Lots of 'things' have been going on recently but I've not had the time to do any threads or whatnot, so here is a brief round-up of some of my summer highlights* thus far.
Going back a bit, but as a nice bookend, we finally got the Citroen up and running and decided to head to La vie en bleu at Prescott. It had been off the road with steering 'issues' and hadn't done a proper journey since before WW2, so a 240 mile round trip was obviously deemed a sensible shakedown run to iron out any bugs. It soon became clear that the steering still wasn't right. I think 'alarming' is the word I would use to describe it, but we pressed on anyway before some very poor running made us turn back once we reached the A3. I think we made it about 15 miles before catastrophic engine failure and a very, very long wait for the nice RAC man. It's been pushed into the corner of the shed and we are trying to forget about it for now
1935 Citroen Traction Avant by barrogance, on Flickr
When we got back to the office, we decided to go to the pub instead of attempting a second run to Prescott. Our Cadillac had just come back from a lengthy and costly engine rebuild with the troublesome two-speed rear axle working again for the first time in ages, so that got wheeled out for the trip. I had the task of following in my friend's Ami 6 which is probably the most fun I've ever had in a car
Ami and Caddy by barrogance, on Flickr
The pub we went to also hosts the local VSCC meet once a month, and we went en masse in some Oily Rags to lower the tone. I was piloting the Woodie which was still suffering it's chronic fuelling issue and cut out on the way back, in the dark on an unlight country road. bastard.
Woodie, Caddy, Trojan by barrogance, on Flickr
About a month ago Seth and I had some urgent business in The North, so I went to London in the recently purchased beige Allegro and met him at the Ace cafe classics night. There was a great selection of stuff there as usual (seen in his thread) but this is the one that really caught my eye
1961 Austin-Healey Sprite by barrogance, on Flickr
Our urgent business was, of course, to drive and photograph these things, which you can now read all about in the exciting new issue etc etc
Tiny cars by barrogance, on Flickr
FoS weekend was a couple of days later, and some free tickets were enough to convince me to go. It was hellishly hot and crowded and I'm not sure if I would bother going if I had to pay, but the Cartier concours area was well worth the effort, with some cars I have wanted to see for years all packed together in one place. The Alfa Sportiva is one of my favourite shapes ever, I was slightly obsessed by this when I was younger so seeing one in the flesh was very exciting. I have absolutely no idea why it is now painted silver, they were only ever painted red in period and although the colour looks great here it is slightly jarring that the Alfa museum, who are supposedly custodians for their company's history, have seen fit to alta the car so significantly
Alfa 2000 Sportiva by barrogance, on Flickr
On the other end of the scale, a genuine steel '41 Willys gasser brought rushing back all my pre-adolescent Street Machine memories. These things are almost mythical to me (and probably to most people who grew up in the age of 'glass replicas) and this one was just perfect
1941 Willys Gasser by barrogance, on Flickr
The next big event, and the one I was probably most looking forward to, was the Hotrod Hayride. After a fairly fraught week of dropping the petrol tank and flushing out the 60 years worth of crud that was blocking the fuel lines, then getting it all back together with new temporary rubber lines, and an absolute war trying to get it started again, I drove the Woodie down there on Friday evening after work and it was a real disappointment when we had to leave that night.
Woodie at sunset by barrogance, on Flickr
We went back on the Saturday, when they were holding a hillclimb a few miles up the road from the main site. The car park was probably the most period-perfect thing I have ever seen, nothing was post-'66 and there was no hint of modernity anywhere to be seen. The hillclimb itself was, er, 'period' too, with no barriers or safety of any kind, and huge Yanks fishtailing up a loose gravel track as people dived out of the way or got covered in grit and dust. It was marvellous
Hotrod Hayride Hillclimb car park by barrogance, on Flickr
The next day I had to hotfoot over to Brooklands to meet Seth and have a look at some Hillman Aero Minxes. Quite a rushed day and I was still reeling from the Hayride, but the cars were nice and I got there and back without breaking down (after an ad hoc SethTune in the car park)
Aero Minxes by barrogance, on Flickr
Brooklands car park is usually filled with interesting stuff, but chosen parking spot proved accidentally amusing
Now, where did I park....? by barrogance, on Flickr
Next up was Harpendon CotC. After last year's debacle we were somewhat apprehensive about the journey, but we got there no trouble in the Herald in time to catch somebody in the act of applying some Tyre Bullshit to a horrible Mini
DSCN5083 by barrogance, on Flickr
Highlights among the thousand-odd cars there were this amazing Skoda bus...
DSCN5090 by barrogance, on Flickr
...and a flipping Cordia!
DSCN5082 by barrogance, on Flickr
VSCC Prescott was next, and after the previous Citroen disaster we decided the 99 year old Cadillac would be more suitable transport. We made it to Gloucester for a quick glass of wine with 'Steady' Barker (ooh, namedropping!) but it was obvious the thing was unhappy. Opening the hood revealed the plug leads had melted in the heat! We pressed on, and got within 10 miles of the hillclimb before it expired. Cracked cylinder head (again) and various other heat-related issues were the result, and we had to come back on the back of a truck... The event itself was incredible, amazing cars everywhere you looked and lots of interesting people to meet. One of the highlights being this Vignale Aurelia B20 in nicely Oily Rag condition
DSCN5100 by barrogance, on Flickr
Things are starting to calm down a bit now, the most exciting news was finally taking delivery of this... Definitely the best thing in the entire world even though it needs a fair bit of fettling before it can be usable. I think I am driving this to Beaulieu next month, which should be interesting....
New Toy! by barrogance, on Flickr
