2014 - My brilliant year with cars and stuff

[dbizzle]

Hello!

I've decided to create a thread to pull together all the cool stuff I've been lucky enough to get up to with cars this year. Not to show off or anything, more just to give myself a decent reminder of what's been a pretty amazing year! And I thought you might enjoy some of it too.

So, bear with me, it may take a while... I'm going to tackle it month by month, in chronological order, because that's how time works. Let's start at the, er, start.

January

At the beginning of this year I was mid-way through running #Project87, a 205 GTI project that was being covered in Retro Cars magazine. January saw me taking it up to Pug1Off to have a conversion to Evans waterless coolant and new set of silicone hoses fitted.


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I also dabble with reviewing new cars and stuff occasionally, and in January I road-tested an Astra Biturbo. Check out the world-class parking skills:


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February

Ah, February was a good month. It started off with a visit to the Ford Heritage centre in Dagenham...


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...where I got to drive two astonishing cars from the collection for a couple of Retro Ford mag features. Firstly, an RS200:


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...and secondly, FEV 1H - the Escort that Hannu Mikkola drove to victory in the 1970 London-Mexico World Cup Rally. That was pretty humbling.


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Soon after that, I was up to the Morgan factory in Malvern.


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...where, again, I was driving a couple of their cars for features in various places. The brutal Plus 8:


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And the 3 Wheeler, which is hilarious fun!


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Back in London, I was asked to cover #CopGear, which saw the Met Police moving their heritage collection from one site to another, stopping off for a photo op at New Scotland Yard.


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And then it was time for the next chapter in the #Project87 saga: I took the 205 down to Powerflow in Dorset for a custom exhaust.


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[dbizzle]

March

Goodwood's 72nd Members' Meeting was one of my favourite events of the year - like the Revival, but with a broader timescale and fewer people. I got to interview Jochen Mass, then Robb Gravett, and the incredible variety of cars meant that I secured loads of mag features from this show. Definitely going to 73MM next year.


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[dbizzle]

April

Lots of stuff happened with the GTI in April. Firstly, I took it down to Windsor for a new performance clutch.


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Then, early one morning, it was loaded onto a truck and carted off to Leeds for a couple of days...


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...and when it came back it was a different colour! Vinyl wrap, you see, in a sort of satin-finish Miami Blue-ish shade. (These photos courtesy of WillCarter.)


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(Yes, they did take the 1.9 badge off and put it back on the right way up.)

...and then I sold the car to Jeff at Retro Cars, so he could carry on the project.


I also road-tested a Volvo V40 T5 in April. My god, those things are quick. Incredibly soft leather on the seats too, and spookily it can parallel-park itself.


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[tdk]

Fantastic year! Will do something similar

[bstardchild]

I love threads like this - years back I did a "year in the life of B5 GSE" my Monza (written sort of from the cars perspective) when it had a very busy year - that seemed to go down quite well

[sharkattack]

How long have you been at this photography lark? I've had my first year of regular work but nothing on this level. Got half a dozen cover shots. Hopefully 2015 will be a lot more eventful.

[DWDarkWheels]

OK. We're only up to April, and I decided at February that you ARE showing off. But that's OK, because I reckon on what we've seen so far, that it's justified.
Sometimes you really do have to stop and look back at the stuff you've been involved with to realise how special things can be.

[dbizzle]

Dec 18, 2014 19:08:46 GMT sharkattack said:

How long have you been at this photography lark? I've had my first year of regular work but nothing on this level. Got half a dozen cover shots. Hopefully 2015 will be a lot more eventful.

Ah, I'm not a photographer by any stretch! I'm a writer. Who have you been working with so far?


Right, onward to...

May

I had another press car in May, a Fiat Panda TwinAir. Might not sound exciting but trust me, these twin-cylinder turbo poppets are an absolute hoot.

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So, I took it to the Apex Festival. Lots of stuff to enjoy there.

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...and oh look, I bumped into #Project87!

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Also in May was the glorious Motorsport at the Palace. We've been going to this for a few years, it's near enough to home that I can take my little girl along for a picnic! Great mix of cars there too.

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[dbizzle]

June

First event of June was the brilliant Players Classic down at Goodwood. Slashed it down with rain first thing in the morning, but then turned into a lovely day.

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...then it was on to the Bromley Pageant, on a beautiful summery day.

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Stay tuned, couple more big June shows coming...!

[fred]

I'm looking at these and thinking how the year has gone so quickly
Remember looking at some of these and dayum? That long ago?

[dbizzle]

June (cont.)

The next June event was the Retro Show at Santa Pod. And yes, I got Pod-face. Par for the course.


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...and then it was the big one, the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Delicious. (Incidentally, all of these hyperlinked names of shows will take you to the full Flickr sets.)


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I also got to fulfil a long-held ambition and actually go up the Goodwood hill - I bagged a passenger ride in the Morgan Plus 8 Speedster on the Sunday, neatly sandwiched between Henry Catchpole in the car in front and Derek Bell behind.


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[dbizzle]

July

In July I covered the Concours de l'Ordinaire for GoCompare. Quite an entertaining little event.


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[dbizzle]

August

I started a new series for GoCompare in August, my 'Guide to Britain'. For the first instalment, I pinched a shiny new Toyota Auris Hybrid Sports Tourer and took it to Stonehenge.


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Oh yes, wasn't there something else that happened in August? Some kind of big show?

Um...

Ah, of course, it was MOTHERFLIPPIN' RRG14.


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[dbizzle]

September

Ooh, September was good - I went to Salon Privé. Astonishing motors and limitless Champagne, what a combo...


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[dbizzle]

...and also in September was the incredible, incomparable, heart-swelling Goodwood Revival.


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[sharkattack]

Dec 18, 2014 21:17:18 GMT dbizzle said:

Dec 18, 2014 19:08:46 GMT sharkattack said:

How long have you been at this photography lark? I've had my first year of regular work but nothing on this level. Got half a dozen cover shots. Hopefully 2015 will be a lot more eventful.

Ah, I'm not a photographer by any stretch! I'm a writer. Who have you been working with so far?

Sorry, I actually knew that. Was going to type 'journalism' but I must be too busy obsessing about the pictures!

I'll send you a PM

[dbizzle]

October

...the second instalment of my 'Guide to Britain' - I took a Renaultsport Megane 265 Cup to the White Cliffs of Dover. Have you tried one of these? You really should, they're ace.


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[Frankenhealey]

Thanks, I now know the next paint scheme for the Healey

[dbizzle]

November

Part 3 of the 'Guide to Britain' in November, taking a Mitsubishi ASX to Bletchley Park.


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Then something very exciting happened. I got an invite to visit the Rolls-Royce factory, to have a look around and drive a few cars. So, first I drove the Phantom...


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...and then the Wraith...


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...and then the new Series II Ghost.


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I also got to be among the first journos ever allowed to take pictures in the R-R factory, which was rather cool.


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[dbizzle]

...then it was the Classic Motor Show at the NEC, which I'd never been to before. It's vast!


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