Brighton Speed Trials 2012 pic report

[Lucky]

Hmm. Well, there was just one other bit of Italiana that stood out a tiny bit as being... well, just a bit cool

Wanna play the guessing game?


Yeah, easy one innit?


OMG, it's only the Frari, the one that all who came before were finding their feet and all that came after were tinsel for idiots with more money than taste


In my world anyway. And it's my thread, so I must be right. Anyway, in my humble opinion, this is the ultimate expression of sportscar purity


They built it to do a job, and do it as well as was possible and what it looked like came a distant second. Of course, being Italian, it just happened to come out looking bleeding amazing


Remember Clarkson frothing himself into a lather about it? About how the paint was sooooooo thin to save weight you could see the carbon fibre weave through it?


There you go, then. Wow, Clarkson accurate about something shock. Who'd have thought? lol. It's certainly got shock and awe from every angle




The cockpit is devoid of the glitz and glamour modern Ferrari buyers seem to demand, it's motorsport-understated, black alacantara and flock to deaden glare, very driver-focussed binnacle.. and nothing else. The carbon fibre of the tub is enough to arrest my attention, but you can't see that when you're sitting in it. The owner said he got it from one of the Frosts, who'd bought it for his son. Said son was too chubby to comfortably fit the cabin, so it was sold on at a great price. Y'know, if I was too tubby to fit an F40 that was bought for me, I'd ****ing well diet!


This is the informality of the Speed Trials; owner can afford an F40 but pushes it to the line himself with the help of his wife! Lol at the fat hillbilly dude in the hi-viz and fag hanging from his gob pretending to help push!


The world's most elegant sledgehammer

[Lucky]

Hmmm, might be a tiny bit tough to follow that one...

It'll have to be a quick whistlestop of the oddments left in my Photobucket then to tidy things up. How about a rather nice Jaaaaaaaaaag?


Proving Viper Stripes do work on almost anything lol. Y'know, we've careered all over the world in automotive style during this thread, but like so many of my reports there's a lack of anything from Ze Germans. I can;t help it, it's my fault as much as anything, but they just don't make cars that move me (I had a MkI Golf once, and that rarely worked well enough to move me either). But I think I might have finally found a BMW that speaks to me in a voice of angels


I'll content myself with thinking of it as a Frazer-Nash, who manufactured their own cars long before they became BMW importer and even longer before they became Porsche importer.


Nahhh, only kidding, it's downright gorgeous!


I suppose the squashed beetle enthusiasts will be clamouring now, so just for you, here's the chubby bum of one of Hitler's favourite sportscars


A little respect now, if you will. You might never heard of them, but Alta used to be a British great white hope pre-war in the days of small-volume entrepeneurs developing their own grand prix cars


So now you know, it can wear its patina of age with pride lol


Speaking of respect, you have to respect anyone who takes their Bentley Arnage out to waft along the drag strip in airconditioned turbocharged woodpanelled seven litre glory


I guess this is a bit like bringing a ballerina to a line-dance, but however far from its metier this Alpine is, it still looks wonderful


and this is a bit like bringing a bare-knuckle boxer to a ballet;


This 7.5 litre Allard J2 has been timed at a genuine 197 mph. The owner lists his occupation as "pensioner". Fantastic. Ugly as sin, GSOH, stupidly fast. Only in Britain


One of the defining images of the day;


And speaking of Great British eccentricities, here's another, the predeliction for taking hugely inappropriate engines and wedging them into tiny cars


This is apparently a Cirrus Special. I presume the Cirrus refers to the engine, which would appear to be derived from a Cirrus aeroplane engine!


I've absolutely no idea what the poor little car it's wedged almost into was, but you'd have to say the engine is barely "in", hanging out all over the place


carbs on the outside, too


and even quite a large amount of it seems to intrude into the cockpit as well! Bellhousing footrest, anyone? Gotta love any car with a steering wheel wider than the bodywork!


And on this final piece of glorious madness, we're done. It might not have the massive presence of the Napier Bentley, or the sheer organ-rearranging speed of the Railton, or the beautiful fit and finish of the Handlye Rolls, but someone cared enough about their vision to wedge this aircraft engine into their car, and that marvellous dancing on the cusp between insanity and glory is what made this nation of eccentric genius heroes as wonderful and diverse as it is, and for that alone I'd say this is a properly fitting end to my humble tale



So, I wend my way up the hill to the station and another day's work in the horrific drudgery of driving trains, forcing a way in the heat through the hordes of fat, orange sunscreen-scented proles who were blundering around bucolically looking for the latest styles in chic Brighton boutiques (or Primark). Never knowing the motoring nirvana taking place just a few hundred yards from their swealtering carcasses, I left them to ravenously pursue their tedious lives sinking into the mire of utter averageness. But my day was good, my day was different. For that brief sundrenched morning I'd seen behind that thin curtain into something better, something with heritage and passion and fire in its belly, and it would keep me and help me through the night to come. And now you know, too...


That's it, I'm spent. Thanks for looking in as always. Now go away

[Rexi84]

Another excellent show report. Enjoyed reading every bit of this epic report.
I have been to the speed trials for the last 3 years and every year never dissapoints. Brighton and motorsport are a great combination and would recommend to anybody. Iv been dying for an actual rotary engined mazda to be in the mash up but still nothing. Closest was 2 fds with v8s instead of rotaries beating at the heart of the cars. Maybe i shud just get a race licence and get in there. Dying to do a drag launch in a monster j ported beast and rip the chock off the end of the marshals stick in the pics. Not to sure if a bridge port or bigger would pass the noise restrictions though. Sad to hear of the death of the racer, remember watching the duo go up the road thinking id probably have brown trousers if i was that close to the ground. I must have left before the accident. R.I.P.