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

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MONTE CARLO AND LUST - Omnibus 6 : Peter Baker

Monte Carlo and Lust Serial copyright Peter Baker Omnibus 6, 29 November 2020 – Follow the daily episodes on Peter Baker’s Facebook page Author’s Note Let’s be honest, it would be cruel, heartless, faintly ridiculous, as well as highly irresponsible, if at this point in the story I wrote-off a highly collectible 1930s Daimler coach. Not to mention 12 honest and ha...

LOCKDOWN ROAD TEST : Ken Davies

Eco-friendly XIAOMI PURE M365 e-Scooter Words and images by Ken Davies As part of its plans to restart local transportation after the COVID-19 lockdown, the UK Government launched a national trial of e-scooters and results have indicated their growing acceptance as a mode of transport, with squeaky green – and silent – credentials and they are likely to become accepted on roads...

MONTE CARLO AND LUST - Omnibus 5 : Peter Baker

Monte Carlo and Lust Serial copyright Peter Baker Omnibus 5, 22 November 2020 – Follow the daily episodes on Peter Baker’s Facebook page Any crew member expecting to drive the lower road that follows the coastline into Monte Carlo, wearing short sleeves and sunglasses, on 25 January 1933 was in for a big disappointment. The weather was, frankly, awful. Not just heavy rain, bu...

A BRIEF HISTORY OF PADDOCK TRANSPORT : Ken Davies

The Honda Monkey bike reaches 65th birthday Words by Ken Davies. Images: Ken Davies, Monkey Bike archive, Stirling Moss archive. By their very nature, motor racing paddocks and rally service parks are windswept and expansive; Silverstone, Le Mans and Spa are just a few notable European examples that encourage the sport’s participants to seek compact forms of conveyance. As a result, n...

MONTE CARLO AND LUST - Omnibus 4 : Peter Baker

Monte Carlo and Lust Serial copyright Peter Baker Omnibus 4, 15 November 2020 – Follow the daily episodes on Peter Baker’s Facebook page In Lyon, 41 crews gathered in various small cafes overshadowed by the famous cathedral, generally wasting time while awaiting their start signal. Route wise they would follow N7, along the Rhone valley floor, south via Valence and Orange, as ...

MONTE CARLO AND LUST - Omnibus 3 : Peter Baker

Monte Carlo and Lust Serial copyright Peter Baker Omnibus 3, 8 November 2020 – Follow the daily episodes on Peter Baker’s Facebook page Heavy snowfall, predicted to make conditions difficult between Tallinn and the Berlin checkpoint, failed to materialise. In fact, the weather proved more than friendly and, as a result, they averaged a most satisfactory 49 miles per hour and 2...

MILLE MIGLIA 2020 : Steven Vandeputte

An Italian affair Words and images by Steven Vandeputte Mille Miglia, 22-25 October 2020 The most prestigious classic car rally in the world was moved from its usual spring date in May to the end of October for obvious reasons, but that did not keep classic car owners from all across Europe making their way to Italy for the 38th running of the modern Mille Miglia. Slightly down on number...

ART OF MOTORING EXHIBITION 2020 : Rebecca Leppard

Royal Automobile Club Exhibition goes virtual By Rebecca Leppard The annual Royal Automobile Club Art of Motoring Exhibition traditionally takes place at the Pall Mall Clubhouse as part of London Motor Week and is the premier showcase for British automotive art. Rather than cancelling the 2020 edition due to the pandemic, the Club collaborated with respected motorsport commentator Andrew M...

MONTE CARLO AND LUST - Omnibus 2 : Peter Baker

Monte Carlo and Lust Serial copyright Peter Baker Omnibus 2, 1 November 2020 – Follow the daily episodes on Peter Baker’s Facebook page With Tallinn now tantalisingly close, they planned to arrive long before nightfall. In fact, with a confidence born out of naivety, they were already cheerfully speaking of hot baths, a good bed and food. However, Estonia, with an average snow...

MONTE CARLO AND LUST - Omnibus 1 : Peter Baker

Monte Carlo and Lust Serial copyright Peter Baker Omnibus 1, 25 October 2020 – Follow the daily episodes on Peter Baker’s Facebook page After five tough days and nights on the road nothing compares to that first distant glimpse of the Mediterranean. Such was his euphoria, Bertram wrongly guessed that it was some sort of mirage, caused by tiredness. He rubbed his eyes, half ex...

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...



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