The grumpy thread

[Pieman]

As some know, I used to be a banger racing commentator for one of the UK's leading promotions.  There has always been an element of what has been discussed here going on, but this I think is the first time (largely thanks to the power of the internet) that police have turned up and impounded cars during a meeting.

I'm very upset and angry over what's happened, but I have to say that the friendly atmosphere of having a smash-up with your mates that the sport used to have (at most venues anyway) seems to have disappeared over the last few years, and that's one reason I stopped doing trackside PA commentary.  It wouldn't surprise me if all the venues have shut down in the next five years or so anyway, every one of them will probably have houses built on them, and the ones that are still there no one will be able to afford the fuel to race on.

[sierraman]

I read there were fisticuffs in the pits. Is that a regular occurrence? 

[Coprolalia]

Bought a new-ish car recently for far too much money, mentally justified as a treat for frontline medic-ing during COVID and safe transport for the baby.

Woken at 4am last night by hooting noises in the road outside. Some fuck has run over the bonnet and roof, denting and creasing them in multiple places. There's a high spot in the roof that looks like it will be impossible to repair.

Why fucking bother in this cesspit of a country. I'm done.

[paulplom]

Any cctv anywhere?

[gm]

i am also in the doctors waiting room, not to be told i am overweight and drink too much (although i am/do) but to get a tetanus jab due to yesterdays silliness in the garage. 

my grump is the dreadful background muzak which reminds me of when polyphonic ringtones were all the rage  

i don’t have an appointment so may be here for some time 

[PhilA]

On 8/8/2022 at 4:04 AM, junkyarddog said:

Sad end to two nice cars.

So many stolen cars end up on the track.

Didn't the editor of Practical Classics have his Mk1 Granada Ghia stolen and raced too?

I'm surprised the track officials let those cars onto the track,giving the amount of publicity that these cars had after they were taken,surely they have some responsibility in this too?

Time for a ban on banger racing I think,just on health and safety grounds alone.

By what standards do we define a banger, anyway? Seems that most of the racers are stuck somewhere in the seventies.

Shame, both those are quite rare cars even here, now. Most of the Fords fell off the radar as shite and disintegrated into the background, and the big old land yachts rusted into oblivion, with the same few that get dragged out to shows time after time.

A couple stolen cars that are common porridge, with a chance of the owners finding another to replace it? Not so heartbreaking. Those two though? 

Yeah. That's just HEY LOOK AT ME MA I'M GOING FAST MA

[Coprolalia]

2 hours ago, paulplom said:

Any cctv anywhere?

Nope. Police aren't interested anyway.

[PhilA]

3 minutes ago, Coprolalia said:

Nope. Police aren't interested anyway.

What are they interested in? 

 

Doesn't seem like much, these days.

[cobblers]

3 minutes ago, PhilA said:

What are they interested in? 

 

Doesn't seem like much, these days.

I was watching Police interceptors last week and one of the coppers was very happy that they'd confiscated a small haul of weed gummies.

"These edibles are made to look like sweeties, which makes them even more dangerous. If I kiddy got hold of them, we could well end up attending a fatality"

 

[paulplom]

19 minutes ago, Coprolalia said:

Nope. Police aren't interested anyway.

Shocking really. 

They didn't call when my lock up got done over at the beginning of lockdown. I lost over £5k worth of tools and stuff. They couldn't give a fuck and instead just gave me a crime number. 

Very handy indeed.

[Zelandeth]

4 minutes ago, cobblers said:

I was watching Police interceptors last week and one of the coppers was very happy that they'd confiscated a small haul of weed gummies.

"These edibles are made to look like sweeties, which makes them even more dangerous. If I kiddy got hold of them, we could well end up attending a fatality"

 

They weren't in the slightest bit interested in my reporting someone circling around a local town centre for an hour brazenly selling drugs.  Despite having good driver details, vehicle information (he was driving like an utter tit as well which is what initially drew my attention when he nearly knocked over someone at a crossing - white Audi, blacked out windows, private illegally spaced plate...you couldn't make it more of a stereotype if you tried), and details of frontagers who would likely have CCTV of the last six "transactions." Basically everything they needed was on a plate for the taking.  Especially as the area's one with a single way in/out.

"Sorry sir, unless someone is in immediate danger this isn't something we would look to action."

