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Car Events 2015 – MITP August 2015

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This weekend saw us catch up with some of our old MINI friends at Santa Pod Raceway, particularly Aston and Debbie and RVW and Storm. We have been to this event a few times and always enjoyed it, even last year’s when it rained for much of the time. This year we were on the MINIAC’s Only stand (and a big thank you to Dawn for her hard work in organising all the events the Miniacs do), while in the past we have gone with the MINI Clubman group.

The event is called Mini In The Park and some consider it “The UK’s Top Mini Show” for owners of Classic Minis and New MINIS, plus Mini Clubs and a Mini show for car fans of all ages.

Mini In The Park (‘mitp’ for short) is the only British Mini show that features Mini Concours, Mini Run-What-Ya-Brung (RWYB) racing, Mini Club car displays, a Win-A-Mini competition, Mini Trade Stands and Autojumble, plus lots of great action and entertainment, and a great Mini festival atmosphere.

Santa Pod Raceway near Wellingborough in Northamptonshire is the home of European FiA drag racing, and host to a variety of leading national events as well as Mini In The Park. The day is also beefed up by a healthy array of trade stands many of whom cater for the new MINIs that are our personal passion.

The weekend began at 2pm on Saturday when Aston and Debs turned up at our house en-route to Santa Pod. After a quick pizza we all headed off to our hotel the Holiday Inn Express in Northampton. We elected to go cross country and enjoyed a fun drive with our Coupe JCW convoying with Aston’s very sexy looking GP2.  After checking in and unpacking in the perfectly fine but very corporate looking hotel, we regrouped downstairs in reception and had a leisurely drink before going across the car park to The Harvester for dinner. My eyes were bigger than my belly and while I enjoyed my meal I had too much. After dinner we were back at the hotel and joined the rest of the Miniacs who were enjoying a boisterous evening in the bar. Our old ears were finally defeated by the din and we retired to bed ready for an early start in the morning.

Last year Mini in the Park at Santapod was a washout with the rain but this year the weather looked promising. The keen Miniacs had already gone ahead of us but we needed breakfast before we could do anything! In truth it has to be said that it was the most underwhelming hotel breakfast I have ever had. Sausage, scrambled egg and beans instead of a full English isn’t good enough, especially when I doubt if either the sausages or the eggs are real!

Batteries charged we headed off and coincidentally arrived at the same time as our old friends RVW and Storm. We all got parked on the Miniac’s stand and the day began.

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Unfortunately we soon got split up from Aston and Debs and that was the last we saw of them, which was a shame as this guy has really been helping to re-kindle our MINI love. We scoured all the trade stands and bought some Autoglym leather cleaner and nourisher and then admired all the MINI stands. A few MINIs caught our eye. Another Miniac has a lovely Coupe Works in a unique mid blue colour which looks stunning and both me and Mrs P liked it a lot.

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On another stand there was a stunning Paceman Works which we liked too. It had been lowered and put on some very sexy polished alloys and the effect really worked for us. Then of course there was the GP stand! I say this on every blog in which we see a GP and that is the GP is the car we should have had and never got and Mrs P has now said she will buy one! So watch this space.

There was a MINI dealer stand and Peanut fell in love with the JCW interior, all bright and shiny. Fortunately, when an F56 Works lined up side by side with a GP2 on the drag strip, she noticed that the GP2 looked planted and purposeful while the F56 works front looked very high from the ground. The F56 Works is brilliant to drive ( see my drive of it here) and Peanut has now endorsed the interior. Fortunately the exterior has not wooed us. In truth nothing wrong with it, but not an instant love affair. Respect the car then but do not feel the burning need to have one in our life. The GP first generation though is a different story!

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In the afternoon we enjoyed some of the drag racing including old favourites such as The Terminator a jet powered classic Mini and a jet powered go kart. Then we saw a deafening and quick car which flew down the drag. Very impressive.

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Then we watched the Run What Ya Brung, when cars brought along on the day were blasted down the track by their owners. £25 a run and I must admit I rather fancied it, though maybe not in an F56 as their clutches are not the strongest!

