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

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BAKER STREET : Peter Baker

Rallying in the Orient Words and images by Peter Baker I’ve done two rallies in China, both an absolute hoot. The International Classic Cars Grand Tour of China, held back in 2015 involved driving a selection of regularities, contained within a 700-mile route that linked Wenzhou, in the south, with Shanghai. And in between introduced us to some of the best hotels and hospitali...

Ben's Brief - HISTORIC PLUM PUDDING SPORTING TRIAL 2021

Junior Reporter Ben Lawrence on the Plum Pudding Trial Click top right to view Ben's images We went to the Historic Plum Pudding Sporting Trial held on the 28 December 2021 in Hampshire. Unlike most motor sport, Trials are about how far you go rather than how fast you get there, and the scoring gets lower as you get further up the hill. So, the competitors want the lowest possible s...

LIEGE-ROME-LIEGE - Memories : Peter Baker

Remembering the 1998 Liege Rome Liege ‘Classic' Words by Peter Baker I remember well the Castrol advert that appeared in Motor Sport magazine. It showed a man with many days growth of beard leaning across the bonnet of his Ford Anglia, shaking hands with his co-driver. They were both wearing big smiles and looking mighty pleased with themselves, and why not, they had just survived t...

LE JOG 2021 : Personal Perspective : Peter Barker

Le Jog 2021, there and back again Words by Peter Barker Seventy crews signed up for Le Jog 2021, the first edition of the long-running Land's End to John o’Groats trial to be held since the start of the pandemic, and of the 65 finishers of the event, 11 were medal winners. The weather in early December in the UK is far from clement and true to form competitors experienced every se...

CASTLE COMBE CIRCUIT ASSOCIATED STORIES 1950-2020 : Ken Davies

Castle Combe Circuit associated stories Words by Ken Davies James Hunt joins the fight to save Castle Combe Circuit Howard Strawford’s connection with Castle Combe Circuit began when his employer, the Kraft Foods Group, relocated him to Bristol from South Wales, where he had been the successful chairman of Swansea Motor Club and a mover and shaker in Welsh motor sport. He would later ...

CASTLE COMBE CIRCUIT 1950-2020 : Ken Davies

The first 70 years - 1950-2020 Words by Ken Davies. Images by Ken Davies, Castle Combe archive and others Ambitious plans to celebrate Castle Combe Circuit achieving septuagenarian status in 2020 were effectively torpedoed by the global COVID-19 pandemic, but after chilling for 18 months, the champagne will not be wasted. Perhaps, not unsurprisingly, Wiltshire’s famous motor raci...

Ben's Brief - ROGER ALBERT CLARK RALLY 2021

Junior Reporter Ben Lawrence follows the Welsh stages Click top right to view Ben's images I went to the Roger Albert Clark Rally for the first time on Sunday 28 and Monday 29 November to the stages in Wales called Dyfnant and Walters Arena. Dyfnant was the first stage for the crews and was very icy and slippery in some places with a light dusting of snow to challenge the competitors, and ...

TONY BROOKS - Purely Personal : Joan Williamson

Tony Brooks - the racing dentist Words and image by Joan Williamson Tony Brooks was born on 25 February 1932 in Dukinfield, Cheshire. He was the son of a dentist, and went on to qualify as a dentist himself at Manchester University Dental School, so was always known as 'the racing dentist'. The late Sir Stirling Moss, often a teammate in Formula One and sports car races, described him as,...

THE ROGER ALBERT CLARK RALLY 2021 - Editorial Rambling : Peter Baker

The toughest stage rally for historic cars In Europe Words and images by Peter Baker Five days and 31 iconic forest stages that included repeated runs through ‘Killer’ Kielder, nudging the Scottish Borders, where storm Arwen tore hundreds of trees out of the ground, and Crychan in Wales, so reminiscent of days gone by, that the sight and sound of sideways Escorts at full chat h...

MONTE-CARLO CLASSIQUE 2022 - Purely Personal : Ian Glass

Team Marauder enters Monte-Carlo Classique 2022 Words and images by Ian Glass Team Marauder entered the Monte-Carlo Classique in February this year, but like many events had to be postponed. The team consisted of BSN 823, MBP 2 and OUG 777. All cars have a competition history, with BSN 823 originally campaigned in Scottish events alongside the special by Jamie Gibbon, MBP 2, one of only t...