[Bren]

Given the number of tracks and drag strips that have gone in the last ten years I am surprised banger racing is still running.

[chaseracer]

6 hours ago, Pieman said:

It wouldn't surprise me if all the venues have shut down in the next five years or so anyway, every one of them will probably have houses built on them...

Be a brave developer who tries that on Hednesford Raceway!

[SH1TE]

4 minutes ago, chaseracer said:

Be a brave developer who tries that on Hednesford Raceway!

A few funny handshakes and brown envelopes and anything possible.

Round here planning gets turned down with affordable housing, traffic lights and a roundabout.

Resubmitted with expensive parts dropped and although parish and locals in uproar- goes through.

 

[SH1TE]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

They weren't in the slightest bit interested in my reporting someone circling around a local town centre for an hour brazenly selling drugs.  Despite having good driver details, vehicle information (he was driving like an utter tit as well which is what initially drew my attention when he nearly knocked over someone at a crossing - white Audi, blacked out windows, private illegally spaced plate...you couldn't make it more of a stereotype if you tried), and details of frontagers who would likely have CCTV of the last six "transactions." Basically everything they needed was on a plate for the taking.  Especially as the area's one with a single way in/out.

"Sorry sir, unless someone is in immediate danger this isn't something we would look to action."

Exactly like here, all full of BS and no substance. Keen to stick stickers on bikes- somewhere gets robbed and it's a crime number.

[Pieman]

What he means is that Hednesford is built in the bowl of a former reservoir.

No, what will happen with Hednesford is that they'll keep listening to noise complaints and eventually they will use them as an excuse to close it, while the council promise to find an alternative venue, yknow, just like about 100 other venues in the UK were told and are still waiting for.

On that subject, I think the most ridiculous one was the Cleethorpes stock car track, which got closed due to complaints about noise...and then they built a fairground on top of it.  Yes, a much quieter alternative!  Why don't they just be honest and say "we don't want your sport here, now fuck off" - it hurts less than being lied to!

[myglaren]

Car came back from Scotland in pieces.

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, Pieman said:

What he means is that Hednesford is built in the bowl of a former reservoir.

No, what will happen with Hednesford is that they'll keep listening to noise complaints and eventually they will use them as an excuse to close it, while the council promise to find an alternative venue, yknow, just like about 100 other venues in the UK were told and are still waiting for.

On that subject, I think the most ridiculous one was the Cleethorpes stock car track, which got closed due to complaints about noise...and then they built a fairground on top of it.  Yes, a much quieter alternative!  Why don't they just be honest and say "we don't want your sport here, now fuck off" - it hurts less than being lied to!

Is that where Fantasy Island was?

[outlaw118]

Quote

All banger racers are knuckle-dragging mouth breathing thieving twats.

Oh, we're having this conversation* again are we?

Stand by. 

This isn't going to be pretty.

[Pieman]

46 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Is that where Fantasy Island was?

No idea, never been there in person.

[EML]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

Is that where Fantasy Island was?

Yes,, that's correct. It was the zoo before the bangers and greyhound track.

[EML]

4 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

They weren't in the slightest bit interested in my reporting someone circling around a local town centre for an hour brazenly selling drugs.  Despite having good driver details, vehicle information (he was driving like an utter tit as well which is what initially drew my attention when he nearly knocked over someone at a crossing - white Audi, blacked out windows, private illegally spaced plate...you couldn't make it more of a stereotype if you tried), and details of frontagers who would likely have CCTV of the last six "transactions." Basically everything they needed was on a plate for the taking.  Especially as the area's one with a single way in/out.

"Sorry sir, unless someone is in immediate danger this isn't something we would look to action."

Report it to crime stoppers, they seem to get things done

[GrumpiusMaximus]

4 hours ago, PhilA said:

What are they interested in? 

 

Doesn't seem like much, these days.

Doughnuts, coffee and clearing their paperwork stack.

One of my best mates was a copper.  Intelligent, thoughtful, educated, kind and open-minded.  Unsurprisingly she left after a couple of years...

[wuvvum]

2 hours ago, outlaw118 said:

Oh, we're having this conversation* again are we?

Stand by. 

This isn't going to be pretty.

Don't think anyone's saying that Bob.  This conversation is about two specific knuckle-dragging mouth breathing thieving twats who stole two cherished and quite rare classic cars and raced them, rather than banger racers as a whole.

