Life On Cars gets a guest column in Classic Car Weekly!

2013 Ormskirk MotorFest proves a spectacular petrolhead success

WHAT do a Le Mans-winning Bentley, some thundering stock racers and a brigade of cute old bubble cars have in common?

 If, like me, you were one of the thousands of petrolheads to pay a visit to Ormskirk last weekend then you’ll already know the answer, because all three – and about 300 other cars and bikes besides – were the stars of a free-for-all motorsport spectacular which managed to get the town’s one-way system echoing to a spot of V8 thunder.

This year’s Ormskirk MotorFest, thanks partly to a welcome helping of scorching sunshine, has managed what I was suspecting to be impossible; attracting even more visitors to Ormskirk than the previous two.

With my slightly sick-sounding MG having only limped to the show’s static displays this year (it’s in need of a bit of classic car TLC) I gave going out in the parade a miss this year, but that meant I could really revel in looking around some of the stunning machinery on show. Sure, there was the very Bentley which stormed to victory at Le Mans a decade ago taking pride of place by the clock tower, but it only took a little extra digging to discover some equally eyeball-grabbing cars with some fantastic stories behind them – take, for instance, the 1948 Allard which just happens to be the exact same car the company showed off at the London Motor Show in Earls Court 65 years ago.

A car that’s now cherished by a car lover in Holmeswood, which brings me to the heart of what I love about the Ormskirk MotorFest – that almost all of the cars and bikes are from Sefton, West Lancashire, and the immediate surrounding area. Ormskirk on the August Bank Holiday Sunday has, a result, become an opportunity for thousands of you to find just how much passion there is for motoring in this part of the world.

It was a treat to see the flotilla of 1950s bubble cars being followed up the hill towards the parish church by a succession of Jags, Astons and Bentleys, but it was even more of a joy to see the crowds which had turned out to see them. When Wilf Blundell’s old stock car racer fired into life, the atmosphere tingled with excitement.

In an age where I’ve seen people happily pulling in excess of £50 out of their pockets to pay for a car show ticket, there’s something wonderfully egalitarian about thousands of people packing into Ormskirk, free of charge, to see some beautiful cars strutting their stuff on the town’s streets.

I’ll redouble my efforts to get the MG mended for next year’s event!

The Nürburgring is paradise for petrolheads

AS I SIPPED on a cold Weissbeer and clocked the sight of dozens of classic cars lining the street I came to a conclusion. I had discovered Disneyland for cars.

Imagine taking a beautiful swathe of heavily-forested German countryside and carving a racetrack through it so large that entire villages nestle within it. Then populate the entire area with lovely people, almost of all whom speak perfect English, and brim the tanks in every bar until they’re almost overflowing with frothy, continental beer. Finally, organise a big party and invite pretty much everyone in the whole of Europe with an even vaguely nice car to bring it over and have a blast. That’s pretty much why the Nürburgring is the ultimate petrolhead pilgrimage. It really is a theme park dedicated entirely to burning rubber and revving engines.

A colleague and I were there – via a ferry trip to Rotterdam and a blast across Holland in an MGB that’s considerable shinier than mine – to cover something called the AVD Oldtimer Grand Prix, which sounds a bit tally-ho but is in fact three days of watching BMW M1s, Jaguar E-Types and even old Lotus F1 cars screaming around the home of the German Grand Prix.

The Nürburgring complex really is like AutoDisney, with a tacky gift shop to match – I resisted the urge to blow 40 Euros on a toaster which burns the outline of the Nürburgring onto your freshly heated bread – but in truth it was the party atmosphere in the villages within ‘Ring country which make it worth the visit.

Swiss-registered Ferraris, French Alpine A310s and more German-registered 911s than I’ve ever seen parked up right alongside the MG, which was flying the flag for British car fans – and almost everyone wanted to enjoy a chinwag, and to hell with the language barrier. As the sun set over the 15th-century timbered buildings in the centre of Adenau and the evening light highlighted the soft curves on a hundred sports cars, I realised I’d found an absolute gem of a place.

