Back in the Field of Dreams

The weekend just gone marked the first anniversary of the muddy spectacle that was Shitefest 2016, and it was appropriately celebrated by being back in Chris and Claire's Field of Dreams. This year's official Shitefest took place at the beginning of the month at the Bubble Car Museum in Lincolnshire, but Chris decided to hold another open day in the field for visiting Autoshite members. So it was that another small group of shiters convened on Sunday for more tinkering, visiting cars this time including a beautiful Fiat X1/9 and a smart K-reg Astra diesel estate.

Unsung heroes: Volvo F86

So far this series has mainly profiled cars, plus a couple of buses and a taxi, but I have never yet looked at the unsung heroes of the trucking world. Today that changes as I pay tribute to a pioneer that made a huge impact on the British haulage industry but lives in the shadow of its more glamorous sister model. Spend just a few minutes watching the traffic on any trunk road and chances are the majority of the many trucks that pass by will be Volvos, such is the marque's dominance nowadays. It all started from humble beginnings half a century ago when a small Scottish dealership called Ailsa Trucks imported their first Volvo F86.

Where it all began - the very first F86 in the UK

The Quest continues

More about Quest 80

I haven't had much time for blogging lately as the show season is now in full swing. Last Sunday I was back at Gaydon for the truck show, but I'm not going to do a full review this time as it was the same deal as the last two years. My star of the show last year was B.R. Whorton's near-unique Quest 80 tipper, and this time they went one better and had both of them in attendance. That meant what is probably the world's entire population of Quest lorries were in one place, and a chat with the gentleman looking after them for the weekend revealed some more information so I can add extra detail to my original piece about Quest 80.

Every Quest lorry in existence in one photo

Unsung heroes: Metrocab

Along with the red Routemaster bus, the other instantly recognisable symbol of London and British public transport is the black cab. I can practically guarantee what you're now thinking of will inevitably be the Austin FX4 or Carbodies Fairway as it later became, a classic design that roamed the streets of the capital and many other areas in huge numbers for decades.

The FX4 wasn't the only bespoke taxi designed specifically to meet London's peculiar requirements though; its main rival may be much less famous and doesn't have the same quintessentially British image but carved out a formidable reputation among cabbies and gave many years of reliable service so I have nominated it as this month's unsung hero. I'm talking about the Metrocab, a vehicle that was an excellent taxi in own right but is very much overshadowed by the iconic nature of the FX4 so it rarely gets the recognition it deserves.

Looks like the offspring of a Granada and a Range Rover but much more modern than the FX4
(By Mic from Reading - Berkshire, United Kingdom - Reading, Berkshire - UK, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38713195)

Willington Classic Car Show

The late May bank holiday weekend can be a busy time for classic car owners, with no shortage of events throughout the country. My friend Mervyn organises a biannual show in his home village of Willington, near Bedford, so this was my destination yesterday. It is an informal event with no admission charge and no pre-booking, except for commercial vehicles to ensure space is available, so cars came and went throughout the afternoon and there was always something new to see. He estimated there was a record attendance this time of over 200 vehicles, and it was a very pleasant way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon.

 

Dream cars: Rover SD1 estate

BL's greatest missed opportunity? 

I like estate cars. I don't really know why but I just have a fascination with them and often find them more attractive than the saloon or hatchback on which they're based, with a few exceptions of course. I also like the Rover SD1 for its radical Ferrari-inspired styling, so combine the two and it's highly likely that the result will be greatly appealing to me. British Leyland's troubled history is littered with cancelled projects that might have been great but never saw the light of day for whatever reason, the advanced mid-engined Rover P6BS and Capri-rivalling Triumph Lynx among others. Perhaps the biggest missed opportunity of all is the proposed SD1 estate, which would have been a formidable rival to the big Volvos, Mercedes and Ford Granada and ranks highly on my list of dream cars.

How I wish I could own one of these...

The end of Little Chef

You may remember my popular piece on the decline of Little Chef written last year. Sadly it seems the optimism I expressed then was misplaced and things have changed completely in just a few short months: now Little Chef is not long for this world and is doomed to extinction just short of its 60th birthday. Stopping for my customary post-hospital lunch at Weston on the Green, I was disappointed to find notices on the counter saying they would be closing in just a few days' time to become a Starbucks, and talking to the staff revealed it wasn't just this branch but the entire chain that is closing down for good. Many of you might say good riddance to it, but I feel despite all its troubles Little Chef still had potential in the right hands to establish a place in today's world, and I for one will miss it. I guess I'll have to find somewhere else to eat after my hospital appointments in Oxford as its replacement doesn't serve what I call 'proper' food.

Unsung heroes: Chevrolet Corvair

Unsafe at any speed?

Today's unsung hero is the first American car in the series and another controversial choice. The Chevrolet Corvair is often cited as one of the worst cars of all time and ranked alongside such other disasters as the Edsel and the AMC Pacer, but was it really that bad? Yes, its reputation was ruined (unfairly as it turned out) by a best-selling book that condemned it as an inherently dangerous car, but the Corvair was actually very revolutionary for an automotive industry that had become set in its ways and reluctant to innovate, and inadvertently created a whole new market sector that was keenly exploited by other manufacturers. I think it deserves a reappraisal and here I present the case for the defence...

Is it really fair to call this one of the world's worst cars?
(By Charles01 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27794784)

Scrambling for Drive It Day

Bicester Heritage is somewhere every classic car fan really must visit. Based on the former RAF Bicester site, this unique place is a mecca for vehicle enthusiasts and aims to be the UK's first business park dedicated to classic motoring, hosting car clubs, workshops, dealers, storage facilities, driving experiences and much more. Sunday 23rd April was the national Drive It Day and one of Bicester Heritage's three annual 'Sunday Scramble' open days held in January, April and October, and being just a few miles from home it was a nice little run for the Maxi. It had been a couple of years since I last visited, and both the site and the event have grown massively since then. It has been suggested that more than 4000 tickets were sold and the majority seemed to be for exhibitors so there must have been well over a thousand cars on display.

When did you last see a Vauxhall Viceroy? This bland-looking saloon was one of the rarest cars there.

A trucking good Easter

For most people, Easter Sunday is a time of rest and relaxation. Not for me though as I headed to Jacks Hill Cafe near Towcester for their annual Vintage Truck Gathering. Having never been before, I was expecting a small event featuring a couple of dozen vehicles, but was amazed to discover around a hundred trucks in attendance, covering all eras from pre-war to the early 21st century, along with a lot of motorbikes and a handful of classic cars and light commercials. The event started at 9am and I arrived around 11 to find cars parked all along the verges and the place teeming with people and vehicles.

Trucks everywhere as a Ford Transcontinental squeezes out