[outlaw118]

Right then, let's start this off with a big, capital letters not-to-be-misunderstood statement.

What happened at Ringwood the other day was sickening. Two decent old Yanks, trashed by a pair of massive throbbers. 

To be honest, I don't really care specifically that they were Classic Americans, anyone who nicks a car and races it is a massive cunt. In this specific case, there has been some debate as to whether the Coombs brothers stole them themselves (They run a "vehicle recovery" company comprising of a couple of Smileyface Transits), or whether they bought them off a third party. It matters not. They are either monumentally stupid for not performing any form of due diligence on the cars, or fucking stupid, to the extent of being retarded (yeah, bite me) for stealing them, and then racing them within 30 miles of the scene of the crime.

One of them had already received a lifetime ban.....yeah that worked well didn't it? I'm not aware of which track issued the ban, but if it wasn't Ringwood, it's meaningless anyway. Even if the Oval Racing Council had banned them, IIRC Ringwood isn't a member anyway. Which brings me to my next piss-boiling point. Allegedly numerous drivers approached staff members at Ringwood to advise that the Brothers Fucknuckle had brought a pair of hooky motors, and they did the princely sum of FUCK ALL about it, waving them through scrutineering, and out onto the track. Due to the damage inflicted on the poor old beasts by actually building them into bangers, it's unlikely that they could have been saved at that point anyway, but at least the rightful owners wouldn't have had to see them getting destroyed by another Herbert in a Jag XJ. The owner/promoter hasn't really taken it seriously either; which is no great surprise. He's a greedy, lying bastard called Craig Somethingorother and runs Swaffam too. I've only been to Ringwood once since he took it over - his favourite trick is to publish fictitious booking lists, saying WOW 100 DRIVERS BOOKED IN ITS GONNA BE EPIC!!!, so you trundle down there, pay your £25 or whatever entrance fee, and there's 35 cars there.  SOZM9 NO REFUNDZ

If it's any consolation to anyone, one of the drivers has ended up with a couple of broken ribs from the track, and rumour has it that due to the wonders of Teh Interwebz and a total lack of GDPR awareness, their home addresses have been made available, as has the address/location of their yard, so some kind of justice may still be served. 

I have perused a number of banger forums, and I would suggest that the general consensus is that these two pricks should be dealt with severely, and that most have bemoaned the fact that it's yet another instance of giving the Sport a bad name. A few Scrotes have been whining "Innocent ril proven" type bollocks, but that's to be expected from the more educationally challenged.

So what's the solution? Realistically there isn't one. The sport needs to tighten up and act faster - Arena Essex got raided a couple of years before it shut and impounded some stuff, but it doesn't happen often enough. Maybe there should be "No V5, no race" rule, but that's not really practical either. Team Outlaw, during my tenure as driver/procurement/teaboy probably bought nigh on 100 cars, and at a guess, we had no more than 10 V5s. Invariably if we bought something off the side of the road, we'd fill in the V5 with the owner, sold to scrap, job done. 

VIN checks as part of scrutineering? Probably a good idea - especially as the VIN tends to be in at least 2 places on the car, and it should be made clear in the rules 'n' regs that they must be visible for inspection.

I don't know.

Anyway, opinions are like arseholes........

@SH1TE 

Quote

Darwin award for stupidity, expect they get "fixed" real soon

Scrap" performance built engines

Those who build cars right don't tend to get hurt

Agreed, on points one and rwo - although there is now a burgeoning "back to basics formula with no built lumps, no welding, minimal prep. And point 3, there's always going to be some utter bellend who weaponises his car for grudge purposes or whatever, but thankfully it's now unusual for over-built stuff to get through scrutineering.

@mitsisigma01

Quote

Are they retards , racing them at the nearest banger track to where they were stolen from 

It would appear so, either stupid thieves, or just stupid.

@Timewaster

Quote

I came to post this. What fucking clowns, they might as well rob the palace and go to the pub that evening wearing a crown!

Hope they get jail.

But I think it's fair to say the sport was always in disrepute. Fairly or not.

Indeed. A Crown? Toyota?! 😄

@Dick Longbridge

Quote

Utter bastards. Makes my blood boil. Shame we don't live in the middle ages still as far as punishments go. 

See above, it may be that the playground laws may prevail before Plod do.