In fact, my only real regret was not being able to experience AutoDisney’s answer to Space Mountain, Oblivion and The Pepsi Max Big One rolled into one; the fearsome Nordschleife, which with 79 corners over no less than 13 miles is the longest (and possibly scariest) racetrack anywhere in the world. A scary racetrack which pretty much anyone, for the sake of 20 Euros, can drive around!

There’s always a next time, of course, but even though I’ve yet to sample its biggest attraction I can safely say the cars and the feelgood vibe alone should put the Nürburgring on any car lover’s list of holiday destinations.

Ormskirk MotorFest ready to rev up for 2013 event

Some of the world’s most exciting cars and motorbikes will be taking to the streets at a full-throttle spectacular in West Lancashire this weekend.

A total of 300 vehicles have been entered into this year’s Ormskirk MotorFest, with some of the big draws including the Bentley Speed Eight which won Le Mans a decade ago. The day-long event, which encompasses static displays in Ormskirk’s Coronation Park and town centre and parades on the one-way system, takes place this Sunday (August 25).

Alongside the event's traditional draws, including displays in both the town centre and Coronation Park, will be an autosolo event, which revs into action at 11.30am in the car park of the town's Park Pool facility.

Then, of course, there's the series of spectacular street parades, with scores of stunning cars and bikes showing off what they can do on the town's one-way system, including one of the biggest moving displays of bubble cars anywhere in the country.

With so much on offer and admission being completely free of charge, it should prove to be an unmissable event for motoring enthusiasts from across the North West.

 For more information visit the event’s Facebook page or go to www.ormskirkmotorfest.com

Le Mans Bentley racer confirmed for Ormskirk MotorFest

A 217MPH Bentley which raced to victory at Le Mans has just been confirmed as one of the stars of this month's Ormskirk MotorFest.

Aintree Circuit Club, which organises the annual motorsport-themed spectacular, said today the Bentley Speed 8 GT racing car, which competed in the 24 hour race in 2003, will take part in this year's event in the West Lancashire market town on August 25.

Mike Ashcroft, the club's chairman, told Life On Cars: "We are absolutely delighted that Bentley Motors have agreed to bring their priceless Le Mans winning Speed 8 racing car to MotorFest. This car won the world's most famous race in 2003 and is maintained in full running order at Bentley's motorsport HQ at the Crewe factory.

"This is a fantastic opportunity to see this fantastic engineering masterpiece in the flesh! The car will be on display throughout the event in the Moor Street race paddock."

In previous years the event has played host to the likes of the Ferrari Enzo and the McLaren MP4-12C, as well as allowing thousands of petrolheads to see Grand Prix cars taking to the town's one way system.

The Ormskirk MotorFest takes place in and around Ormskirk town centre from 11am on Sunday, August 25. To find out more visit the official website.

The motoring mysteries Life On Cars still needs to solve

THIS year is definitely the year of the anniversary. Porsche’s 911 is 50, the Corvette is 60, and even the humble Hillman Imp has knocked up its first half century.

So it’s probably passed you by that today marks four years since Life On Cars choked into cyberspace for the first time. Since then, this blog – and the sister newspaper column in The Champion – have gone on a high octane journey through a world of car shows, reviews and test drives, taking in a few broken down Minis and sunburnt afternoons along the way.

However, there are a few questions which – despite having a finger on the pulse of all matters motoring since 2009 – still haven’t been answered. Niggling issues and unsolved mysteries, such as…

Does The Audi Lane actually exist? 

The more I drive on motorways, the more I’m convinced the outer lane has – perhaps through the signing of a secret EU protocol at a summit in deepest Ingolstadt – been reserved exclusively for cars with four rings on the radiator grille. Whether you’re in an entry-level A1 or a thumping A7 V12 TDI, your 95mph entrance into The Audi Lane is politely welcomed. Daring to venture there, however, in anything other than an Audi seems to result in the image above dominating your rear view mirror…

Can I get Allegrodote into the motoring lexicon?

