The grumpy thread

[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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

[Supernaut]

1 hour ago, myglaren said:

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.

Aye, the plastic trim on them doesn't age well.

I suspect a well placed tree branch could achieve the same effect on mine too.

[MikeR]

motorway cameras , every time there is a issue , accident , hold up , heavy traffic , the dam things are pointed at anything else but the road ...

they want people to avoid the area but then deny the information about what is going on and alternative make plans ..

lets face it most of the twitter stuff is out of date and not to be relied on ..

[scdan4]

Swansea drivers. 

Fuck me.  I don't have words. 

20mph max. 

Time for a fag break between the green and pulling away. Don't use the throttle when pulling away. 

Some fucking weird prioritie a droit thing going on 

If single carriageway comfort brake regularly, but not in reaction to anything from the visual world. 

Don't stop, just roll slower and s l o w e r

Phone use seemingly A OK 

 

I've genuinely just had to stop and have a word with myself/ time out. I should be doing work later but I've cancelled it cos I don't want to get back in the car.  

Fucking hell it's abysmal. 

[myglaren]

1 hour ago, Supernaut said:

Aye, the plastic trim on them doesn't age well.

I suspect a well placed tree branch could achieve the same effect on mine too.

The wheel arch liner was new when I bought he car two years ago.

[gm]

On 8/9/2022 at 3:13 PM, gm said:

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 

the doctors were great - i was seen without an appointment after only a short wait, got a tetanus jab and antibiotic prescription and an appointment booked for an x-ray this morning at the local hospital, certainly can’t complain about that service. 

hospital today wasn’t bad either, they were busy but i was on my way back to work within 90 mins - apparently i’ve chipped the bone but there isn’t any swarf or muck in there, think i’ve been bloody lucky 

 

[Rocket88]

4 hours ago, Pieman said:

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.)

I went there once about 40 years ago….nasty atmosphere then….

[Noel Tidybeard]

5 hours ago, myglaren said:

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

the battery was always too small in the spaceship unless diseasel- an hour with the radio is sometimes all it needs for a jump

the good news is you can now get batteries with 100A more power than what was fitted

[New POD]

3 hours ago, MikeR said:

motorway cameras , every time there is a issue , accident , hold up , heavy traffic , the dam things are pointed at anything else but the road ...

they want people to avoid the area but then deny the information about what is going on and alternative make plans ..

lets face it most of the twitter stuff is out of date and not to be relied on ..

Actually, they want people to stay on the Motorway and not crowd onto parallel local roads. Which then get gridlocked. 

Every time there's an issue on the M6 at Spagetti Junction, it takes another 20.mins to get home which doesn't involve the M6 at all

 

 

[somewhatfoolish]

On 8/9/2022 at 5:04 PM, 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"

 

Bollocks. Kid would have a whitey at worst, the HFCS in them is far more dangerous than the  weed.

[horriblemercedes]

Smooth radio on the way home. 

 

King of Wishful Thinking by Go West. I like the song. Presenter said this after it:

"who remembers the film Pretty Woman? The opening scene with that song playing and Richard Gere zooming around in his Lamborghini." 

 

It was a Lotus and he wasn't zooming - he was struggling around in second gear because the character couldn't drive a manual. That was part of the whole premise of him meeting Julia Roberts' character 

 

I remember bugger all else from the rest of the film, admittedly 

[Spurious]

38 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Bollocks. Kid would have a whitey at worst, the HFCS in them is far more dangerous than the  weed.

I've seen a bobby doing CPR on someone who was very much alive once. Certainly not the best and brightest. 

[Yoss]

10 hours ago, Pieman said:

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.)

 

5 hours ago, Rocket88 said:

I went there once about 40 years ago….nasty atmosphere then….

Etc... 

 

I haven't been to a banger meet there for over 25 years but a few years back they got a lot of negative publicity when they set up some sort of winter wonderland* type place one Christmas. I think it amounted to a  donkey (probably pinched from the New Forest where they roam wild), a couple kids in elves outfits and half a can of spray snow set up in the car park. Everybody who went demanded their money back. It made it on to local news for several days. 

I'm sure the owners were in court later over some dodgy financial dealings related to said venture. That was on South Today too. 

