The best of Millbrook, in one handy radio show

I STILL haven't quite got over the joys of being let loose on the test tracks at Millbrook and really getting stuck into some of 2010's most exciting cars.

As promised, there will be a write up of each of the 16 cars I drove, but if you just can't wait to find out whether a Peugeot's 308 RC Z is better than Honda's CR-X or just why the best sports car you can buy is in fact 20 years old than you'd do well to listen to the clip I've uploaded below.

It's from last Friday's Live From Studio One show on Dune FM, and it's well worth the listen. Plenty of car related banter and the Life On Cars verdict on some of this year's most crucial cars, weeks before you'll get the write up.

Enjoy...

We Brits know mower about setting records than anyone else

A MOWER man from Southport has this week seen history being made after a British team set the world land speed record - for lawnmowers!

Brian Radam, curator of the National Lawnmower Museum, on Shakespeare Street in Southport, was one of the people who witnessed the Project Runningblade team take the record for the fastest ever lawnmower at Pendine Sands in Wales, which in the early 20th century was frequently used for speed records.

“It was a fantastic achievement as the average ride on lawnmower has a top speed of 6mph, racing lawnmowers only reach approx 60mph,” he said.

“Although this is the fastest speed for a mower, it is not the quickest at cutting grass, this record is held by an American cutting one acre in one minute! It was a shame the attempt could not have been held at Southport Beach where in the 1920s several land speed records were attempted.”

Project Runningblade's machine, driven by Don Wales, nephew of Donald Campbell and grandson of Sir Malcolm Campbell, both land speed record holders, took the record by travelling across the sands at a two way average speed of 87.833mph, although no actual mowing was involved in the record-breaking runs.

“We are delighted to have set this new world record. It is a triumph of British engineering, and my thanks go to Countax for building this magnificent machine, to Beaulieu who have supported us so well from the outset, and to all our other sponsors who have helped us achieve this marvellous record,” said Stephen Vokins, Team Principal.

Project Runningblade is now on display in the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, near Southamption, beside a collection of legendary world land speed record cars including Donald Campbell's Bluebird.

Other famous lawnmowers are on display in Southport at the National Lawnmower Museum. For more information contact 01704 501336 or visit the museum's website at www.lawnmowerworld.co.uk

Maxing it at Millbrook

I’VE just maxed a tiny Toyota around a high speed bowl, piloted Peugeot’s most exciting car in years and driven an iconic classic which would make my dad hugely jealous.

Amazing as some of these claims are, they’re all true and they all happened at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, where I was lucky enough to be one of the journalists invited to take part in the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders test drive day, where 33 car companies laid on their latest and greatest for us to try. Predictably, I was like a child let loose at Alton Towers.

The whole day is basically speed dating for cars, just with the slight problem of falling in love with lots of cars rather than just one. All 16 of the test drives I took will be appearing on here in the near future, but for now I can say:

• It’s a tad unnerving when you’re driving the Skoda Roomster around the tight hairpins of the alpine course and realise a Porsche 911 Turbo, a Honda Civic Type-R Mugen and a Renaultsport Clio 200 can’t get past.

• The Honda CR-Z is the hybrid I’ve genuinely enjoyed driving, and it’s going to be a big hit.

• Peugeot’s 308 RC Z was by far and away the most popular car I drove, but it was well worth the wait.

• The Jeep Wrangler is a worse car than the Land Rover Freelander, but strangely I enjoyed the American icon far more. Strange but true.

• The very first production Range Rover, made in 1969, had a broken seat, the noisiest transmission in history and realistically topped out at 50mph on Millbrook’s high speed bowl. But I absolutely adored it.

• Vauxhall’s Meriva is far better than anyone has given it credit for.

• One of the few cars I wasn’t allowed to drive was Citroen’s new DS3 (I’m six months too young, apparently) but judging by its closely related sister, the C3, it handles very nicely indeed.

