Kick Those Shoes Off and Relax. It's the Delta 2017 Tea Break

[bauble]

Originally Posted by grantp

That's potentially a rather personal question Baub.

If our owrforeever has a wife who carries a grudge against houses, I think we ought to know about it, after all you never know where she might show up.

I am quite capable of driving into my own residence, and would prefer not to have strange women (and she sounds strange you must admit) careering down Letsby Avenue, in Glasgow where I live.

[Mike Harte]

You lot appear to be gluttons for punishment, or easily amused - possibly both!

As you might gather, some of us were tearaways in our youth with unquenchable thirsts for speed. Motor racing sort of fulfilled that need for me, and my road driving over time became far more civilised.

However, before that happened, I was driving us up to Snetterton on the aforementioned road, late as usual and in a tearing hurry to sign on, etc. With my foot flat to the floor, I suddenly realised that the roundabout at the end of the road was approaching at a speed that was greater than the car and trailer's ability to slow down to safely negotiate the roundabout. So in desperation, I decided that it might be a better option to, literally, just go straight over the top of the roundabout and hope for the best. Luckily, most roundabouts then had very little, or no, street furniture, and we landed back on the A11 very little the worse for my indiscretion, although we may have had to change the front wheels.

And this reminds me of my very first race at Snetterton. In those days, practice and qualifying was in one 15 or so minute session, and after every lap I had to come back into the pits because the engine was misfiring on all four pots. We were running Champion sparking plugs, and the tips were burning out along the Norwich Straight, causing the huge misfire. Result, I qualified in last place.

Back in the paddock, Bert, of Boreham fame, who was in charge of Roger Taylor's Anglia, came over to offer assistance as he often did with other competitors. He told us that our problem was that we were using "tractor" plugs, and told us to hold on for a moment. He went back to his van, and came back with a few cartons of Autolite plugs that he had had made especially for Roger's car. What a difference they made, although we could never start the car from cold with them, so once warmed up with the Champions, we would swap over to the Autolites.

Anyway, at the drop of the flag, I went flying up the order, and along the Norwich Straight I suddenly found myself in the lead as we approached the hairpin with the mini grandstand on opposite the apex. The reason that I was in the lead was because I still had my foot firmly planted on the loud pedal, whilst everybody else, who all had brains and knew that at speed the Straight didn't take as long to travel down as it did when misfiring, were standing on their brakes.

To this day, I don't know how I survived that incident. Realising that I needed to stop before I ran out of road, I virtually stood on the brakes, pulled up the hand brake as hard as I could, and when I thought that it was a last resort, I chucked it into first and hoped for the best. Next thing I know, I was facing back up the Norwich Straight with the whole pack going left and right around me. And when the dust settled, not a scratch on the car.

It actually taught me a very valuable lesson. To always familiarise myself with every track, even if I had raced there the previous week. Just pootle around the track for a lap or two just to make sure that everything was just as it was before, and also to re-acquaint myself with my braking points and my racing lines.

[owrforever]

The most recent episode my wife didn't really hit the house, she tried to pull it down!
In 2013 she purchased a brand new Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (the four door). It was her new baby. Being so pleased, she drove it home from the dealer and backed it into our garage (bad idea). She showed it off, circling the car, pointing out all the things she liked about her new purchase. Unwittingly, when she closed the rear passenger door she wedged in the handle and rope of the emergency door opener release, inside the door. She suggested a quick spin around the neighborhood. We jumped into her new pride & joy, and within the first ten feet pulled down the garage door, the automatic door opener, rollers, tracks, and ancillary hardware! It all came crashing down on top her new baby! 15 miles new! The garage door folded up around the Jeep like a taco! After all the dust settled the Jeep incurred two tiny scratches in its top, that's it! Whew; she did it, again! Alas, everything got patched up, but, boy, did she scare the crap outta me! And people always ask me why I walk ten feet behind her!
I'm getting too old for this!

[Neil Duke]

Another popular form of trailer was a caravan chassis,with scaffold boards as runners,never had brakes or mudguards.Lost the trailer a couple of times,due to a 50mm ball,& a 2" hitch.I did have a Thames Trader,with extended wheelbase for a while,which I sold to fund a set of used slicks.

