The train now standing II

More on the UK rail capacity dilemna.

Matador muscle

Why do AMC Matador cars come out in the snow? We spotted this one near Acton, Ontario. See PunchBuggy Passim for another snowy AMC behemoth.

Happy New Year

Thank goodness Christmas is over - there is only so much "Frosty, the Snowman" sung by Willie Nelson that a body can stand. Anyway here is the picture to close out 2005, shot on Route 66, and here's to a great 2006!

Dizzy Addicott

I'm watching the History Channel about Alcock and Brown flying the Atlantic. Captioned on-screen is Dizzy Addicott, test pilot. I thought I haven't heard that name for some time - not a name you are likely to forget.
Visions of a Lotus 15 with a 3½ litre Buick motor come to mind, a front-engined sports-racer painted yellow if I remember rightly. Described as "a pretty exciting car with 350 bhp and weak brakes." Goodwood mid-sixties.
He drove a Lotus Elite in the Tourist Trophy at Goodwood in 1962 and won at the 1963 Boxing Day Brands meeting in an Elva-Alfa Romeo sports car, built in Sussex. He also raced an Elva 100-DKW in Formula Junior and a DKW 800s in saloon car racing.
Dizzy also announced plans to go after Craig Breedlove's 407mph land speed record in the 60's, using a vehicle based on a Swift fighter. The project was stillborn.
Addicott was also in at the start of the mini special trade with the DART which spawned the mini-marcos and the mini-jem.
A quick check on the web and I learn that Dizzy died in a car accident a short while ago. They don't make them like that anymore.

Dr Diesel vindicated

After well over one hundred years the diesel engine reaches the front rank of motor racing. Multiple-winners Audi will compete in 2006 in the Le Mans 24 Hours at the circuit de la Sarthe with a diesel-engined contender, which must start the race as favourite. All credit to the ACO organisers for framing the rules to permit such experimentation. Much of racing has lost its glitter due to overly-restrictive rules stifling the creativity of the engineers. The Telegraph has the story.

Risk averse Michigan

Dutch Mandel of Autoweek has a thought provoking piece on the decline of Detroit and the motor industry in Michigan. Among a tale of woes he doesn't mention the factories migrating across the border to Ontario.

Dakar 2006

I'll be following the Dakar rally from 31 Dec until 15 January 2006. I'll be keeping an eye on the Bowler team with the hi-tech cars from Derbyshire.

The train now standing...

The Independent points out the muddle on main line services between London, the north and Scotland. Growing passenger numbers is accompanied by lack of investment. See what a dose of state planning can do.

Greek Tragedy

The Times has the story of how London won the Olympic bid due to a "Greek typing error." This is all the more upsetting to UK taxpayers who will foot the multi-billion pound bill for this discredited freak show. The lesson from the Greenwich Dome is, if you are going to waste other people's money, go big.

Keith Duckworth [more]

The Telegraph has a thoughtful and amusing obituary of Keith Duckworth. How did he achieve so much in the UK when the car business was in terminal decline? Motor racing is a hard school and he was one of the best.

Happy Christmas

Pic by: Owen Shaw

Have a Happy Christmas and good luck in 2006 from PunchBuggy.

Keith Duckworth

A master engineer is gone.

Marsh at the Melco

Great shot of Matthew Marsh at the Melco hairpin on the Macau Grand Prix circuit at the 2005 G.P.

Different train of thought

The stationmaster is long since gone
He faded off into the sun...
From "Orangedale Whistle", The Rankin Family.

Quite one of the best websites for old railway buffs that I have come across. Apart from the nostalgia you wonder at the abandonment of so much in the way of capital assets, which in many cases could still be of use today.

I fell for it

Owen Shaw talked me into going skiing for the first time in my life. Five miles cross country in the Hardwood Hills, north of Barrie. I fell over about ten times but battled round the course in just under three hours. We chose a little-used trail away from the throngs of competent school children - I should have started this lark a long time ago.

End of the road for the Routemaster

The Telegraph marks the passing of the Routemaster bus in the UK - although it continues on a couple of "heritage" routes. Check out the pictures. Reminds me of catching the 166 to Coulsdon when I was a lad, also going further afield to the cinema in Purley. We even ventured to London on several buses because it was cheaper than by train.

Brit rocky getaway

David Webb has quit the UK and settled in Kelowna, B.C., where he is running a winter-sports holiday business. [I last saw him on a Le Mans trip a few years back.] We wish him well in his new venture - must put Kelowna on my travel list. Check out his website here.

Class of '73, mostly...

This picture reaches me of old college chums - from the early seventies - meeting in Durham in early December for the Reunion 2005. Must try to make it myself next year. L to r back: Mark Lejk, Dougie Wordsworth, Nick Murphy. Front: Frank Robinson and Tim Gatenby.

Chrysler Route 66 retro

I had to blog this although the connection with Route 66 is tenuous. 47 miles per gallon, presumably Imperial gallon, seems pretty hard to beat in this [diesel] class. Who says that there are no easy ways to cut consumption? Auto Express has the story.
I drove a rental PT Cruiser in the early days and was impressed overall. I hope they have fixed the boulevard ride - not ideal on Route 66 - the bump, thump road. Funny how the Route 66 moniker still resonates. Wonder if they will bring this version to North America?

I've got friends in low places

Having heard from Dave Roadway in Keene, New Hampshire, scene of recent floods, see PunchBuggy Passim, it occured to me that old college chum John Wrigley also lived there. I've put the two in touch. I got a message from eagle-eyed Jack Kellett in the UK, who had also spotted the same connection.

Biloxi Blues

This picture reaches me of Chaplain Clive Anderson in Biloxi, Mississippi on his mission to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. He spent ten days in the delta and is contemplating a second trip. It was a pleasure to interview Chaplain Clive live on the phone on Rocket FM while I was in the UK.

Priaulx climbs the hill

Andy Priaulx talks to the Daily Telegraph. I remember him when he was driving at Prescott and Shelsley Walsh in the British Hillclimb Championship - now newly-crowned World Touring Car Champion for BMW. He has come a long way from Guernsey.