Pre 68 cars to be raced this Sunday Hednesford

[monzaE]

Bangers - Pre 68 Over 172617 Nik Sweet Rover P533 Simon Reed Austin 3 Litre36 Stephen West Rover P539 Steve Moore Damiler DS42040 Peter Stanley Rover P590 Mark Bartlett Jaguar 420107 Richard Horwell 4 Litre R Van Den Plas185 Stan Yaxley Jaguar Mk10202 Mike Kilford Austin 3 Litre209 Andy Brough Rover P5216 Nigel Baker Jaguar 420G272 Gary Murrell Damiler DS420 Hearse290 Jay Tomkins Jaguar Mk10371 Paul White 4 Litre R Van Den Plas446 Jason Bart Rover P5456 Steve Allan Rover P5 Coupe517 Scott Weldon Damiler DS420575 Phillip Nunn Volvo Amazon601 Lee Usher Rover P5747 Chris "Chips" Pearse Triumph 2000800 Thomas Hannah Jaguar Mk10917 John Millen Jaguar Mk10999 Paul Norman Rover P6Bangers - Pre 68 Under 17265 Stacey Murphy Hillman Minx17 Andrew Walsh Ford Corsair18 Richard Webb Humber Sceptre30 (303) Jason Oliver Humbre Sceptre39 Bobby Janes Ford Cortina Mk244 Roger Squire Hillman Hunter46 Cliff Friend Singer Vogue52 Ceri-Martin Curry Triumph 130055 James Ogborn Ford Cortina Mk263 Roland Fronius Hillman Super Minx64 Mark Dawson Austin Cambridge67 Alan Ganter Morris Oxford Traveller69 John Cope Riley 4/7275 Stephen Thacker Wolseley 16/6078 Lee Macey A6096 Dave Tancock Vauxhall Victor102 George Crump Hillman Hunter106 Shaun McKnight Austin Cambridge107 Dave Joyner Austin Cambridge114 Martin Lake Austin Cambridge118 Walter Waite Hillman Super Minx122 Steve Durkin Morris Oxford125 Roy Preece Ford Zephur 4140 Neil Breary Ford Cortina Mk2141 Daniel Steele Wolseley 16/60152 James Dillon Austin Cambridge154 Paul John De Paiva Wolseley 16/60165 Steven Chopping Hillman Minx166 Guy Chopping Singer Vogue167 David Rawsthorne Hillman Super Minx186 Nigel Raymond Hillman Minx189 Richard Myshrall Humber Sceptre193 Graham Black Hillman Hunter198 Marcus Goldsmith Singer Vogue205 Darren Fletcher Hillman Minx256 Jamie Turner Singer Gazelle262 Eugene Barnard Singer Vogue266 Alan Roskell Wolseley 16/60270 Paul Joyce Austin Cambridge A60271 Marc Dalgarno Morris Oxford272 Gary Murrell Wolseley 16/60300 Jon Ayles Austin Cambridge A55303 Brian Cope Ford Classic311 Danny Smithson Austin Cambridge A55315 Jason Ayles Hillman Minx351 Steve Baker Morris Oxford362 Matt Godden Hillman Minx363 Sam Trim Morris Oxford384 John Golden Austin Cambridge395 Joe Donworth Wolseley 16/60396 Scott Mowlam HUmber Sceptre404 Rob Mills Austin Cambridge418 Ben Edwards Austin Cambridge A50455 Luke Stone Hillman Super Minx467 Jon Plater Morris Oxford476 Matthew Rogers Austin A60501 Steven Kaye Ford Prefect 107E507 Paul Ashby Wolseley 15/60509 Les Dolan Singer Gazelle520 Derek Caton Humber Sceptre528 John Fogg Singer Gazelle587 Alex Humphreys Singer Vogue761 James Perry Morris Oxford774 Jason Spackman Wolseley 18/85 Auto775 David High Austin 1800 Hearse796 Dave Steeds Vauxhall FC 101 Estate800 Thomas Hannah Ford Cortina Mk2801 Mike English Hillman Super Minx814 Mark Millen Austin Cambridge A60911 Chris Harkess Hillman Minx920 Simon Sparrow Austin Cambridge A60961 Carl Horwood Austin A60

[Mash]

Blimey, that's a lot of cars. Notice there's a Wolseley 15/60 in there - very scarce.Hope they ARE all beyond redemption....

[55bloke]

Who in their right mind would banger a drivable Mk 2 Cortina? Surely they're worth too much money these days to do that? Not to mention a Corsair and a Classic? It really should be illegal!! Yes, I know, we've done this debate to death, but honestly.......!!

