You had to be there! 
Didn't you Bill? 
Memories of Callander Classic Weekend!
Memories of Callander Classic Weekend!
You had to be there! Didn't you Bill? Cheers, Clive.
(If I'm not here I'm in my workshop or on the golf course!)
(If I'm not here I'm in my workshop or on the golf course!)
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kaiserbilly1
- Posts: 1386
- Joined: Wed Feb 21, 2007 9:07 am
- Location: Glasgow, Scotland
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Colin Newbold
- Posts: 1290
- Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 10:41 am
- Location: Tunbridge Wells, Kent
- Contact:
Where do I start?....
So many miles, so little time. But my honour is at stake and so it must be done.
Firstly, full marks to Bill and Julie, their hospitality was first class, complete with his massive garden flagpole displaying the Saltire, flag of St George and a chequered flag and bunting. The bar-b-q on Friday night was emotional. Meeting Clive again and his missus Jill was great, as was meeting Alan Tunstall and his wife Fiona (MBE no less), whose car missed the event by a whisker, because of registration delays.
Next morning, there was the rain - a fine drizzle blown around by a strong Scottish breeze. You know... the sort of weather that leads to a 'discussion' with your dearly beloved about whether or not to go topless. The men won out. And the great thing about driving hoodless in the rain is that you can't actually hear the constant mithering from your significant other as they're effectively drowned out!
Finally reached Callander in the Trossachs (John this is not swearing- please leave it in) where the sun finally had his hat on. The day was dominated by the on-off weather, but who cares, the hood stayed off.
A fine drive in convoy with Bill and Clive, interspersed with haggis and a cold beer, made it very enjoyable.
That evening, Nicky and I, Bill and Julie, all stayed in the Lake of Menteith Hotel, which is along the shores of a lake and is a spectacular setting (and yes, I did mean lake not loch...this is the only one in Scotland, named by an English lord no doubt).
We were joined by another couple of Bill's friends for a sumptuous evening repast with some excellent wines. Good company, fine dining and plenty of nectar. Needless to say, a good sleep followed.
Next day dawns sunny (at last!) and your's truly runs down to the cars with a bucket and proceeds to fettle (both cars, as I owed Bill one from France last year). So mine's a lot cleaner than it was at Silverstone. After a good breakfast, we were joined again by Clive, with Alan as his passenger, and off we went on a tour of the Duke's Pass. Just like the French Alps, I thought, with hairpins and spectacular views - you can see three Loch's on this drive. Beats Pebble Beach.
Highlight of the day when we got to the Callander Show, was Team Hawk in the driving test. All on grass, two adjacent runs with a coned slalom and parking/reverse parking in coned 'garages'. Favourites to win were the Lotus team (3 x Elan Sprints), but actually the Mini's got the job done in the end. That said, we entered all 3 Hawks, and we actually won our first heat (mind you, it was against a Morris Minor, a Spartan kit car and a Triumph Herald so no excuse really). This meant we qualified for the next round and were well on our way to a podium position when Willy Wanker decided to attempt a donut as he left the field. INSTANT DISQUALIFICATION! The shame of it. Apparently, they'd already had a complaint about the noise he was making (from a woman in Belgium I believe), this was the final straw.
The only award was mine for the furthest travelled! And what a journey that was! 8 hours in total on the way back to Tunbridge Wells. With a stop for fuel and lunch plus a couple of pee breaks, that's not a bad time for a Bank Holiday Monday, considering that a lot of it was spent around 80mph and quite often a lot less. But then quite often, I was going a lot more! There's a bit of a vibration that sets in at about 140, so I kept it below that.
Now let's defend the negative feedback about my car. Like any finely tuned machine, my car is vulnerable. Built from fine precision parts, it has a low tolerance threshold. Bit by bit, as Clive rightly says, it's being rebuilt and it grieves me to think that I paid so-called experts to design and construct most of what has subsequently gone wrong.
Certainly, while the roads in Bill's homeland are pictureskew, they don't half go up and down a lot. If you've ever been to the MIRA test facility, where the motor manufacturers test the suspension, you can clearly see what its modelled on. No problem for your average road car, or even a full-blown rally car, but mine's got about as much suspension travel as a Mclaren twin baby buggy. That said, I didn't expect the chrome piston rod in the shocker (Pro-Tech) to strip its thread in the top mount! Luckily we were travelling home from Callander to Bill's house with less than 20 miles to go, so we continued on to the car hospital. Next morning, Bill took me to a classic car craftsman who made it all better again for £15. Job done.
So, an excellent weekend for the Gumball Rally of one - I think we'll try again for the Le Mans Classic next year. Meanwhile...anyone who I haven't already been in contact with that is going to Goodwood this weekend for the Revival, call me on 07785 548 888 and we might get a bevvy together. Weather looks set fair, and I've got a pair of cheap tickets for Saturday and Sunday - ring me if interested.
