RUMCars Forum
General Category => Unusual Microcar Discussion => Topic started by: Rusty Chrome (Malcolm Parker) on September 05, 2011, 12:29:13 AM
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Picked up from another thread
Event-National --great organisation, lucky sunshine, met lots of old friends , sorted schmitt points (they were faulty) and given a clue about cutting out-has my petrol cap got an airhole??-no idea will look Monday. The Cursor attracted lots of interest and people spoke to me so plan B worked well. A great day out and thanks to all who do the hard work setting up and running it.
Example--as I was eating my cold bacon sandwich in my tow car (daughter made it felt obliged to eat it) two marshalls came over I wondered what I had done BUT they had come to see if I needed to leave and would have put a call over the Tannoy to arrange movment of cars in the way. Not needed but great observation of a possible issue.
Also good to be near the RUM cars gazebo and priveliged to be next to the Allard clipper -Cursor and Clipper both eccentric and unusable in their time!
Discussion?? anyone else like the National this year?
I thought it was a smashing event even if I could only run around for a couple of hours and then had to dash off to work. Nice to meet and put faces to a few of you. The field looked full to bursting when I left, but I doubt it was close to 200 micros even if you include cars that not everyone would classify as Micros. shame there wasn't a Nobel to be seen amongst them, but quite a good variety nevertheless. Heard a few tails of mechanical ailments, not least the Bond owner who thought the field was very bumpy till someone pointed out his broken rear suspension. Fortunately the sun was shining (or at least it was when I left!)
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More Pics
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More pics
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Meant to take some pictures of the new Bamby P50 but someone stopped and talked to me everytime I got close and I ended up with none of it! Scootacars were the other notable absentee
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The Bug Club proved this venue had the merits promised before the previous Noah special rather spoilt things. So that was, for me, the key thing and a vindication of much work.
Within the limitations of this traditional form of Rally it was very good managing a believed 161 cars attending (Statistics to be cross referenced as the organisers deserved to enjoy as much of the goings on as poss rather than getting technical in a tent). As good as it gets these days I would think. Too many reasons to state why but the world is different to that we rallied in 25 years ago. This evidenced by the attention to detail required by organisers with additional toilets, fire positions etc. Example Jeff Ellis trotting round the site at one point politely cutting short chats with 'I've got to go and fill the toilets up.' I thought 'What by your self!' but of course he meant the chemicals and bog rolls. Years ago this was not even on the radar and the judgement of natural activities was evidence by the variable speeds of ant columns of folk moving between the nearest facility or larger building of the venue and helped keep us all fit or it exemplified the added benefits of a working Microcar. I would hope no one complained about these sort of issues this year. If there were organisational probs the majority were not aware of them so a good job done. The compact rally field made pictures of individual cars a little difficult but it did mix folk up which is, I feel, a great bonus and dilutes marque bores. The high spot for me though was nothing to do with the cars but the presence of the Marshalls with good news. So many friends but my absence and inactivity over recent years means there was a huge number of people who I had no idea who they were. So if I could make a suggestion it would be could we have name labels next time, like in Holland. These can double as a rally plaque and are far more useful than those, unless like me you use the thin ali ones as filler applicators.
My only complaint was that I seem to have now paid an excessive amount for what was latter classed as 'The Worst Car at the Show'. Not sure if this pleased Stuart, who was near chucking the car in the ditch at one point in an effort to improve its ergonomics, more than it 'annoyed' me since there was a load of road worthy noshers present far more suited to this honour. The Bamby is practically original throughout and in fact fettled a potential outright concours winner! Maybe there is a challenge there! Clearly the UFO prize has become subject to ever more complex political problems from the days I last won it with a very original unrestored road legal Nobel and for much the same reasons I expect. The depth of filler on noshers is in direct inverse proportion to the thinness of the skins of the owners who have no sense of humour and often as not a jolly fine campervan spread loosely in a yonder field twice the size of that of the stars of the show, the microcars cars, cheek by jowl. (It was commented on even if it mattered not to the traditional Micronaut who is, of course, used to second best. This while enjoying the odd quiet tea in the peace and tranquillity of the area of autojumble stands including the two Schmitt clubs far from the madding crowd next to the museum buildings, oh dear, glum chums with few takers and less sales). Sad as it has made the UFO award less appropriate even if it is still a bit of fun. Perhaps the theft of the original plank of wood years ago is a blessing after all! Hey ho satirical chums!
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Shame, I would have loved to have been there!
What new Bambycars where there? Isetta?