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All in all a great weekend though for all the fun at Santa Pod, the cars and the ideas they gave us, the best bit was catching up with old pals from the MINI scene and especially Aston and Debbie, and RVW and Storm.


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Our MINI Coupe JCW – A GP-esque GT?

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We first saw the MINI Coupé when it was released as a concept car back in 2009 and it was an instant hit with us. The car became a reality in 2011 and in truth the production version was pretty close to the original concept and we first saw this in Liverpool when it was launched in October 2011. However, the car we saw was a Cooper S in red and to be frank we were less than smitten. The car looked gauche and gawky, it lacked balance and in truth we went off the car big time.

For a while a Countryman looked likely and then they announced the JCW Countryman and we felt sure that this would be the next MINI for us. However, when we saw a JCW Countryman in the flesh the love wasn’t there. It ticked loads of boxes but it never tugged the heartstrings. It was a car we ought to have, not a car we wanted. Meanwhile, MINI revealed an aftermarket JCW spoiler for their Coupé. This was a larger fixed spoiler that replaced the active pop up standard spoiler and for us it gave the car balance. Gawky became cute, gauche became chic and all the heartstrings in Beastie Folly were pulled! We really liked this car.

This love hate thing had gone on now from late 2009 till late 2012 so our JCW Coupé purchase has not been an impulse buy by any means. Another big attraction for us was that we were able to create our perfect spec. for the Coupé. The silver white and red exterior carries on beautifully inside with the satellite grey seats, the red dash and door rings and the satellite grey door rests and dash trim – it was just what we wanted. Lots of techy goodies were added too – Karmon Hardon HiFi, Satellite Navigation, telephone and iPhone  integration and so on.

It was instant love with this car. We went on to personalise it with our own number plate, SilverBeast name tags on the side indicators, red A-panels and from the start we had the fixed rear spoiler added. The GP2 rear diffuser was quickly added, as again this added an inch to the car’s length and gave it better visual balance. The Brake cooling intakes were changed to red, Daytime Running Lights were added and additional gauges fitted inside  – all to reinforce the sporty intent. The car was becoming very focussed and we realised  that we needed to consider exactly what this car was and what we wanted this car to be. Two and a half years into JCW Coupé ownership and with the love as great as ever we have determined where we want to take this car. First our thoughts turned to what we didn’t want and we quickly concluded that we do not want the fastest MINI money can buy, with mods to increase HP, top speed and 0-60 mph speeds, achieving this would compromise on-road functions. Necessarily this would be a superb track car but an uncomfortable on-road cruiser. Secondly we gave consideration to what exactly we did want. We concluded that our intent (building upon MINI’s own design mission) is to create a driver focussed car with form additions to facilitate its function – superb performance and handling. The fixed rear spoiler, the rear diffuser, The Daylight Running Lights and the auxiliary gauges, are form additions specifically to aid these functions. Red A-panels and front brake coolers are vanity projects in this context. Putting this another way, our JCW Coupé should be an alternative GP if you like, moderated to fully achieve GT (Grand Tourer) requisites by the initial specification of  all home comforts, such as air conditioning, built in satellite navigation, Karmon Hardon HIFI combined with the initial form that gave us secure concealed luggage storage and total interior comfort. A car perfect to cross Europe in – hard and fast.

To achieve this a few more additions are needed. Next it is time to add the GP2 under-tray to streamline under the engine bay. This is the fibre composite MINI GP2 Engine Under-tray kit. This aerodynamic underfloor panelling gives much increased downforce with reduced air turbulence under the vehicle giving better stability at higher speeds. Really the rear diffuser is ornamental without this at the front completing the under-streaming – combined the two give a huge increase in vehicle aerodynamics, downforce and stability. Under-bonnet cooling is also aided with channelled air through pre moulded air vents. Once fitted, this also provides some underbody protection. Metallic heat shielding around the downpipe area also gives protection from high temperatures. There is a potential resultant fuel saving too, but I won’t hold my breath. After this it will be the new full white front spots that you get on the new F56 MINIs. It already has the turny bendy xenon lights but these will hint at a rally intent, or more realistically a pan European touring capability where crossing mountain passes through the night can be done in daylight! We think  these last few additions will see SilverBeast  truly become a GP-esque GT, demonstrating a form that totally screams the car’s functional intent!

