Boston Classic Car show and other stuff.

And now for something completely different....

Well it was a busy old weekend with so many events going on it was hard to work out which to get involved with, in the end I decided on doing Newark auto jumble in the morning and then joining Malc and Russ at the Boston classic car show in the afternoon. We had already dispatched 2 cars on Friday - the Metro 6R4 group b car and Malc's 1275 mini  had been collected, we would be bringing them back at the end of the show. Malc had rather generously got involved in a charity event for an 8 year old lad that had died of cancer, he was a keen go karter and the karting center wanted to have a do and raise some money in his name, they had asked Malc if he could help. Malc being Malc cancelled the day out he had planned and agreed to turn up with the Group B Renault turbo and the ex Didier Auriol group a Lancia Delta Integrale, both cars were a massive hit and folk were round them like bees round a honey pot - I wasn't there but have seen the photos.

The money making idea was to raffle off a ride in one of the cars for one lucky winner, Malc thought that wasn't fair on all the others so changed it to a tenner a ride for whoever wanted one. It went down an absolute storm and 250 was raised and many happy memories made. This really is Malc at his absolute best, he is so generous with his time and stuff, he made a lot of people very happy indeed that morning and did something good for the charity too.

I should stress that Malc is now 80 and doing stuff like this must be hard, the cars are not easy to drive or get in and out of but he stuck to the task and did 25 runs in total, a pretty decent achievement for somebody half his age. He really wanted to make everybody's day, well done Malc it really is a privilege to know you. 

Russ took care of the cars and made it all possible, the clever bugger finally worked out why the brakes kept locking up on the Integrale too - something we have been chasing for a while but it only showed itself when everything got really hot, we couldn't recreate it in the workshop. Turns out it was something really simple, the caps on the fluid reservoirs didn't have breather holes. The brakes had locked and when he was trying to see why he undid the lid and heard a hissing sound followed by the brakes releasing. We need to get caps with breathers in, it will all be fine then. Well done Russ, you really are a top bloke, you saved the day again.

Meanwhile, I was at Newark auto jumble wasting my morning selling less than 20 quids worth of stuff having paid 31 quid to stand there and burnt another tenner in diesel. I got hardly anything off my buying list, just the wheel spacers Malc asked me to look out for and a bike stand I probably didn't really need. I couldn't find any of the stuff on my extensive list, although I did find a replacement tank for the Itom, so that sort of saved the day from being a total loss. Nobody was spending any money, I don't think we sold anything over a fiver, even the bottles of Yamaha branded lubricants that should have been a tenner that we were selling for a quid went out one or two bottles at a time. But when people have to pay a tenner each to get in and another tenner for a piss poor quality burger and a cup of tea it's perhaps not too surprising. The organisers need to wake up - it's nothing like it was and putting prices up isn't the answer. It's frustrating, I don't think I will go again, this is the 4th time in a row that we have tried it and made a loss. It's great if you are Henry Cole and everybody wants to say they have bought something from you but for the rest of us the reality is a harsh one. We were sat opposite Jack Rundle from Junktion Antiques, he had some absolutely corking stuff on his stall and I don't think I saw him sell one thing.

Anyway from there it was back home then straight back out to pick up the van from Malcolm's so I could go to the car show and tow one of the cars home, Malc and Russ joined me later with the Integrale and Renault on the transporter and trailer, we left them on there so people could see them but didn't feel like taking them off only to have to put them back on 2 hours later. The mini was with our good friends at the South Lincs Mini Club's stand, the 6R4 had pride of place outside the Boston Car Club's marquee, where it attracted an awful lot of attention. Also attracting a lot of attention was the wonderful Sarah Crabtree from Bangers and Cash, who did a splendid job of awarding the prizes. It was an outstanding show, packed with cars and people, lots of varied trade stands and charity tombolas, all that sort of stuff and the weather couldn't have been better, can't wait for the next one, I will spend all day there regardless of whatever else is going on, it is the best show I have been to in many years.

A real bonus was I met a chap called Billy who had built a rather splendid Honda RC163 replica such as I am currently building so to see that close up and have a chat with him was massively valuable, I hope he will keep in touch, he thinks he may know somebody that can help with the fairing.

When it came to packing up time we had a bit of a change of plan, there seemed little point towing anything home behind the van when we would have to come back for car number 4 anyway so me and Russ left Malc in the beer tent and took the two cars already loaded back to the bowl, unloaded them and came back for the 6r4 and the mini. Russ drove those back, I brought Malc back in the van, it all worked out splendidly. 

It ended up being a very long and tiring day for an old crock like me, 05:30 start 7pm finish, lots of driving, loading, unloading, walking and talking but it was one of the best days I have had without being on holiday. I got to spend time with Russ and Malc outside of the workshop environment, we always have a good day when that happens. The cars that raised the money at Tattershall both came back with minor battle scars, thanks to bollards jumping out and a layout that is designed for karts rather than cars but Russ is a genius when it comes to that sort of thing and this time next week nobody will ever know. Unless some idiot writes about it and puts it on the internet, obviously.