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really enjoyed the whole thing - fantastic , and the weather great ( unfortunately half way home i.e. 2 1/2 hours to go the rain was torrential and for the whole way - real adrenalin rush that kept me from nodding off on the motorcycle )
agreed alan on the conviviality of a small site - it was cosy , at times it was chaos . aiming to get i gather 250 cars there and you couldnt move on the site woth the 166 ? that did arrive .
cannot understand why new smarts, suzukis etc and not really eligible citroens etc were allowed to clutter up the already full site.
worst car at the show ? i wouldnt disagree with the bambi - i think their awful, but what why not the two invalid cars surely they stood a chance of this award ;D
after all said i loved it all but where were the nobels, scootacars etc. etc.
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oh and i meant to ask how many members of the forum can you spot in tha above pics? i dont know all the identities but i only saw g-o-g-g-o, big al and myself . wheres wally or wheres the wally perhaps ? how many did you spot ? i know many more were there - grant , andy and others - were you in the beer tent ?
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Dear Malcolm
Am I missing something, What picture???
I was there all day Saturday and Sunday, I saw Rusty chrome, big Al Stuart, John Meadows, Mike Shepherd, Jean, Emma and Grant, but with no name badges and these silly false names it was impossible to identify any other forum members. Perhaps forum members should have forum badges with their silly names on for the next National Rally.
I enjoyed the rally, but there is definitely room for improvement. I think the Bug club did very well until the prize giving when cars were leaving and having to force their way through the prize giving crowd, past the prize giving. I expected one of them to collect his prize and drive straight out the gate, that was how crowded the field was. The caterers could have done a bit more than cooked breakfast and burgers and chips tea Sandwhiches and crisps. Having said that there were a great group of people and there was a good vibe about the place, all Microcar friends together.
I was on my feet all day and desperate to sit down, and apart from the food tent it was the grass and get trampled on.
It was great to meet up with you all. See you all at the next event
Chris Thomas
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hi chris nice to meet you - but you forgot me immediately :'( loads of seats at the eatery i spose but you could have come to mikes gazebo and begged aseat for a while - many did . but remember he was trying to trade as well !! take your point though.
secondly who's malcolm ?
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Dear Light Weight
I did say when I met you that I was not good at remembering names.
I did have some garden chairs on the Rumcar stand but felt very sorry for everybody else.
Glad to hear you got home without getting too wet on your Triumph.
Chris Thomas
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Me again so soon. Silly names---Golo?? its the name of a very rare Pelham ventriloquist puppet made in 1954 one of a set of 4, the Lilli range only 100 of each made. So its selling price today compared to its 'find' price is far from silly in fact worth more than my Cursor! which links swiftly onto worst car of show I am amazed that anyone could put Bamby below afor mentioned death trap, I wonder if judges had experience of both??? still pleased to remain awardless. No room in the house-its full of puppets
Must be my ears or the cars leaving or wife on phone or just plain kn------- having been on feet all day but I missed the award speeches, from my position they were hard to hear so just joined in the laughter and applause when appropriate.
Wonder who the judges were?? I helped judge the Isettas and judging was done using an adapted BMW car club system.
It would appear that established protocol for this was not widely known (or maybe who gives a t--- anyway)Doors should be left open. and engine covers off. Associated memorabilia displayed aalong with jack and tools
Rubber floor mat will be lifted but door will not be opened or covers taken off, also must be able to see current MOT, Insurance and Tax disc. I thinlk the sheet is on the IOCGB site. But many cars despite being shiny would not be in with a chance simply because the judging sheet was not looked at or followed still no complaints that I heard.
I agree with the who's who lots of RUM folk there but still unkown to me (maybe intentional???!)
Where will it be in 2012???
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we enjoyed the weekend,saw old friends, made some new ones, drank beer,had a laugh and came away exhausted. job done i would say. well done to the organisers :) stuart asked me to steer his bamby while he pushed so as he could park it next to our p50 for a photo, the easiest route being around the back of the friskys and along the drainage ditch,only snag was,,,,the bamby not having the best steering lock ,and the gap in which to turn not being very wide, both myself and the bamby in which i was ensconced almost went into said ditch,i was shouting to stop but to no avail,and i had no brakes with which to save myself :o excellent fun. did anyone get any pics of dad driving the p50 into the beer tent and up to the bar ??
