| Race Retro Stoneleigh,
14-16 March 2008
A quick run round the show.
Where's the fizz?
On the basis of my visits to the stand, the Monoposto Racing club had
a good show. There was a steady traffic of visitors to our stand, whether
old friends and competitors, current competitors, potential members, or
those wishing to do Spa. However, for the traffic to be good next year,
the visitors need to return and I wonder whether they will. Certainly
the show differs from Autosport in that you can buy tools, equipment,
memorabilia, or, if the funds are unlimited, a car at the auction. And
the tea is cheaper and better. However, if a visitor was looking to see
something with the wow factor, I don't think he or she would have found
it. There wasn't a spectacular feature display, as I don't count a few
old Escorts and some GT40 lookalikes as spectacular. It seems as if the
organisers have rested on their laurels, and there were signs that some
exhibitors of the past had not turned up this year or reduced their presence,
which is a pity as this sort of show is needed. If I was a teacher not
a beancounter I would say "6/10, must try harder".
Our Centrepiece
Somebody will have to work hard to beat Russ to the Newbridge Trophy
for best self prepared car - the 913 is truly as good as new.
The car was a former hillclimber, belonging to Fred Currell who drove
quite agressively. Tony Matthews explained how on one occassion at Shelsley
Fred put the 913 off at Kennel bend, pushing the fence back so far that
the butty wagon beyond the fence suffered a dent. Russ added to the story
by explaining that although Fred was completely unhurt and the car was
not too badly damaged, he was trapped in it for a while as he was completely
surrounded by a hedge. You don't get that sort of incident at Copse!
Prices
It's not the done thing to talk about money, but it was noticeable that
where prices were mentioned the £30k's were not unusual - see the
Pallsier F2 and the Morgan below. Neither would be as quick (nor, I suspect,
as much fun) as any of the cars on the Mono stand at between £4k
and £12k. As for comparing them with a Mono Dallara at only a little
over half the price....
|  
Russ Giles's Reynard 913 c/n30 formed the centrepiece of the
Mono stand. |
Immaculate and self prepared. |
Chairman David Cox and Russ Giles manned the stand with Jonathan
Baggott on Friday. |
Patrick Huston (seen here with Michael Dale) and Jim Blockley
took over on Saturday. |
|
The bar was based around this LaFrance fire engine |
Longstone tyres showed Fraser Nash/GN special "Piglet"
in mid rebuild. |
ERA R1 on the Bonhams stand
|
Morgan V6 racer. A bit more powerful than either Patrick's
old 4/4 or the assistant eds more modern one. £37,843 on the
road. |
| 
Spax took over VanDiemen's stand as they seem to be undergoing
a reorganisation. Ironic that they should show a Reynard SF77 |
Lola T70 continuation - ie a current replica made by the same
company as the original |
Same idea, but a Chevron B16. Not sure whether the company
is really the same or just the intellectual property rights holder. |
Unashamed replica of a Porsche 356 by Tygan. Even badged "Porsche"
- brave men. |
| 
Replica GT40's were a theme of the show, with a display outside.
Gulf colours are almost irresistable. |
In my view, you can never beat the straightforward looks of
a Brabham. Possibly ex-Mono? |
More modern BT30-16 ex Derek Bell. |
Ferrari 246 Dino. Patrick saw these in their heyday and says
to make the paint more authentic, it should have been applied with
a creosote brush. |
| 
Ferrari 250 Testarossa, or "redhead". Don't shout
"Oi, Ginger" at the owner. |
1908 Panhard Levassor GP |
Stanguellini Formula Junior and Martin 500, both historic formulae
whose renaissance was nurtured in the Monoposto Club. |
Unusual coil sprung Dastle 500 on 750MC stand. |
| 
Former Mono 1200 racers Ewan Cameron and brother Dave were
on duty on Ewan's Cameron Engineering stand. Ewan makes replica
V-twin JAP engines for Morgans, bikes ("Norton Superior"
seen here) and cars (eg Djinn hillclimber on the stand) |
V-twin with Mono pix in the background.
|
March 712M Formula 2.
|
Aston Martin. |
| 
1913 Ford Model T based racer "Golden Ford T". "You
did say 40cm ground clearance didn't you?" |
Patrick Morgan's Dawn Treader Engineering showed the ex Senna
Lotus 98T 04. Morgan is the son of the late Paul Morgan of Ilmor
fame. |
Williams FW08 and mural.
|
Benz |
| 
Powertorque showed Ford engines. V8 surprisingly compact but
often disappoints in race cars and some road cars. |
AC Ace's glorious pure lines on Octane stand became the basis
for the muscular Cobra. |
Lifeline MD Jim Morris's Ralt RT30 VW hillclimb car - easily
convertible for Mono Classic |
Ferrrari Daytona rally car. |
| 
No idea, but looks cute. Lea Francis perhaps? |
Motor Sport, with editor Damien Smith present to talk to readers,
showed this Chevron B38 F3 car. Nice, but I still prefer my old
RT1. |
Central exhibition was of Ford rally cars
|
A Zephyr Six (not this one) once won the MonteCarlo Rally,
driven by Maurice Gatsonides who invented the speed camera. My dad
had a standard one when I was born. |
Crossle trials car on the BTRDA stand. Honda (car) engine runs
on LPG. |
Joy Rainey and Trevor Hulks alongside their 1903 Oldsmobile
which they plan to drive from San Fransisco to New York in 2009.
More info on www.joy-across-america.tv. |
Nicky Grist and Malcolm Wilson made a guest appearance on the
stage and signed autographs |
The ever youthful, irrepressible Barrie Williams signed books
at Chaters. |
Autojumble in the Royal Agricultural Society's cattle sheds. |
Old motor bikes. |
Ferrari 640 and 246SP "pedal" cars. |
The unique, Alexis (or perhaps Palliser) based Project
XR3 of former Mono racer Terry Ogilvie-Hardy in the autojumble.
Redolent of a predatory bird?
|
Palliser F2 car, £30k+ price tag. |
|
|
|
Embarrassing Moment 1
A small child ("SC") and his friend pointed to the air filter on Russ's car.
SC: "Racing cars don't have those"
Me: "Yes they do, it stops dirt going in the engine"
SC: "My dad's racing car hasn't got one"
Me:"I bet it has somewhere"
SC's Mum:"His dad works for Renault F1 and his friend's dad works for Force India"
Me to small child: "Sorry"
Embarrassing Moment
2
A man was looking at the ads.
Me:"Can I help you?"
Man: "I'm just looking at what they're worth - I've got an RF85 for hillclimbing."
Me: "A friend of mine had one of those - in fact he's written a really good book about racing cars, I recommend it highly."
Man: "I don't really need a book - I built the Honda wind tunnel so I already know quite a bit."
Me (thinks) "I'll get me coat."
Tony Cotton |
