Historic motorsport, classic car features Retro-Speed classic car magazine

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GOODWOOD TO SILVERSTONE - Editorial Ramblings : Peter Baker

Glued to Goodwood SpeedWeek Words and images by Peter Baker. Click to view Gallery. You know there must be a problem when you turn up at Goodwood for a three-day historic motorsport meeting and find you are almost the only person there. Spooky springs to mind. As one of the privileged few I arrived at SpeedWeek early on Friday 16 October 2020 well-prepared: plenty of face-masks, hand saniti...

COUNTING CHICKENS - Omnibus 6 : Peter Baker

Counting Chickens Serial copyright Peter Baker Omnibus 6, 18 October 2020 – Follow the daily episodes on Peter Baker’s Facebook page Cranks restaurant was full of strange misfits bearing an uncanny resemblance to Eve. Von Undeesteer took one look and decided, there were better places to spend money. No licence, so no wine. And nothing on the shelves that resembled ‘prop...

MUGELLO 2020 : Ales Norsky

Was this really Ferrari's 1000th Grand Prix? Words by Ales Norsky During the Tuscan GP, we had the opportunity to witness celebrations for Ferrari's 1000th Grand Prix. Official title for the race was 'Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio della Toscana Ferrari 1000' and a special logo was created with the Scuderia Ferrari crest next to a statement 1000 GP. No wonder then, that the media and fans ...

COUNTING CHICKENS - Omnibus 5 : Peter Baker

Counting Chickens Serial copyright Peter Baker Omnibus 5, 11 October 2020 – Follow the daily episodes on Peter Baker’s Facebook page It was a typical Monday morning in Queen’s Gate Place Mews, SW7. And, as usual, every spare inch was taken up with parked cars, mostly rare classics awaiting work. Latest recruit Bill Pitts had his head buried under the bonnet of an early, ...

CASTLE COMBE TO PRESCOTT - Editorial Ramblings : Peter Baker

Rain, rain and more rain Words and images by Peter Baker. Click to view Galleries. Someone my age knows all about wet weekends, so I left home prepared, looking forward to a challenging couple of days. And I wasn’t disappointed. Arriving at Castle Combe for its 2020 Autumn Classic on Saturday 3 September, looking not unlike a Norwegian fisherman, I set about recording events, n...

COUNTING CHICKENS - Omnibus 4 : Peter Baker

Counting Chickens Serial copyright Peter Baker Omnibus 4, 4 October 2020 – Follow the daily episodes on Peter Baker’s Facebook page Back in London reality had set in. The Baron paced the floor thinking about money, while Ginger toyed with a bent connecting rod. “I think we should send what‘s left of the engine back under guarantee, after all it’s only done a ...

COUNTING CHICKENS - Omnibus 3 : Peter Baker

Counting Chickens Serial copyright Peter Baker Omnibus 3, 27 September 2020 – Follow the daily episodes on Peter Baker’s Facebook page Ginger was having a day off, competing with his Bentley in the Pomeroy Trophy, organised by the Vintage Sports-Car Club at Silverstone. It was a typically cold, wet and generally miserably day weather-wise in Northamptonshire so, as you might e...

THE BIRTH OF HISTORIC RALLYING : Ken Davies

A look back on the birth of historic rallying Words and pictures by Ken Davies It was 1984 and the Winter Olympics were at Sarajevo, Liverpool hosted the international garden festival, Virgin Atlantic Airways made its inaugural flight and Arthur Scargill’s NUM called an all-out miners’ strike in the spring. Niki Lauda won his third F1 World Championship, and Stig Blomqvis...

BICESTER, CADWELL AND CONINGSBY - Editorial Ramblings : Peter Baker

Drive in, drive up and back down again Words and images by Peter Baker Friday 18 September 2020. After a most enjoyable 60-mile cross country drive in the Lancia Flavia, I touched down at The Classic Car Drive In Weekend at Bicester Heritage, where a new, three-day, low risk event, offered a wide range of historic motorsport activity. Lots of pictures and chat. Great to see some fine cars ...

COUNTING CHICKENS - Omnibus 2 : Peter Baker

Counting Chickens Serial copyright Peter Baker Omnibus 2, 20 September 2020 – Follow the daily episodes on Peter Baker’s Facebook page Press Day, Geneva Motor Show, 12 March 1969. Von Undeesteer arrived early, wanting to give Rico Steinemann, new boss at Porsche Racing, the right impression. After a quick coffee he used the spare time to circulate the stands. The new Ford Cap...

