The Old Cars

Andy Smedley's car: (No picture available) 1100cc engine, 8 port head, twin webers, Nothing below 4000 rpm then suddenly you'd hit 8000, quite mad. Swing axles - so the handling was as well. Car was sold on. So if anyone knows of its wherabouts, we'd be interested to know. Or then again, we might not be.

"BEXY": Pete B's first - Started off with a 1200cc road rally spec engine. Engine blew up first time out. Gradually evolved into a 136 powered car. From the left, AJ, Banger, Piglet, Pete Boddy. Car eventually scrapped.

Dick Lumb's 120L was a fully stage prepared car that kept all of its interior trim so that he could take it road rallying as well. Ran a 1200cc motor successfully (and reliably) until the engine ingested a load of dust at a "Wheels" motorsport day at Manby. Then went to 1300cc by the simple expedient of pinching the engine out of his "Trophy Car". Scrapped & parts transferred into new car.

Snorkie: This picture shows a number of rarities, the first is that Phil Stead has managed to bend the steering on his 1300cc 120L. The second is that he is actually seen here working on it! The car was eventually scrapped to provide a cage and engine for "Charlie Chax"

"DSVO": Otherwise known as "Son of Bexy." Built from a crash damaged 120L, inheriting all the bits and pieces from "Bexy" including the safety gear and the engine. Didn't have time to paint it before its first event, so now you know where VW got the idea for the Polo Harlequin from. Trailing arm suspension was fitted to the rear of the car from a 130 Rapid as part of a gradual evolution, or at least would have evolved further had the next one not been bought. The car is shown here in its "Concours" condition on the 1991 Dukeries Rally. An hour later, the car was on its roof. Eventually sold to Tobyn Wilson who did all manner of modification to it, eventually stuffing a 1300cc Ford X-flow up its jacksy. Now scrapped.

"Odie the Skodie": We only went to look at the gearbox for sale and ended up buying the whole car. Sold, along with DSVO to make way for......

Team Bouncing Czech go ultra professional with a Group "N" Favorit for the 1994 and 1995 Skoda Trophy seasons. 1995 saw Pete and Eddie finishing 4th overall in the Skoda Trophy, missing out on third by two points, and completing the Network Q RAC Rally in last place. Currently running Group 'A' ish spec with a hotted up engine, CR gears and LSD. Scrapped.

Charlie Chax: This one's had a hard life. Built as a Skoda Trophy car in the mid 80's, bought and run by Dick Lumb between 1989 and 1991, garaged and then sold on to Ian Jones in 1994. Ian modified the car further by knackering most of the front panels and then replacing them with ones that weren't even the right shade of yellow.

Then became nice and pink and shiny and called "Ermintrude." See below.

Ermintrude: The legend. At least in the owner's twisted little mind. With a colour scheme that once caused an American to announce that the driver of said vehicle must be the bravest man ever and someone else remarking to her husband that the childrens' entertainer had arrived, this vehicle caused joy to marshals everywhere because it meant that once Ermintrude had passed through a stage, they could pack up and go home. Never very quick, but reliable to the point of embarrassment, her year of glory was 2000 when she finished 3rd O/A in the EMAMC multivenue championship - Ian Jones driving, Eddie Beilby, Pete Boddy, John Pearson and Lee Betteridge all taking their turn in the navigators seat. Predictably scrapped but her spirit lives on in the Ermintrude Evo1.

The Rally Banana: John Pearson's first foray into competitive motorsport. A basically standard Mk1 Favorit used for road rallying. As with Ermintrude, its glory year was 2000 with 8 events entered, 8 finished. John Pearson driving, Ian Jones and John Chadwick navigating. After this the power bug got too much so John and Ian built a Peugeot 309 GTi - But that's another story. Oh, it was sold to Lee Betteridge who eventually got round to scrapping it.

The Unripe One: Richard Lumb's last foray into the world of Skoda's was this car that came into the VW dealership that Richard worked in at the time. A perfect recipient of all the bits that came off his earlier 120L road rally car. Eventually fitted a properly sorted 136 engine but eventually sold to Max Hartley. Richard and his son, Andrew, now use Vauxhalls for their motorsport needs. Hasn't yet been scrapped, last I heard it was being built into a new stage car.

That's all the old competition cars, we haven't included the road cars, or the cars that became parts donors - back in the days when people were giving them away mostly because that would be a bit daft as there have been far too many to list - IJ