• I don’t care what you think about the Mazda MX-5, because it was unbelievably good to drive.
  

David Simister will be on Dune FM (107.9FM) between 6pm and 7pm tonight to talk about the latest cars and how they performed at Millbrook

Getting sunburnt the vantastic way

FORGET hay fever and barbecue-induced food poisoning, because I’ve just discovered a far more annoying summer disease. This week, I’m suffering from Van Driver’s Arm.

That’s right; my arm is redder than a Liverpool shirt, and it’s all because I stepped away from the world of cars and drove, for the first time ever, a Ford Transit. On a day when Lancashire felt more like Lanzarotte, I’d like to say I became White Van Man, but I can’t. I was White Van Man With A Red Arm.

Anyone who’s ever hired a van on a hot summer morning, journeyed north, and then headed home on an even more blistering afternoon will know exactly what I’m on about when I whinge that the sun has to move about so that the same arm conveniently gets burnt again on the return run. It still hurts now.

Van Driver’s Arm is a disease with all sorts of symptoms; elevated sense of driving position, insistence on driving a white vehicle, inexplicable urge to buy copies of The Sun, that sort of thing. Fully fledged cases can even lead to severe bouts of tailgating, but luckily I managed to avoid the more severe symptoms (although I am still suffering from the need to make crass generalisations).

I was only exposed to the world of White Van Man for a few hours, but I thought it rocked as much as the music every Transit driver I’ve ever met listens to. How can something so enormous be so much fun to drive?

It might be the same size as my old student flat but I still decided to take it down one of my favourite driving roads on the way up to Carlisle, and it impressed endlessly. Every modern Ford I’ve ever driven has clearly been set up by someone who loves driving, and even in something as enormous and workmanlike as the Transit it shows.

Even when you’re tootling around town you soon forget just how big it is, so natural is it to drive, and there’s something about its hard-wearing plastics and big, chunky cupholders which suit it perfectly. It might have got my right arm sunburnt but besides that I really couldn’t fault it.

It’s just a shame I forget to tie the boxes in the back down before I took it down the back roads. Oops!

Life On Cars reader marshals motors at Maltese race

A TARLETON man has told Life On Cars of his experiences overseeing a prestigious Maltese motor race featuring some of the world's rarest cars earlier this month.

MGB owner Ronn Middleton said today that he successfully completed his first stint as a marshal at the Valletta Grand Prix, held between May 3 and May 9, and said that among the events he had to deal with was a £500,000 Jaguar racing car crashing on the course.

“There were all sorts of cars racing on the island, including Austin 7s, AC racing cars, Austin Healeys, and a Jaguar C-Type which spun out and hit the armco at the side,” he said.

“It was an unforgettable experience which was a great honour to be involved in, and it went even better than I was expecting it to.”

Mr Middleton worked as one of three judges in the event's concours contest and as the chief steward on a sprint event, following his involvement in an array of motorsport events across the UK, including organising the Coast to Coast Classic Tour and working as a senior official on the Manchester to Blackpool Veteran, Vintage and Classic Car Run.

Mr Middleton, who works as a consultant on classic car values for an auction house, has also actively taken part in many events as a driver, including acting as a support driver for rally star the late Richard Burns during his days competing for Subaru and Peugeot on the Network Q Rally in the World Rally Championship.

The Valletta Grand Prix, which is held in the island's capital city each year, attracts drivers from across Europe who compete in a series of races for different types of classic cars, including Ferraris, Jaguars, Triumphs and Austin Healeys.

See the Jag spinning out of action and host of other Valetta classics by clicking here.

Fire up the...Smart ForTwo

IT'S a question lots of recession-ravaged motorists are bound to be asking at the moment. Just how smart is it to buy a Smart?

Leaving out the likes of Mazda's MX-5, the MG TF and all the other sporty roadsters tempting you in showrooms across Britain this summer it's hard to think of a car under £20,000 that offers you just the two seats, and I've often wondered who is actually buying Mercedes' most miniscule motor when I see it sneaking up on the nation's parking spaces.