[VWPowered]

hope they all get flat tyres

[CortinaDave]

its only really the top spec 1600E and lotus cortinas that fetch strong money... supers and deluxes etc are still worth very little, so a ropey example wouldnt be worth restoringPlus I really dont like them Some nice cars in there though - i hope at least they were stripped for spares although on things like the Hunters it is a shame to think that good body panels may be being destroyed.. trying to get any panels for a hunter now is nigh on impossible.

[Guest]

52 Ceri-Martin Curry Triumph 1300

Seems a strange choice .Sad to see Hunters there-hope they sold the removed parts.

[bigstraight6]

Who in their right mind would banger a drivable Mk 2 Cortina? Surely they're worth too much money these days to do that? Not to mention a Corsair and a Classic? It really should be illegal!! Yes, I know, we've done this debate to death, but honestly.......!!

Yes, it sucks doesn't it. A couple of locals to me are doing this and they've spent every evening for weeks at their place of work that I pass every day preparing an A60 and Triumph 2000 for the annaul festival of destruction, Must have very understanding wives.

[Simon M]

Where are all these BMC Farinas still coming from? Surely there should only be three left now?

[RedSparrow]

Where are all these BMC Farinas still coming from? Surely there should only be three left now?

I worry about this, I think they're great looking cars.Luckily they seem to have a strong following so theres still a few about.A bloke my dad knows had a very good condition Riley 4/72 nicked from outside his house a couple of years ago. I wonder why...

[whitevanman]

in my somewhat limited experiance of banger racers, most sell on the trim to recoup costs.........but ulimatly the cars get raced because we " the good and righteous" dont buy them to restore.....or unwilling to pay the price for them.......so instead of bemoaning a cars demise...........buy the bloody thing and save it..................................ps < I've saved several Cortinas recently to see their next owners sell it for racing or stripped for parts......you can only loose so much money then reality strikes....most folk care but wont put up the dosh

[Cavcraft]

Fair point whitevanman. I expect some people will moan like hell when they see some of those cars getting raced but a few will have been offered for sale and no-one bit.I've seen an Austin 3-litre abandoned looking on someone's drive about 30 miles from here and might drop a note through their door one day. If Farinas are rare now Christ knows how few 3-litres are left

[morris_ital_lover]

30 miles from here and might drop a note through their door one day. If Farinas are rare now Christ knows how few 3-litres are left

dont't ask you will only be crying the next time you see lsts like these!m0rris

[scrappylad]

But isn't it better to see them sent out in a blaze of glory than them laying rotting away..?Yawn!No!! Its sooo better that they lie about rotting away if indeed that is what they're doing. A few months back many were probably folks pride & joys & now they're gonna die! Irreplaceable once they're all gone.Edit: Incidentally I plan 'one day' to get another 16/60 & thats another six I now won't have the opportunity to buy. I'd buy one now but I can't afford it atm & have no where to keep another car.nb. Whilst I'm not wholly against banger racing, I think it is a total shame historic cars continue to get trashed - think of all the tax-freeness of all those cars...

[whitevanman]

Edit: Incidentally I plan 'one day' to get another 16/60 & thats another six I now won't have the opportunity to buy. I'd buy one now but I can't afford it atm & have no where to keep another car.nb. Whilst I'm not wholly against banger racing, I think it is a total shame historic cars continue to get trashed - think of all the tax-freeness of all those cars... there I am in total agreement...I've no room to save any cars anymore but I would love to have one of the big Farinas, but like yourself I have no spare money or space.........

[AnthonyG]

nb. Whilst I'm not wholly against banger racing, I think it is a total shame historic cars continue to get trashed - think of all the tax-freeness of all those cars...

Don't tell Gordon, he'll start subsidising banger races!

[Mash]

Personally I've always been someone who likes to see things saved, I've never seen the attraction of wilfully smashing anything up for the fun of it and whilst I and many of us would love to save these cars, it's simply not practical. A banger racer has his own transporter, generally seems to have cash waiting and can go and collect cars at the drop of a hat. The preparation time for a car to race may only be a matter of weeks and then it's gone. For someone to restore the car, they'd have to plan cashflow, storage, logistics and it might be sat on the drive for ages whilst the relevant parts are found.It's not that we don't want to restore the cars or a case of "money where your mouth is", but simply that the banger racer has a number of big advantages over the preservationist.I'm sure the large majority of these cars are beyond reasonable economic repair or would simply take too much time to put back on the road. There are many excellent surviving examples of most of the cars on the list, enough for sale in good condition that you don't have to buy a complete wreck, but on the other side of the coin, it makes me sad when a car that's raced is one of only a handful left regardless of the condition. I hope I've put that fairly equally from both sides of the argument.....