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both myself and the bamby in which i was ensconced almost went into said ditch,i was shouting to stop but to no avail,and i had no brakes with which to save myself :o
From where I was pushing, there were at least two blades of grass-width between you & impending disaster, so loadsa room in which to get round in... ;D 8) Anyone get a photo? I know there were some cameras around. I wasn't going to tell you this Emma, but I was thinking at the time when we did that bit of shuffling to get round, that if it went wrong & the car actually did end up in the ditch, how comprehensively would it steal the show.... ;D
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A few more pictures... :)
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And more...
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Lovely pics, sad, i haven't been there !
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both myself and the bamby in which i was ensconced almost went into said ditch,i was shouting to stop but to no avail,and i had no brakes with which to save myself :o
From where I was pushing, there were at least two blades of grass-width between you & impending disaster, so loadsa room in which to get round in... ;D 8) Anyone get a photo? I know there were some cameras around. I wasn't going to tell you this Emma, but I was thinking at the time when we did that bit of shuffling to get round, that if it went wrong & the car actually did end up in the ditch, how comprehensively would it steal the show.... ;D
Hmm methinks the laughter would have been after being told 'Thanks for the bunts Al, your cars in the ditch. We're all off to spend the cash now!'.
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I helped judge the Isettas and judging was done using an adapted BMW car club system.
It would appear that established protocol for this was not widely known (or maybe who gives a t--- anyway)Doors should be left open. and engine covers off. Associated memorabilia displayed aalong with jack and tools
Rubber floor mat will be lifted but door will not be opened or covers taken off, also must be able to see current MOT, Insurance and Tax disc. I thinlk the sheet is on the IOCGB site. But many cars despite being shiny would not be in with a chance simply because the judging sheet was not looked at or followed still no complaints that I heard.
Where will it be in 2012???
At least there was a form of judging beyond a peoples choice. It is always controversial as there are more 'experts' than cars normally. We have drifted a way from folk having cars only to hunt pots a bit thankfully. I prefer to look at it as to own a car and enjoy it but that is very nice when other people say the like the car too and dish out a trophy. It does not ruin my day if I do not get one. Pro celebratory car showing is tedious in the extreme and disappointment often encountered. Do not understand why folks do it.
I think some of the odder prizes are actually judged on a totally informal basis, like the worst car. It has to go to someone who has the ability to accept it is not negative criticism. The parameters of the prizes change as the folk attending and event changes. When Wiggy, Nick and I were winning the Grot awards the car had to be roadworthy and driven during the event. In all but one case for us I believe the winning car was driven to and from the event. It does not take a genius to realise that the pool of competitors on that strict entry format would be very slim now and it would also be unlikely the car was the worst car present that worked. It crossed my mind the appropriate ironic prize now would be the best car on the worst quality trailer would achieve much the same footing as the old Grot award.
Next event. Big rumour of Great Yarmouth I believe. Being a MIcrocar Rally it should be Little Yarmouth but I think that sank a few years back. Mmm tours of the Broads, beach, is it Adnams from Southwold? Great venue for a holiday plus Rally. Worth the long drive as it is a great touring area which I did in a Zundapp and later Messerschmitt. I would not vote against it.
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secondly who's malcolm ?
Wally's brother
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Just wondering what the former pictured in Stuarts post is from? Some kind of hybrid Isetta?
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did anyone get any pics of dad driving the p50 into the beer tent and up to the bar ??
Pic of your old man at the bar as requested.
Excellent work.
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The Highbrid isetta as you call it, is the mould for a 2/3 scale copy proposed by Bamby to add to their 2/3 scale schmitts.
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I would like to add my congratulations to all who had a finger in the organisation of the National this year, a shame they didn't reach the record number of vehicles. However, had they done so where on earth would they have parked them?. It was my first visit to a National for a good few years and it was my grandson Jamie's first ever. He was a little disappointed as he had expected to see a huge great field with masses and masses of unusual microcars that he had never seen before! He enjoyed himself nonetheless mainly by showing off the Allard Clipper. By the way rumour has it that someone crawled under the Clipper and went to sleep. I have no photographic evidence of this, can any one confirm or deny the rumour?
I had a wonderful day talking to people I had not seen for many years. Everyone knew me but I must confess I was hard pressed to put names to several faces I do hope they were not offended. I was so delighted that Tony and Lynne Marshall were able to make it and see them in such good spirits was an added bonus. Thanks for all the pictures, (except the one of me with my mouth open) I was too busy talking to take any. Once again well done to the Organisers, here's to next year. Jean
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i dont mean to poo poo anything but th whole idea of a record turnout was a bit odd wasnt it ? does that mean that all the in between years the organisers have not wanted a record turnout ?? surely not !
i have no answers but surely organisers are putting the cart before the horse. as i say no answers here but you must first make a rally appealing enough for record figures to attend , and not just declare the aim .
i remember Wynford has several times declared 100 cars attending Bath Rally as a target - usually well short. but again no real reason for a record number of owners to attend .
anyway the rally was a great success i think and well enjoyed by those attending . i do hope the organisers dont beat themselves up for what they didnt achieve , congrats on what they did :)
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Thanks for all the pictures, (except the one of me with my mouth open) I was too busy talking to take any.
