Life On Cars raises £126 for the National Autistic Society

ANYONE who attended the motoring-themed pub quiz held in Southport this evening will appreciate why I've put a picture of Nigel Mansell with this article.

Despite the best efforts of a technical problem with a microphone and a slightly pissed Nigel Mansell fan, dozens of people took part in the event, with the total raised on the night for the National Autistic Society coming to a whopping £126.

It's only second motoring event Life On Cars has organised directly, after the not-entirely-successful Mini display and Italian Job cinema screening two years ago, but thanks to a great turnout at the Cheshire Lines Inn in Southport and some very generous contributions from the region's petrolheads, the night was a great success.

Congratulations to the winners, the Alfa Romeo Owners team, and the runners-up, Six Dons and A Ginger.

Best of all, not only was a lot of money raised for a very good cause, but quite a few people came up to me afterwards and said, despite the minor setbacks, that they really enjoyed it and had a great night out.

Should I do another one in the future, perhaps?

Footman James Classic Motor Show 2012

THOUSANDS of motoring fans will be making the trip to Birmingham this weekend to check out one of the nation's biggest classic car shows.

The  Footman James Classic Motor Show, held at the National Exhibition Centre, attracts scores of traders, clubs and enthusiasts from all corners of the country to see classic cars and bikes of all ages, in a show guaranteed to have something for just about everyone.
  
Life On Cars took these pictures at the event:

 

The show continues tomorrow (November 18). For more information visit the show's website.

Aintree motorsport club honoured in competition

AN AINTREE organisation which helps to keep the town's connections with motor racing alive has been praised in a national motorsport competition.

Aintree Circuit Club was named as one of six motorsport organisations which reached the finals of the MSA Club of the Year 2012 competition, after their work in organising motoring events in the north west, notably the Ormskirk MotorFest, was praised by the judges at the Motorsport Industry Association.

Mike Ashcroft, the club's chairman, said: "The club is delighted to receive this reward from the MIA and came very close to winning at our first attempt.

”Our motorsport display in Ormskirk alongside the themed market certainly attracted a lot of attention and promoted the sport and motoring in a very positive way as well as providing something different for visitors to the town centre."

The overall winner was the South of Scotland Car Club, but Aintree Circuit Club has been presented with £100 for reaching the finals of the contest.

The club, which has organised the Ormskirk MotorFest for the past two years, helps to promote Aintree's historic connections with motor racing, including the five occasions when the town's circuit hosted the British Grand Prix.

MIA spokesperson Helen Jones said: ”We received a number of entry forms from MSA clubs who took part, and due to the high standard of applications, this initially proved difficult for our judges to decide upon an overall winner.

“The judges were so impressed with the quality of the top six, that they feel all should be publicly commended.”

To find out more about the club, visit their website at www.aintree.org.uk or call 0151 525 9314.

Fire up the... Land Rover Defender X-Tech

NEVER meet your heroes, the saying goes. That's why I approached the latest version of what's an off-roading icon with just more than a touch of trepidation.

The Land Rover Defender needs little introduction because everyone in Britain is familiar with its boxy shape; it has, after all, been with us since the days of Spandau Ballet and Michael Foot vying to be Prime Minister.

Despite a series of calls to replace it with something a bit more modern and friendlier to the environment it's soldiered on regardless, doing useful duties for people like farmers and the British Army. It's also at this point I have to declare an interest; not only am I faithful follower of all things Solihull and a longstanding 4X4 fan, but my parents, for the best part of a decade, owned a Defender.

This X-Tech is Land Rover's attempt to give that old recipe a bit of 2012 street cred, which explains the snazzy silver paintwork, the black alloy wheels and the mean grille. It's not a paintjob you'd particularly want to scratch if you actually went off road, but I suspect most of the X-Tech's buyers will be more swayed by the style than a burning desire to utilise its reputation as motoring's mountain goat. Which I can understand because the X-Tech is a seriously mean looking bit of kit.

I know that not venturing into the undergrowth in a Defender is a bit like slipping on a set of stout walking boots to pop to the shops but I did get to try the X-Tech in its more likely natural environment; on the road, where it's rubbish. I know it's a high rise off-roader that's been around for nearly 30 years but if you're more used to modern 4X4s then you'll find the roly-poly handling, the wind noise, the noisy but not especially fast performance, the lack of elbow room and the dated switchgear hard work. It's also, at £27,000, not especially cheap either.

But without venturing off-road to see how the X-Tech performs as Land Rover intended this is only the half the story - consider it unfinished business. If, however, you're like most 4X4 owners and don't intend on scaling anything tougher than a kerb in a supermarket car park then it's a bit of a mixed bag. It's a seriously cool, no-nonsense machine that doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't, but it's not for everyone.

The X-Tech's far from perfect but I couldn't help but enjoy it.

As published in The Champion on November 14, 2012

Ormskirk MotorFest 2013 event confirmed for August 25

PLANS to bring hundreds of cars and bikes to West Lancashire for a motorsport spectacular have got into gear after a 2013 Ormskirk MotorFest was confirmed this week.

