A new magazine on the way

EAGLE-eyed readers will have already seen that work is underway on a new issue of the web magazine.

It's been a while - last Christmas, in fact - since the last issue came out, but with the weather getting a bit warmer and all sorts of interesting cars coming out of hibernation it's probably the right time to look into some great motoring stories in a bit more depth, not least the mad Morgan Threewheeler I got a taste of couple of weeks ago.

Watch this space...

The class of 1994 was brilliant for car classifieds

SO THE Champion's 18 this week. Your favourite local paper can, among other things, legally get the drinks in without worrying about being asked for its ID by the bloke behind the bar.

I've been celebrating the anniversary by working away on the special birthday supplement you'll find delivered with this week's edition - a task which meant trawling through the thousands of papers we've put out over the years, to uncover all those juicy front page splashes hidden away in our secretive and extensive archives.

It's a pity then I ended up hooked on a rather different bit of Champion history - the car classifieds. If, like me, you're one of those weirdos who still finds the Auto Trader strangely absorbing (and I don't mean the coarse, inky paper it's printed on either), then you'd love looking through the secondhand bargains Champ readers were prepared to flog you all those years ago.

Yes, it's true that when the first ever Champion was published the number one single was Mariah Carey's tragically bad cover of Without You, but I would have put up with that to buy a clean Capri Ghia for £550. The same car today, now considered a bit of classic, is four or five times that. You could take your pick from a host of very tidy original Minis for between £500 and £600, and - if you weren't that desperate to get anywhere in a hurry - a slightly ropey Citroen 2CV with eight months' MOT was yours for £250. If only there was a way of somehow transporting these then-unwanted motors from 1994 to 2012, because all these old stagers are very sought after these days.

Even more annoyingly cheap were 1994's brand new arrivals. Would sir be tempted, for instance, by a lovely Alfa 155, which in The Champion's first week was yours for just £13,577? The same money these days would struggle to get you into a mid-range (and much smaller) MiTo. I know the class of 1994 were only just being introduced to electric windows and airbags, but they still got a lot more for their money then you do now. You could also experience the thrills of driving a Fiat Coupe or a Volkswagen Corrado without having to peel the boiled sweets out of the ashtrays. Then again, if you'd ventured into a Ford showroom at the time there's a very good chance you'd have ended up lumbered with an Escort.

So to celebrate The Champion's big anniversary I've decided things were better in the good old days. Maybe I'll think differently in 18 years' time...

Fire up the... Morgan Threewheeler

IT'S A new model for the Worcestershire-based sports car builders but not in the conventional sense.

By ditching a rear wheel Morgan are revisiting territory they first trod a century ago, when the company appealed to the newfangled worlds of motoring and biking by fitting tiny little two-seaters with V-twin engines and minimal bodywork. Think of the new Threewheeler, then, as a remake of one of Britain’s oldest automotive adventures.

You’d think that’d make the Threewheeler a frantic bit of fun and it is - but only when you’re happy for it come out to play. Admittedly, it’s not a car you’d ever want to take to Waitrose and if it rains you WILL get wet but for such an outlandish and overt bit of automotive engineering it’s remarkably civil, and it’ll dawdle along as long as you like.

But plant your foot to the floor in just about any gear and the so-bonkers-it’s-brilliant Threewheeler unleashes its considerable firepower in an explosion of noise and speed, which you’re all the more aware of because the wind’s hitting you straight in the face and because absolutely everyone for miles around is looking at you. If they aren’t, they’ll definitely hear you coming.


Despite being friendlier and more manageable than I could’ve have hoped for - at first you’ll wonder where those beautiful wire wheels at the front are, but you get used to it - it is completely unlike anything I’ve driven before. It is a sort of cross between the open-air buzz of a microlight and the vintage style of a Sopwith Camel fighter plane with the deep-throated roar of an old TVR and the sheer punch of a motorbike thrown in.

So it’s my kind of car and - at £30,000 - actually cheaper than the more conventional four-wheelers Morgan fans already know and love.

A full feature on the Threewheeler will appear in the Spring edition of Gr8Life Magazine.

Hugh Buckingham: the man behind the MINI Clubvan

THE Southport signwriter who gave a helping hand to one of the world's biggest car makers has spoken to The Champion about his involvement with a new MINI show car.

Last week The Champion reported on a MINI concept van being displayed at this month's Geneva Motorshow featuring the work of a signwriting firm based in the resort - but despite our initial enquiries before last week's edition, BMW, the car's creators, remained tight-lipped about the story behind the project.