Ah but there you are you see, there was never a moment all day when your mouth was closed! ;D :-*
Let's try another photo from prize giving. Caption time for Saint Grant's expression methinks. I'll start the ball rolling with:
"Oh no! He HAS brought that ruddy Ariel..."
;D
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Hi All,
Glad most of you seemed to enjoy this years National. Those I spoke to all seemed happy. It was a pity we didn't get the record but it was only a bit of fun as Guinness wouldn't recognise it anyway. :).
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i remember Wynford has several times declared 100 cars attending Bath Rally as a target - usually well short. but again no real reason for a record number of owners to attend .
The 100 figure for Bath was more a target set by Ray Simpson when we had the event at Victoria Park and it was primarily a one day entity. This was because a couple of times we got tantalisingly close to that figure - see the year of the newspaper supplement item featuring amongst others G.O.G.G.O. with his Trojan van. He will recall the date and publication I expect. In hindsight the loss of Victoria Park removed the special pull of this event as we were in a prime location and next to the Royal Crescent etc. giving those none petrol camp followers alternative activities to do. The two fold pressures of early health and safety rules and the wish of many attendees to have a weekend event meaning a campsite and the then reluctance to move sites loosened our hold on Victoria Park. Once lost we could never return. Subsequently the event has lost the backing of the Bristol Microcar Club which is now a mothballed club and pretty much all relies on Wynford to provide the event in the best way he sees fit each year. This despite his having removed a further 40 miles from the venue to live. Last year was the last the mothballed coffers of the BMCC could fund hence some extra effort to not only boost numbers but to attempt to get folk to underwrite what has been the only consistent annual Microcar Rally in the South of England I believe. I do not have figures for this years turnout but it was over 50 cars on a minimal advertising exposure. It was a success within its perimeters and has enough money to go again next year.
The Bath Rally remains viable, partly due a tradition of a hardcore Yorkshire contingent rolling up some midland enthusiasts who all drive micros down to camp - harking back to the old days. But it reflects the situation at least prevalent in the South West, at one time perhaps the strongest area for Micro activity. Interest is now patchy and active participation has died back across all marques. Without support Bath cannot get 'better'. It struggles for support because it cannot get 'better'. Classic catch 22. We now face the fact that a bad year could finish the event off all together. Yet with some additional helpers, a revamp to perhaps a more prestigious venue with a cash injection the Rally could attract over 100 cars. How to achieve those tricks without the old local ground support? The National is fortunate indeed that it was deemed early on to create a fund to support the organisation of the series of events and much as I might like changes a group of people to provide some continuity of content. I just hope that does not become the oasis in an arid background as Wynford has with the BMCC and Bath. If it does then our hobby is in real trouble.
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Hi All,
Glad most of you seemed to enjoy this years National. Those I spoke to all seemed happy. It was a pity we didn't get the record but it was only a bit of fun as Guinness wouldn't recognise it anyway. :).
That's all right. We do not recognize Guinness then. Don't get a record by drinking and driving, perhaps.
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yes al but actually wynford did set a target of 100 cars THIS YEAR !
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Dear Stuart
An alternative caption for your photo
"I was expecting Darth Vader to be a bit more muscular"
Chris Thomas
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yes al but actually wynford did set a target of 100 cars THIS YEAR !
Yes indeed. Based on the Ray Simpson oft quoted figure and to get people to realise that if you do not use it, you lose it. As I reported the result was a better support for the event even if the total of cars attending seem little different. It felt a better event too. Siccess is not just a numbers game. The event can go ahead next year. If he had not made the statement I fear we would be mourning the fact that the Bath was dead. I would be the first to agree that the problem is what happens in 2013 but to get to that you first must have an event in 2012. The idea of an event every other year is not even on the table as it is extra work to organise and there would not be an organiser. Bleak facts but there we are.
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Let's try another photo from prize giving. Caption time for Saint Grant's expression
'Controversy at National Rally when Derry based Catholic Patrick O'Bubbly, 31, refuses top concours trophy over ribbon decoration'