Tag Archives: Pope

The Crumpled Cup Auto Solo – Rolls Royce Car Park Filton

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On Sunday I headed down to Queen Square for the regular second Sunday of the month Avenue Drivers Club meeting only to find all access roads blocked by Bristol Half Marathon stewards one of whom apparently had no idea where Queen Square was, which made for an interesting point of departure for a conspiracy theory which I shall refrain from repeating here.

MCW Metrobus MkII, Rolls Royce Car Park, Filton

Later at mid day I made my way over to the Rolls Royce Car Park at Filton for the Bristol Pegasus Motor Clubs first Crumpled Cup Autosolo. Upon reflection I wish I had stopped off longer at The Ark Bus, 1982 MCW Metrobus, a faith in motion project, to ask for some much needed devine intervention to help me to remember the three different routes through the 31 cones that were to make up the three timed tests of the event.

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The Volkswagen Golf Mk IV Estate is not an obvious choice of vehicle for this type of event and certainly not when carrying more than half a tank of fuel, but I determined that I would have fun and that I did in spades despite the fact that of my nine runs, three times through each of the three routes I actually only managed to complete the course correctly on five occasions ! Fortunately this was still better than some so I did not come last in the front wheel drive class.

Honda Civic, Rolls Royce Car Park, Filton,

Martyn Mitchell warned me that his Honda Civic would only be in contention for the slowest time of the day and perhaps next time he will join me by the bus in some requests for devine intervention on the memory front.

Citroen Saxo, George/Ashley Pope, Rolls Royce Car Park, Filton

Father and son George and Ashley Pope shared their Citroën Saxo to take front wheel drive honours with Ashley only scoring two clean runs on the final test which ironically was the only test on which George scored only one clean run, George was the comfortable winner of the front wheel drive class and would have finished 3rd overall had the event been run as an open competition between all eight competitors.

Westfield SEiW, Andy Moss, Rolls Royce Car Park, Filton

Struggling with the turning circle of his self built Westfield SEiW was club chairman Andy Moss.

Vauxhall VX220, Martyn Lidbury, Rolls Royce Car Park, Filton

Despite having the smaller Lotus Elise size front tyres on his Vauxhall VX220 Martyn Lidbury also struggled with the turning circle of his car which otherwise made all the right noises as he drove it to third in class on his first event with the club.

Westfield SEiW, Ben Bishop, Rolls Royce Car Park, Filton

Second in the rear wheel drive class was Ben Bishop in his Westfield SEiW with the second best score overall too.

Mazda MX5, Chris Buckley, Rolls Royce Car Park, Filton

Lowest scores of the day were recorded by Chris Buckley in his supercharged Mazda MX5 who only scored maximum points on his very first run of the afternoon.

Everybody seemed to enjoy the event which I hope shall be the first of many to come, my thanks to Pete Goodman for getting permission from Rolls Royce to use the venue, to Alan Spencer for organising the event, to Tim Murray the events secretary and score keeper, marshals Ann Mitchell and Nick Woods and not least my fellow competitors who made the 4 hours of the competition fly by.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Crumpled Cup Auto Solo” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Mercury Monterey. Don’t forget to come back now !

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“Li’l Baja”- Pope Hartford Public Service Wagon

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In 1876 Civil war veteran Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Albert Augustus Pope visited the Philadelphia Exposition and left with a new found passion for cycling that saw him corner the market in US patents for the new mode of transport which reputedly financially rewarded him to the tune of $10 per cycle made in the USA as the new past time took off. By 1896 Pope’s own Columbia brand cycles had become the largest cycle manufacturer in the USA.

Pope’s interests diversified to include motor cycles and mopeds as internal combustion motors evolved and in 1897 Pope started manufacturing electric vehicles in Hartford, Connecticut. With over 500 vehicles built under the engineer Hiram Percy Maxim the electric vehicle manufacturing department was spun off as an independent business to become the Columbia Automobile Company.