[midgetman]

Ah I'm glad someone else did the old 50mm/2" trick...my parents had their trailer overtake then one day, thankfully stopped by a lorry going the other way. It was empty and no damage done.

Wheels falling off trailers was a particular Family Midgetman failing. We had a number of shabby 4 wheelers that became 3 wheelers on a regular basis. On one memorable occasion one glanced off the side of a truck in the M4 and we thought it gone forever, but our mechanic spotted it on his next drive down there and it was reunited with its trailer for the cost of a few nuts. Happy days, but a worrying few seconds as we watched the wheel trundle across the motorway.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by Neil Duke

I did have a Thames Trader,with extended wheelbase for a while,which I sold to fund a set of used slicks.

Now that is proper old skool racing! Respect.

[Gerard C]

At the end of the 70's my main competitor was Thierry Perrier who became an experienced Le Mans racer. He had a lot of good bits on his 911 -Kremer or Schrick parts - I couldn't afford. But his towing van was an asthmatic Sherpa diesel while I was using a Renault Estafette with a lot of good bits on it! Revenge on the way back Ã* la mode western.

owrforever, just out of my curiosity, are you still racing in the US? When on the field do you invite your wife to watch or participate or …

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by midgetman

Ah I'm glad someone else did the old 50mm/2" trick...

I borrowed a trailer off of someone and only got about 200 yards up the road.
Good job it hadn't got a car on it and it only crashed into the hedge, although thinking about it if it had weight on the ball it might have stopped on

[bauble]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

At the end of the 70's my main competitor was Thierry Perrier who became an experienced Le Mans racer. He had a lot of good bits on his 911 -Kremer or Schrick parts - I couldn't afford. But his towing van was an asthmatic Sherpa diesel while I was using a Renault Estafette with a lot of good bits on it! Revenge on the way back Ã* la mode western.

owrforever, just out of my curiosity, are you still racing in the US? When on the field do you invite your wife to watch or participate or …

Gerard, I often wondered why it said "Motor Racing is dangerous" on the back of the ticket, I assumed it was from the racing cars but ...................

[Riley Blue]

Originally Posted by John Elwin

I have a Riley 1.5-owning friend who will appreciate that story!

John's Riley 1.5 owning friend here, I have two so don't go giving me ideas. Both of them are blue so do you reckon I'd get away with a plate from each on both cars e.g. 541 TYB (front) and JJH 376C (rear) - vice versa on the other car of course.

[terence]

Why not try it?
Great little cars though.On the bigging of the snow storm,we had three and a half to four foot high drifts.As I knew where the road went after the drifts,I used to just drop a gear and blast through them.Well,the milk was low and we wrre nearly out of tea bags!

[delta]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

I borrowed a trailer off of someone and only got about 200 yards up the road.
Good job it hadn't got a car on it and it only crashed into the hedge, although thinking about it if it had weight on the ball it might have stopped on

Ha that brings back a memory. I rushed off dinner time with trailer hitched up to collect my race car. Drove through " Sonning " which was where I was based and also a retained fireman. Anyway round tight bend ,trailer came off through a wooden fence and into a very posh large garden. . Had a sheepish look to see if anyone was in. Hitched back up and continued.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Riley Blue

John's Riley 1.5 owning friend here, I have two so don't go giving me ideas. Both of them are blue so do you reckon I'd get away with a plate from each on both cars e.g. 541 TYB (front) and JJH 376C (rear) - vice versa on the other car of course.

No, that wouldn't work. As any respected Riley 1.5 (and Wolseley 1500) expert know, you obviously have a Series One and a Series Two example there. Obviously the older plate could work on the Series Two car, but a serious Riley 1.5 Policeman would soon notice that the series one car has so many subtle cosmetic changes (like external bonnet & boot hinges for example) that he would soon smell a rat...

[Mike Harte]

Took my driving test in a BSM Riley 1.5 on my 17th birthday at Hendon, having never sat in one of them before. Met the driving instructor for the first time that day, and it turned out that he had never been in one before, either.

