Letters, August 2017

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Current page

117

Current page

118

Current page

119

Current page

120

Current page

121

Current page

122

Current page

123

Current page

124

Current page

125

Current page

126

Current page

127

Current page

128

Current page

129

Current page

130

Current page

131

Current page

132

Current page

133

Current page

134

Current page

135

Current page

136

Current page

137

Current page

138

Current page

139

Current page

140

Current page

141

Current page

142

Current page

143

Current page

144

Current page

145

Current page

146

Current page

147

Current page

148

Current page

149

Current page

150

Current page

151

Current page

152

Current page

153

Current page

154

Current page

155

Current page

156

Current page

157

Current page

158

Current page

159

Current page

160

Current page

161

Current page

162

Current page

163

Current page

164

Current page

165

Current page

166

Current page

167

Current page

168

Current page

169

Current page

170

Current page

171

Current page

172

Current page

173

Current page

174

Current page

175

Current page

176

Current page

177

Current page

178

Current page

179

Current page

180

Current page

181

Current page

182

Current page

183

Current page

184

Current page

185

Current page

186

Current page

187

Current page

188

Current page

189

Current page

190

Current page

191

Current page

192

Current page

193

Current page

194

Current page

195

Current page

196

Sent to Coventry

Having seen your Sierra RS500 feature (May 2017), it brought back memories of working for Tickford during this time. It was great fun and I’m still proud of how quickly we transformed the batch of 500 cars.  

The best bit was testing them on the road – although at that stage I was considered too young to do any driving. Even by today’s standards it was very quick – it must have been a sight seeing all the winged Sierras travelling around Bedworth and Coventry. 

There was a lot of rivalry between
the guys that built the RS500s and the team that built the even rarer Tickford Capris. The canteen talk was about which one was quicker. The Capri had a V6 turbo and about 250bhp against the Sierra’s 220 or so – and there was not a lot in it whenever the two cars ran side by side.

The Sierra handled better, for sure, and the Capri had less turbo lag. I can’t reveal the full details, for obvious reasons, but in the days before speed cameras testing on the Coventry ring road could be quite lively.

I’m not sure if I’m looking back through rose-tinted glasses, but they don’t make cars like this anymore. There are quick cars around, but most of them cost a fortune. An RS500was not completely out of reach and could certainly could see off most other cars with ease.

Alan McGee, Bilton, Rugby, Warks

Bangers and in cash

Your recent story about the closure of Wimbledon Stadium reminded me of my first motor race, in 1970 or thereabouts.

I was an apprentice at Jack Barclay in Battersea and a colleague, Nick Edwards, was given a Hillman Minx that had failed its MoT, so we decided to enter it for a banger race at Wimbledon. Rather than driving it there and smashing in the windows, as most did at that time, we decided to take it back to my lock-up and prepare it properly for its competition debut.

The car was totally stripped out, with all wiring, glass and interior trim removed along with the vulnerable fuel tank. We fitted a small motorcycle tank to the rear parcel shelf and had basic minimum wiring for the ignition and fuel pump circuits. The car was painted in finest quality (Woolworth’s) red gloss with a white roof and was ready to go.

The big problem was that we had no trailer, so we just hitched a tow rope to the back of Nick’s Ford Anglia 100E and towed it around the South Circular to Wimbledon. It seems beyond belief now but at the time it made perfect sense. The tow rope broke on a one-way system near Dulwich, but fellow road users seemed to find the chaos slightly amusing.

We had decided to do one race each and, to be honest, it passed in a blur. The only thing I really remember was that there was so much noise I couldn’t tell if my engine was running or not, but I did know I was being pushed around by more powerful cars and my use of the throttle and brake pedals had no effect whatsoever on progress.

We had both taken part in our races and the car was still in a functioning condition, after some bodywork realignment with a sledge hammer, so Nick decided to finish it off in the destruction derby at the evening’s end. Much to our surprise the Minx was the last car moving and that earned us a £20 prize. As it would have been unkind to leave it there as scrap, we fixed a couple of bicycle lamps to the rear and towed it home to Crofton Park, back around the South Circular in the dark with no brake lights or indicators.

We then went to White City Stadium with it, where I won a further £15 for most spectacular roll of the evening – the end of the road for the Minx.

I would love to hear from Nick, or our friend Pete Sullivan.

Derek Harris, Ruckinge, Kent.

Strutting his stuff

With all due respect to Karl Kimball, his recent letter about winged Chaparrals was incorrect. He stated that he saw the winged Chaparrals at the Mid-Ohio USRRC race in August 1964 with the wings being of the tall, strutted variety. The cars at that meeting were Chaparral 2s with fixed aerofoils that formed part of the engine cover.

Doug Nye’s statement that the Chaparral 2E “introduced the tall strutted wing to major league motor racing” is entirely correct.

Tom Schultz, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, USA

May the force be with you

I thoroughly enjoy your magazine. In the April issue, however, Mat Oxley mentioned Top Gun and Tom Cruise’s character Maverick. Mat characterised the movie as a “USAF advert masquerading as a Hollywood movie”.

