Category Archives: Endurance Racing

A-Z Of Car Stuff: C is for Cobra

A-Z of Car Stuff

This is one in a series of posts on cars, drivers, designers etc. that have interested me over the years. I’ve bored my family and friends with this stuff for years – now it’s your turn!

See A-Z of Car Stuff page for more posts in this series.

Finally! – A Cobra Post

I’ve been planning to compose a Cobra post for a very long time but I was finally spurred into action by the announcement that in 2021, AC Cars will build a limited production run of new Cobras.

Hooray you shout ……… until you read the small print. The new cars will be powered by either a 308hp electric motor or by a 345hp turbocharged 4-pot internal combustion motor.

Sorry, I’m afraid I just can’t get my head around this. The key distinguishing characteristic of the Cobra is, and always has been, its Ford V8 engine. Even the plethora of Cobra replicas have almost all used a V8 motor of some description so I just have to ask WHY???

Continue reading A-Z Of Car Stuff: C is for Cobra

Goodwood 77th Members Meeting – Sun 7th April 2019

An increase in the hours of daylight and reported sightings of sunshine could only mean one thing. Time to don the de-rigueur Fifty-Textures-of-Tweed country casual combo and put my best brown-brogue’d foot forward to attend the Goodwood 77th MM.

Just to flat-cap it all – mustn’t forget the tweed titfer-tat!

Continue reading Goodwood 77th Members Meeting – Sun 7th April 2019

Pub chat – Revenge (Part 3)

A series of free-wheeling pub chats on the vitally important topic of cars.

“So there we were down the Old Bull & Bluster savouring the delights of their on-tap beery lubricants when the conversation turned to ……………………….. REVENGE!”

Continue reading Pub chat – Revenge (Part 3)

Pub chat – Revenge (Part 2)

A series of free-wheeling pub chats on the vitally important topic of cars.

“So there we were down the Old Bull & Bluster savouring the delights of their on-tap beery lubricants when the conversation turned to ……………………….. REVENGE!”

Continue reading Pub chat – Revenge (Part 2)

Pub chat – Revenge (Part 1)

A series of free-wheeling pub chats on the vitally important topic of cars.

“So there we were down the Old Bull & Bluster savouring the delights of their on-tap beery lubricants when the conversation turned to …………………… REVENGE!”

Continue reading Pub chat – Revenge (Part 1)

Brands Hatch Festival Of Porsche – Sun 2nd Sep 2018

The 70th Anniversary of the first Porsche production car had the highly beneficial side-effect of reviving the Brands Hatch Festival of Porsche.

Brands is a lovely compact circuit that’s easily and quickly accessible from London and unlike some of the airfield based circuits (e.g. Silverstone and Goodwood) it offers excellent viewing opportunities over large parts of the circuit without having to walk too far.

Continue reading Brands Hatch Festival Of Porsche – Sun 2nd Sep 2018

Goodwood FOS – Sun 15th Jul 2018

I’d not visited the Goodwood Festival of Speed for some time but the promise of rare and interesting Porsche cars – there to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the company was too difficult to resist.

To be more accurate – the 70th anniversary relates to the first Porsche badged car being built in 1948 as Porsche GmbH, Konstruktionsbüro für Motoren und Fahrzeugbau was actually founded in 1931!

Continue reading Goodwood FOS – Sun 15th Jul 2018

Le Mans Classic – 6th, 7th and 8th Jul 2018

A visit to Le Mans Classic has long eluded me but this year all barriers and sensible-head reasons-not-to-go seemed to disappear.

The Yellow Peril was running well (bar a last minute clutch change) and the problem of abandoning the Mrs for a long weekend to go off on a car related jolly was resolved by taking her along .

Continue reading Le Mans Classic – 6th, 7th and 8th Jul 2018

London Classic Car Show – Sun 18th Feb 2018

Having hummed and hawed about whether to go to this event or not I finally conceded the night before the last day and I’m glad I did.

I thankfully selected a less busy day and could circulate freely, snapping piccies of nice motors without having to electric-cattle-prod hordes of selfie-takers out of shot.

I was also able to see motors in motion on the Grand Avenue without having to reserve a fence-side viewing place  an hour in advance of the demo runs and without having to resort to rugby scrum tactics to get to the front or a ladder to witness the action.

Continue reading London Classic Car Show – Sun 18th Feb 2018

Hedingham Classics At The Castle – Sun 3rd Sep 2017

A two year wait since the last Hedingham Porsche bash and the limited availability of my old 911 this year (due to further improvement work) left me with a major sense of anticipation for this year’s Classics At the Castle event.

An early, sunny Sunday morning start and a thankfully absent intermittent misfire were positive omens for a good day out but this didn’t stop my usual jitters about whether I had the right day, whether any mechanical gremlins would thwart the trip etc. etc.

My fears were calmed when just beyond Stansted airport I swung my ’71 2.2E behind a lovely tangerine 2.7RS for a joyous two-car-convoy blast towards Hedingham! The start of a perfect day.

Continue reading Hedingham Classics At The Castle – Sun 3rd Sep 2017