On the morning of Sunday 15th July, I went to the annual Vauxhall Bedford Opel Association (VBOA) rally. I have been every single year since 1996 (many other reviews available) and so I was hardly going to miss out this year. As was the case in 2017, the event was held at the Showground in Market Harborough. I arrived at around 10am and stayed until about 12pm.
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For the first time ever, my overall impression was one akin to disappointment.

On the bright side. The event was better organised than last year. Lessons had been learned and the meadows had been mowed and the overall space available had been better utilised.  

The reasons for my despondency came down to fewer vehicles being displayed (at least the seventies cars that most interested me anyway); added to that, it’s just about a year since my good friend Gary Martin died. It was Gary that originally introduced me to the Vauxhall car club scene back in the nineties. As I wandered around the showground, I thought about him, so I am sure that influenced my perspective too.

Being an event stalwart, I can report that I don’t see many new cars/participants, mainly the same vehicles year after year, albeit in declining numbers. When one year’s photo album is compared to another, I find that I have taken the same photos again.

Where the event used to occupy the best part of a day for me, this year, I was all done and ready to leave after a couple of hours.

Perhaps it was the World Cup final that was discouraged visitors?

I chose to go on the Sunday because I suspected attendance on Saturday would be most affected given that England was playing Belgium. But maybe the final was more of an attraction than the play off.

The Vauxhall Viva Owners’ Club used to be one of the best represented clubs at the rally, this year, for some reason, the volume of vehicles in the club’s allocated space was the lowest I have ever seen. Maybe the club is in some kind of organisational disarray. This bothered me because Gary used to run the memorabilia operation for the club back in the day and, across a few years in a row, I helped sell the merchandise at the VBOA events at Billing Aquadrome. 

In stark contrast, the Viva Outlaws Club, which used to be quite small, had managed to organise a far greater turnout, albeit only comprised of 1960s HB Vivas. 

The Droop Snoot Group (DSG - I used to be a member of this club) had a reasonable turnout but it seems to have experienced diminishing returns over the last few years. Even the Opel Manta Owners’ Club attendee numbers were down.
 
To complicate things further, some attractive vehicles were in odd places. Of the handful of photographed vehicles never seen before, a few of them weren’t with their peers. To illustrate, one of the nicest cars I saw, a yellow 1800 Magnum coupe, was in the car park rather than on display, which was a shame. Another smart looking HC derivative was on show but some distance away from the DSG or VVOA clubs (see the green car in the photo below). Both cars would have added value to either of the aforementioned clubs’ display spaces.

Despite the observations above, there were some new (to me) interesting vehicles to look at. On the DSG stand, there was a lovely, burgundy, rally prepared Magnum 2300 and on the VVOC, there was a red Viva HB convertible with fully modernised engine and running gear. With that car, I did find myself wondering if the cost associated with the conversion would have been reflected in the value of it afterwards. The purist in me wasn’t keen on the updates (and I didn’t like the alloys at all) but the practicalist (I made that word up) was thinking, it would be a lot more rewarding and sensible to drive with the enhancements.

And driving brings me to the end of this post - I’ll keep going to to the VBOA Annual Rally but if the current trends continue, it won’t be long before it will take me longer to drive to the event and back than I will actually spend there.

I have heard that the showground has got planning approval for housing – it might not be that long until the VBOA needs another venue re-think. Maybe a return to Billing?

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Previous Posts
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
2016 http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/vboa-national-rally-at-billing-aquadrome-july-2016
2017 Not Billing – a VBOA National Rally review

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/vauxhalls-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

I read the news about the death on Geoffrey Wellum on the BBC today and wanted to mark his passing in my own way. Wellum was a Battle of Britain pilot and he died at the grand old age of 96.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-44895703

Years ago, I read his book about his WW2 experiences entitled “First Light”. My Dad read it first and then urged me to do so as well ...

... and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone that wants some insight into the stresses and strains that Wellum and his fellow pilots were under on a daily basis. In his writing, he is open, frank and inspiring too.