The tiny City Coupe, now named the ForTwo, is still the staple of the Smart brand after the sporty Roadster and the larger ForFour were dropped, and having driven it's not hard to see why it's still proving a hit with anyone looking for a quirky take on the small car.

Get past the cute curves and the smiling grille - the styling's a bit of an acquired taste but it's hardly ugly - and the first thing that strikes you is the quality of the interior, which feels remarkable airy and spacious for something so small and blessed with an interior that despite looking slightly plasticky has a feeling of quality, and you'd sitting in either of its two seats you almost instantly forget the back window is just inches behind you.

It's also a bit of a hoot to drive, with the Tiptronic transmission on the version I drove proving surprisingly good fun once you've mastered it, and the steering has a quick nimbleness to it which defies the car's narrow stance.

The best bit is the hum from the three cylinders strutting their stuff behind you and working 83bhp to the rear wheels, because it sounds delightful when you're driving it.

It's a fun thing to be at the helm of, but I still wouldn't buy one, because Toyota's IQ has moved the game on by offering the same sort of thing for the same sort of price, but with the huge bonus of back seats. The clever thing to do would be the offer the next generation of the Fortwo as a four seater, and steal the small car crown back.

It's still smart to buy a Smart, but for now it's smarter still to buy the tiny Toyota.

Skoda's second generation vRS is sporty but spacious

HUNTING for a hot hatch with a difference? Worry not, because Skoda may have just the motor for you in its newly-launched Fabia vRS.

The Czech car company has just unveiled its second generation of the sporty supermini, which it reckons offers both tremendous value and the option of a speedy estate for keen drivers looking for an involving drive.

"The new vRS is the fastest production Fabia ever built, and builds on its predecessor’s reputation for high performance, low running costs and remarkable value for money," a Skoda spokesperson said of the company's latest product.

"Overall, the vRS offers fantastic value for money, particularly when compared to the competition. Where else can you find a 180bhp engine with DSG, paddles, LED lights and loads of standard kit for £15,700 for the hatch and £16,495 for the estate version?"

Unlike the previous Fabia vRS the new arrival ditches diesel in favour of getting its power from a revvy petrol engine, and - unlike rival hot hatches from Renault, Peugeot and Volkswagen - also comes as an estate for those wanting space as well as pace.

Thanks to its 180bhp powerplant acceleration from 0-62mph takes just 7.3 secs, with a top speed of 139mph (140mph for the estate). For more information on the fastest of the Fabias, visit Skoda's website at www.skoda.co.uk.

A little bit of everything

MOTORING events are – ironically – like buses. You wait ages for one…

First stop was a fancy restaurant in Aughton, although it was actually a helping of advanced driving on the menu, served up RoADAR Merseyside, an organisation determined to make motorists in Merseyside and Lancashire a little less likely to become an insurance statistic.

One of those motorists was a Lancashire resident with a passion for driving - despite being in his eighties.

Eric Sandelands, above, who is 81 years old, is among the motorists who have joined the group, who meet at the Swan Inn pub in Aughton, to sharpen up his driving skills and become a motorist with advanced skills.

“I thoroughly enjoy my driving, but I think as you get older, you gain more knowledge, but you wouldn't have the reactions of a driver who is 20 years old,” he told Life On Cars.

“Everybody should try and drive to the best of their ability - it's their responsibility to try and prevent any accidents happening. That's why I've taken up the course, to learn what I can, and I hope that the more I learn, the safer a driver I can become.”

Mr Sandelands, who did take an Institute of Advanced Motorists driving test around twenty years ago but is keen to improve his driving skills further still, is one of the Sefton and West Lancashire driver who has joined the group in an effort to pass safety charity ROSPA's driving test, which the group says is one of the highest accolades available to drivers to show competance and safety.