[bigstraight6]

Couldn't they just change the name to 'Hednesford Post 8 years old' and race all the shit Mondeo and Vectra type crap thats available for weigh in monies and nobody gives a toss about

[vicsmith]

It's not that we don't want to restore the cars or a case of "money where your mouth is", but simply that the banger racer has a number of big advantages over the preservationist.

Yes, that is exactly right, you could smash a car up in about 10 seconds, yet to restore the same car could take months or years, I often think to myself as I am taking 2 whole days to repair a grapefruit sized dent in a Mondeo tailgate or whatever that the dent will have only taken nano-seconds to create, and it`s the same principle.Just because it is not practical to do anything to stop something does not mean it is wrong to point out faults with it - I don`t particularily agree with Bears being made to dance but just because I have no plans to go to Russia and somehow put an instant stop to it does not mean I have to just not say anything about it or condone the practice.The thing is, what are they going to do when there are no pre `68 cars left to smash up? Call it a day? Why not just call it a day now and crack on with bangering more modern stuff? It`s all bloody unrecogniseable once its had all it`s trim and grille and that taken off and been given a pre-school art class paint job that usually goes against all the swage lines anyway so what is so good about bangering an Austin 3-litre that no longer looks anything like an Austin 3-litre?

[mk2_craig]

I thought that was the whole point of banger racing when it started all those years ago, to get rid of all the commonplace worthless mot fail crap that nobody wants rather than as a kudos contest for the rarest/best presented old car that's then demolished in the space of a few minutes. My real problem is that it does seem to have fuelled the stealing of these cars, sometimes admittedly wrecks that have been lying in hedges for yonks, but often the pride and joy of someone who's cared for/restored the car. I wonder how many of the list on page 1 have been procured illegally, and whether anybody in sport cares enough about checking their pedigree.

[Des]

First post here, I also hate the thought of those retarded chav / pikey banger racer types destroying old cars just for the sake of attention seeking, and what makes it extra sad is just how mind numbingly boring banger racing is, such old cars will never and can never be made again, when they're gone they're gone, modern stuff just can't achieve the same character and charm.Possibly what makes older cars a more attractive victim is the way many pre tax cars without T&T are worth much more in bits than complete, i.e. 3 litre Farina needing sills or floors, you'd be lucky to get a fiver more than it's weighing in value, flog bumpers, engine, and any other rare parts like glass washer bottle/ girling servo, and a purile jaunt around a track turns a profit, while us decent people who would like to save these cars are stuffed from lack of space to keep them.

[Simon M]

Maybe we've got them wrong, and by racing they mean they're just going to drive them round and round really fast and see who finishes first?Naaaaah.

[sierravanman]

Have had the misfortune to come across some of these mindless morons.Its beyond me to determine what sort of perverse gratification can be derived from destroying something thats lasted for forty years.And the excuses that are applied to them...I'm sure its nice to think only the 'beyond saving' ones are raced,but truthfully they dont care if its saveable or not,and the rarer the victim the better.And dealing with them...forget it .Once tried to save a Cortina 3 GT from the track.One owner 43,000,2 door.The twat was over the moon to think how many folks would have wanted the car and how disgusted they would be to see it trashed.Refused my money for the interior on the basis he intended to burn it once he ripped it all out.Another Mk3,this time a 1300 base,original...not too bad.Tried to swap that for a really bad one and some cash to save it.Scored an own goal ...my mentioning it was rare..fate sealed. If they cant steal it..they'll lie through their teeth to the owner who thinks he selling his pride and joy to someone who'll look after it.I'd like to go banger racing in an Austin 3 litre...with a couple of dozen of these w*nkers tied to the back bumper....

[Spottedlaurel]

Well done Mr Tolerant - in saying the above you've probably just sealed the fate of a load more cars, and given yourself even less chance of getting any bits.At what point does your anger about the fate of old cars stop? Do you rage against anyone who wasn't particularly diligent about keeping on top of regular maintenance or touching up stone chips, maybe revving the car a bit too keenly when cold, and so hastened a car's demise? What about half-arsed 'restoration' attempts or customising? People who just sit on old car and let it deteriorate despite others wanting to buy it with best intentions? Hang the lot of 'em!If you're going to to get so angry about something make it on something more worthwile - war, famine, poverty, WHY.I'm not saying I haven't been saddened by hearing about some cars that have been raced, but the above attitude helps save them not one bit.

