​On 17th July, I made my way to Billing Aquadrome for the Vauxhall, Bedford, Opel Association National Rally.

Regular readers will have read about this event before (previous reviews available – see below). For any newbie visitors, by way of background, I have attended the rally every single year since 1996 - it’s like an addiction – and I just got my latest fix.

I arrived at around 10:30am, the sunshine was glorious and so were many of the motors on show. As in previous years, I wandered around happily, taking loads of photos (a selection of my shots are shared below for your enjoyment) and enjoying the show-ring narration so ably delivered by Ian Coomber, the chairman of the VBOA and ex sales and marketing director of Vauxhall. Every year this man’s encyclopaedic knowledge and obvious passion impresses me no end.

​There were some superb motors on show, a few of which I will draw your attention to because they were rather different/unusual, a credit to their owners and I’d love to have/drive any/all of them. 

​First up - a Chevrolet Can Am Firenza. In all the years of rally attendance, this was the first time I’d seen this car. And it was lovely, no doubt very valuable and I was really envious of the owner.

The bodyshell was standard Firenza (albeit bespoilered); the headlights, HC Viva oblongs; the engine, a nicely detailed V8; the paintjob - Liquorice Allsort; the number plate, spot-on; the car overall – just marvellous.

​I’d rather have this car than own a Ferrari!

Click on any photo enlarge

Next up - a 1961 PA Cresta with a very modern twist.

This Cresta had been modified to have the interior and running gear of a Holden Monaro. That’s a GM LS1 5.7 litre V8 (developing 380 bhp), with a six speed manual gearbox, limited slip diff, air conditioning, air bags, cruise control, traction control, disk brakes all round, ABS, electric windows and all topped off with some wonderful cherry red paint.

That’s the looks of a sixties’ classic with the performance of a modern super saloon. What a car, what an incredible amount of effort and what a beauty! It may have upset some purists but I thought it was awesome. I got chatting to the owner who explained that the car was only fit for the scrap yard when he acquired it. The rescue was nothing short of miraculous.

​I have no idea what it was worth but I’d have been tempted to get a significant loan from “baseball bats r us” on the spot if the chap was prepared to sell it. 

Click on any photo enlarge

Finally a Buick Opel Coupe Deluxe by Isuzu.

This rather understated little yellow car is at odds with the muscle motors above, but I had never seen one before and it intrigued me. Buick is a GM brand as is Opel, the coupe has a similar look to an Opel Kadett but then the badging reveals the description Opel by Isuzu. GM has known links with Isuzu too but that’s three brands on the same car – how confusing. I can only assume that it was being sold in markets where one or two of the three brands was unknown.

Regardless of its tripartite roots, the car was a delightful looking thing, even the interior appealed. Though this was the least brash of the three vehicles featured, I’d be very pleased if this was mine.  And being sensible, there’s a reasonable chance I might actually be able to afford to buy and run it.

Click on any photo enlarge

Only twelve months until the next VBOA National Rally and I am looking forward to it already.

My thanks to Ian Coomber, his VBOA collagues and all the car clubs for making it happen.

Bye for now.

Previous Billing articles
2012 http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/annual-vauxhall-pilgrimage-washout.html
2013 http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/vboa-all-car-club-rally-2013.html
2014 http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/that-petrol-emotion
2015​ http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/reflections-from-the-vboa-national-rally-billing-2015

Other related posts
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/a-trip-down-memory-lane-pot-holes-and-all
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/the-droopsnoot-celebrates-its-40th-birthday
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/vauxhallrsquos-heritage-centre-ndash-a-nostalgic-trip-to-luton.html
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/a-vauxhall-event-reminder-and-a-billing-plaque-saga-update
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/the-omoc-comes-through-for-me.html

Third Party Site Links
VBOA
Viva Owners Club
Droop Snoot Group
Billing Aquadrome

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On Saturday 9th July, Welton village hosted its annual soapbox derby. Since the event’s re-establishment in 2014, I have been every year. Once again it was great fun and worthy of a blog post. Reviews from prior years are also available (2014 - 2015), why not have a read of those as well. And I’ll try not to repeat myself too much in this one.

Last year’s event was a wet one and whilst the weather on the morning of the 9th had threatened nastiness, by lunchtime the grey clouds had moved on and the temperature had picked up.

The village was packed with visitors and there were around 40 soapboxes preparing to race. This year’s derby followed the format that has worked so well (and been described by me) before.