@junkyarddog

Quote

I'm surprised the track officials let those cars onto the track,giving the amount of publicity that these cars had after they were taken,surely they have some responsibility in this too?

Time for a ban on banger racing I think,just on health and safety grounds alone.

See my comments above; track officials at this particular venue were/are as much use as tits on a fish. 'Elf and Safety? More tracks have issues with compulsory purchase and NIMBYs than H&S.

@HillmanImp

Quote

I don't think Ringwood give a fuck, especially as it was apparently the last ever race there. It was flagged that they were stolen before the race and they let them race anyway. 

Reading the comments on Northern Bangers, one of the lads was already barred for life from the circuit for him and his family fighting, so it shows how much they're actually bothered. 

Yeah but I bet proving the 2 Coombs lads did it is pretty much impossible. 

"We collected them from this bloke at the services, I've no idea where he was from. His name, John Smith." etc. 

Not sure what the penalty is for having stolen goods 'if you didn't know they were stolen'? Probably nowt. If I bought a bike on ebay and it turned out to be stolen I'd be a bit miffed if I got lifted for it.

There will probably be some sort of paperwork trail they failed to follow but that won't be a criminal offence will it. 

The best hope here is that they're vilified within their own community. Thats probably the best punishment we can hope for. 

Will have to see if they are or not. 

Yarp. As above Shite track run by utter fucknuggets. And it appears that "natural justice" may well be being meted out as we speak...allegedly

@Low Horatio gearbox

Quote

No way on earth could they claim to not have known they were nicked as clearly they were not the usual rusty banger fodder and even in wrung out rusty old nails shape they would still be worth 5 to 10 times scrap value.  

Indeed. Even without the scruple side of things, you've got to be some kind of idiot not to look at these thing; if a deal is too good to be true.....

@Soundwave

Quote

On the posts I've seen, haven't really seen the banger community ripping anyone to shreds. Just seems to be a nonchalant shrug on the whole, even seen a few shithouse replies trying to suggest the owners were in on it for insurance purposes, and others saying stolen cars are just a fact of the sport. Absolutely no shame, some people.

While I know it's a minority who do the stealing, a LOT more are complicit and/or turn a blind eye. They're part of the problem as well. If known thieves were drummed out of the community sharpish there'd be far less of a problem.

I have done a bit of research on your behalf on a number of forums, and aside of a couple of dicks moaning that nothing's been proven, it's been condemned all round, with some people suggesting a gofundme page or something 

Anyway, TL:DR fat Essex man defends dying sport, and doesn't care what you think. If you're offended by my views, you can kiss the widest part of my arse.

[outlaw118]

33 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Don't think anyone's saying that Bob.  This conversation is about two specific knuckle-dragging mouth breathing thieving twats who stole two cherished and quite rare classic cars and raced them, rather than banger racers as a whole.

Pobably not Dave, but I'm having a shit week and it's only Tuesday. A few of the comments are erring on the "tar them all with the same brush" thing. Anyway WOTEVS.

[Pieman]

That's the best and most spot-on assessment/character assassination of Ringwood I've ever seen, superb!

I never thought I would actually be pleased to see a track go, but...(and yes I did commentate there a couple of times, and did not feel safe while I was there.)

[Supernaut]

16 hours ago, myglaren said:

Car came back from Scotland in pieces.

What's the story there, then?

Apart from it being the twin of my civic which is still in Scotland (as far as I know).

[myglaren]

Dropped the Civic ^ in to the garage in Birtley at 09:00.

Went to the hairdressers there.  Closed.

Bought some sausage rolls and set off to walk home, takes ½~¾ an hour usually.

Three hours

My own fault, got halfway and had a call from the garage, forgot to leave the car keys 

 

[myglaren]

2 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

What's the story there, then?

Apart from it being the twin of my civic which is still in Scotland (as far as I know).

He was driving down a country lane and encountered an HGV coming the other way.  The HGV didn't have much room to pull in as there was a wall there,  Bob went up on to the verge and there must have been a tree branch in the grass that ripped the plastic off.

As above, gone in to be fixed and also check the alternator and battery.  I recently had to get a jump start after sitting and listening to music in it for an hour and then on Monday I went out in it and he had the radio on, set to some unusual frequency to pick up the thing he has to relay music on his phone.  There was a distinct whistle/whine synchronised to the engine speed.  Had a similar thing with the C5 and it was the alternator failing.