Must Really Get a Life!!

[Nigel H-J]

And let’s not forget Carlos Sainz senior (father of the rather good F1 driver) who is still an exceptional Rally driver, winning the Paris Dakar last year for Mini at 58 years old.

He has done very well in rallying but did not realise that he was still taking part at that age!! Must be some hope for me in getting up the ladder in Dirt Rally 2 then!!

Many thanks for that link Ben, will pass some time watching those videos whilst placed as 'high risk' along with the wife over Covid.

BTW, found the Metro 6r4 in Dirt Rally 2 and what a beast it is to drive, going to have to spend a few days on the nursery stages before giving it full wellie!!

Regards
Nigel.

[Vc Ten]

Good times Nigel.
Late 70s and into the 80s saw the RAC rally based in Chester quite a few times. The City Council thought it a cash cow and encouraged the organisers to visit frequently!
Mum took a photo of Hannu Mikkola at the finish line at the Castle winning, I think the 79 rally
The photo was framed and hung on the wall until destroyed in a house fire. Sadly I've never found the negatives.

Not many photos of the Imp but here's one

img034.jpg (135.9 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

[Nigel H-J]

Good Lord!! The Hillman Imp, after passing my driving test in 1968 I really took a liking to it, so much so that I asked my father if I could buy one with what money I had saved whilst working My father, who knew quite a bit about cars (he used to take the engines apart and re-tune them, even his company car did not escape his hobby) but he advised me not to as they had quite a bit of reliability problems, the car that he did recommend me having was a Morris 1000 but instead years later I bought a Morris 1100 from my cousin and it lasted years apart from some running repairs that is!!

The Hillman Imp actually won the British Saloon Car Championship a number of times, think those days were the best of motor racing right through to the early nineties.

Thanks for posting that, brought back quite a few memories to me of cars gone by!!

Regards
Nigel.

[Vc Ten]

I ran a moggie van which I paid £28.50, during the time I had the Imp, as it wasn't really practical for using to work and back. Yes the Imp did suffer reliability issues Mainly cooling, which if not kept on top of, led to overheating and a warped head. (The radiator was in the back along side the engine. It blocked with road crap which reduced its efficiency)
Glad you like the photo Il try to find a few more.
Dale

[Dev One]

I had 3 Imps in quick succession in the late 60's, early 70's, a Californian, a standard one for my wife & then a Stiletto. Got used to the overheating - having to unsolder the radiator header, clean the tubes & resolder it back on. Problem was there was not available a decent anti freeze suitable for cast iron & aluminium except for AL3 used on Merlins which wasn't that good, so the tubes clogged up with the corrosion products. Stiletto better as had another row of tubes. Then there was the water pump bearings & the rubber CV joints......Became very easy to disconnect & roll out the motor & trans axle, & keep the fan belt adjusted just so ( impending screech as it got to near slipping). Got the Stiletto to register 95 mph once, 4 up - well 2 adults & 2 pre teen kids. Not bad for a 750 Coventry Climax based motor.
Memories.......
Keith

[Vc Ten]

Fitted a front radiator in mine, Triumph Herald if I remember right. Coolant pipes ran through the passenger footwell and under the seat (used to get quite warm). Engine, wet lined 998 with wills ringed race rally head and 3/4 race cam. Pair 40 dcoe webers. Could get the mpg to single figures if I tried hard
Dale

[Dev One]

Fitted a front radiator in mine, Triumph Herald if I remember right. Coolant pipes ran through the passenger footwell and under the seat (used to get quite warm). Engine, wet lined 998 with wills ringed race rally head and 3/4 race cam. Pair 40 dcoe webers. Could get the mpg to single figures if I tried hard
Dale

Yes I noticed the front radiator & decambered front suspension. Wifes version wasn't decambered. IIRC there was a book published that showed how to do the front radiator mod & to soup up the motor, I think he rallied Imps. Not sure I could fit in one these days, but I used to pick up 3 co workers around the RAE Farnboro' in the Stiletto........
Keith

[Tako_Kichi]

Larry, Dale, how I envy you actually being part of a motorsport which sadly does not attract the same sort of attention now as it probably did during the last century.

Hi Nigel, rallying was just one aspect of motorsport I got involved with during my younger years. Before rallying I used to marshall at motorcycle grass-track races and motorcycle trials events. Later on I qualified as a Ham Radio operator and joined the UK's national emergency radio network where Hams would volunteer their time, skills and equipment for use during emergencies/disasters (Hams provided the only viable comms into and out of the Lockerbie disaster site for the first 4 days!) In order to train for operations teams would provide free communications services for local events of many sorts (road runs, marathons, charity events etc.) and I got to help out at 100 mile cross-country horse races, the Tall Ships regatta and every running of the Birmingham Super-prix: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Superprix (I even had a nice chat with Mike Smith (former Radio 1 DJ and TV presenter) once while he was walking back to the pits after putting his car into the wall at one of the corners!)

Maybe rallies are quite popular on pay to view rather than on Freeview but I well remember the times when Jimmy McCrea raced winning a number of rally championships as did his son who sadly died in a helicopter crash along with his son and 2 family members.

There is a ton of vintage and current rallying content on YouTube Nigel, just put 'rally' in the search bar and prepare to lose hours of your life for the foreseeable future!

[Molyned]

A coincidence Larry - I too was in RAYNET for some years. We once provided emergency radio cover for the RAC rally when it passed through a forest near here. We also covered the annual marathons etc. here.
Cheers
Dave M(oly)

[Tako_Kichi]

A coincidence Larry - I too was in RAYNET for some years. We once provided emergency radio cover for the RAC rally when it passed through a forest near here. We also covered the annual marathons etc. here.
Cheers
Dave M(oly)

A small world Dave! I used to cover the Potteries Marathon in Stoke-on-Trent as a motorcycle mobile unit so that I could get among the runners in order to monitor which ones may need medical assistance etc.

I was also a Civil Defence Volunteer in the UK and once a month I would operate Ham Radios from the depths of the local municipal nuclear bunker as if we were in a state of war! Exercise messages were passed between stations on the county network reporting 'fictitious' radiation levels, damage assessments, shelter stats and requirements, etc. Messages were sent via voice on FM and/or sideband and sometimes via morse code too just to keep the keys from seizing up!

After I moved to Canada I joined the local Ham Radio club and once they found out about my RAYNET experience the asked me set up a local branch of the North American equivalent, ARES (the Amateur Radio Emergency Service). I became the club's emergency co-ordinator and started liaising with neighbouring ARES groups in adjacent counties as the county I lived in had no ARES representation at all. The local group proved to be so successful that all the other Ham Radio clubs in the county wanted to get involved and I went from being the emergency co-ordinator for the local club to being the County Co-ordinator with five active ARES groups under my wing.