Job done then, but that does not mean he does not need a MINI GP 1 as his playmate!

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Car Events 2015 – Classic Nostalgia At Shelsley Walsh

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Sunday saw us at our favourite Hill Climb venue – Shelsley Walsh – for their Classic Nostalgia weekend.

“Classic Nostalgia produces some wonderful sights, sounds and magnificent machines from over the years, in a pretty setting amongst the wonderful Worcestershire hills.” Sir Stirling Moss

This annual event is rapidly becoming a firm favourite on the racing calendar and is kindly supported by Classic and Sports Car magazine and Stewart Miller and Peter James Insurance. The action-packed weekend always attracts a very a wide variety of pre 1980s competition cars competing on the historic hill climb course, plus features spectacular static vehicle displays, trade stands, vintage-inspired entertainment, musicians, live bands and show dancers. The 2015 event certainly didn’t disappoint. We arrived in rain feeling a little frustrated and sat in our car for twenty minutes until it gave up. Thereafter the day burst into wonderful sunshine, which really helped the event achieve all it promised to be.

Action on the hill consisted of two one day National B events for pre-1980 cars. On each day, practice was in the morning, where all competitors were offered two practice runs. The competitive runs the took place in the afternoon, with each driver having two runs. We were there to enjoy the fun on the Sunday. The fun was enhanced by the presence of Derek Bell there to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first of his 5 le Mans victories. Also honoured was Jaguar who this year are celebrating a number of anniversaries.

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The Midland Automobile Club celebrated the successes of 5 time Le Mans winner Derek Bell at the Classic Nostalgia event held at Shelsley Walsh, as he celebrated the 40th anniversary of his first Le Mans win.

Derek who went to school at Kings, Worcester, took to the hill in a variety of cars which included the Porsche 956 that he drove during the 1983 season, sharing it with Stefan Bellof who used the car to set the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife lap record of 6 minutes 11.13 seconds. Of all the Rothmans Porsches, it is this car that is the most talked about.

Derek also drove the Broadspeed Jaguar XJ12C in which he competed in the 1976 Tourist Trophy at Silverstone.

Derek’s book, My Racing Life, is a highly readable autobiography in which he recalls a life in motor racing that spanned over 40 years and was packed with achievement and diversity, and was available to purchase throughout the weekend with opportunities to get copies signed on the Sunday. I had a mind to buy a copy and get it signed but I have to confess at £35 a copy I baulked and changed my mind. Shame I’m such a tight arse if I’m honest, as I think this would have made a great souvenir to remember what really was a cracking day.

Anyway enough of my miserly ways. Derek Bell is best-known as the consummate endurance sports car driver who won the Le Mans 24 Hours five times and the Daytona 24 Hours three times, teamed with racing greats such as Jacky Ickx, Hans Stuck and Al Holbert.

Besides sports car racing, he has competed in many different cars and categories, from a works seat with Ferrari in Formula 1 in 1968 to rally driving a Vauxhall.

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Also throughout the weekend Shelsley honoured the marque ‘Jaguar’ with special displays to commemorate the brands numerous anniversaries this year, including the 80 years of the Jaguar name, 60th anniversary of the Jaguar Mk1, 60 years since the last Le Mans win for Jaguar Cars Ltd and the 40th anniversary of the Jaguar XJS, 40 years of the XJ Coupe, and 25 years since a Jaguar last won Le Mans.

As part of The jaguar celebrations, Norman Dewis OBE came to Shelsley on the Sunday appearing on the Philip Porter stand for interviews and book signing sessions throughout the day. In a career spanning 33 years, Dewis played a pivotal role in the development of 25 significant Jaguar cars including the E-type, D-type and XK models. As chief development test engineer at Jaguar for 36 years he is synonymous with the brand’s success – both on and off the track and widely regarded as Britain’s greatest test driver having completed more than a million test miles at an average speed of 100 mph-plus. This year the British engineering icon was finally awarded an OBE in the Honours List for his contribution to the automotive industry. His presence was much appreciated by the keen petrolheads at Shelsley.