The group is open to drivers of all ages and abilities, and is currently looking for younger drivers - often the ones most likely to be involved in accidents - to join up.

“Advanced Driving or Riding will make you a more confident, safer, smoother and accurate driver or rider; it will reduce fuel consumption leading to fewer C02 emissions, and can also reduce insurance premiums. Passing the RoSPA test can also lead on to a BTec qualification in driving,” said Colin Knight, chairman of RoADAR Merseyside.

“We aim to prove that our free training can make Advanced driving a cool and exhilarating thing to do, and at the same time encourage safe driving and riding for life.”

Then it was my turn, only I wouldn't be using something like Eric's lovingly-maintained Skoda Octavia. My passport to advanced driving, it seems, is the £100 Renault 5 I bought earlier this year.

According to Colin I performed impressively enough, even getting a smattering of the top 'A' grades when it came to atttitude and vehicle safety, but am I really going to be good enough to get the group's coveted Gold certificate?

I'll be doing the whole course over the next month or so, just to let you know whether a twentysomething petrolhead in an ancient hatch really can cut it as an advanced driver. For more information about RoADAR Merseyside visit the group's website www.roadarmerseyside.org or contact Colin Knight on 07753 280465.

In fact, I was feeling so good about the advanced driving, I was determined to bring the Life On Cars Mini next time. Until this happened...
Lots of people talk about "driving the wheels off" off whatever it is they're at the wheel of on a cross-country sprint, but I doubt they mean it literally!

That's what happened to the Mini on a dash between Formby and Parbold, without any warning whatsoever. At first I thought it was a blowout, but it turns out of the driveshaft (a notorious weak spot on Minis, I'm now told) simply gave up the ghost, knocking out a swivel joint in the process, and meaning the wheel simply collapsed into the arch. At 40mph. On the way to a showing of The Italian Job I'd spent months organising. I've had better afternoons!

But I've been lucky, firstly because despite the scary-looking image no major damage seems to have been done, secondly because I'm informed the knackered part isn't too tricky to replace, and most importantly because I managed to recover the skid and nobody was hurt. Obviously the RoADAR course has come in handy already!

It's lucky I've got mates in the motoring trade, because I still managed to get to the showing of The Italian Job in the nick of time, which turned out to be a fantastic event.

Despite being a Mini short it was great to be able to see the petrolhead film on a cinema screen just as it was intended, and the people of Parbold seemed delighted with the armarda of Minis we'd brought along to get them in the mood. There'll be more about it on here later this week, but if you want to find out more take a look at this week's Ormskirk Champion.

And last but not least there's this, the latest look at a truly exciting Land Rover, due out sometime next year.

The LRX - set to be the smallest of the company's line up and badged as a Range Rover - looks fantastic, but the news that the firm are going to offer a 2WD version makes me sad.

Every Land Rover since the original Series One of 1948 has had 4WD, because it's something that shows that even their softest models mean business on the rough stuff.

But will a front-wheel-drive hatchback with the iconic badge still be a proper Land Rover? The jury's out...

Vantastic

THE backbone of Britain is celebrating a birthday bash this week - and Ford wants van fans to join in the party.

Ford's faithful Transit is 45 years old and to mark the occasion the company has unveiled a special version of the British-built load lugger, the appropriately-named Ford Transit Sapphire.

Available in three different wheelbases and powered by the same 115bhp diesel engine as the standard Transit, the Sapphire comes with a dazzling array of optional extras to mark the occasion, including new 'Ink Blue' paint, air conditioning, front fog lights, tinted glass, and cruise control.

Ford now makes the Transit - which it dubbed the “backbone of Britain” in a long running series of TV adverts - in three factories, including one in Southampton, and has sold more than two million of them since it was first introduced in 1965.

The name Sapphire comes from the British tradition of naming wedding anniversaries and linking them to precious materials, with Sapphires traditionally being used to mark the 45th anniversary.

