The first post – about this blog.

In this blog I will recount my first season in hill climbing and sprinting. Who knows how long it will last or how long this blog will last? I haven’t driven a single hill yet, may not like it, may run out of money or may crash and wreck the car. We’ll just have to see. The car I’m going to compete in is a 1990 Mazda MX5, which  I bought in July 2009 for the express purpose of hill climbing and sprinting. Previously my hobby car had been a 1965 Chevrolet Corvair but I wanted to have a go at hill climbing so the Chevy had to go.

My 1965 Chevrolet Corvair. This photo was taken on the way home from Loton Park hill climb on June 14th 2009.

I decided on an MX5 because they are cheap to buy and run and handle well.  I found this one on ebay and what marked it out from the thousands for sale each week was the fact that it already had a roll bar (although it had been removed) and a decent exhaust and induction system. Though I’m not sure it is faster – just louder.

Day 1 - our new 20-year-old car. (25 years younger than the Chevy)

0 thoughts on “The first post – about this blog.

  1. Hello Bob,

    May I say how much I enjoy your ‘blog’, and my complements go to you for having the time and patience to keep it up to date.

    I tried to return to hillclimbing in 2010, also with and MX5, and entered the HAS Championship, but the needs of an aged mother took preference over my time, and though I entered two events, I was obliged to withdraw. Later, I was offered another work contract in south east Asia, and left for that job in mid September. My son was left to dispose of the car, and I went off to work. I teach English, as a foreign language.

    Currently I remain overseas, but will return with the objective of re-starting our hillclimbing in the season of 2012. The MX5 is not our first choice of car, as we really want to compete in the class A2, but do not want/cannot afford, a Lotus skateboard, therefore we have decided to have a go in class A2.1. I return to Blighty, permanently, in early October, so will be looking for a suitable car, from that time on. My son favours a 1.8, and I a 1.6, so we will look for a 1.7!

    I took part in sprints and hillclimbs in the late sixties, at such venues as Brunton, Firle, Blackbushe, Brands, and I competed at the very first Gurston in 1967. Since then I have done many motor sport things, mostly overseas, as that is where I spent most of my time. But that is all at an end on 30 September next.

    Your writings have been most helpful in persuading us that we should return to the grass roots of motor sport, and enjoy the ‘fun’, that has been systematically removed from other forms of this hobby. At present, I am watching prices avidly, on the usual sites, of Autotrader, Pistonheads, and Fleabay, and am surprised at the apparent variances in prices asked, with prices actually obtained. There seem to be many sellers who have the view that their car is worth Porsche money, when it most assuredly is not. I also get quite annoyed with the adjectives used to describe these cars, mostly the over-worked ‘stunning’ and ‘awesome’. Much that I like the MX5, I would reserve these two adjectives for the territory occupied by Ferrari, and Porsche, which cars are certainly stunning and awesome.

    When we are actually in the market, the summer prices will have softened somewhat, and realism will have crept in to sellers minds, that there is still a recession in the UK, and that excessive prices will not attract even a sniff of a bid on Fleabay, a situation that exists today.

    Anyway, thanks again for your encouragement, and I’m only sorry that I had to write this to you via your ‘blog’, as I do not have an e-mail address.

    All the very best in the coming season,

    John Brookes.

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