On the way to the test centre, he told me off for crossing my arms when turning around corners, telling me that that was a no-no. Made a complete b*llocks of reversing around a corner on the test, and knew that the examiner would fail me. Realising that I must have failed, I relaxed a bit so a few minutes later the examiner told me to reverse around a corner into an alley that was not much wider than the car.

When we got back to the test centre, he gave me a lecture about not passing red traffic lights - to this day I haven't a clue why; I don't think that I did it too many times on the test - and then told me that he was sorry to say that I had passed and gave me my pink slip.

Having completed the test, BSM's policy was that the instructor drove on the way back, and guess what, the instructor found it almost impossible to not cross your arms when turning; my memory of driving that car was that it was more like a truck or bus.

With apologies to Riley 1.5 owners and lovers.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Took my driving test in a BSM Riley 1.5 on my 17th birthday at Hendon, having never sat in one of them before.

Reckon I was 3 months past my 17th when took the test, in the local (lady) instructor's A40. Bit of a come down as I had been practicing in my Mother's Vitesse Convertible! Worst thing was the difference in brakes.... I used to have a lesson first thing Saturday mornings, and it would usually entail driving from where the instructor was based into Norwich so could use the same roads as the test centre. One morning it was well below freezing, and of course the roads weren't treated. I gingerly negotiated the ice without problem, but then a car in front pulled out to overtake another, and spun in front of me. I managed to avoid the chaos, and the only comment my instructress made (about the other driver), was 'Silly Arse'......

Also took my motorcycle test the same week, had the same examiner for both, and passed both! I don't envy youngsters learning to drive nowadays, and try not to get impatient if I'm following a particularly nervous learner.....

[Riley Blue]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

No, that wouldn't work. As any respected Riley 1.5 (and Wolseley 1500) expert know, you obviously have a Series One and a Series Two example there. Obviously the older plate could work on the Series Two car, but a serious Riley 1.5 Policeman would soon notice that the series one car has so many subtle cosmetic changes (like external bonnet & boot hinges for example) that he would soon smell a rat...

Nope, they're both Mk 3s - a '63 (below) and a '65 (lots of pieces) so I think (hope) the rats are safe though perhaps I should have had them both painted the same tasteful colour...

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Reckon I was 3 months past my 17th when took the test, in the local (lady) instructor's A40. Bit of a come down as I had been practicing in my Mother's Vitesse Convertible! Worst thing was the difference in brakes.... I used to have a lesson first thing Saturday mornings, and it would usually entail driving from where the instructor was based into Norwich so could use the same roads as the test centre. One morning it was well below freezing, and of course the roads weren't treated. I gingerly negotiated the ice without problem, but then a car in front pulled out to overtake another, and spun in front of me. I managed to avoid the chaos, and the only comment my instructress made (about the other driver), was 'Silly Arse'......

Also took my motorcycle test the same week, had the same examiner for both, and passed both! I don't envy youngsters learning to drive nowadays, and try not to get impatient if I'm following a particularly nervous learner.....

I had three driving tests but passed first time! Actually, the first two dates were cancelled due to wintry weather & I eventually got a date at about three days notice, but I'd had enough extra practice by then. It was a very cold March day in Norwich & the examiner kept getting his great-coat wrapped around the gear lever. Car was a local driving school Fiat 850 & my instructor later achieved fame with his band on Opportunity Knocks. I was told not so long ago that the band is still going!

[Mike Bell]

I suppose at least people nowadays have got half decent cars to learn in. There's even a Fiesta ST liveried up around here!

John, was it Norwich Mile Cross where you took your test? During my motorbike one I got lost driving round the nearby housing estates, so was a bit delayed returning to the spot where the examiner was standing, waiting for me do the emergency stop!

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

I suppose at least people nowadays have got half decent cars to learn in. There's even a Fiesta ST liveried up around here!

John, was it Norwich Mile Cross where you took your test? During my motorbike one I got lost driving round the nearby housing estates, so was a bit delayed returning to the spot where the examiner was standing, waiting for me do the emergency stop!

Yes, it was Mile Cross. When I was at Lotus, Colin Chapman's one-time secretary failed about three times at Mile Cross & reckoned it was the examiner's fault, so for the next occasion she went to the centre near the Theatre Royal, only to get same examiner! He'd probably got transferred in the hope he'd never see her again, so he gave her pass.