In his late teens and early twenties, Wellum spent much of his time expecting to die (and at times not even caring if he did) and so it is rather fitting that, having survived the war, he went on to have such a long and decent life.

To borrow some sentiment from Winston Churchill, Wellum was one of the few to whom so many of us owed so much. And though we have seen his last light in this world, hopefully it will be burning brightly in the next.

Rest In Peace. 

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On Saturday 30th June, I attended two vehicle related events and thought I’d share some observations and photos.

The first outing was to Watford, the village associated with Watford Gap, the famous M1 services and the often-referenced dividing line between north and south.

On a green next to the village hall, a classic car show had been arranged. Not a large affair, approximately 40 vehicles, but with a decent variety of eras and countries of manufacture represented.

Some highbrow stuff was present including an Aston Martin DB6, a C-Type Jag, an E-Type Jag, a 50s 190 Mercedes. Then there were some more attainable things like 60s/70s Fords and Austins.  Then there was my favourite car of all, a 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner.

This blue collar, aggressive sounding, Yank, V8 muscle car in bright orange had all the subtlety of a riot … but for me, it was the star of the show. I took as many photos of this car as all the others put together and went and told the slightly bemused owner that “I loved his car”.

Some eyebrows were raised by the more discerning classic car owners when the Roadrunner roared into the show space, but the sense of drama, power and petrol fuelled excitement was not bettered by any of those motors others might think were better.

From my soapbox to a whole event dedicated to them … Welton Village’s annual soapbox derby.

Regular readers will know that I have attended this event every year since 2014 (other reviews available – see below). The format followed that set in previous years, so nothing new to report from that perspective. 

The derby is jolly good fun, it’s free to attend and the village is always packed with visitors that come to enjoy the show. This year was no different and, in the blazing sunshine, I spent a few hours watching the action and taking photos of the wacky racers; some shared below.

One unexpected celebrity type vehicle was on display … the fastest shed in the world. You can read more about it and owner Nick here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-40945974

In the derby, and in homage, a mini, non-V6-powered soapbox shed was competing.

One creation that I didn’t actually get to see take to the course was the pink, roadkill like design. If I am honest, the thought of taking it down the steep course terrified me. Whoever rode it must have been brave … or masochistic … or suicidal … or plain bonkers.

And on that point, if you live anywhere nearby, or even if you don’t and could get to it, you’d be bonkers to miss this event. It’s that good.

My thanks go to all those responsible for making it happen. For one day a year, Welton village is the coolest place to be in the whole of Northamptonshire.

It is a shame that Watford village’s car show clashed in terms of date – the attendee numbers at the soapbox derby were in the thousands compared to the dozens at the car show. At least Watford and Welton are only a few miles apart so it was possible for those so motivated (like me) to go to both. But, I bet Watford’s car show would have been more successful if it had taken place on the Sunday rather than the Saturday.

Click on any image below to enlarge. High resolution images available, if you'd like one, just get in touch.

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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
2016 review - https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/the-2016-welton-soapbox-derby-a-review
2017 review - https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/welton-soapbox-racing-and-the-british-grand-prix

​In the follow up to the Desert Storm post from yesterday, this one is about the gig headliners, Karma To Burn (K2B). The three-piece band, originating from West Virginia, USA, delivers heavy, stoner rock/metal with southern rock accents. 

Kind of like the hard rock world’s spin on classical music, K2B’s set was entirely instrumental, no vocals/singing at all.

I was already familiar with the band’s music (I listened to “Almost Heathen” in the car on the way to The Craufurd), but I didn’t expect the gig to be quite the way it was.

Having never been to a K2B show before, I was anticipating darkness, lots of red/blue light and dry ice to give the experience a real intensity, a bit like I experienced when seeing Samsara Blues Experiment (when the lack of other sensory type input gave the music a greater power/resonance).

But, my expectations were completely wrong. In fact, the fellas turned up and played without a light show, dry ice, branded back drops or any other glitz/glamour.