The Transit Sapphire is on sale now, costing £14,995. For more information visit Ford's website online at www.ford.co.uk

Short but sweet

Just how much automotive banter can you get into two and a half minutes?

Dune FM's Martin Hovden gave me the chance to find out last Friday while doing my slightly regular slot on his Live From Studio One show, where I went with a mixture of thoughts on the recent Wheels4Jospice charity classic car show in Formby, the forthcoming Italian Job run in Parbold, and how my Mini (still) isn't working properly.

As usual, it's here for you to enjoy by clicking the links below and above.

Don't worry, I've been promised a much longer slot on May 28, when I'll be fresh from the SMMT test drive day at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire and will have lots of new car news to talk about.

Until then, feel free to briefly enjoy this one...

Virtual insanity

CHANCES are that if you like cars, you’re going to love this clip!

Aside from showcasing the awesome spectacle of seeing a Jaguar XJ220 (world’s fastest car, for about five minutes) take on a Lamborghini Cala (would have been the 1990s Gallardo, had the Italians not bottled it) in a high speed battle on public roads, I actually got seriously nostalgic after spotting this film on Youtube the other night.

It’s the very same clip which loaded up every time I fired up my favourite car racing game.

Because the rather more real thrill of punting a go-kart towards a pit wall or hurtling along a country road in a hot hatch is infinitely more enjoyable than firing up a PC or Playstation, I’d almost forgotten car racing games existed, but I’m glad they still do. I’m just ashamed to admit that – 15 years later – I’m still hopeless at almost all of them.

The problem with almost all racing games when I grew up in the Nineties is that barely any of them bore even the closest resemblance to the real thing; Lotus Challenge looked like an LSD-induced re-imagination of Tron, the Test Drive series looked like it’d been designed by a class of eight-year-olds and TOCA ’97 featured interior shots of a square hand changing gear. While the rest of you were out there weighing up whether an MGF was better than an MX-5, this is what I got lumbered with.

Gran Turismo was by and away the best technically but it took an eternity of not terribly realistic racing to buy and tune up the really nice motors, by which point every other teenager had discovered girls and the benefits of social lives. In fact the only game I actually enjoyed playing was Sega Rally, which was ancient but had the Lancia Integrale in it.

That was until Need For Speed, which technically is just as bad as the others when it comes to making a Ferrari F355 look like a Lego design, came out. Forget the later Underground rubbish and go for the retro novelty, particularly with the police pursuit option in Need for Speed III with its suspiciously easy getaways and quaint regionalised police “commentary” which make even the most hardcore drives feel as though they’re being narrated by Mr Chomondley-Warner.

But my absolute favourite is Need For Speed II, simply because it came with a short film to introduce the stunning fleet of Nineties supercars lined up to star in. If I had to spend a night with any of the old car racing video games, it’d be that one.

Only I don’t have to, because another bright spark has put all those movies onto Youtube, and if you click the video below and get past the Lambo/Jag race has clips for everything from the Lotus Esprit to the McLaren F1.

Enjoy...

Peugeot vs the Carlisle to Settle Railway

I WAS somewhere near Shap when the phone on the Peugeot’s Bluetooth system started ringing.

The M6 isn’t the prettiest route through this wild and isolated part of Cumbria, but it is the quickest, which is what I’d need to beat the voice on the other end of the line.

Photographer Cornelia Kaufmann was on a train winding its way north on one of Britain’s most famous railway lines, determined to prove it could get to our collective destination quicker than a car can. I might have been doing a steady 70 in calm, air-conditioned comfort, but Northern Rail’s finest had just pulled into Appleby, a good few miles ahead. This could be close.

Just over an hour earlier we’d gone to Settle, a gorgeously tranquil town in the heart of North Yorkshire, to answer a pretty much pointless question. Rail enthusiasts already know and love this picturesque spot as the starting point of the Settle and Carlisle Railway, a 72-mile-long line which threads its way through some of England’s most glorious scenery as passes past the Yorkshire Dales.