[Pieman]

I remember that - I don't think that was the promoters of the raceway, it was just held at the same site.

[Remspoor]

On 8/10/2022 at 4:22 PM, MikeR said:

motorway cameras , every time there is a issue , accident , hold up , heavy traffic , the dam things are pointed at anything else but the road ...

they want people to avoid the area but then deny the information about what is going on and alternative make plans ..

lets face it most of the twitter stuff is out of date and not to be relied on ..

Twitter and driving do not mix.

[puddlethumper]

On 8/10/2022 at 4:34 PM, Rocket88 said:

I went there once about 40 years ago….nasty atmosphere then….

I raced twice there, about 40 years ago, with a Pug 404. It was the nearest track to where I lived in Dorset. Not sure why I went the second time as it was shit. At that time they wouldn't let you put the rad in the back window so the first bang up front and that was it. As I was new I got picked on mercilessly. Some of the regulars got away with reinforcing the front end which gave them a very unfair advantage. Scrutineers turning a blind eye.

[Lankytim]

On 8/9/2022 at 11:45 PM, outlaw118 said:

with some people suggesting a gofundme page or something 

 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/stolen-cars-raced-at-ringwood?utm_source=messenger&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cf share-flow-1&fbclid=IwAR3J3DP35QDl865Gpfl3K1XB1FE4kfPZmIqmfd5VCIWxw71QuSU0B-OOFEQ

 

[meggersdog]

Just over two weeks ago I MoT'd a Land Rover Defender 110. After a lot of faffing about booking in cancelling and rebooking, must have rebooked three times, it finally arrives and the customer leaves it with us. First thing I notice there is a ladder to the roof-rack blocking part of the numberplate. One headlight was too high and wouldn't adjust so I fail the car. Phoned the customer and the snotty cow goes "my husband fitted that and I  can see the numberplate " whatever mrs just relocated the numberplate a few centimetres to the left. The headlamp surround and indicator and sidelight units need to be removed to see what is wrong with the adjuster. I could have looked at this if I'd known she wasn't going to collect for atleast 24 hours. I told her this when the snotty cow cameto collect the car. I also told her 10 working days and it's a free retest. Just scowled at me, paid, grabbed the keys and fucked off.

Fast forward to today and one of my trade customers turns up in a Land Rover Defender110. The same car with the same faults. It's out of time for a retest by two days and gets the same fucking failure. 

[Metal Guru]

27 minutes ago, Lankytim said:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/stolen-cars-raced-at-ringwood?utm_source=messenger&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cf share-flow-1&fbclid=IwAR3J3DP35QDl865Gpfl3K1XB1FE4kfPZmIqmfd5VCIWxw71QuSU0B-OOFEQ

 

That’s ridiculous. Shame about the cars but surely they were insured? If not, the owners can’t have thought that much about them.

[Wack]

Just seen a right cunt in a tesla , I'm following a car in the RH lane on a short length of 40mph dual carriageway because there's a right turn lane at the lights 

Knobhead in a tesla undertakes us at  least 70mph , probably more then cuts across the car in front to the R turn lane we were heading for 

Goes nowhere because the lights are on red , keeps leaving gaps so he can boot it after the lights change , turns right into what is a 20mph road and fucking boots it , what a cunt 

If he does it in front of a copper I hope they can use all those cameras all over the car as evidence to fuck him over 

 

[Pieman]

37 minutes ago, puddlethumper said:

As I was new I got picked on mercilessly. Some of the regulars got away with reinforcing the front end which gave them a very unfair advantage. Scrutineers turning a blind eye.

Nothing's changed at most places.

[artdjones]

16 minutes ago, Metal Guru said:

That’s ridiculous. Shame about the cars but surely they were insured? If not, the owners can’t have thought that much about them.

I think it's more a token to compensate for the hassle and upset that the thieves have caused. And insurance companies will try and keep their liability to a bare minimum. The owners may have to fight tooth and nail to get their due. 

[Lankytim]

2 hours ago, artdjones said:

I think it's more a token to compensate for the hassle and upset that the thieves have caused. And insurance companies will try and keep their liability to a bare minimum. The owners may have to fight tooth and nail to get their due. 

I’ve read that both cars have been paid out on, wether or not the owners are still out of pocket is another matter.