I agree that the movie was tripe, but it is actually about naval aviation – rotary wing, turboprop and jet aircraft aboard aircraft carriers. Don’t feel badly, Mat – most Americans are clueless about these things.

Capt Kraig Walker (ret) Granbury, Texas, USA

Racing’s best-kept secret

Sshhh! Don’t tell anyone. This year’s World Endurance Championship round in the UK produced another brilliant day’s racing at Silverstone – does it get any better? Seriously fast cars with different engine sounds, top-class drivers, pit-stops, incidents and the two leading cars separated by fewer than seven seconds after six hours. Wow! And all for £45 on the day, plus a fiver for the programme and good facilities thrown in.

Other race promoters, take note.

Jeff Ashford, Chandlers Ford, Hampshire

Clark spur

When reading Joe Dunn’s article ‘Mind gains’, one of the first things that popped into my mind was the quote from Jim Clark: “One of the great things in motor racing is concentration. When I want to go faster, I just concentrate harder…” 

Jimmy Lisle, Roanoke, Virginia, USA

Advance Australia fair

Congratulations, Andrew Frankel. You experienced a great motor sport event at Bathurst and shared it so well with readers. 

Yes, it’s a rubbish drive from Sydney to Mount Panorama, but how wonderful when you get there. I attended most of the long-distance touring car races in the 1980s and ’90s and have many fond memories of walking through the pits with my two sons of an evening, chatting to drivers and mechanics, before returning to our caravan in the camping area and waking up the next day to do it all again.

My son and I recently rode our motorbikes to the Mountain to relive some old times. We rode some slow laps, due to the posted 60kph speed limit, and the Dipper is breathtaking even at that speed. The steepness of the gradient at the Cutting is deceptive and many blind bends leave little margin for error. 

Thanks again for producing such a passionate article.

Steve Miller, Sutherland, Sydney

Tanks for the memories

Many thanks for the excellent article on the rebirth of Donington Park, especially for the photo of the parked army vehicles. My father was one of the drivers who delivered everything up to a 32-wheeled tank carrier to and from Donington. He maintained until the day he died that he held the lap record around the old circuit in a three-ton Chevy truck – at night with no lights!

My father’s last visit to Donington was to spectate at the RAC rally won by Roger Clark. I regret not being able to take him to the re-opened circuit but I believe he would have been disappointed at the removal of so much scenery. I am sure he would have approved of the way the circuit has been brought back into use though after the Formula 1 fiasco.

Peter Dring, Codnor, Derbyshire

Ten years after

I recently received my copy of Le Mans in Focus and, as a lifelong fan of this great event, am enjoying the publication greatly. As the press officer for Corvette Racing from 2005 to 2012, I feel compelled to point out a minor error in the caption accompanying the photo of the twin Corvette C6.Rs in GT1.

The date of this race was 2008, not 1998. The driver line-ups are listed incorrectly: car 63 was driven by Fellows/O’Connell/Magnussen and 64 by Gavin/Beretta/Papis. I point this out only because I value and appreciate Motor Sport’s commitment to accuracy.

Rick Voegelin, Aptos, California

Depth charge

Is it possible for Formula 1 to sink any lower in the boredom ratings after Monaco? What on earth did that have to do with motor racing?

Dave Dugdale via email

Reg’s record

In your Tim Parnell obituary you refer to his father Reg as a “pre-war racer”, which of course he was, but Reg should also be remembered for his distinguished career between 1946-57 when he drove a large variety of cars in many events in the UK, Europe and Australia. 

James Watts, Great Bookham, Surrey

That’s entertainment

Thank you to Dickie Meaden (Racing Lines) for drawing attention to the video clip of Jochen Mass at Spa. Despite its obvious age, the clip’s combination of camera position and focal length give a genuine feeling of being in the car – I can almost feel my stomach heave through Eau Rouge. By comparison, modern in-car video appears cluttered with images of driver, cockpit, suspension, track and sponsorship all merged into one. Add to that images abruptly cutting from one car to another and the result is a confusing melange when surely the aim of sports coverage is to provide enlightenment and entertainment.

The Mass video showed that simplicity is more than effective at portraying the technicalities of racing car control and providing brilliant entertainment.
Graeme Tomlinson, Tungkillo, South Australia

Keeping things real

Thank you Dickie Meaden for writing and expressing an opinion on what is a touchy subject with old car lovers.

I’ve been writing books on historic racing cars and brokering the odd one for more than 25 years. These days I find myself looking at a car from the 1950s or ’60s and thinking: “What exactly am I looking at?” After all, some of these cars have had new bodywork, engines, gearboxes, axles and even chassis too.

Imagine an early ’60s car, say a Ferrari that has just won Le Mans. There she sits, the odd dent in her aluminium bodywork, covered in dirt after more than 2000 racing miles. Right then she’s a work of art and highly desirable; after that, she’s just an old racing car… Yet she will be restored to perfection as her value rises. Her bodywork and mechanicals will be renewed until there isn’t much left of the car that started Le Mans. Then she’ll be advertised for sale as ‘completely original’. 

John Starkey, by e-mail