However, shortly after last week's edition reached our readers we were put in touch with Hugh Buckingham himself, who explained how a family connection to the firm helped him land a job decorating the vehicle, which will be given worldwide media attention when it forms the centrepiece of the MINI stand at the Swiss automotive show.

Mr Buckingham, who has spent more than 30 years working with vehicle graphics, said this week:

"My son John works for BMW as one of their designers, and when the company decided they wanted the graphics on the van to be authentic he pointed out that I work as a signwriter, and that's how the company got in touch with me. I'm amazed at the publicity the van's aleady had and am very proud to have been involved with it.

"The design I went for is almost a little anachronistic, because it's like something you'd see on a canal boat on a brand new concept car, but that's right for the MINI because it's a very traditional product. It's the first time BMW has ever cross-promoted another company in this way, but really the praise should go to their publicity department for coming up with the idea and managing to get so much attention drawn to it."

The vehicle, called the MINI Clubvan, is a modern recreation of the iconic Mini vans of the 1960s and has already received global attention, including a brief appearance on Top Gear last week when it was discussed by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

If you've got an automotive story for The Champion contact motoring correspondent David Simister on 01704 392404 or send him an email at david.simister@champnews.com

Ormskirk MotorFest 2012 is go!

A FULL-THROTTLE celebration of all things automotive will roar into action on August 26, it has been confirmed today.

West Lancashire Borough Council and Aintree Circuit Club said that the Ormskirk MotorFest, which brought thousands of visitors to the market town during last year's inaugural event, will be held on the Bank Holiday Sunday after the organisers managed to secure a £10,000 boost from north west firm the Belfry Group.

Councillor Martin Forshaw, portfolio holder for Planning and Technical Services, said:

"Last year’s event was a huge success and proved to be an enjoyable and exciting day for all. With the sponsorship from Belfry Group, this year’s event looks set to grow and grow.

"I look forward to working with Belfry Group and the ACC in order to make this year’s event even better."

The council confirmed that this year's event will follow a similar format to last year's, with displays of classic and racing cars around the clocktower and in Coronation Park, while parades will be held on the town's one way system to entertain showgoers.

Funding for a second MotorFest event was confirmed earlier this year, when the borough council agreed to invest £17,500 and for Aintree Circuit Club to organise the event. However, both the council and the organisers were keen to seek additional sponsorship to help make this year's event a success.

Mike Ashcroft, chairman of Aintree Circuit Club, told Life On Cars that the club was delighted with the news and is looking forward to announcing more details about entries for the event over the next few weeks.

"We're extremely pleased that the second event has been secured, and that we've also got a sponsor this time to help support us to fund the MotorFest. It is a massive vote of confidence both in the event and in Ormskirk itself," he said.

"The sponsorship means that we should be able to do more than we could with last year's event. I'm really looking forward to it."

Last year's event brought more than 200 classic cars and motorbikes into the town, with more than 10,000 visitors coming into the town to see the vehicles and the parades around the town centre.

Keith Rimmer, managing director of Belfry Group, which has agreed to give £10,000 in sponsorship to the MotorFest organisers, said:

"We are very pleased to provide support to this year’s Motorfest. We believe last year’s event was fantastic and provided a great free day out for the entire community".

If you're interested in sponsoring the Ormskirk MotorFest contact the council's support team on 01695 585125.

The elusive karting prize I didn't get

THE BLISTERS on both my thumbs proved I’d been giving it everything. Sweaty, light-headed and sore in places I usually wouldn’t be, I was a shadow of my former self.

Apt given that the name I’d chosen for going go-karting was Black Shadow – the name of a very cool motorcycle which, I hoped, was like me in that it’s getting old but is still fast. My rivals, in case you’re interested, had also plucked a selection of odd pseudonyms from obscurity; during the 40 minute sprint I’d arranged as 26th birthday treat I’d be up against The Physicist, Senna Jr, Captain Slow, “Steve”, Lightning, The Mechanic and – best of all – a not-at-all-cocky competitor called simply Dave’s Destoyer.

The track – Elite Karting, which has been carefully crafted over two floors of an old cotton mill a stone’s throw from Wigan Pier – was one of the best I’ve ever raced on. Tricky, narrow and difficult to overtake on, the use of ramps and plenty of tight corners meant you had to use every trick in the book (and a few that probably weren’t) to squeeze through the gaps.

