diversified into trucks was taken over by Skoda.

Skoda Estelle 130 L, Oulton Park,

The Skoda Estelle 130 was introduced in 1984 as a replacement to the 120 and earlier 105 models which dated back to the 1970’s and 1960’s respectively.

Skoda Estelle 130 L, Oulton Park,

Three 130 models were originally available in the UK when the 130 series was launched here in March 1985. The 130 L and LSE 4 door models and a 2 door Rapid Coupé for which there was also an aftermarket Cabriolet conversion.

Skoda Estelle 130 L, Oulton Park,

The dated engineering led to the handling of the rear engined 58 hp 130 L being variously described as wayward, fun and even ‘like a Porsche’ meaning tail happy as ably demonstrated here at Oulton Park last year.

Skoda Estelle 130 L, Oulton Park,

Despite disparaging jokes like ‘Why does a Skoda have a heated rear screen ? To keep your hands warm when you push’ the Skoda team managed 17 class wins on the RAC Rally from the 1970’s into the 1970’s. I was not able to find out who the driver of the 1985 replica Group A model above is, one wag suggested that he had so much trouble keeping in on the road he might not want to be identified.

Skoda Estelle 130L, Snetterton

In 1986 Skoda (GB) Ltd entered the Estelle 130 L above for Bill Taylor, Andrew Woolley, Jeff Williams, Bill Hunt in the Willhire 24 hour production car race it ran absolutely faultlessly, from memory stopping only for routine driver changes and fuel, to finish fourth in class D, many laps behind the highly fancied and more powerful and Vauxhall Nova’s.

My thanks to Tony Gallagher for their his help trying to identify the driver of the first car and to Tim Murray for his help with the results for the second.

Thanks for joining me in this ‘Surprising Sunday Spin’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Gold Cup Classic – Oulton Park

Oulton Park circuit is one of Britain’s more difficult tracks, while attending racing school there I spun off on two separate occasions, located near Little Budworth in Cheshire.

Oulton Park

The last time I was spectating at Oulton Park in Cheshire then future world champion Damon Hill was given a one off drive in the British Formula 3000 Championship race by Colin Bennett and future Oulton Park circuit owner Dr Jonathan Palmer had a one off drive in the Celebrity car that featured in the Honda CRX championship in 1989.

Aston Martin DBR1, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

On Bank Holiday Monday I got to the track for the second day of the Gold Cup Classic meeting, just as qualifying got under way for the Sir Stirling Moss trophy race. Former FIA Historic Formula One Champion Bobby Verdon Roe, seen here driving a 1957 Aston Martin DBR1, going through a much altered Druids Corner on his way to qualifying on pole.

Skoda Estelle, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Oulton Park now has a tarmac Rally Stage and an interesting variety of vehicles were to be found trying to navigate the slippery conditions, including this Surprising Skoda Estelle, keeping spectators entertained with numerous 360 degree spins.

Lola T200, Merlyn Mk11A, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

The Historic Formula Ford race for Ford Kent powered single seaters built from 1969 – 1972 was highly entertaining with Rob Wainright piping Ben Mitchell and Benn Simms in a three way last lap shoot out. Former Grand Prix driver Ian Ashley driving the #62 Lola T200 is seen here passing Stuart Baird in the #6 Merlyn MK11A for fifth prior to Ian’s early retirement.

Lotus Martin, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

I missed the Historic Touring Car race won by Mark Jones in favour of having lunch with friends from The Nostalgia Forum, afterwards the Derek Bell Trophy race for a mixture of open wheel cars was run. Richard Evans in a Formula Atlantic March 79B snatched a last lap victory from Michael Lyons Formula 5000 Lola T400. I did not realise it at the time I took the photograph above but this is a recreation of the Lotus Martin built to Formula One regulations in 1966.

Judy Lyons, Lola T332, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Judy Lyons, Michael’s mother, driving the #33 Lola T332 above, gambled on rain returning during the race and opted for intermediate tyres, at the end of the race she showed no sign of disappointment that her strategy had failed or that she was not classified in the final results.

Chevron B31, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

The small grid of Group 6 2 litre / 122 cui cars for the Martini Trophy race included this Martini liveried Chevron B31 belonging to Graeme and James Dodd which failed to finish.

Lola T210, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Charlie Kemp did his best to make a race of it driving the 1970 vintage #10 Lola T210 but was eventually unable to keep up with John Burton who took the Martini spoils driving a Chevron B26.

Jon Minshaw, E-Type, Jaguar, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

The E Type challenge was probably the race of the day helped by tricky weather conditions, earning my personal vote for driver of the day was Jon Minshaw who worked through the field from the back of the grid to second place behind Martin O’Connell in a race filled with lurid ‘moments’.

Allard J2, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

John Ure and Patrick Blakeney-Edwards won the Woodcote Trophy driving a Cooper Bristol finishing ahead of the #57 Allard J2 seen here of Malcolm Verey and Dennis Welsh after Stephen Bond, who had rarely been more than a few car lengths behind the Cooper, lost up to a minute making his mandatory pit stop.

Ralt RT1, March 803B, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Benn Simms made up for his disappointment in the Formula Ford race by winning from the back of the grid in the Classic Formula 3 race driving the #1 March 803B seen here lining up
to pass the Keith White in the blue Ralt RT1.

Brian White, Triumph TR2, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Brian White and Keith Stantton drove their Triumph TR2 in both the Stirling Moss and Woodcote Trophy races, Brian is seen here exploring the outer limits of the track at Old Hall during Woodcote Trophy on his way to a 19th place finish.

D-Type Jaguar, Knobbly, Lister Jaguar, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Jon Minshaw teamed up with John Stretton to win the Woodcote Trophy in the #133 ‘Knobly’ Lister Jaguar above lapping the D-Type of Ben Eastick which finished 7th.

Reynard SF79, Delta T79, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Final race of the day was the ‘Amitsead Barnet Financial Services’ Historic Formula Ford 2000 championship race for Pinto powered cars circa 1978 – 1981 which was won by Nelson Rowe. Nelson Duke, in the yellow helmet above driving a Reynard SF79 about to pass the Delta T79 of Robert Trusting, impressed the event race sponsor ‘Mallory Dan’ sufficiently with his drive from the back of the grid to 13th place to win the FF2000 driver of the day award.

Piper GT, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

In between races and watching the rally car demonstration there was a feast of classic cars on display including my personal nomination for car of the day this Piper GT

Commer Transporter, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

After a great day out all too soon it was time to say ‘until next time’ to Barry, Roger, David, Mallory Dan, Alan, Phil and Simon from the Nostalgia forum and head for home.

Thanks for joining me on this Gold Cup edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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