An Allegrodote, in case you missed the article earlier this year, is an anecdote solely covering the Austin Allegro, particularly if it’s one that isn’t true. With BL’s great hatchback hope itself celebrating its fortieth birthday, it’d be great to see whether the car which inspires more urban myths than any other could be given its own special term to mark the anniversary.

Is the Renault Clio the most sensible secondhand car ever?

It struck me earlier today that almost everyone I know seems to have an owned a second generation Renault Clio, made by the French firm between 1998 and 2006. Whether it’s the 1.5DCI diesel – of £30 a year road tax fame – or the strikingly quick Renaultsport Clio 172, they do seem to reflect frankly ridiculous value for money. Which is why, I suspect, most of my mates have got one.

Why do cheeseburgers at car shows always cost £5.50? 

This one I’ve yet to understand – a cheeseburger at a car show, whether you’re in Dorset or Cheshire, Lancashire or Lanarkshire, almost always costs £5.50, making me suspect there’s some sort of layby-based cabal somewhere determining the price. That is, of course, with the exception of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which when I visited earlier this year marked itself out as a car show of a higher calibre. This, I think, explains the £8 you paid for a burger there.

What will the next Fiat 500 spinoff be? 

We’ve already had the 500C, the Abarth, the hideous 500L, the even more hideous 500L MPW and now the frankly unbearable 500L Tracking. Chances are that by this time next year you’ll be able to buy a 500 Roadster, a 500XXL Fire Engine, a 500 Beach Buggy and perhaps a 500 Submarine. All of which will be worth £500 in a used car auction near you in the not-too-distant future.

Can you go green-laning in an electric car? 

I was wondering this earlier today when I’d stopped laughing at the Hummer electric car a UK design firm has come up with. Land Rover came up with an electric Defender earlier this year, but I am left wondering what would happen to an electric 4X4 if, for instance, you took it wading through a river in the Cumbrian countryside. Potentially, the results could be shocking…

Why are Peugeot interiors always messy?

An old colleague of mine got so cross when I put this particular pet theory across that the column I’d been planning for that week got quietly canned, for offending owners of 307s everywhere. It does, however, leave the ongoing mystery as to why so many unloved car interiors I’ve seen are in Peugeots, from a 406 Estate practically blacked by cigarette smoke, the 407 with Seventies-esque disco lighting on account of its numerous technical warnings, and a 206 lined with old McDonalds bags and a distinct whiff of vomit, even though it was barely a year old at the time.

Do ‘GB’ plates make you motor look more modern? 

A mate of mine put this to me today and – annoyingly – he’s absolutely right, although I’m not entirely sure why. All afternoon I’ve been checking out whether cars have the telltale EU blue strip at the side of the numberplate, and determined that all the cars that do somehow look newer than otherwise identical ones which don’t. Weird, but true.

Why are all classic cars described online as ‘BRAN FIND’? 

Genuine classics which are in ‘barn find’ condition are worth a fortune – witness, for instance, the E-Type which sold at auction for £109,000 after spending most of its life hidden away in the aforementioned agricultural building. However, that doesn’t excuse clumsy eBay sellers flogging any old tat as a ‘barn find’, inadvertently mis-spelling it as ‘BRAN FIND’ in the process. In the world of crap secondhand buys, any car of any age or merit can be described as ‘BRAN FIND’ if it's spent even a short of amount of time in a garage or other building.

Will my MGB GT ever be finished? 

Speaking of which, my MGB – which actually did spend a decade of its life in a barn – has over the past three of Life On Cars’ four years kept me busy with visits to shows and appearances in the pages of Classic Car Weekly. While it’s had a small fortune spent on it there are many, many jobs it could still benefit from – least of all, a proper tune up after its latest excursion made it sound like a cement mixer with a cold. I wager, though, that it’s the automotive equivalent of painting the Forth Bridge. Maybe it’s a job that’s never meant to get finished…

Life On Cars thanks both of its readers for all their support over the past four years

American cars? Be careful what you wish for

IT’S the baking heat, one too many cheeseburgers, and The Beach Boys blasting out over the loudspeakers which I blame for my latest motoring misadventure.