The challenge was simple - can a car get from Settle to Carlisle faster than the Settle to Carlisle train can? Discuss, using the latest in a long line of Peugeot cabriolets.

I was quietly confident I could win without resorting to cheating or breaking the speed limit, but embarrassed that I thought I’d bagged the wrong car for the job. A slight blunder on the booking form meant the CC - standing for Coupe Cabriolet, or folding metal roof in layman’s terms - label had gone missing, meaning I was expecting the snappily-titled Peugeot 207 GT THP 150 to be the company’s latest hot hatch.

Getting the French firm’s latest open-top instead isn’t something you’re likely to complain about, and once I’d got the metal origami over my head I couldn’t help but smile at how well it does the wind-in-your-hair thing.

It looks good too; it’s not as effortlessly stylish as the old 306 Cabriolet or graced with the delicate curves of either the 205 or 504 soft-tops, but when posed in front of the Ribblehead Viaduct, the railway’s stunning centrepiece, you didn’t get the feeling it was being outdone in the beauty stakes.

But for this challenge I was going to need substance rather than style, and as the Carlisle-bound train pulled into Settle station at 15.45 precisely, I raised the roof back up and set the satnav for the fastest route north. This particular Peugeot’s got 150bhp, a turbocharger and a deliciously slick five-speed gearbox at its disposal, and it was going to need both if it was going to beat the train!

My route was longer and less direct than Cornelia’s, heading towards Kendal along the A65 and then straight up the M6 to Carlisle, and on the narrow, nasty, twisty roads on the way out of Settle it seemed Peugeot might have given me the hot hatch I wanted after all. There’s no way of escaping that a cabriolet’s going to slower and heavier than its hatchback sister, but the smoothly informative feel you get from the steering wheel and the firm - but never uncomfortable - ride convinced me more than once I was actually at the helm of a mild-mannered GTI.

By the time I got to the M6, the chilly sunshine we’d enjoyed at the viaduct had turned into a dark and unrelentingly black sky, but even as the rain starting beating down I simply switched on the wipers and pounded on. I’m not a fan of the Peugeot’s too-clever computer system nestling within the central console, because the satnav wasn’t accurate enough on most occasions and the Bluetooth phone proved more hindrance than help, but with the roof up the ambience was snug enough to let you forget the worst of the Cumbrian weather.

Who won? The Peugeot of course, but by much a bigger margin than I could have hoped for. When I sauntered into Carlisle city centre and pulled up at our finishing point - the frontage of the historic railway station - the arrival from Settle was still almost fifteen minutes away. I had plenty of time to find the right platform and look smug as the train eventually chugged in, and the Peugeot had impressed me enough to prove the original point.

The little 207 isn’t perfect, particularly if you need to get anyone other than Pygmies in the rear seats or need a big boot, but it does what it’s designed to do brilliantly. I’d probably forgo the back seats and the metal roof altogether and go for the more involving drive of Mazda’s MX-5, but I really couldn’t fault this fun and feisty Peugeot.

My only regret was that my route might have been quickest but it wasn’t the best; that honour goes to the stunning Settle and Carlisle Railway, which makes up for being slower by offering simply sublime scenery. If you haven’t got a Peugeot 207 CC at your disposal, it’s well worth a try.

This story is included in the summer edition of GR8 Life Magazine, out next week.

Like an A3, just smaller

STICK Audi's A3 in the wash on too hot a setting and chances are you'll end up with something like the A1 supermini, being launched in the UK this week.

The German firm's smallest offering is one of several upmarket city slickers hoping to steal some of the success from BMW's MINI, and it's hoping that it's £13k pricetag will be enough to tempt buyers away from the likes of Alfa Romeo's MiTo and Citroen's DS3.

“The Audi A1 becomes available to order with a UK specification that further emphasises the fact that its more diminutive dimensions are its only half measure,” an Audi spokesperson told The Champion.