I wandered around with my camera taking photos and marvelling at the imagination and efforts that the teams had gone to in order to design and then build their vehicles. But I made a school boy error and inadvertently deleted all the photos before I had downloaded them. Doh!

So dear reader whilst I had planned to share some of my images, I’ll just have to share those of others (my thanks to Jerome Davies & Matt Stokes).

Of all, a red E-Type Jag was my favourite. But there was a great “Herbie” Beetle, an orange General Lee, a black Dodge Charger, a Boaty McBoatface narrow boat and a patriotically themed canon too (face first down the hill for this wacky racer).

The hill in Welton village is quite steep and after a good shove off from a driver’s crew mates, some impressive speeds are achievable on the descent. Radar detection was used to capture top speeds and pit the contestants against each other for the fastest run. Whilst I was at the event, the fastest run recorded was 31mph.

After registering a speed though, the drivers were challenged to make a series of turns, one of which was really rather tight (it separated the true lunatics from the plain nutters). You see too fast through the speed trap and some hard braking would be necessary. Those that went too easy on the brakes were liable to crash and indeed some spectacular accidents did occur (see the event Facebook page for proof).

A slower descent would get a lower top speed but make the tight left-hander easier to negotiate and potentially get a faster time for the entire run. Strategy and tactics were the key for the more competitive types, some of whom took it way too seriously. By way of illustration, I watched one team of adults swapping their wheels and tyres from knobblies to slicks to try and up the performance (of their already professionally engineered soapbox). I think this crew won in the end, though for me that didn’t mean much.

There were plenty of youngsters having a go and, from my perspective, they are the ones that deserve the most recognition and praise. The kids were brave and were having a good time – taking part was more important than winning.

On the subject of kids, I was accompanied to the derby by my daughter and my two nieces. They were buoyed by the excitement of the show for a little while before boredom set in and they wandered off to make their own entertainment. For the adults in the Baldwin party, that meant we ended up spending as much time trying to find the junior family members as we did actually watching the racing. And frustratingly when we found the kids, they were getting fractious and wanted to go home.

So I ended up leaving before I was ready and before the competition was over but a good time was had nonetheless and I am looking forward to next year. And in contemplating 2017, I have an idea – maybe more racers could take part by effectively hiring a seat. 

My thoughts are these:

On the 9th, I quite fancied having a go in a soapbox myself. But there was no real scope for me/anyone to do that unless they knew someone in a team.

As the derby is a fundraising event – maybe a soapbox or two could be available for hire for a single run (or a package of runs) with the money going to charity

Those wanting to hire a seat could register in advance like the other entrants and be allocated a time slot so that there was no nonsense on the day.

Photos care of Jerome Davies and Matt Stokes - click to enlarge

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2014 review - http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/derring-do-danger-design-and-descent-at-derby
2015 review - http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/the-2015-welton-soapbox-derby

Soapbox Derby Facebook Event Page 

The 18th July has been set for all of our MPs to vote on the replacement (or not) of Trident. 

Whilst Cameron wasn’t interested in seeing through the UK’s EU exit, at a NATO gathering in Warsaw earlier in the month, he appeared rather keen to close out the nuclear weapons investment decision before departing.

But obviously the Conservative leadership has concluded earlier than expected. Regardless of who is in charge, from a timing perspective, it really bothers me that the decision is being rushed. 

I have this suspicion that the pace was forced because the Labour Party is in such disarray at the moment. Corbyn (for his many, many faults) is anti-Trident and the vote might just give his dissatisfied parliamentary colleagues another chance to twist the knife that is already in his back. His colleagues might vote against him regardless of what they actually believed was morally right, or in the best interests of the UK tax payer.

The BBC reports (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36754911) that Corbyn was planning for the stance on Trident to be debated at the next Labour conference in September. A vote in July clearly short circuits the opposition’s debate, which I think is wrong.

The BBC further states that Corbyn had commissioned an internal defence review, to be shared at the upcoming conference, into alternatives to a full Trident replacement. How likely is this review to be finished and available for wider consumption by 18th July?

Beyond party politics, my view is that UK tax payers should be aware of the options because CND’s analysis has shown that the lifetime cost of Trident replacement will be at least £205bn. That’s a great deal of money that, for the good of the UK, might be better invested elsewhere. 

Without an understanding of the options, how are you and I going to be able to influence how our own members of parliament to vote? They represent us, they should at least understand how we feel.