Cast your mind back a couple of weeks, to that first swelteringly hot Saturday of July. While you were queuing up for ice cream served by a bald bloke in the back of an ancient Bedford van I was rolling up in the grounds of a stately home in Cheshire that, for the day at least, had become a little overseas corner of California. Acres of nothing but old American cars – that’s the Stars ‘n’ Stripes show at Tatton Park for you.

Old Yank tanks aren’t normally my bag but what started out as a work assignment quickly became an indulgence in fins, chrome and people wearing precious little but denim shorts and cowboy hats. As Sweet Home Alabama belted out of the stereo and I wandered, slightly heat hazed, through a sea of Confederate flags, pick-up trucks and Cadillacs, I might have got a bit carried away with the whole yee-ha-aren’t-American-cars-brilliant thing. I left Tatton Park not just with plenty of pictures, but my very own American dream too.

Wouldn’t It Be Nice, I pondered, to don my best pair of shades, stick on a cowboy hat and get behind the wheel of an American car myself? My head, for about a fortnight afterwards, was full of ideas. Perhaps I could lower the power-operated hood on a ’62 Cadillac – so much cooler than the Thelma and Louisa ’59 model – and cruise down the nearest sun-kissed boulevard, or play the rebel without a clue in a Chevrolet El Camino SS (Google it, trust me). I even entertained the idea, despite the ongoing Queer As Folk connotations in this country, of blagging a go in a Jeep Wrangler.

I really, really, wanted to go for a drive in an American car. Unfortunately, fate dealt me with a cruel hand and gave me one.

True, it was a Chevy, but it wasn’t an old Corvette or Bel Air. It wasn’t even the intriguingly entertaining Camaro Convertible I tried last year. It was a Captiva, which is the Vauxhall Antara’s cheapskate American cousin. Only it isn’t really all that American because – like the Antara – it was developed and made in South Korea. Not that I’d mind if it was any good, but it isn’t. It’s roomy and generously equipped, for sure, but it’s not especially nice to drive, uninspiring to look at, and the materials on the inside feel at least a generation behind most of the competition. It’s not as bad as Ssangyong’s Korando, but that other Korean contender, Kia’s Sportage, runs rings around the Captiva.

Worst of all, it’s a Chevrolet, so you know full well that while your Stateside cousins are lapping up the sunshine in proper American cars, you’re getting lumbered with what’s basically a old Daewoo cast-off. Still, I was looking for a drive in an American car, and I sort of got one.

As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.

Lydiate Classic Car Show nails the feelgood vibe

THERE was a back-to-basics vibe about last weekend’s Lydiate Classic Car Show which I couldn’t help but love.

If you were there – and chances are that, if you’re a petrolhead in this part of the world, you were – you’ll know what I’m on about, but if you weren’t then you missed a treat. For the past six summers there’s been a gathering of all things automotive and vaguely old in a field behind the parish hall, but it’s got better and better to the point where I reckon it’s blossomed into a bit of a gem in the classic car nut calendar.

Sure, there was the usual brigade of Triumphs, MGs and Healey Sprites lapping up the summer sunshine (including a slightly shabby MGB GT owned by a certain Champion contributor) but this year’s show in particular really did have something for everyone, with everything from 1930s Rolls-Royces to 1950s bubble cars to the two-stroke clatter of a procession of Vespa and Lambretta scooters.

In fact, my favourite car of the show by far was a 1955 Land Rover – I’ve got a soft spot for old Series Ones – which had a used ‘n’ abused look which lent it a nostalgic patina in a sea of glinting chrome and polished paintwork. Everyone I spoke to at last Sunday’s show came up with the same verdict – that it was a cracker, even if you discount the sizzling sunshine which has left my face and arms a painful shade of Parcelforce red.

Lydiate’s show is, in the simplest terms, a field with some old cars and a couple of stalls thrown it, but it’s the atmosphere which makes it such an appealing event. By keeping it simple, the organisers have nailed something even far bigger shows sometimes struggle with. A feelgood vibe.