William Mecum, guitarist, was the most unassuming, restrained, unanimated frontman that I have ever seen in charge of a band. He had a microphone, but he kept away from it, almost like he thought it was going to bite him.

Mecum had a good act of coming up to the microphone, looking like he wanted to say something, observing the audience hanging on in anticipation and then, with a wry smile, moving away having said nothing. Comedic, well timed/executed and well appreciated by his audience. When he did step up and say something, he was pretty much monosyllabic and/or indecipherable.

At one point of vocal clarity, he joked about playing a love song – how the heck can you do that with no lyrics thought I. The tune played after this announcement was in no way different in style to the rest of the set. My kind of love song then – hard, no nonsense, uncompromising rock.

Love songs clearly don’t involve any sloppy stuff in K2B’s world.

Whilst Mecum was right of stage, Eric von Cutter, on bass, was to the left and Evan Devine in the middle on drums. Both were as unassuming as Mecum. Devine looked like Jesus if you ask me.

After the gig I had a conversation with Eric and later with Will and both were as laid back off stage and they were on, no show off/showbiz distance or petulance about them at all. I paraphrase but when mentioning the lack of “show” the response “We just want to play man, if the rifts don’t do it for you then tough, that’s all you’re getting!”. And I couldn’t argue with that.

The set list for the gig was as follows:

1. 39
2. 14
3. 1
4. 61
5. 34
6. 5
7. 19
8. 32
9. 62
10. 9
11. 57
12. 20

I know that list reads like some kind of Chinese takeaway food order but I kid you not, that’s it. And why not? If the tracks don’t have lyrics, why worry about giving them names either? The numbers are economical and once again evidence K2B’s disinterest in anything other than the music.

For the band, the music (and the joy of playing it) is everything. In fact, so much so that there’s no other “performance” at all. And rather than be boring or disappointing, it was a slightly odd but surprisingly refreshing experience. 

The only shame was that the gig wasn’t the sell out that I expected it to be. I bought my ticket on the same day the venue announced it; on the night of Tuesday 26th June, I could have bought one (as could many others) on the door. Maybe it was just too hot and a “school night” because K2B and Desert Storm are class acts that deserve packed gigs. Still on the bright side, it was an intimate event that allowed those present to be close to and engage with the bands during and after the show.

I’ll be frank, I really liked this band and I’d like to see it again. Not sure when I’ll get the chance again though. I’ll have to defer to the Craufurd on this matter.

My thanks to K2B for a great gig and to The Craufurd Arms for booking the band. It pleases me no end that this little venue in down town Wolverton can draw in well-known, interesting and decent bands from around the world.

And on that subject, my next visits to the venue are on the 24th and 25th of August. I’ll be seeing Anvil (the long established, influential Canadian metal band) and then Electric Six (from the USA).

Maybe I’ll see you there.

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 On Tuesday 26th June, I spent a most enjoyable evening at The Craufurd Arms in Wolverton. Two top notch bands were the source of my enjoyment, one, Desert Storm, that you may well have read about numerous times on this blog (and if you haven’t, you can catch up - see below) and the other, Karma To Burn, that I saw perform live for the first time.

Desert Storm (DS) dominates this particular post, I’ll write about Karma To Burn separately.

As I have written about DS before, I’ll make my observations about this show rather than repeat the insights that I have shared already (also, if you are new and I am lucky, you'll read six/seven posts when you only arrived to read one).

When the band took to the stage, the first thing that I noticed was that the usual bass player, Chris Benoist, wasn’t present. Instead the bass duties were being handled by Rob Glen, a chap that I had met before, but in conjunction with one of his earlier bands “Mother Corona” (also written about on this site - see below).  Apparently, Chris B. had some prior commitments and couldn’t make this tour.

It’s not the first time I have seen the band without its bass player, last time (at another gig at the Craufurd), Ryan Cole took on the bass instead of his usual guitar role.