“Priced at between £13,145 OTR and £18,280 on the road, the latest, more concentrated embodiment of Vorsprung durch Technik combines the trappings that befit a premium sector hatchback with the technological sophistication and quality of finish that mark out every Audi.”

But rather than going for the openly retro look enjoyed by the MINI and Fiat's reinvented 500, two of the new Audi's immediate rivals, the A1 goes for a much modern style and apes the look of its larger siblings, particularly the sporty A5 coupe. The firm also says that to downsize you won't have to downgrade, with a Multi Media Interface system taken from the much more expensive A8 salooon being on hand to entertain A1 owners.

For more information visit the Audi website at www.audi.co.uk or visit the Audi dealerships in Liverpool or Preston.

General election goes full throttle

REMEMBER potholes at the polls and bus lanes at the ballot box, a group of motoring moguls has said this week after launching their own election manifesto.

The team behind motoring website motors.co.uk have canvassed drivers fed up with some of Britain's most annoying roadside problems, and are reminding all the political parties to remember the motorist vote when the country goes to the polls tomorrow (Thursday, May 6, 2010).

“Motorists across the UK are fed up with being ignored by politicians and a Motorists Manifesto would make sure the needs of UK motorists are heard by all political parties,” said Katie Wardle, Marketing Manager at motors.co.uk.

“Issues such as scrappage, fuel tax and the appalling state of the nations road network are real areas of concern for motorists and the political party that offers a fair deal for motorists and addresses these issues will attract significant support.”

Not surprisingly the price of petrol - as high as £1.23 a litre in some parts of Sefton and West Lancashire - was one of the big issues with the region's motorists, as well as proliferation of potholes caused by the severe winter weather earlier this year. But surprisingly high on the political agenda of motorists was a call for smoking to be banned in all cars including private vehicles for the first time, with over 67 per cent of motorists surveyed by the website backing the ban.

The website's research, carried out in March and April, also revealed that over 84 per cent of motorists would support the reintroduction of the governments scrappage scheme which saw an additional 330,000 new cars sold before the scheme ended last month.

The motorist vote has played a key role in several past general elections, with the Labour party openly targeting 'Mondeo Man' during their 1997 election campaign.

Forget your Kawasaki, what you want is Ford's fast icon

HOW many bikers does it take to change a lightbulb?

That's not only not a joke, but something I genuinely don't know the answer to. But if you want to find out, chances are the best place to find out would be a pub in Lydiate on a Wednesday night.

So popular is The Scotch Piper with fans of anything two-wheeled that it's where Merseyside Police take their own motorbikes when they want to chat to riders, and politicians popped there during the general election campaign in their efforts to canvass “the biker vote”. I love it, but it's definitely a biker thing, with cars playing for a distant second place.

But last week was different, because I decided to forgo the driving and arrive shotgun in a car so iconic that even hardened bikers stop to stare at it. The Ford Capri 280 Brooklands.

I've never been a fan of Capris - and the car's owner knows it - because I'm a child of the Nineties, a time when the swoopy coupe wasn't a cherished classic but an unwanted banger on a council estate, more Boycie and Del than Bodie and Doyle. It doesn't matter how many reruns of The Professionals I watch, I just don't get the Ford Capri.

But the Brooklands wowed everyone. In the half-light of a spring sunset it looked gorgeous, and bikers kept leaving their Kawasakis behind to pore over the fast Ford. It's a sports car sensation. It's a motor that makes you feel good about motoring.

It's also an absolute giggle when you get it going, as the car's owner decided to prove when pulling away from the pub. You can't do a wheelie in a car, but in a Ford Capri you can give it a bootful of throttle and get a glorious kick of oversteer from the smoking rear tyres. We also got the chance to find out whether it's faster down a winding country road than a Mini Cooper, but for legal reasons I couldn't possibly comment!

Would I buy one? No, but I'm glad I know plenty of people who do.