COUNTING CHICKENS - Omnibus 1 : Peter Baker

Counting Chickens Serial copyright Peter Baker Omnibus 1, 13 September 2020 – Follow the daily episodes on Peter Baker’s Facebook page Charlie Wren, better known by one-and-all as Birdie, loved everything about his new Ford Capri, from its metallic bronze paintwork and fancy wheels to the eight-track stereo, currently blasting Bob Seger out through the open windows. Janice, mo...

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE - THE 2020 CONCOURS OF ELEGANCE : Stephen Mosley

Raw racers at royal palace Words and images by Stephen Mosley It may be expected that a prestige concours held in the grounds of a royal palace would be the preserve of the perfectly polished couture carrosserie. However, this year's event at Hampton Court Palace also had room for the raw racer, whether eroded by competition or pristinely restored. Even before the main event in the gardens...

A WING AND A PRAYER - Omnibus 6 : Peter Baker

A Wing and a Prayer Serial copyright Peter Baker Omnibus 6, 6 September 2020 – Follow the daily episodes on Peter Baker’s Facebook page While all this frivolity was taking place, out in the wilderness, Lars Molefe was feeling sick, and worried. “Where the heck is Bheka?” he thought to himself, throwing another piece of wood on the fire. “Man should have been bac...

THE PRINCE OF MONACO'S COLLECTION : Roman Klemm

My replacement for this year's Grand Prix de Monaco Words and pictures by Roman Klemm Twenty-twenty will certainly go down in history as ‘discarded’ for many more important reasons, but from the point of view of a racing fan, it was also exceptional in that, for the first time since 1954, the Grand Prix de Monaco was not held. Nonetheless, one travelled to the fashionable princi...

HSCC OULTON PARK GOLD CUP - Editorial Ramblings : Peter Baker

A gold cup and isolating with a glass of red Words and images by Peter Baker The last weekend and bank holiday of August, as always, spells Oulton Park and the much-applauded three-day Gold Cup meeting organised by our friends at HSCC. Thus, Sunday morning I headed north 100 miles aboard my trusty MG ZTT, leaving early to avoid the traffic, and aiming to arrive before the crowds. And crowd...

1973 SAFARI RALLY : Ken Davies

Fourteenth only for Ford Words by Ken Davies, written from Ford's original press release. Images courtesy Ford Press Department and archive. Ford fielded a team of world class drivers in five rally-proven cars with a well-presented campaign that promised so much but, in the end, delivered so little! First run as the East African Coronation Safari Rally in 1953, the event is always consid...

A WING AND A PRAYER - Omnibus 5 : Peter Baker

A Wing and a Prayer Serial copyright Peter Baker Omnibus 5, 30 August 2020 – Follow the daily episodes on Peter Baker’s Facebook page As they climbed, using full power, angry flashing fingers of orange-coloured light flicked the defenceless Comet around the sky. Higher and higher they flew. Colder and colder it got. Until freezing temperatures stopped the engines. In a moment of...

BAKER STREET : Peter Baker

Locked up in Baker Street Dear Reader: When this inconvenient pandemic first struck and we were given orders to lie low, nobody was more enthusiastic about being marooned at home than yours truly. The perfect opportunity, I thought, to catch up. Not just by mowing the lawn, or washing the cars, but by going one step further and do something, that in domestic terms, would be mildly unexpected, ...

STUART PEGG INTERVIEW : Ken Davies

Stuart Pegg – 1976 Lombard RAC Rally Winning Co-driver Images courtesy of Stuart Pegg Archive and Ken Davies The 24th Lombard RAC Rally, 27-30 November 1976, provided a popular winner for thousands of British rally fans when the dashing Roger Clark, guided his Cossack-sponsored Ford Escort MkII RS 1800 over the finishing ramp in Bath, accompanied by Stuart Pegg. But to the maj...

A WING AND A PRAYER - Omnibus 4 : Peter Baker

A Wing and a Prayer Serial copyright Peter Baker Omnibus 4, 23 August 2020 – Follow the daily episodes on Peter Baker’s Facebook page As the Taylor Twins approached Almaza airport, adjacent to Cairo in Egypt, with Hilda flying and Ada holding the guide book, both DH88 Comets were cooling off at the lakeside Kisumu checkpoint, a further 2,000 miles down the line in Western Kenya,...



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