A young lad who worked at the ironmonger's in Holt went up to take his 'bike test, but he got lost during the test so he went home. He wasn't the brightest.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Riley Blue

Nope, they're both Mk 3s - a '63 (below) and a '65 (lots of pieces) so I think (hope) the rats are safe though perhaps I should have had them both painted the same tasteful colour...

Nice colour. The reason for my knowledge about the 1.5 was as a youngster I helped a couple of local policemen who built a Wolseley 1500 into an autocross car. Due to their profession the car was painted a similar shade of pale blue with three white stripes across the car side to side. They called themselves the Panda Autocross Team!

[Mike Harte]

Viva, funny you should mention police and a Riley1.5 in one sentence.

In the early to mid 60s, the North London Met. Police based in North Finchley (before they moved it next to the Police College at Hendon) had at least one Riley 1.5 amongst their Q cars.

This one, in particular, was usually manned by a pair of ex-horse officers, who actually continued to wear their horse riding clothes including their highly polished riding boots, with the ensemble completed with their old riding crops. They had a certain reputation in North London, and were universally disliked, and certainly by my mechanic and I.

They once reported me for 13 car and driving offences whilst the car was parked outside of the coffee house/bistro (The Witches Cauldron in Belsize Village) were I worked in the evenings. The magistrate, wise fellow that he was, threw out 12 of the charges, but expressed his regret that he had to find me guilty on one charge on a technicality. He banned me for 7 days on a certain date after making sure that I was going to be out of the country on holiday during the period. No fine or points on my licence.

Some time after, my mechanic who had also had his run ins with this pair, punted their car off the North Circular near Chingford when he was out driving a tipper lorry that had no registration plates on that he was road testing for a customer, writing their car off. Couldn't have happened to anyone nicer - not.

[bauble]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

I suppose at least people nowadays have got half decent cars to learn in. There's even a Fiesta ST liveried up around here!

John, was it Norwich Mile Cross where you took your test? During my motorbike one I got lost driving round the nearby housing estates, so was a bit delayed returning to the spot where the examiner was standing, waiting for me do the emergency stop!

I once worked with a chap who when taking his motor bike test locked up when the examiner stepped out in front of him, and duly knocked the bloke over. The examiner was none too happy ... he failed my friend.

Having spent most of my youth cycling to work, race meetings, and other events a lot of it around North/South London, I am only now realising how lucky I was to have never met some of you lot on the road. If my Mum had know I would have been grounded for sure.
When I consider how many trailers passed me on the way to Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Crystal Palace, Snetterton, and Goodwood, it a wonder I survived.

[Gerard C]

Mike, can you remember what bike you used for your licence test? Mine was a 350 Jawa… One of the best fun the chief instructor had with the newbies was to say: "OK, I can see you're a smart butt. Here is the key just turn the ignition and start the thing young man!" On this particular model, the key hole was almost impossible to locate, hidden on the headlamp beneath a chrome sliding plate… Then there had not a real kick starter, you had to push firmly on the shifter and turn it to use as a kick! So the first lesson was: if ya think ya no everything you're wrong, shut up and open your hears blue blood!!

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

I suppose at least people nowadays have got half decent cars to learn in. There's even a Fiesta ST liveried up around here!

John, was it Norwich Mile Cross where you took your test? During my motorbike one I got lost driving round the nearby housing estates, so was a bit delayed returning to the spot where the examiner was standing, waiting for me do the emergency stop!

Talking of half decent school cars, there was a driving instructor who used to race a Mini & I think his tow car/driving school car was a Dolomite Sprint.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Mike, can you remember what bike you used for your licence test? Mine was a 350 Jawa…

1967 Honda CB72! All my mates had British bikes at that time.... 250cc was biggest you could ride before passing the test. It was registered KVF 7E, and purchased from the Honda dealer in Norwich centre. They eventually closed down in this century, but before that I casually called in one day and had a chat about my previous purchase. The guy behind the (wooden) counter opened a cupboard and produced the hand written sales record book for 1967- and there it was..... Must have been at least 25 year earlier!