Aintree Circuit Club and West Lancashire Borough Council have both confirmed that following the success of the motoring event in bringing thousands of people into the market town a 2013 event will take place in the town centre and at Coronation Park on Sunday, August 25.

Mike Ashcroft, chairman of Aintree Circuit Club, told Life On Cars: "We're delighted that we've been able to get the council to ratify next year's event and to agree the date, which means we've got a head start on making the 2013 MotorFest a big success.

"The extra months of preparation we've got will help to make it an even better event than the first two MotorFests, because we can improve on what we offer visitors and we can attract an even higher quality of entries, and get some great racing cars and bikes onto the streets of Ormskirk."

The 2011 and 2012 MotorFest events helped to give Ormskirk its two best ever trading days, with this year's event bringing 15,000 people into the town centre to see more than 300 classic cars and bikes and to witness the spectacle of F1 cars taking to the town's one-way system as part of a series of parades around the town.

West Lancashire Borough Council also confirmed to Life On Cars that a date had been given the green light, and that it was keen to make the 2013 event a success.

A spokesperson for the local authority said: "The council is delighted to confirm that we will be working with Aintree Circuit Club on MotorFest 2013. The event will be held on Sunday, 25 August.

"The first two Motorfests were hugely successful and more than 15,000 people visited Ormskirk. We are confident the 2013 event will also be a fantastic event. We are talking to the Circuit Club about exciting plans for MotorFest 2013 but at this stage it is too early to talk about the details."

The council also said it is seeking sponsorship to help make the 2013 MotorFest a success. Any organisations, companies or individuals who are interested in sponsoring the Motorfest should contact the Council’s Technical Services Manager Colin Brady on 01695 585125.

Rover to the rescue in the Lake District

THE glamorous motoring missions don't usually get thrown the Rover's way.

While the MX-5 gets tasked with tackling the tricky mountain roads and the MG gets to strut its stuff at shows, my 1995 214SEi is usually doing the dowdier jobs, trundling to the shops and taking bits of unwanted furniture to the tip.

Yet on a weekend away in the wilds of Cumbria, it's more than proved its worth.

Having decided to spend a night away with a few friends in a camping pod near Ullswater (well worth a try, by the way) I pointed the Rover's square-rigged nose north up the M6 for the dash up to Cumbria. When I tried exactly the same journey in the MGB earlier this year it was genuinely hard work - not only was it slurping a gallon of premium unleaded every 25 miles, but it was noisy, heavy and, thanks to a firing problem, not all that fast either. The MX-5's motorway manners are far better but its tiny boot meant it was a no-no for the camping trip, and, still haunted my memories of a hairy moment with it on the wet Cumbrian roads this time last year, I decided its tail-happy sense of fun and country lanes covered in mud and wet leaves made no good mix.

Not that taking the £300 Rover was a bad bet, because what it lacked in excitement it made up for in comfort, its parsimonious take on drinking petrol and its sheer determination to plod on, no matter what I threw at it. I threw it at mountain roads. I forced it up steep hills. I caked it in mud. I loaded it up with clothes, clobber and camping gear. Not once did it complain.

I knew it wouldn't - this being the same Rover that refused to be beaten by snow in Grasmere, the Evo Triangle in North Wales or the enduring feat of getting to Norfolk in back in baking sunshine - but by far its finest hour was last night, when a mate's much newer, much heavier Mondeo Estate got stuck in the mud on a boggy campsite. Even though there was a Land Rover Defender parked nearby, nobody was around to drive it, so it was down to an ancient, front-drive Rover to tow the stricken Mondeo out.

Even though the Rover's clutch gave off a distinctly evil smell and the tow rope eventually snapped under the strain, the £300 hatch eventually managed to free an estate car weighing nearly twice as much and save the day. We toasted our success of a few pints of the local brew in the campsite pub later that night, but we couldn't have done it without the plucky little Rover which refuses to give up.

Great car.

Life On Cars gets a new logo

THE Mini is out and the open-top sports car is in.

Eagle-eyed readers might have spotted a few changes on Life On Cars this week; that's because, for the first time in more than three years, the logos for both the online blog and the column printed in The Champion newspaper have been changed. Where for the past three years the car pictured in the logo has always been my old Mini, now it's a Morgan Threewheeler, and what you see above is what will accompany the Champ column from next Wednesday onwards.

It's been a good week for The Champion, which last night was named as the North West's best free newspaper at the prestigious O2 Media Awards. Given that Life On Cars is a small part of that - and one which I know has got quite a following locally - I'd like to thank all the motoring enthusiasts who regularly turn to our titles for supporting us!

Finally, a quick reminder that a motoring event not to be missed - the Life On Cars Petrolhead Pub Quiz - is taking place in Southport next Sunday night (November 18). Whether you're winding down after next weekend's National Classic Car Show at the NEC, keen to show off your motoring knowledge or just happy to help raise some funds for the National Autistic Society, it should be a fun night and well worth the £2 it costs to take part.

See you there...