Cheers
Colin[/img]
So many miles, so little time. But my honour is at stake and so it must be done.
Firstly, full marks to Bill and Julie, their hospitality was first class, complete with his massive garden flagpole displaying the Saltire, flag of St George and a chequered flag and bunting. The bar-b-q on Friday night was emotional. Meeting Clive again and his missus Jill was great, as was meeting Alan Tunstall and his wife Fiona (MBE no less), whose car missed the event by a whisker, because of registration delays.
Next morning, there was the rain - a fine drizzle blown around by a strong Scottish breeze. You know... the sort of weather that leads to a 'discussion' with your dearly beloved about whether or not to go topless. The men won out. And the great thing about driving hoodless in the rain is that you can't actually hear the constant mithering from your significant other as they're effectively drowned out!
Finally reached Callander in the Trossachs (John this is not swearing- please leave it in) where the sun finally had his hat on. The day was dominated by the on-off weather, but who cares, the hood stayed off.
A fine drive in convoy with Bill and Clive, interspersed with haggis and a cold beer, made it very enjoyable.
That evening, Nicky and I, Bill and Julie, all stayed in the Lake of Menteith Hotel, which is along the shores of a lake and is a spectacular setting (and yes, I did mean lake not loch...this is the only one in Scotland, named by an English lord no doubt).
We were joined by another couple of Bill's friends for a sumptuous evening repast with some excellent wines. Good company, fine dining and plenty of nectar. Needless to say, a good sleep followed.
Next day dawns sunny (at last!) and your's truly runs down to the cars with a bucket and proceeds to fettle (both cars, as I owed Bill one from France last year). So mine's a lot cleaner than it was at Silverstone. After a good breakfast, we were joined again by Clive, with Alan as his passenger, and off we went on a tour of the Duke's Pass. Just like the French Alps, I thought, with hairpins and spectacular views - you can see three Loch's on this drive. Beats Pebble Beach.
Highlight of the day when we got to the Callander Show, was Team Hawk in the driving test. All on grass, two adjacent runs with a coned slalom and parking/reverse parking in coned 'garages'. Favourites to win were the Lotus team (3 x Elan Sprints), but actually the Mini's got the job done in the end. That said, we entered all 3 Hawks, and we actually won our first heat (mind you, it was against a Morris Minor, a Spartan kit car and a Triumph Herald so no excuse really). This meant we qualified for the next round and were well on our way to a podium position when Willy Wanker decided to attempt a donut as he left the field. INSTANT DISQUALIFICATION! The shame of it. Apparently, they'd already had a complaint about the noise he was making (from a woman in Belgium I believe), this was the final straw.
The only award was mine for the furthest travelled! And what a journey that was! 8 hours in total on the way back to Tunbridge Wells. With a stop for fuel and lunch plus a couple of pee breaks, that's not a bad time for a Bank Holiday Monday, considering that a lot of it was spent around 80mph and quite often a lot less. But then quite often, I was going a lot more! There's a bit of a vibration that sets in at about 140, so I kept it below that.
Now let's defend the negative feedback about my car. Like any finely tuned machine, my car is vulnerable. Built from fine precision parts, it has a low tolerance threshold. Bit by bit, as Clive rightly says, it's being rebuilt and it grieves me to think that I paid so-called experts to design and construct most of what has subsequently gone wrong.
Certainly, while the roads in Bill's homeland are pictureskew, they don't half go up and down a lot. If you've ever been to the MIRA test facility, where the motor manufacturers test the suspension, you can clearly see what its modelled on. No problem for your average road car, or even a full-blown rally car, but mine's got about as much suspension travel as a Mclaren twin baby buggy. That said, I didn't expect the chrome piston rod in the shocker (Pro-Tech) to strip its thread in the top mount! Luckily we were travelling home from Callander to Bill's house with less than 20 miles to go, so we continued on to the car hospital. Next morning, Bill took me to a classic car craftsman who made it all better again for £15. Job done.
So, an excellent weekend for the Gumball Rally of one - I think we'll try again for the Le Mans Classic next year. Meanwhile...anyone who I haven't already been in contact with that is going to Goodwood this weekend for the Revival, call me on 07785 548 888 and we might get a bevvy together. Weather looks set fair, and I've got a pair of cheap tickets for Saturday and Sunday - ring me if interested.
Cheers
Colin[/img]
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kaiserbilly1
- Posts: 1386
- Joined: Wed Feb 21, 2007 9:07 am
- Location: Glasgow, Scotland
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kaiserbilly1
- Posts: 1386
- Joined: Wed Feb 21, 2007 9:07 am
- Location: Glasgow, Scotland
It ain't working either! 