Brooklands (almost) New Year's Day

[Spacenut]

This event was postponed due to bad weather and actually took place on Saturday 4th January. The weather on the day was forecast to be dry, at least until after dark, although as you will see the sky was very overcast. And coooooooold!

Sean accompanied me in Le Citron, which now qualifies as a “classic” under Brooklands rules, so could also park on-site. Because Sean hadn’t pre-booked a ticket, we both went in through the Campbell gate entrance, which is always busier than the Vickers gate because it is shared with non-members. And of course that is where all the cameras hang out

We arrived on-site pretty much bang-on 9:00 am, and were directed to the start/finish straight, fortunately not on the inclined section (handbrake efficiency has always been poor on the Green Machine). Sean parked up alongside and we got straight to business – lots of great cars to see! Here are a few that caught my eye:



The Nova and the other Green Machine in my life. I have been borrowing the AX from Sean as a local runabout since 2023. It is convenient, and very frugal, but a very different driving experience! Sean got some very complimentary comments about the car. It’s a limited edition Spree don’t you know

OK, lot’s more to see – what’s next?



A very rare AC Greyhound…



A TVR 3000M (so Ford Essex V6 powered), very nice…



Lotus Elite FWE. Tiny, super-lightweight, super-aerodynmic (Cd 0.29, in 1959!!!), super-fast. Lovely. OK, what’s next?



Ferrari 412, probably a fuel-injection model (I didn’t stop to look). I like the sharp look of these big Fezzas, (almost) a rival to the Lamborghini Espada…



You have seen both of these Droop Snoots before, but I still love their mid-70s “Batmobile” styling (courtesy of American designer Wayne Cherry). The owner of the car on the right has acquired a Vauxhall Magnum estate named “Darth” which has the engine from my old Snoot in it – albeit fitted with a milder Blydenstein GT2X camshaft (I had a GT4X rally-spec camshaft when I was using it on the road, people are such lightweights these days!). OK, next…



One of several Rover P6’s at the event, this one was utterly pristine throughout – although not in the most inspiring colour. All the cars at the show were 3.5 litre V8s. I wonder where all the Rover 2000s have gone?



1959-1960 Chevy Impala is just about my favourite American car from the “Fins and Chrome” era. Metallic blue interior and tinted glass means that it is always blue skies behind the wheel



Unusual to see a Chevy Montecarlo in the UK. This example was particularly nice…



This was sitting under the hood of a very unassuming (and slightly rusty) early ‘60s Mercury Comet. In spite of what the rocker covers say, it is actually a 5.7 litre LS1 made by arch-rival Chevrolet. Amazing what aftermarket parts you can get to dress up engines these days

More to come!

Lauren

[Spacenut]

OK, we’re back again.



A Renault 5 Turbo Group B homologation car. Apparently the bleaching of the plastic addenda is common on these cars – they were after all built only to satisfy the FIA that the car in Group B form was in series production. This version of the R5 had the classic pushrod engine (of 1.4 litres if I remember correctly) topped off with a mahoosive turbo and mid-mounted via a R30 transaxle. A worthy contender for Group B honours but always in the shadow of the all-conquering Audi Quattro and Lancia Delta S4…



I’m sure it wasn’t very effective, but it does make a pretty pattern!



Straight off the set of Peaky Blinders, complete with fake coal sacks



Me and Sean both agree that this fabuluous little Honda S800 used to be red, and would often appear at Goodwood events. Someone has clearly taken a convertible example and replaced the framed windscreen with a plastic aeroscreen. JAP Magna alloys (probably my favourite aftermarket alloy wheel ever) are another giveaway. This little pocket rocket must be an absolute hoot to drive – open to the elements, with that tiny 800cc 4-cylinder engine revving to 9,000 rpm (thanks to a roller bearing crank and camshaft)… wow.





JA Pierce Magna, yum, yum…



Ooh! Hang on, the Persuaders have arrived…



We looked out for Brett Sinclair, but couldn’t see him. He was flying solo though, as we saw no alloy-bodied 246 Dinos. We did meet a Lord though – he had seen my friend Ed’s Nova at the NEC and knew that I had the Green Machine – perhaps I had spoken to him at the show. Apparently he has a Lotus Elite 501, so I told him about Gautam Sen’s wedge book. I guess being a Lord he can afford a copy!



A purposeful Lancia Fulvia coupe. There was a Fulvia saloon at the show as well, but we missed it. For the same reason this was the only example of classic JDM that we saw…







This SAAB Sonnet II was interesting. The later cars had a smooth snout with pop-up headlights, which somehow looked more ungainly than this earlier shape. This car has FWD via a 1.5 litre Ford V4 engine out of the Taunus (also used in the SAAB 96). The first Sonnets used the 3-cylinder 2-stroke from the SAAB 95. Fibreglass body has some big panel gaps, but ever-consious about safety, the Swedes did fit all their Sonnets with a factory roll cage.



And here it is again – excuse me while a stop drooling. This is my favourite Mopar (along with the E-body Baccaruda of course), I just love the styling of the ‘71-73 Plymouth Road Runner and Satellite. But my dream garage example would have to have the flush side markers from 71 and the stacked rear lights from the 72 (and the 72 blade front intake). Plus strobe stripes, and a louder colour scheme. And a 340 small block. And fake wood delete on the dashboard, I can’t abide fake wood… OK, nearly done now



5 points if you correctly identified this as a Mini-Scamp, perhaps the most successful of the Moke-inspired kits from the early 70s. This one happened to be the original factory demonstrator, and has been beautifully restored. Like the Honda S800 we saw earlier, this owner braved sub-zero temperatures to get to the show, and was heading back to Hastings!

So that was that – the show thinned out pretty quickly after midday so we missed some nice cars, but what we did see we enjoyed immensely. My departure from the site was also captured on video, which was interesting for me as I have never heard my car from outside before:

https://youtu.be/c59jimuDPWA?si=MzAugn9VZqagKTih

The Nova appears at 4 minutes 11 seconds in. Now that the Bianco engine has been properly jetted, it can make the most of the revised equal length manifolds. I think it has captured some of that inherent Alfasud raspiness, what do you think?

The journey home was uneventful and when I checked the speedometer calibration the odometer error was less than 0.3 miles out, over a total distance of 69.8 miles. That is 0.43%, rather better than most cars can achieve I suspect!

Now that the Bianco engine is fully on-song (and with the vacuum advance removed), fuel economy was not as good as it has been, at 33.1 mpg, but I admit I did drop a gear (or two) and put my foot down a couple of times, just to revel in that sound!

Finally, a friend of Ed Staw was at the show and took a picture of the Green Machine. As you can see, in comparison my 20-year old DSLR simply doesn’t do the car justice:



OK, that’s your lot for now

Lauren

[Kegsti66]

Another great collection of cars Lauren. You do find some hidden gems.
Liking the Rover P6 in grey tbh, good to see a R5 turbo 2 and the Greyhound looks rather smart. Nice selection of American muscle as well.
Thanks for taking the time to share.

Just watched the exit video as well and the Green Machine does sound very nice. Well done.

[Spacenut]

Thanks Keith - I'm looking forward to getting out and about a bit more in the Green Machine this year. Certainly no excuses for not attending Southern Alfa Day this year - Stanstead Park is right on my doorstep!