[Kevan]

Z Cars...DS Watt (Frank Windsor) drove one

...(notice the twin Police ariel's at the rear)

[Scuderia_Turini]

I understand that Simon Owen from Hornby/Scalextric was at the recent NEC Classic Cars show. I'm not sure if he was scouting for anything in particular or just doing the rounds.

Leo

[StuBeeDoo]

I could do with a Scalextric Anglia.  It would fit nicely into my "pre-1970" collection.  Rally livery preferred, but I could do a repaint.  

[JasonB]

This handsome beast should convince Scalextric to make an Anglia rally car. I think it looks much better without the full width grill.

   

[Kevan]

Rally Otago

   

Rally somewhere-in-the-UK

   

...or Jersey looking at the reg

[Kevan]

Rally Barbados...

   

Come on you have to admit these old A-boxes look great

[JasonB]

Going back to the rally, we've now had three potential winners drop out in the first three days. 

Kris Meeke had to retire on day 1 because of an engine problem, Osian Pryce retired on day 2 due to an oil leak, and Oliver Solberg pulled out today with a broken driveshaft.

All of which leaves three time winner and wise veteran of the event, Marty McCormack leading again, in an Escort. McCormack said from the start that it was a marathon event and that he would be looking after the car, and that approach has obviously paid off.

In second place is Seb Perez driving his father's Lancia Stratos. There is part of me that would love to see the Stratos win, because Steve Perez has been campaigning that beautiful old rocket ship for many years, and it is such a joy to see it out on the RAC, it sounds great and looks great. But he is the best part of five minutes behind, so Perez will be hoping for a mistake from McCormack, or a technical problem

In third place is Irish man Cathan McCourt in another Escort, after Jason Pritchard had a a puncture. Pritchard is in fifth place because....

Breaking news, whooooaaah, Oliver Solberg is reported to be back in the rally. He's 5:24 behind McCormack, but it should make for some interesting viewing tomorrow as he tries to claw that difference back.

[rallyhub]

A Stratos belongs to the RAC Rally for sure!

[JasonB]

What an end to the rally.

Solberg's team worked until 5:15 in the morning to fix his car. But he had five minutes to make up, and in an effort to make inroads into that gap, he overcooked it on the first stage of the day, and unfortunately ended up in a ditch.

That left the top five runners looking fairly stable in their positions. But the final stage was a mammoth 38 miles through Kielder Forest, the longest stage in a British Rally for over forty years.

With such an awesome final stage, you just had a feeling that things could easily change, and they did. At the final stage camera, 30 miles in, we watched McCormack go through, and we waited... and waited. Finally the second car came into view but it wasn't Sebastian Perez in the Stratos. Perez was all set to take second place, the best finish for the Stratos, both on the Roger Albert Clark or the RAC rally, but news filtered through that he was out.

McCormack took his fourth win, Cahan McCourt took second, and Jason Pritchard finished third.

1,200 miles covered in five days with 350 stage miles. Now that's what I call a rally. Fabulous.

[JasonB]

Well I've now had the bloomin Rally Report theme tune rattling incessantly round my head for several days.

For those of you who are too young, or not blessed with an interest in rallying, or not from the UK, please allow me to explain...

Rally Report was a BBC programme, hosted by William Woollard, which ran from 1984-1998, covering the RAC Rally in much more detail than you are likely to see on any mainstream channel these days.

At some point they decided to use this particular track for the theme tune, and in spite of being a fairly offbeat choice, it was a banger, and quickly became a favourite with rally fans, and the reason it's been stuck in my head, is that they've used it again on the Roger Albert Clark rally.





Since I was both a rally fan, and a musician in those days, I found the contrasts and contradictions interesting.

Propaganda were a German, arty, synth pop band who, with the best will in the world, were probably not that well known, and probably still aren't. They did make an appearance on Top of the Pops when the first first version of this track, originally called Duel, made it to 21 in the 'Hit Parade'.

But the lyrics  tell a tale of a dead or dieing relationship so it's definitely an odd choice.



But it was the 30 seconds at the start of that remixed version that will be forever be remembered.