| Added: 06 Jan 2014 |
Category: Older Oval Racing |
| My Favorite Rods |
As with the F2’s I sat down to pick out my favourite “Rods” of all time and it wasn’t just as easy as you’d think. By restricting it to cars I’ve actually seen race it eliminated a considerable amount of what other people would have considered their favourite rods. I’m sure had I seen them in action Jeff Simpson’s Fiesta, Davy Evans’ Chevette and Ricky Hunn’s 205 would certainly have been up there, I also count’t decide if I’d seen Colin White Corrado at Ballymena, and I couldn’t find a photo of Stevie Williams 1600 Chevette. Part of the problem with picking a selection of cars is that I haven’t followed Rod racing for that many years, and looking back it looks as though there was greater variety of cars in yesteryear, and while you couldn’t mark nearly every national on track down as immaculate, there is very little variety in chassis and the days of throwing something different together and having a go are over.
Apologies once again to the owners of the photos, if I know who had taken them and where I got them from I would have credited them.
So here we go, my top 10 Rods
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1 - Norman Woolsey’s Royal Mail NHR 205
I don’t think there is much you need to say to back up this choice, when I was younger and seen National Hot Rods maybe once a year, this is the car that stood out and I always remembered, without the need for looking back at photos, it wouldn’t have mattered to me had it been World Championship winning in the hands of Norman Woolsey, or delivering letters in the hands of Postman Pat, it left a lasting impression. |
2 - Ormand Christie’s NHR Fiesta
This is a bit of an odd choice for me, you could quickly point out there was other similar Fiesta’s just as nice, but this was one just a wee bit different, partly to do with the Silkolene colour scheme also synonymous with Will Gollop in Rallycross around the same era, but I think this particular Fiesta just looked a wee bit different with the additional sheeting on the inside of the back window area. |
3 - Andy Holtby’s NHR Tigra
In an era when there is little variety around, this Tigra just stood out and if trophies were handed out for best presented in Hot Rod Racing, it would clean up. |
4 - Davy McCall’s 1600 Starlet
There is a bit of a theme over the next few choices, they are all cars I remember from the 1600 Hot Rods racing at Nutts Corner. McCall’s cars are always well turned out and this is my pick of them, I’m sure there is others who have their own favourite. |
5 - Ian Thompson’s 1600 Starlet
Again from the 1600’s at Nutts Corner, this was what Ian Thompson moved up to after Juniors and before F2’s, I think he only raced one full season in 96. The car looked the part. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a colour photo of it. |
6 - Keith Martin’s 1600 Starlet
This was the third of the cars I recall from racing at Nutts Corner, the difference in this one being that it was in a similar livery to the Michelin Pilot back Ford British Rally team at the time, it also had mirrored numbers which I thought where pretty cool at the time. |
7 - Richard Poulter’s Saxo 2 Litre
There was loads of choice for adding 2 Litre’s, there is drivers in the class you can simply rely on having great looking cars, such as Paul Wright and Mark Paffey, there is also drivers racing now with exceptional looking cars, but this one stood out for me. |
8 - Alan Connolly’s Safeway Stock Rod
There is a good chance that this car to a generation younger than me would have been the equivalent to what Woolsey’s Royal Mail car was to me, a tidy car, with a great livery and a name on the side that anyone could relate to. |
Like the Holtby car, this is very much Nascar based and looked the part. I think it looked better in the flesh than it does in the pics and I don’t think it did too many meetings. |
10 - Dave Longhurst’s Clio 2 Litre
I don’t recall an awful lot of Clio’s in the 2 Litre’s, in fact Sean Dynes is the only other driver I can recall racing one. I don’t really know why, I just really liked this car. |
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