National MicroCar Rally 2011 update

[Bob Purton]

Maybe it has its origin in Concourse judging?
 Like so many other things in the world of microcars, what was established in the old days of micro rallying have just stuck, logical or not logical. A bit like the old chestnut of the boundaries of what is a microcar. Did that rule come down from Sinai with Moses? No
down from Burford with someone in flared trousers and a late sixties haircut?  And who's to say they were wrong? Well, quite a few people actually.

[Stuart Cyphus]

 Maybe I'm too much of a traditionalist, particularly with an event such as the National. It's precisely because the format of the National was established in the old days of micro rallies that makes it The National. I go there & I expect to see the Plastic line & the Metal line. Anything else just wouldn't be right. 

[Bob Purton]

It does vary though depending on who is running it.

[richard]

no i quite agree with you chris - there had to be a first time  

whyever plastic or metal , but thats how it's been. poor Peels etc. end up in a line up with Reliants, and all the various modern trike type three wheelers ( that i personally dont think belong at all ) and a Gordon , should one turn up, will end up in the Fiat 500/126 row.

surely a categorie of various 50's/60's micro's makes a lot more sense - the fabric is immaterial , i never even mentioned Velorex   modern trikes etc could then appear in a line up of their own . Simple

[Big Al]

And that, my friends is the nub of it. A Powerdrive clearly should be next to a Coronet as a Fulda S4 should be next to a Nobel. However all those would be very happy sat under a RUM banner away from kit cars and non micro stuff that happened to pop in and then grouped in a guest area. Tradition is fine till it gets in the way. Better still the RUM area will not have stuff behind it, including camper vans, so that some proper pictures can be taken of the subject matter on hand without rubbish appearing in shot ruining the effort. I am fed up with looking for Waldo when a picture is proffered of a some vehicle allegedly pictured. Indeed it is a thing I would alter in the organisation by having a rally type presentation area the cars file through. Trouble is it would mean the car being moved through an area as part of its presence. That seems asking to much of some folks who do not even remove/take the car off the trailer/A frame. Then again they would hardly be on site in my version of an event so that little issue solves itself until they see the TV camera and microphone!

[Grant Kearney]

Chris, sorry for the delay in contributing to this discussion but currently touring Inverness-shire in my Messerschmitt along with several other Microcars and owners, pics next week when I get home and the camera dries out  .  No 'show and shine' up here just serious driving in the worst possible weather. Al, you and the BUMS should join us as it your kind of thing and not that far from your Cumbrian Estate.

Having a dedicated Rumcars display is a great idea and if Jeff is in favour then do it.  Most of the 'one make' clubs have official representation and Rumcars has certainly in the past.  A display of the rare and unusual combined with a 'drop in' gazebo with a few deck chairs would encourage current and potential members to get involved.  At the moment I am planning to take my Frisky (and someting else)  so count it for the display.

The metal and plastic categories simply give a home to the rarer cars that have no club presence to support them or because there are so few they don't have their own line up.  We are hoping that the numbers of Fiats will be up this years so they will have their own line up (as has happened in previous years) and if sufficient numbers arrive then there will be one for 126s and one for 500s.  Again if there are sufficient Reliants (Daniel, tell all your contacts that they are welcome) then they too will have their own line up as has happened at Malvern.  More recent vehicles such as Smart, Axiam and trikes have their own class called 'Modern'.  When Sir Alan (he of Petites) get the AC gathering organised then there will be an AC Petite section as was done last year for the Friskys.  Should there be a Gordon or two turn up then they to can have their own line up 

Chris you also need to be aware that Rumcars has provided the awards for the best 'Plastic' and 'Metal' for a very long time and this helps get new blood into the club as the award is a years subscription to Rumcar News.

[Daniel Rodd]

i could get a pretty large number of reliants to turn up,but only if this was wanted and or we were welcome to be there,as a fair few of my friends have had pretty unpleasant experiences at micro rallys due to marque snobbery and vowed never to go again.

[Stuart Cyphus]

 Daniel, you keep on about that, but the only way to forge the bridge is to bring the Reliants & damn the doubters. I had (& occasionally still do have) the same with my invalid carriages for the past ten years. But no matter who said what I kept on bringing them out year on year until eventually everyone came to realise the conveyances weren't going away & so today they are part of the scene & they can like it or lump it. Just think, you could be the one to bring the Reliants in from the cold into the bright lights of the bubble world. You could be the great bridge builder in the face of, lets face it, snobbery and misunderstandings from BOTH worlds. Spread the word & get the Reliants to Wiltshire. The future, if we allow ourselves, could start here....  

[Rusty Chrome (Malcolm Parker)]

Daniel, you keep on about that, but the only way to forge the bridge is to bring the Reliants & damn the doubters. I had (& occasionally still do have) the same with my invalid carriages for the past ten years. But no matter who said what I kept on bringing them out year on year until eventually everyone came to realise the conveyances weren't going away & so today they are part of the scene & they can like it or lump it. Just think, you could be the one to bring the Reliants in from the cold into the bright lights of the bubble world. You could be the great bridge builder in the face of, lets face it, snobbery and misunderstandings from BOTH worlds. Spread the word & get the Reliants to Wiltshire. The future, if we allow ourselves, could start here....  

Great post

[richard]

ah but you have a VERY thick skin Stuart. as you are well aware most of us do not welcome invalid carriages (other than perhaps villiers powered ) at all . perhaps Daniel is more sensitive 

[Daniel Rodd]

why forge a bridge if there is nothing on the other side?

[richard]

daniel whyever are you on the site then if theres nothing there for you ? plastic pigs , particularly early ones as dont forget for most of us there is an historical element to the hobby , are i am sure welcome praps its just that paranoid owners dont feel welcome .

[Daniel Rodd]

ive had people come up to me at rallies saying why is this here,friends of mine have been pushed to one side of the field away from the others,and over heard people saying "why are there bloody reliants here" so i dont feel it unjustified.
its bad enough getting grief from the general public driving one let alone people with supposedly a common interest.

[richard]

there are very few, relatively, micro rallies dan . name them and shame them ..... and when

[Stuart Cyphus]

ive had people come up to me at rallies saying why is this here,friends of mine have been pushed to one side of the field away from the others,and over heard people saying "why are there bloody reliants here" so i dont feel it unjustified.
its bad enough getting grief from the general public driving one let alone people with supposedly a common interest.

 And you think I haven't had that all over the place with my invalid carriages? Yet I'm still here, in the thick of the scene that I love, round the cars that I love. The true enthusiast does it for the cars, not for public opinion. You stand there being prickly about it & nobody will come near you. But if you rise above it & show them the knowledge & intrest that the cars are capable of generating and be friendly about it and eventually people come across & think "Yeah, that's not so bad after all, let's have a closer look at that". Besides, get enough Reliants to Wiltshire on 4th September & you'll be able to shunt the bubbles to one side & sneer at them for a change...