The reason for mentioning the above is that I am genuinely impressed that the band can play as a four-piece or a five piece with different members and still deliver a rousing, professional performance.
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DS was the support band at this particular gig, the chaps played the following eight-song set:

• Journey’s End
• Too Far Gone
• The Brawl
• Queen Reefer
• Kingdom of Horns
• Titan
• Convulsion
• Enslaved in the Icy Tundra

On another professional matter, this time one mixed with a touch of irony, Rob Glen wasn’t even through “Journey’s End” before his amplifier ended its journey … and died. That left him in a very stressful situation as he went about rectifying the failure by replacing a component. He put his guitar on the floor and got on with the fix.

When he put the bass on the floor I thought it was another problem waiting to happen. Me. I’d have ended up walking back on to the guitar, damaging it and then falling off the stage and damaging myself. Fortunately, Rob was spatially aware and calm enough not to augment the fault with an accident.

Whilst the amplifier was being fixed, the rest of the band carried on playing, no drama and genuinely sounding good, even without the four-string (well five on a technicality).  All very professional I thought. Talking to front man, Matt Ryan, afterwards emphasized it further, his view “shit happens, just carry on”.

Next DS observation - the entire band was sporting full beards, even Chris White the guitarist who normally looks rather more clean-cut than the rest of the fellas. Matt Ryan had grown a significant, inch or more below chin, red beard over the six months or so since I last saw him. Even stand in member, Rob Glen, had a full/long beard too. I asked Chris White if he’d been put under pressure by his band mates, you know the “your lack of facial hair is detracting from our image” kind of discussion. Apparently, he’d grown the fuzz of his own volition … but I still wasn’t sure it wasn’t a peer pressure decision.

Desert Storm was touring and promoting its latest album entitled “Sentinels”. Before I wrap this post up, I’ll mention how I acquired this album.
  
A number of weeks ago now I popped into the HMV store in Milton Keynes shopping centre. To be frank, it took me a little while to find the shop because it had moved location in the centre and was about a quarter of the size it used to be. Blink at the wrong time and you’d walk past without noticing it. HMV's high street days are surely numbered.

Despite HMV MK being a shell of its former self, I wandered up to the heavy metal section, searched for, found and duly purchased Sentinels. I was genuinely pleased for the band - when its material can be bought in a crappy little HMV store, the band has surely made it?

But then it deserves to - good music, a good work ethic, skilled musicians and decent chaps to boot.

Sentinels is cracking as was the gig at the Craufurd Arms.

Thanks guys, I’ll look forward to seeing you again soon.

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Previous reviews available

17/02/15 Eating, drinking and rocking on the Cowley Road (incudes references to Mother Corona)
19/03/15 Desert Storm and some other noisy bastards
26/06/15 Mother Corona at the Craufurd Arms
10/12/15Desert Storm at The Craufurd Arms – a gig review​
10/08/16Digression, Desert Storm and Honky​
04/12/17 ​Ten year, cellar matured Desert Storm joy

On Sunday 17th June, I went to Billing Aquadrome to enjoy another event hosted by the American Automobile Club International (AACI). This outing was the sixth such event (previous reviews below) in two years and once again, I had a fine time - the sun was shining, the cars were gleaming and I was smiling. 
​
As usual, and regardless of the day’s label, I was on my own. The rest of my side of the Baldwin family stayed at home – expressing their love by allowing me to do my own thing without interference/hassle. My dad, though without my company, was surrounded by others that love him, so he was okay too.

I wandered around with my camera and spent a few happy hours enjoying the motors. As seems to happen every time, I saw some cool cars, like the Pontiac Catalina or Plymouth Scamp for example, that I had never come across before.

This post’s primary purpose is to share some of the photos (just scroll down if you’d prefer to get to them without delay) but, as is typical of me, I’ll share some other observations/reflections too. 
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I am becoming more and more convinced that vintage American cars are bigger, bolder, brasher and just better than their British counterparts.  From a purely gratuitous viewing perspective anyway (I am discounting fuel economy, environmental pollution, handling etc.), the Yanks beat the Brits hands down. To illustrate, compare the Ford Zephyr Zodiac MKII below to the Chevy Bel Air. Enough said!