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Finally leaving PaceBeast in the field we meandered through the car club stands and headed for the paddock where a mindboggling collection of cars awaited our perusal. The smell of petrol pervaded the air a wonderful heady mix to delight the nostrils of any petrol head and we were no exception. We experienced this at Chateau Impney but it was even more intense here. Our cameras were put to high use. Peanut was armed with a 230mm zoom on the XE-1 and I shot from the hip tilting the rear screen on the XM-1 matched to a 35mm zoom. I thought we would also make use of the iPhone 6 as we did at Chateau Impney last week, but as we had both cameras the iPhone saw little use. For us the atmosphere was really exciting, somehow much more real than last week at Impney. Drivers were working on their cars, some were warming them up, regular queues were forming as the cars made ready for their practice runs up the hill and enthusiasts were milling around all of this snapping away with their cameras. Derek Bell was about and his Porsche was being warmed up too. The smells, the noises, the cars to be admired it was thrilling. It took me back to being at The Mille Miglia!

Time for a coffee and a sausage butty in the café and this was very civilised too with but a small queue.. The band was playing and through the door of the café we glimpsed the dancers having fun to the period music.

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A walk up the hill followed to snap a few cars on the hill, then a walk around the club cars on the field as these had now filled up before we headed back to PaceBeast to enjoy the picnic we had brought. The sun was shining the fresh chicken sandwiches were good and we got chatting to the chap in the car next to us. Peanut managed to burn her knees and chest in the sun!

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The afternoon was a repeat of the morning, this time with an ice cream and then a cup of tea in the vintage tea stand adjacent to the car club stands. The Elf’s favourite cars from the day were the Marcos sports cars, I didn’t have a highlight though I did like the Alfa Romeo which we had admired the previous week at Impney – I think I have little room in my head for anything except the Generation 1 MINI GP. Peanut also did not have a favourite though we did all love the gorgeous red Bentley on the Jaguar display.

A wonderfully great day out!

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Vintage delight
Derek Bell
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In The Paddock
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Lining Up To Go
Pace car
Morgan
Elf
Marcos
XJS
Boy racer

 


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Looking Back At Our JCW Checkmate


I have an itch, a real yearning and it is to own a Generation 1 MINI GP. For some reason we missed on getting this car first time round and instead plumped for a MINI Checkmate S Works.

To be fair CheckBeast as we named him was a very special car. A Checkmate limited edition given the Works treatment to enjoy 210 HP on tap. The car also benefitted from the JCW suspension and a mechanical limited slip differential. A works spoiler on the rear and 4 spots on the front gave it the appropriate looks and in truth it was a damned fun car to drive. Eventually we exchanged it for ClubBeast a very sexy looking pepper white and black Cooper S Clubman, which we went on to have a lot of fun with. However clutch issues sullied the experience a bit and when the Elf lay claim to our faithful red Cooper CooperBeast the way was paved for us to return to Works ownership with our MINI Coupe JCW. This has turned out to be a stunningly satisfying car to drive and the ClubBeast if I’m honest became a poor relation. Fast but not as fast, nimble, but not as nimble and while it could carry more stuff it wasn’t as handy as the hatch on the Coupe for supermarket shopping and so on. The writing was on the wall and we changed it for a Paceman SD. Now this is a delight for us and compliments the JCW Coupe perfectly. It doesn’t try to be as fast and furious its 2 litre diesel block delivering power in a very different way, but in the real world it is a comfortable, competent and fun car to be in and the semi command driving position is a joy and again completely different to the Coupe. Yep we have a perfect pair of MINIs.

A generation 1 GP for Sundays though would be nice, it has a supercharger and when new was 2/10ths of a second quicker than the Coupe, hitting 0-62 in 6.2seconds. It has a real fun factor and what do you want in a sporty car apart from fun? Yep in a perfect world our pair of MINIs needs to be a trio!