The best thing, though, was that the £2 entry fee wasn’t going to brim someone’s pocket – every single penny went to Cancer Research UK, including the sponsorship money provided by Maghull firm P & G Motor Factors, who stepped in at the last minute to provide the volunteers with a bit of a funding boost. The hi-vis jacketed volunteers running around herding Ford Zodiacs into makeshift parking spaces really were volunteers too – doing it because they loved it – and my hat goes off to them for it.

I love giving a few quid to the charity as much as the next chap but I reckon taking my MG to a classic car show is far more fun than running a marathon or sitting in a bathtub brimmed with beans.

For more pictures and a full report from the Lydiate Classic Car Show check out next week's edition of Classic Car Weekly, published on Wednesday, July 17.

Lydiate Classic Car Show takes place this weekend!

ANYONE who loves their classic cars and bikes will love a celebration of all things motoring being held for a very good cause in Lydiate this weekend.

The Lydiate Classic Car Show, which takes place at Lydiate Parish Hall this Sunday (July 7) will see dozens of enthusiasts from across Merseyside, West Lancashire and further afield show off their vehicles to help raise much-needed funds for Cancer Research UK.

Among the show's classic car entrants will be the Life On Cars MGB GT - fresh from its latest appearance in Classic Car Weekly - and visitors can check out dozens of classic saloons, sports cars, coupes and plenty more at the Merseyside venue, opposite the Scotch Piper pub.

The show, which takes place between 10am and 4pm, costs £2 to attend, with proceeds going to Cancer Research UK. For more information visit the event's Facebook group.

Woodvale Transport Festival 2013

SOMEHOW it was appropriate a replica of that great wartime symbol of British optimism – the Spitfire – stood proudly at the heart of last weekend’s Woodvale Transport Festival.

I could sense a bit of Battle of Britain spirit at Victoria Park last Saturday morning, when the elements did their best to dampen everyone’s spirits for this year’s events. I’ve seen many a show – even the bigger, most lavishly funded ones – turn into a bit of a damp squib on account of typically British summer weather, but a bit of stiff upper lip meant the show carried on. Right on cue, it brightened up as Saturday morning got into its swing.

To say I’d been looking forward to this year’s Woodvale Transport Festival is an understatement. Even though I’ve been to hundreds of different car shows for as long as I can remember Woodvale is my ‘home’ show and the one I’ve grown up with. From my days as spotty boy scout picking up litter to more recent years when I’ve displayed my own classic on the club stands, it’s always been the one show I’ve put in my diary to get along to. That’s why I convinced Classic Car Weekly to let me come home, get the camera out and immerse myself in this year’s event.

It’s because of my fondness for the rally that I left feeling both slightly sad, but more importantly, optimistic. I thought this year’s show suffered slightly, mainly because of the weather, but perhaps also because the name still links it to the airfield extravaganzas of previous years. Smaller shows can and do work – you only need to look at the classic car gatherings in Lydiate and up at Bank Hall each summer to see that – but the reactions I got from speaking to visitors last weekend was that a bit of a mixed bag.

The Woodvale Transport Festival had some great ingredients – a great venue (as the Southport Flower Show proves), keen exhibitors, a host of classic car owners, model plane owners and other enthusiasts who can’t wait to bring their toys along, organisers committed to its success, and a whole town keen to support it -- but I can’t help feeling this year’s event was an opportunity missed.

I don’t think it’s unfair to say the show’s had its ups and downs over the past few years – through, it must be said, no fault of the organisers or those who support it – but I think the show’s future as a top draw event for Southport, not an airfield just outside Formby, is a bright one.

Every cloud – even the literal one that lingered over the show for much of last weekend – has a silver lining.

Originally published in The Southport Champion, June 26, 2013

Why I'm looking forward to the Woodvale Transport Festival

A celebration of classic cars, bikes and other means of transport gets underway in the heart of Southport tomorrow (June 22).

The Woodvale Transport Festival - the newly rebranded Woodvale Rally – takes place in Victoria Park in the seaside resort, and will be welcoming enthusiasts from across the North West from 10am on both Saturday and Sunday, with admission for adults costing £5.