A few cars at the show were people magnets; for example, the spotless black Dodge Charger Daytona pictured below had people around it all the time. He had so many folks wanting to speak to him that the owner must have had a sore throat by the end of the day. 

On the subject of owners, one thing that I noticed was that many of the vehicles’ primary carers were in their sixties or seventies. That doesn’t surprise me really and here’s why. I am a child of the seventies and the cars I like the most, and would want to own, are from the tail end of the sixties or the seventies. If for a moment, I/we/you accept that I am representative of other classic car folk, it could be anticipated that someone born in the fifties would like vehicles from that decade and the tail end of the forties. It’s a nostalgia thing!

That age observation led my train of thought down another route (route 66 if you like, that’s American and old too) – I hope that the exhibitors in their retirement years have made provisions to ensure that their vehicles continue to be loved by their families when they can’t take care of them themselves anymore.  Though a number of vehicles had “for sale” signs in the windows, so I might be touching a nerve here.

Maybe it was just because it was Father’s Day that I reflected on this sensitive subject. My lad for example looked at my photos with a “so what” attitude. He is 15 and couldn’t be less interested in 70s motors. There was me feeling renewed excitement when I flicked through my post event shots, my son, only enduring the experience because it was Father’s Day, was bored after five photos. 

If I actually owned one of the vehicles (like the gorgeous Ford Torino below), I know that I couldn’t rely on Mrs B. or the kids to care for it once I needed care myself.

But that’s a depressing thought, so I am going to stop and park it.

What I am not going to stop though is going to this club’s get togethers. The next one is in my diary, it’s at Billing again on the 9th September. Maybe I’ll see you there.  Thanks to all those at the AACI for putting on another great show.

Click on any image below to enlarge. High resolution images available, if you'd like one, just get in touch.

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AACI - https://www.aac-int.com/

Other Relevant Posts:
https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/car-show-and-car-sos
https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/aaci-late-summer-open-nationals-2017
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/aaci-summer-open-nationals-2017
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/24424-the-aaci-summer-nationals-and-fathers-day
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/aaci-late-summer-open-nationals

Did you read my Wheel to Wheel Action post from 18th June? Well, if you did (and even if you didn’t), here’s a quick follow-up with some action shots from the Company-Car-In-Action off road course. Both photos feature the Renault Koleos Initiale with yours truly behind the wheel.

The hill shot looks pretty tame because the steepness of the incline I was climbing isn’t too obvious from the picture. Believe me though, it was steep.
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The water shot, well that is a real corker. The photographer caught the Koleos’ entrance to the water run just perfectly. Love it.

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From October through Christmas last year, I was very keen to get my hands on the special limited edition “Hallowed” beer brewed by Robinsons in conjunction with Iron Maiden.

The challenge about the beer, aside from it being limited, was that it was only available in Morrisons stores. I must have visited half a dozen different Morrisons supermarket branches and had my family and friends on the lookout for it in others, before I had to concede defeat.
 
All was not lost though thanks to my buddy Hughesy because, whilst en route to a Desert Storm gig in Oxford on 25th November, I at least got to try a bottle that he brought down for me from Cheshire.

Today whilst mooching around Rugby (the female Baldwins were shopping and I was killing time), I wandered into B&M and found the hallowed ale on the shelf in the booze section.  There were ten bottles on display … I bought all ten. The label at the end of the shelf stated “new line, price awaited” but I took them to the checkout thinking “I don’t really care what they cost”.

All ten bottles came to £10.90.

Ten for ten … bargain!

So, by way of a wrap, in my best Len Goodman voice “It’s a ten for B&M”

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​Everyday when I get into the office, there is a moment when I think about McDonalds. Not a sausage and egg McMuffin meal, which I would forgive you for thinking, but instead the recent Mayo Chicken TV advert.