So here I am sharing some pictures of a beloved MINI Checkmate Works that got me hooked on superchargers. Hope you like them and forgive me my sadness as I lament the lack of a Generation 1 GP in my life…


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Car Events 2015 – Chateau Impney Hill Climb July 2015

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Sunday saw us at Chateau Impney for the 2015 revival of the Hagley and District Light Car Club sprint that was first organised in the chateau’s grounds in 1957. Myself, Peanut and The Elf were there and we were excited both to be visiting Chateau Impney and also to be in at the start of the revival of this event. Before we even arrived we followed a couple in their lovely red Triumph TR4 and the chap drove it with a delightful panache. Not crazy silly but nonetheless with flair and style which made it fun following in his wake to the hill climb. It is cars like that which excite me and I was looking forward to seeing similar road cars racing the hill.
The Chateau itself was built in the heyday of the British Empire and the motor car was becoming the fashionable accessory of the nouveau riche. Chateau Impney has developed a rich motoring heritage over the years, a tradition that began with the first sprint on 29 September 1957. The event was a roaring success, with Autocar magazine hailing the Chateau as “easily the most picturesque of this country’s sprint and hill-climb venues”, and declaring that “with a little skill and ingenuity applied to the road itself it will quickly rival the best of them”. The event continued for ten years coming to an end in 1967. In 2015, this historic motoring event has been revived for a modern audience and as said we were there to enjoy it and soak up the atmosphere.

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The Chateau Impney Hill Climb saw no less than 200 competitors sprint their way up the challenging 1,000-yard course against the clock,including the famous Beast of Turin! It was a high-octane display of power, speed and skill and some of the most famous and successful competition cars that raced between the inception of the motorcar and 1967 were put to the test. The winner of the Hill Climb was awarded a prestigious trophy, commemorating the part that the Hagley & District Light Car Club played in Chateau Impney’s motorsport heritage. After wandering past some car related stalls on a car park between the field where we parked and the hill climb paddock area, we then spent some time at the entrance to the hill climb photographing the cars as they lined up to race the hill. The vapours from the petrol at this vantage point were positively intoxicating and we loved the smell it was so evocative of old cars and racing. I think at the time we described it as perfume!

This new MSA-approved course is double the length of the original track at a distance of 1,000 yards and to win the fastest time of the day, competitors had to navigate a number of challenging twists and turns at high speed before eventually finishing their climb at the Footman James Finish Line. During the course of the day we selected a number of vantage points to watch the racing, from just by the side of the chateau where we saw a number of cars nearly get caught out by the wet weather, to closer to the finishing line where we could watch a tricky chicane turn. Seeing and hearing the cars was quite wonderful and my favourite was a red Alfa Romeo GT Sprint. Again it is because I like the cars that look like you could use them daily on the roads. We were always drawn to the cars that looked like road cars from the 50s, and 60s but in truth all were a delight to watch.

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It was good to being able to mooch about in the paddock areas where the cars were parked up prior to racing and undergoing last minute modifications here and there. Lunch saw us on the hill eating pork rolls and being treated to a spectacular biplane stunt display overhead. After lunch we did another tour of the paddock area and spent some time admiring the cars that were up for auction. Finally satiated with old cars we headed for home with me vowing to add more stickers and some spot lights to our MINI Coupe JCW! Mrs P meanwhile wants to do a hill climb!


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CooperBeast

  
This was our first ever MINI and what started out love affair with the modern MINI. Still probably our favourite. The balance between the driver’s capabilities and that of the car are the most closely matched in a Cooper. Since this car we have had two JCW cars and they are stingingly quick cars but in truth the car’s capabilities far outstrip those of the driver. Put another way you can drive a Cooper flat out say 50 per cent of the time and a JCW say 10 per cent of the time. This makes a Cooper a seriously fun car to drive.

The car now belongs to Peanut’s daughter The Elf, who is back with us for a short while. Nice as it is to have her around for a while, it’s really nice to have CooperBeast back in our lives for a bit. Miss this boy!

When we got PaceBeast we decided to make him an homage to our first MINI CooperBeast by recreating his colours right down to deliberately not ordering tear tinted glass to better match the original.