​With everything going on in UK politics right now, the Trident investment call should be made later when all the distractions have passed.

Cameron should go, let May form her own cabinet and then let the new members lead the debate. A bit more time might just enable the opposition to be effective and coherent again too.

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I read this article on the BBC with a sense of dismay.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36735687

I can’t believe that it made it through scrutineering and got published. It’s a crass, ill-informed piece of journalism that adds nothing of value to the debate about the safety of nuclear power.

Is Helen Briggs suggesting that the clean-up operation at Fukushima is a waste of time/effort?

Is she suggesting that parents of children exposed to high levels of radiation shouldn’t be so worried?

Are the matters of the soul (ref. comment attributed to an unnamed professor) not important? Is the inference that these folk (that have lost their homes, their ways of life, maybe even their family members) should be less depressed because they didn’t die (so far) of radiation poisoning?

I expect better of the BBC, my suggestion to the institution is - find a better journalist. Try Mark Willacy.  

My answer to the question asked by Briggs is a big, shouty “NO”.

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​Resignations have really pissed me off today; Chris Evans has resigned from Top Gear, which I think is a real shame. 

And Nigel Farage has resigned as the leader of UKIP - which is good in a way (because he’s divisive) but very bad in another because it means that the git now takes absolutely no responsibility for getting us out of the shit that he was a key figure in getting us into. What a loser!

From a Brexit perspective, Boris Johnson and Farage are both now in the political wilderness and I really don’t think that these leading “leave” campaigners should be allowed to walk away that easily. They should be responsible and held accountable for making good their Brexit promises – or they should be publically shamed for being charlatans (which is what I think they are).

I have found myself feeling more and more aggrieved that the “Leave” campaign was successful and I think that if the British public was asked if they now thought Brexit was such a good idea, there might well be a significant change of heart.  

Can anyone be happy that the Conservative and Labour parties are in disarray, fighting amongst themselves rather than each other and that there is no effective leadership of the country at a point in time when we need it the most? I heard Tony Blair (or is that Bliar?) interviewed over the weekend and, though it pains me to admit it, I thought he made more sense than Johnson and Farage have since the referendum.     

On the subject of interviews, I listened to Heseltine shaming Johnson and he was eloquent, certain and brilliant.  He wanted Cameron to stay in charge and, though is surprises the heck out of me, I am in complete agreement. 

And staying brings me back to Top Gear. Chris Evans deserved a much better break than he was given. I was a Top Gear fan for the entire Clarkson era but I have found the new series just as much fun with Evans/Le Blanc and the rest of the presenting team. It pains me that Evans feels he has to walk. 

www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36707266

Being rather frank, Clarkson shit on his own doorstep and deserved the axe for being a liability. That wasn’t Evans’ fault. He was brave enough to pick up the chalice following the departure of JC – poisoned though the liquid in it was.

I thought that what Evans achieved was good; I particularly liked the way that he broadened the presenting team to be more ethnically representative, to include a woman and crikey, even a Yank.

How can six episodes be enough for him to prove his worth?

My appeal to Evans and the BBC is change your minds - don’t give up yet. Otherwise Top Gear faces a future that is potentially as mediocre as that (potentially) facing the UK. 

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On the 18th May I wrote a blog post about a telephone research, company called TNS, within which I challenged the company’s corporate behaviour – the previous article link: http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/tns-stop-bloody-calling.

At the time I was crystal clear in my discontent and even posted my article on the firm’s Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Though I heard nothing from the company as a result…

…until last night…

…when the damn company called me again.

At around 8pm, to my absolute frustration, TNS (and specifically Ellie Weaver, calling from Hull) got back in touch over another blasted research project.

​I was angry, I was as direct and blunt as I could be and, as I promised in my last post, I am once again using my website to condemn this intrusive behaviour. Please share this post with all your friends/social media buddies if TNS is a nuisance to you too. 

As far as I am concerned, the calls are as much a nuisance as unsolicited sales calls and my TPS registration really should deny companies like TNS dialling my unlisted home phone number.

I have asked to be removed from the company’s database/s numerous times and will now raise my concerns with the Information Commissioner’s Office to see if I have any scope for a formal complaint.

From a positive perspective, Ellie, who benefitted from an unsolicited rant from me, did state that she would add my number details to some kind of special screening list to stop me receiving more calls. I’d like to think that was that, but I have doubts I’ll be so lucky – it certainly didn’t work last time.

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