 I’ll be there too, donning my best Classic Car Weekly-branded jacket and taking pictures aplenty of owners proudly showing off their old Triumphs, MGs and so on. So far I’ve already been to a smorgasbord of shows for CCW, including the Bristol Classic Car Show, Manchester’s Passion for Power, the Donington Historic Festival and most recently the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power, so what made me so keen to make the journey to a much smaller show, held in a park in a northern seaside resort?

 Put simply; it’s my home show, and the one I can remember going to for as long as I can remember.

One of the earliest existing photographs of me involves me standing next to an E-type at the Woodvale Rally, as a pre-pubescent car nut who wandered around the airfield with his dad. Then I spent years litter-picking with the scouts, followed by a stint of helping Mr Simister Senior with the displays at the Red Rose Land Rover Club, and then finally the day came when I could start showing off my own classics at the show. It’s also the first show of any kind where I’ve displayed my own classic, when my old Mini coughed into the venue way back in 2009.

I don’t think it’s unfair to say the show’s had its ups and downs over the past couple of years, but I can’t wait to see what the organisers are going to do with this year’s event. A change of name, a change of price, and a venue, don’t forget, that hosts one of the country’s best known flower shows.

Can’t wait!

Keep an eye out for David’s report on the Woodvale Transport Festival in Classic Car Weekly.

Cholmondeley Pageant of Power 2013

THE sight, sound and smell of supercars strutting their stuff at a stately home in Cheshire proved a bombardment for the senses last weekend.

It’s that wonderful time of year when the sun tries its best to break through the cloud, scores of mouthwatering motors emerge from hibernation, and enterprising petrolheads bring them all together in fields and parks across the north west. It is, if you’re really into wandering around looking at automotive exotica, entirely possible to end up at a car show every single weekend because there’s so many of them across the north west, to the point where you have to start being picky about which ones you go to!

The Cholmondeley Pageant of Power, however, is one I’ll always put down in my diary, because it’s a bombardment to the automotive senses. If you haven’t been – and you should, because it’s only an hour away in the car, in the greener bits of deepest Cheshire – then you’re missing out on a treat. In a nutshell, it involves taking over the grounds of a stately home, turning it into a sort of improvised racetrack and then setting off some of the world’s most exciting cars around it to see how fast they can go. Not only can you get up close to Ferraris and Bugattis and scary Group B rally cars, but you can watch them burning rubber and going flat out too.

I tried totting up the value of the various bits of automotive exotica parked up in the paddock but I lost count when I got to the trio of Le Mans-winning Bentleys – and instead just immersed myself in how stunning these bits of motoring beauty were. I’d try and listen to the loudspeakers for more information for the commentators, but every 30 seconds or so he’d be drowned out by the sound of a Ford GT40 roaring past. Then, if you trapsed past the food stalls and hunted down the rally sections, you could decide whether you’d prefer a Ford Escort RS1800 or a Group B Audi Quattro in your dream garage!

The spectacle of seeing, hearing and even smelling these incredible machines makes the Pageant of Power of what it is, and it was great that thousand of people were enjoying it alongside me, even when it was chucking it down with rain. If you managed to make it to Cholmondeley last weekend, you’ll know why I rate it as one of the best motoring events not just in the north west, but in the whole country. If you didn’t, make sure you jot the dates of next year’s event down in your diary.

It really is that good.

For more pictures and a full report from the event, check out Classic Car Weekly on Wednesday, June 19.

Get set for the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power

Petrolheads can check out some of the world’s most exciting motors at a full-throttle show taking place in Cheshire this weekend.

The Cholmondeley Pageant of Power, which takes place on June 15 and 16, is being billed as one of the north west’s biggest motoring events and will give petrolheads the chance to see supercars and classics alike in action.

James Hall, event director for the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power, said: “The idea behind the Pageant is simple – to create the UK’s most thrilling day out and to ensure admission prices are incredible value for visitors.

“With some of the world’s most famous, most beautiful and loudest cars, from all areas of motorsport, this year’s Pageant will be bigger, better and louder, consolidating its reputation as a must-attend event.”

Relive the highlights of last year's event by clicking here and here.