Hinckley Classic Motorshow

Yesterday afternoon I was told that a classic car and bike gathering was happening in the middle of Hinckley town centre in the morning. After speaking to my dad we decided to pop down and see what vehicles would turn up. This is the first time Hinckley has hosted an event like this, the only other I can think of is the special stage around Argents Mead for the Rally of the Midlands.

As I live in Hinckley I popped along and was quite surprised by the turn out considering this is the first year of this event. There was a huge mix of cars and a few bikes were there too. As the morning went on it got busier with more car clubs turning up and even classic scooter clubs. Here are some pictures from the event.

All in all, a good way to spend a Sunday morning. Let's see what the turn out is like in 2012!

Roadster Demo Car: Pitcrew Racing

I wanted to put together a feature looking at the Eunos Roadster tuning houses in Japan. The first one I want to look at in none other than the love or hate Pitcrew Racing demo car. A lot of Pitcrew's can look thrown together if not thought out carefully, the Pitcrew Racing demo car on the other hand is nothing like that.

The car is based off an NA6 and features pretty much the entire range of Pitcrew Racing products. The car is set up on carburettors to help give that classic feel.

Here are some photographs on the car,

The interior features some Nakamae pieces that help add to the old school vibe.

Stay tuned for more Roadster tuning shop demo cars.

Practical Sportsbikes

I stumbled across this magazine today when I popped into my local town. My brother had mentioned about the magazine previously but I didn't realise the magazine only caters for 70s, 80s and 90s bikes.

As it's only really these three decades of bikes that I am interested in I have now found my bike magazine fix. Here are a few photos of the magazine,

Whilst I was in town I bought a few tools for the garage too as they were cheap,

British Racing Motors V16 - The Sound of 1947

There are several engine notes that stick the hairs up on the back of my neck, but the BRM V16 has to be my ultimate engine note.

BRM designed the supercharged 1.5 V16 engine in 1947 and it was used in Formula One until the mid 1950s. The engine produced 600bhp at 12,000 rpm. The engine proved to be unreliable at first but the engine was very powerful for the time. Here is a sound clip of the engine at full chat.

Castrol Tom's Supra

In the land of the rising sun the Castrol Tom's Supra was always dicing at the front of the pack in the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC).

The car went through numerous changes after its debut in the mid 90s. The car started off in 1995 as a 2.1 litre I4 turbocharged racer, but as time moved on it shared the same engine that was eventually used in the Toyota Corolla world rally car. The Supra was eventually given the V8 3UZ-FE power plant giving the car additional torque.

Even today the wide bodykit and huge GT wing make the car look menacing, and the headlight turned into an air duct shows that function comes before form.

My first memory of this car was actually through playing Gran Turismo on my Playstation when I was around 10 years old.

Here is a small video showing what the JGTC is all about,

Real Classic Meet - September 2011

I follow the Real Classic message board from time to time and I spotted that there was going to be a meet this Sunday around 11am. Mad Mike on the message board organises these, last time I went I took the Roadster so I thought this time I'd rock up on the FZR. I classify the FZR as a sort of classic bike as in 3 years it'll be 25 years old (the official text book age for being a classic).

When I got up this morning it was raining and I wondered if the meet would be on. After a quick call to my dad and a father son chat (I.e being told to stop being a big Jessie) I got my camera and gear ready to go to the meet. My dad turned up to my place and we set off to the meet.

We arrived at the meeting point and Mike was the first person there. He was on his Norton that was restored in 1976. It still looks fabulous considering that was some 35 years ago.

A genuine mileage of 82,222. It goes to show that if a bike is looked after they can do this sort of mileage.

As more bikes turned up the sun started to shine and the roads dry out.

My Yam sitting there still clean from the day before.

The colours of the Triumph's fuel tank look great when the sun hits it. The colour scheme is very similar to a sunburst Fender Stratocaster.

The fuel tank on this Ariel has two grooves on both sides of the tank, no doubt complex to manufacture.

A BSA having a well deserved rest. The bike and rider has travelled from Manchester.

We couldn't stay too long as lunch was approaching but it was good to see some familar faces and have a good chat again. I've been told to contact a paint shop in Leicester regarding the fuel tank on the FZR and with Stafford Bike Show coming up next month I'll be making a shopping list in the coming weeks.