[Cavcraft]

I know racers can't use fuel injected cars (except possibly single point ones for novices) but even that excuse can't be used anymore as they can be converted. You'll probably all be delighted to know I flogged an Ecowreck engined Vectra to a racer a few months ago who was converting it to carb so he could race it. Ok, probably a fair amount of work involved but still probably cost less than finding a pre-68 car and pissing about getting it ready.I know a few racers and they're all honest decent lads who wouldn't nick anything and they happily offer spares from cars they are racing if they don't need them. I'm not entirely convinced all the ones they race are too far gone to go back on the road though.For the dishonest pikey tpe ones I'd like to see how funny they'd find it if someone started a recovery truck banger race and nicked their vehicles to race in!

[seth]

It is sad to see so many Farinas (and others) in that list especially as some are no doubt better than mine which will be saved. I agree with the pont that many racers are in a much better position to buy this stuff when it comes up because of storage/ability to collect quickly etc. But I also reckon that many of these cars might have been put to one side specifically for this race. It might also be worht mentioning that many of the country's finest restored farinas (4 and 6 cylinder) are owned by people connected with the oval.

 

I don't know if many old cars are regularly smashed up every weekend these days? I have heard form some older racers that there is no way that the old stuff can compete with relatively modern cars. Also the absolute majority of them are not theives but there are a few bad apples and I think during a massive "discussion" on R-R some time ago it was as much the unwillingness/inability to deal with them within the scene that got people frustrated.

[55bloke]

its only really the top spec 1600E and lotus cortinas that fetch strong money... supers and deluxes etc are still worth very little, so a ropey example wouldnt be worth restoring

The same thing could've been said of the Mk 1 10 years ago, now even the lowliest basket-case is fetching silly money!! If I had the space, I'd be buying up all the cheap Mk 2 Supers and Deluxes I could find and putting them somewhere dry, coz the time will come when they too fetch silly money!! Bangering them is insane!! I'm even more into old aeroplanes than I am old cars, and it reminds me of the days when Spitfires the like were routinely used as target practice for artillery, and as late as 1966 when real Mosquitoes were burned for the making of the film 633 squadron. Now, they're worth 6 figure sums and everyone regrets the carnage. People are so short sighted!

[whitevanman]

I'm even more into old aeroplanes than I am old cars, and it reminds me of the days when Spitfires the like were routinely used as target practice for artillery, and as late as 1966 when real Mosquitoes were burned for the making of the film 633 squadron. Now, they're worth 6 figure sums and everyone regrets the carnage. People are so short sightedI your right there, like all the Lightnings that sat down in the scrap yard at Bawtry back in the late 80's

[Cavcraft]

But where does the shortsightedness actually start? I've binned two bubble shaped Rovers in as many weeks (214 and 416) and one day they'll be really rare and people will snatch the chance to take one one, ditto loads of other 'common or garden' cars. However in twenty years time when we're waffling on about the cars we were glad to see the back of other people will think we were mental binning such stuff.

[Albert Ross]

I recently bought a 1989 Sapphire for 70 quid. £40 of unleaded in the tank, it stands me at 30 quid! I drive it EVERY day, it reminds me of my old Mk2 Cortina, the way it's so basic in comparison to my 2006 Focus.I have been offered far in excess of what I paid for it, and could complete the restoration of my Land Rover and insure it for the money. But I'm keeping it. Why? I like it, that's why. There's a bloke at work just bought a Locust Kit car, and wants my gearbox. He just asked me to find him a Type 9 as cheap as poss, as a swap for a full set of gauges from a '69 Cortina GT! ( I already have the gauges). Theres another mate who wants a Type 9 box for his Spitfire conversion. His brother wants the numberplate for his Discovery, it's G56 ALK. His name is AL......I still say no, as there's no white Sapphires left that haven't been Barried in any way, this one is as purchased. No Mods at all. Rare? Maybe? Good? Not Really. But it's mine, so bloody hands off! My wife even likes it! She reckons get it restored, stick some new doors on it, and do the Classic Car shows...............(In a Sierra!).....Hopefully the MG blokes will all have apoplectic fits.......leaving more stuff in the beer tent for me!

[monzaE]

I didn't start the post to fuel the anti banger view. Nor is posting the pictures from todays meeting meant to do that. The majority of cars really are only fit for spares and most of the spare bits do filter down to those who have 'keepers'. Most of the racers are sound people who show tremendous skill in the preparation of the cars.

 

I do wish they would save more trim though, like the overider on the Zephyr and the grille on the Mk2.

 

It does seem that after 15 years of pre 68 that suitable pickings are getting scarce. Pre 76 next ????

4 litre Vanden Plas Rolls Royce before

After

Zephyr before

After