Pope Hartford, Public Service Wagon, San Francisco Presidio Concours d'Elegance

In 1901 Pope reentered the motor vehicle manufacturing business with the first of a string of enterprises that included Pope-Hartford, Pope-Robinson, Pope-Toledo, Pope-Tribune and Pope-Waverly.

In 1909 the 4 cylinder 40 hp Pope Hartford Public Service Wagon was marketed as a vehicle suitable for Fire Chiefs and Law Enforcement patrols.

That same year Jack Flemming drove one to a one lap victory in the 254 mile Oakland Portola Road road race in California, in front of an estimated 300,000 spectators spread along the 21 mile track, at a record road race speed of 64.51 mph, faster than the Vanderbuilt Cup races in which both Pope Hartford and Pope Toledo models took part.

Thereafter the Public Service Wagon model also became known as the Portola Roadster. The 1913 example seen in this photograph, taken by Geoffrey Horton at the 2011 San Francisco Presidio Concours d’Elegance, was restored originally by Elan Frank Tafiaferro and allegedly raced by him in Baja California, Mexico, in the 1950’s.

The cars current owners Bill and Lee Gularte have owned the car since 2000 and undertook their own five year restoration which was rewarded in 2006 with Class honours in the the Hillsborough and Palo Alto Concours d’Elegance and best in show at the Half Moon Concours, the following year “Lil Baja” was best in show at Niello, Serrano and Hillsborough.

Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Albert Augustus Pope went bankrupt in 1907 and died two years later, the Pope Hartford marque survived until 1914, while Colombia bicycles are still manufactured at One Clycle Street, Westfield Connecticut.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing the photograph of the Gularte’s magnificent “Li’l Baja”.

Thanks for joining me on this “Li’l Baja” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Cardinals Classic – Volkswagen Golf SE IV

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The last of this months Sunday Volkswagen Golf posts is about a Golf IV.

Volkswagen Golf SE IV, Shepton Mallet,

Last year I took on a low mileage VW Golf SE Estate IV, that my folks bought new in 1999. Over the 10,000 miles I have driven it, apart from several light bulbs a set of new tyres and a service it has proved to be a pleasantly reliable mode of transport carrying up to 4 at up to 70 mph to numerous events in England and Wales. The most awkward work I have had to do on it was to replace the front headlight bulb that is tucked away in front of the passenger side mounted battery but thanks to to this linked video I got the job done in a supermarket car park with a minimum of fuss.

Volkswagen Golf SE IV, Dundry

Three days after I acquired the Golf I had a great time with it on a field in Dundry just South of Bristol trying, unsuccessfully, to defend my Cross Trohpy.

Volkswagen Golf SE IV,

A couple of weeks ago I was reminded that my car insurance was about to expire and after a little shopping around which included looking at the Aviva site I found I was able to halve my car insurance bill with my no claims bonus. With the Golf freshly serviced and insured I polished her up for wedding duties as the brides maids car for a friend who was getting married during a visit from Australia.

Volkswagen Golf SE IV, Shepton Mallet,

While I was looking up the approximate value of my car I was surprised to learn that the highest price ever paid for a second hand Golf IV was US $243,000 @ £160,000 in English. It turns out that the car was sold by its original owner prefect of the Catholic Church’s Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope John Paul II better known as Cardinal Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger when he expected to retire to Germany after Pope John Paul II died in 2005.

Volkswagen Golf SE IV, Shepton Mallet,

After he had sold his Golf to his surprise Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI and the new owner of the Cardinals Golf put it up for auction on e-bay where it was purchased by a casino.

Volkswagen Golf SE IV, Dundry

A couple of weeks ago I made an attempt at reclaiming the Cross Trophy with fellow Bristol Pegasus Motor Club member Chris Clarke and came home a respectable third in class. A couple of days ago I was out again this time on a treasure hunt with GALPOT regular Tim Murray and again we came home a respectable third and won a box of Maltesers to share.

Touch wood the Golf will remain reliable and help me attend a few more meetings which I can report on here for your delectation.

Thanks for joining me on this “Cardinal Classic” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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