In that ad, there is a fella on the train plugging in all his rechargeable electrical kit so as to benefit from the train company’s electricity rather than pay for his own. The key message is something along the lines of “like getting value for money, you’ll like the 99p mayo chicken burger”. If you haven’t seen the ad, you can find it on YouTube.

Anyway, I get to my desk, open my satchel, take out my laptop and charging cable and then go through this rigmarole:

1. Plug PC charger into four-gang-multi-socket on desk
2. Plug the other end of the charger into the HP laptop
3. Plug the network cable into the HP
4. Plug in the 15 pin monitor cable from my second screen into the HP
5. Plug my USB headset into the HP
6. Plug my USB mouse/keyboard sender unit into the laptop
7. Turn the USB mouse on
8. Unravel my mobile phone charger cable
9. Insert USB phone cable into separate charging plug
10. Plug phone charging plug into four-gang-multi-socket on desk
11. Plug other end of phone charging cable into mobile phone
12. Place mobile phone on desk.
13. Turn laptop on and wait for it to boot up.

Like the TV ad, there is a clunk/click type soundtrack to all this action. The TV ad is only about 20 seconds long and I kid you not, it takes me about the same amount of time (and quite possibly more) to get my workstation into operating mode.

Since the burger advert aired, every morning I wonder if anyone else in the office is thinking the same thing as me as they watch me getting my shit together. I have a wry smile on my face as I go through the routine, so for any of my colleagues that read this post … now they’ll know why.

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Lots to write about today on the subject of motoring. The weekend before last saw me enjoy the Daventry motorcycle festival, last Wednesday saw me attend Company Car In Action (CCIA) at Millbrook Proving Ground and yesterday I went to an AACI event at Billing Aquadrome (I had a great time too, though I’ll have to write about that experience in a later post).

So, if you are ready, buckle up and let’s get this journey underway!


​Motorbikes
The annual motorcycle festival in Daventry took place on Saturday 9th June. I have written about this event on a number of occasions (previous reviews below) and it followed the format established in previous years.

The ride-in arrived like a noisy swarm of insects at 10am and the bikes eventually settled around the town centre.

To me, it appeared that the festival attracted a greater number of businesses into the town than in prior years, the concessions covered a lot of the space that bikes were parked in last year. I couldn’t make my mind up if the number of bikes on display had gone down or whether they had just been displaced to other parts of the centre. I suspect the latter.

As in previous years, I wandered around for a couple of happy hours taking photos and I share some of my favourites below. The town centre was packed with visitors and once again I reflected that it is probably Daventry’s busiest (and from my perspective, the best) day of the year.

My thanks go to the organisers and Daventry District Council for being supportive.

Cars
Company Car In Action is an event organised by Bauer Media, the publishers of “Fleet News”, on an annual basis and held at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire.
 
I went to this year’s event and had a good/interesting time. Among other vehicles, I drove a Volvo V90, a Renault Koleos and a Toyota Mirai.

Volvo V90
As a driver/advocate of estate cars, the V90 was on my radar for a test drive. Upon barrelling up to the Volvo stand, I asked if a) they had and b) I could drive a V90? The answer to both questions was “yes”. “Happy Days” thought I. There was a caveat though, and I kid you not … the V90 was a fully liveried panda car.

It was out on a test run when I arrived at the stand and when the car came back, it was unmissable and completely at odds with the rest of the, decidedly more understated, vehicles on display.

I am not a shrinking violet and so I was game for a laugh. But as soon as I got in the driver’s seat, I was advised that I’d be sent home if I started playing with the blues and twos. Still I didn’t need the extra attention grabbers, I was well and truly obvious already.

After I completed the hill circuit and the high-speed bowl, I asked one of the Volvo representatives to take my photo because I didn’t think anybody would believe me when I said I’d driven a police car.
 
Renault Koleos
The next CCIA experience that I will share is about driving the new Renault Koleos Initiale off road. The vehicle was nicely equipped overall, but I especially liked the air-conditioned seats, it was a hot day and they added some real value.