Ben's Brief - OULTON PARK RALLY 2021

Junior Reporter Ben Lawrence at Oulton Park Click top right to view Ben's images We went to Oulton Park Circuit for the first round of the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship on Saturday 6 November 2021. There were eight stages throughout the day. Each two stages were different from the others and the last two stages ran into the dark. There was a varied entry of R5s, Ford Escort M...

LONDON TO BRIGHTON VETERAN CAR RUN 2021 : Editorial Rambling : Peter Baker

Chugging along with old crocks Words and images by Peter Baker. Click to view Gallery. I’m standing by the side of what used to be the old Brighton Road, just south of Cuckfield, on a sunny Sunday lunchtime in November and, like the cluster of gathered enthusiasts around me, waiting wistfully for another pre-1905 ‘old crock’ to appear. This is the 125th anniversary of the ...

ROYAL AUTOMOBILE CLUB MOTORING BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021 : Editorial Rambling : Peter Baker

The premier motoring and motorsport book awards Words and images by Peter Baker My long day in our capital city (London) started with a train journey, the first I’ve made for goodness knows how long, followed by a double-decker bus ride through the West End streets of London. A silent experience owing to the supplant of AEC diesels by electric motors and, in Leicester Square, a distin...

Ben's Brief - CAMBRIAN RALLY 2021

Junior reporter Ben Lawrence out and about on the Cambrian Rally Click top right to view Ben's images We went to the Welsh forests for the Cambrian Rally on Saturday 30 October. There was a good entry of 130 cars and seven stages to tackle through the day. SS1 and SS4 was Gwydir, SS2 and SS5 was Penmachno, SS3 and SS 6 was Alwen and SS7 was Twin Lakes which was an all-tarmac stage but wit...

Ben's Brief - CARLISLE STAGES 2021

Junior reporter Ben Lawrence in Kielder Forest Click top right to view Ben's images We went to Kielder Forest for the 2021 Carlisle Stages Rally on Saturday 23 October. A 90-car entry with five stages, which included Wauchope as SS1, Florida SS2, Ogre Hill SS3, Hyndlee SS4 and SS5 Ricarton. In the Historics, Stage 1 was a three-way tie between Ben Friend, Simon Webster and David Condell, ...

MASERATI'S LEVANTE TROFEO SUV : Ken Davies

Forty-five short minutes with an Italian legend Words and images by Ken Davies Without doubt, a meaningful road test requires at least 24 hours, even a few days.… and nights. The longer the test, the better the results. As a paradox, a mere 45-minute speculative Maserati taster was my brief but exciting introduction to Maserati’s luxury SUV – enter the Levante Trofeo. I...

GOODWOOD'S 78TH MEMBERS' MEETING 2021 : Editorial Rambling : Peter Baker

Magical Members' Meeting Words and images by Peter Baker There is something very Brigadoon about Goodwood. And in case you didn’t know, Brigadoon was created years ago by Hollywood as a place of dreamy fictional perfection that only appeared one day in every one hundred years. Naturally, entry was ticket only. Even so, it was a guaranteed sell-out, and everybody returned to the real ...

SOUTHPORT CLASSIC AND SPEED 2021 : Stephen Mosley

Bentley and Jaguars in force but Silver Ghost takes the honours Words and images by Stephen Mosley. Southport, just north of Liverpool is perhaps one of the least well-known motor sport venues in Britain despite being one of the first to be established here. A speed trial was first held at Southport in 1903, attracting a strong entry including the legendary S. F. Edge on his Napier, with v...

Ben's Brief - DANSPORT ROAD RALLY 2021

Junior reporter Ben Lawrence in the Peak District Click top right to view Ben's images We went to the Peak District for the Dansport Road Rally on Sunday 10 October. It was a day of road regularity sections and special tests with a wide variety of pre ‘86 historic cars. There were eight special tests and road regularity sections on Saturday night and Sunday. The winner of the even...

BMW CLASSIC AT NORISRING : Roman Klemm

BMW supports DTM Legends Words and images by Roman Klemm One of the pleasant phenomena of last weekend's (9-10 October 2021) DTM Legends at Norisring was the unmistakable increased involvement of the BMW brand in the area of sponsorship and PR. The Munich manufacturer became more visible through advertisements around the track, but also through events in the paddock. One of them was the su...



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