Considering I’ve never chucked a kart through an old cotton mill before I reckon I’d surprisingly well in qualifying; third out of eighth in a grid packed with diehard and very competitive car nuts. A quick lap, we got told, was 50 seconds, so my best of 54.632 was still a way off. The question was all over whether I could shave those crucial seconds off as I got more acquainted during the race itself.

Psyched up, parked up on the main straight behind The Mechanic in first and Dave’s Destroyer in second, the green flag dropped and the 40 minute sprinter race fired into action. I got very into it, looking for every opportunity to eake a little extra speed out of the kart, squeezing past slower racers and – on more than one occasion – getting a warning flag for taking the ramps a little too aggressively. Sure enough, the seconds I’d been looking to shave off the lap times fell away.

I was quick, but not quick enough to win – of the 40 laps my quickest was a 52.468, which for a first race is by no means a bad result but way off the consistent 49 second laps Dave’s Destroyer, the jammy so-and-so, was getting. And while you might not think 2.5 seconds is a big gap, over a 40 minute race it meant he was easily quick enough to lap me. Twice.

In fact, as the chequered flag dropped this is how the race looked:

1) Dave’s Destroyer (best lap 49.036)
2) The Mechanic (best lap 50.928, one lap behind the race leader)
3) Black Shadow (best lap 52.468, two laps behind the race leader)
4) “Steve” (best lap 52.591, three laps behind the race leader)
5) Senna Jr (best lap 52.699, three laps and eight seconds behind the race leader)
6) Lightning ((best lap 54.133, three laps and 17 seconds behind the race leader)
7) Captain Slow (best lap 53.001, three laps and 22 seconds behind the race leader)
8) The Physicist (best lap 55.496, five laps behind the race leader)

So I was fast, but frustratingly not fast enough to defeat to take the overall victory and put Dave’s Destroyer in his place. Still, a podium place first time is no bad result for the birthday boy!

And anyway, I’m sure given how much everyone enjoyed it there’ll be plenty of opportunity to get a few more blistering lap times in time. The Black Shadow will ride again...

For more information about Elite Karting in Wigan check out their website or give them a call on 01942 829697.

Lotus Evora S - better than a 911?

THIS story begins not in Hethel – the spiritual home of all things Lotus, from Elite to Exige – but on the M6, heading north towards Coventry.

The traffic jam, thanks to an accident, has backed up for miles. It is stuffy, confined, and frustratingly slow. There are hundreds of drivers here who have all have one thing in common. Not one of them wants to be here.

If I could choose a car to tackle these congested conditions, it wouldn’t be a mid-engined, supercharged, rear-wheel-drive, look-at-me supercar, and the Lotus Evora S is all of those things. It is a supercar because it goes like a jet aircraft, corners like a go-kart and looks like something styled by a Renaissance artist, but it’s a super car because it does all this with next to none of the drawbacks.

It was – and I don’t say this lightly – no harder to drive in a motorway crawl than a BMW 5-Series.

I know because this time last year, I drove an Elise, the modern classic which to this day can provide any motorist with a master class in how to do ride and handling properly. On the right roads, like any of the mountain passes in the Lake District, it was sublime, but on the motorways it was a noisy companion and once you pull over you’ll do your back in trying to get out.

Naturally, I as tried to figure it out on the train down to Norfolk to visit Lotus’ factory, the Evora would be worse. A big Elise with all the drawbacks, but with a bit of a supercar-style traditional truculence thrown in. But it isn’t.

First, the drawbacks. It’s easier to get into than any other Lotus offering, but it still requires a slightly more agile frame than most. The rear visibility is shocking, the rear seats are hopelessly cramped, and when you first set off, it is very, very wide. Oh, and the supercharged V6 is like me – endlessly reliable, but loves a drink. Own an Evora and petrol stations will become familiar places.

Yet you’ll forgive it everything because it’s two brilliant cars in one; a thirsty executive express with cruise control, leather seats and satnav, and a stunning supercar crafted by hand by Lotus, the company that brought you the Elan and the Esprit. The Evora S has 345bhp and feels like it, belting its way not only down the straights but using its seemingly divine levels of grip to destroy corners too. Oh, and it all comes in what I reckon is one of the best shapes on sale today – the Evora was and still is a truly wonderful aesthetic achievement.

Would I, if I had the £60,000 asking price, go for an Evora S? I suspect I probably would - in fact, every opinion I’ve canvassed since getting it is one of going for the Lotus rather than a 911. Luckily for me, I’ve still got a few days left to find out for definite.

I’ll keep you posted...