I was accompanied by a Scot who allowed me to take the Renault all over the off-road test site including through deep water and over some seriously steep, rutted and uneven terrain. I knew I was going to be in for a treat because of all the instructors, his vehicle was the dirtiest. I was advised that the colour of the car was “Amethyst” but I am blowed if I could tell through all the muck.

I spent more than twenty minutes having a great time. At one point, the official photographers were even taking photos of me putting the Koleos through its paces. If I get to see the shots, I’ll share them with you.

For a standard vehicle on standard road tyres, what you can do with the Koleos is remarkable.

From the ridiculously good fun to the oddball – the hydrogen fuel celled Toyota Mirai.

Toyota Mirai
I wrote about my interest in this car in August last year so when the opportunity to drive one presented itself, I was keen to take it.

I’ll be frank, the car is quirky looking (if not plain ugly) inside and out, but the technology is fascinating and the potential significant, even when the car world is fixated on electric.

I can report that the Mirai was a perfectly good car to drive and that I’d like to have spent more time testing it out. It was a proper size (not like the Renault Zoe I test drove), it didn’t have the range challenges of some electric alternatives, it was quiet, its performance was fine.
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I was accompanied throughout my test-drive by a Toyota representative and I challenged her on the availability of the hydrogen gas necessary to power it and the hefty price tag for the car - because when it comes to what to spend your £60,000+ pounds on, you might well opt for a Tesla instead.

The feedback was that the Mirai is really still an experimental, though advanced, proof of concept but that it will ultimately do for hydrogen what the Prius did for hybrids. Toyota has invested millions and what it needs is more people to be familiar with what hydrogen power can offer and the fleet industry to give it a fair go. I think that Toyota’s challenge to the relentless march towards electrification is a positive one and I hope that it will be successful.

I am optimistic. If the price was halved, I’d have one as my company car. The challenge for Toyota is how to achieve a scale of production that can enable savings to be used to reduce the price tag. Still, a manufacturer like Toyota has to have better odds of being successful than much of the rest of the motor manufacturing industry.

From the Mirai to a Gremlin
Toyota served up another delight in the form of a sporty Yaris GRMN. I was lucky enough to be taken out on a couple of hot laps of Millbrook's handling circuit with a professional driver (crash helmets required).

Whilst squealing and sliding around, I asked my pro-driver if “he raced for a living”? The answer was an emphatic “yes”, it turned out I was being chauffeured by Martin Donnelly an ex F1 driver. I felt honoured.

As should have Fernando Alonso, a recent Toyota racing driver, for his latest gift.

From Gremlin to Grumpy
I am not an Alonso fan and I get bored stiff listening to people, singing his praises and blowing smoke up his arse.  I don’t think he’s one of the best drivers in F1, in fact I think that he’s one of the more divisive.

I read an article the other day on Planet F1 where he was quoted as saying “I will not be happy if I have many trophies at home and people think that I don’t deserve them. That would be even harder.”

Is his inference that someone better, like Lewis Hamilton or Michael Schumacher for example, doesn’t/didn’t deserve theirs?

Alonso was part of the team that won at Le Mans … not a surprise bearing in mind Toyota were the only works team in the LMP1 class and, unless the car broke down, a win for the team was a guarantee. Alonso was in effect gifted the second jewel on his triple crown quest.

I don’t doubt that Alonso added value to the Toyota team and the kudos of the 24-hour event, but come on, no Audi, no Porsche … no real competition at all. Is he a great because he was part of the team that won this race? In my opinion “no”.

From Le Mans to Billing
This one is done but keep an eye out for my next post, the American Automobile Club International meet at Billing Aquadrome on Father’s Day. It was fine fun and I’ll be sharing some of my thoughts and photos as soon as I’ve had time to do the write-up.

Bye for now.

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Other Relevant Links
ICE ban 2040 – more questions than answers 02/08/17 
https://www.companycarinaction.co.uk
https://www.aac-int.com/
https://www.planetf1.com/news/alonso-insists-he-wants-to-deserve-his-legacy/

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