Spare a thought for our friends taking part in this years LE JOG (The Lands End to John O Groats reliability trial, to non rallyists).   We met them last eve on their first rest halt since starting at 0800 that morning at Lands End and while they had 2 hours to feverishly plot the nights routes, they would be denied any sleep until arriving in Runcorn at about 4.00 am.    And it went down to – 10deg c last night.

This 1925 Derby Bentley – is absolutely splendid.   The crew are insane.

Their route took them from Magor services in South Wales through the hills and valleys with a range of rally trials from hillclimbs, navigation sections and regularities (at constant average speeds).

Rallying is hard work but immense fun, although I still cannot understand who would want to do this in an open car.   Especially an open car that is over 80 years old….

Good luck to them all – the rally finishes on Tuesday morning at John O Groats and between now and then the crews will only have one proper nights sleep.     Brrrr…time to put another log on the fire methinks.

Well it’s not all doom and gloom – one needs a distraction after all – and this years Rally of the Tests was a cracker.

Starting in Bournemouth and winding our way down to Exeter, Taunton, up to Malvern and then further up to Stoke on Trent before heading west to North Wales for the finish in Llandudno, it was 4 days of frenetic fun.

Big Mike and I have done the event twice before together and he’s done it several more times.    Each time the real challenge is to finish without breaking down….it’s not called a Reliability Trial for nothing.

In 2005 in my BGT we managed to brake hard enough to shift the engine forward so the fan could try and corkscrew it’s way through the radiatior.   This was in the Derbyshire Dales and we had to be towed back to the control in Buxton, where we (well, the rally mechanics to be more accurate) stripped the radiator out, fixed it and off we went again.    We’d lost a lot of time, so our result was not tip top.   But we finished.

In 2007 in Mike’s BGT on a particularly rough stage in a Scottish forest we managed to crush the fuel line on a rock and have a puncture at the same time.   We got to watch all the other rally cars pass from a nice wet spot at the side of the road.   Car fixed again by rally mechanic Andy with a jury repair that probably is best explained over beer….   We lost a bit of time there too….and I still needed to get two new tyres as we had another puncture on the way home…   But we finished.

This year, with the fuel lines now running safely out of rocks way inside the car we were going very well, until I started to have gear selection problems.   Eventually this worsened to the point we had to  stop and have rally mechanic Peter rebuild the clutch master cylinder….the problem?   The clutch return spring had disintegrated….Grrr..   We lost some time, but made it to the special stage at the army camp that night which was a cracker, the headlights giving out just as we completed the last section..

But we finished and we’ll be back for ’09.

Once the seed of automotive change is sowed in the fertile ground of my imagination, there is just no holding back.

Fear not though, dear reader, lest you be concerned I have reduced the fleet size by two – I have simply traded one for a another.   But before I spill the beans on the latest acquisition, I do need to set the scene.

A couple of weeks ago I went to test drive a Mazda RX-8.   Consistent with my new policy of wanting to own interesting / iconic / unique etc. cars, I thought this would be fun and also a more comfortable way of effecting my weekly commute.

Fabulous car.   Superb handling, quick, rev-tastic rotary engine spinning up to 9,250 rpm, well made, very comfortable and surprisingly spacious.   Wacky rear suicide doors and a fully loaded spec meant it was very good value.   Big Mike accompanied me on the test drive and we popped in to see Panther on our way – wanting to play on the lanes of the Lambourn Downs – purely in the interests of seeing what it could do you understand.

We were impressed.   Clearly so was Mrs Panther as we received a text not 5 hours later confirming she had been down to the same Mazda garage and bought one!   Panther himself suggested that next time I take a car for a test drive I don’t include their house on the route.   (Mental note to self:  test drive Porshe next time 😉

Anyway, what of my interest in the RX-8?   Well…. still keen, but…. and it’s quite a big but.   My other choice was a Jaguar XK-8.   Nice coupe, good looking, comfy, quite quick, although a bit older.   And I needed to drive one to be sure before I put my money on the Mazda.

I first drove a standard XK.   Oh dear.   What let down.   Slow, stodgy, dull witted handling.   A real disappointment and clearly not for me.    The salesman said that I wanted something a with a bit more ‘go’ and that I should look at an XKR… but the only one he had in stock had a black interior – which is a no go for me too.

But they did have an XJR.   Pacific Blue, Champagne leather and with a fully stamped up main dealer service history.   And it is quick.  370 BHP.   390 lbft of torque.   5.3 seconds 0-60mph.  Faster than my 911…..

And it is mine.   Deal done, pick it up later this week.

Sorry to see the MINI go, but overall whilst I enjoyed it, it was too bouncy for my commute, where I would prefer something sporting, but more comfortable.   Gratuituous pic below:

This week has seen the announcment of plans to interfere with that which needs no interference.   Both are motoring related and extend beyond the concrete landscape of the urban wasteland, into the real world.

The first, by some bunny hugging save the planet eco weenies is a proposal to impose punitive taxes on the bigger polluting 4×4’s in order to discourage their use.   I know the tax was upped by his Wasteship earlier this year, but even Dr. Millipede confirmed on Radio 4 yesterday that it was not really going to make a difference.   We all knew that, but then, as this is all to do with tax raising rather than behaviour altering, it came as no surprise.

This latest wheeze suggests annual licence fees be increased to… wait for it… £1,800 per vehicle.   That is a 650% increase.   So, in reality, those who need a 4×4 for their work with either pay up – or there will be an expensive to operate and police exemption scheme, wasting even more money – and those who don’t need a 4×4 will pay because they can afford it.

Queue a complete failure to address global warming, but a nice little earner for No.11

Sad to report that the 911 has been sold.   Sob.  A sensible decision given our immininent move and wish to do a bit of cost control.   Made a little easier after I wrote the cheque for the gearbox repair and service.   I focussed on that as I signed the contract to sell.

Which included a commitment to buy.  Pictured below resplendant in Electric Blue paint, is a MINI Cooper S.   Not as quick as the Porsche, but still lots of fun.   The daft extra lights and go faster stripes are being removed and I should have the car on Thursday.

Will likely be unable to resist sharing with you how good it is to drive….

A survey carried out for Swiftcover.com, an online insurance compancy has concluded that speed cameras are the least effective way of improving road safety.   The cameras, which last year reaped revenue of more than £114m in speeding fines, were ranked at the bottom of a list of initiatives aimed at reducing accidents.

More than half of drivers questioned (54%) thought cameras encouraged people to drive more erratically and almost three quarters (71%) thought they made motorists less aware of hazards on the road, therefore increasing the risk of accidents.

Swiftcover questioned 2,000 motorists, asking them to rate various road safety initiatives. The most popular was speed-activated flashing warning signs telling drivers they have exceeded the limit, followed by variable speed limits, speed bumps and “keep your distance” chevrons. Cameras were 10th in the list.

But top for revenue.    Coincidence?    Nope.   Just proof that road safety is not the real priority.