Armoured Vehicle, Ambulance and Military Truck Driving

My wife bought me a driving experience for my birthday and last weekend I was let loose in a Spartan armoured personnel carrier, a Dennis Sabre fire engine and a Leyland 4-tonne army truck. The Spartan was fun to drive (and pretty quick too). I'd enjoy trying that out on some properly rough terrain (preferably without being shot at). The fire engine was surprising. Again, it was pretty quick for its size and (with rear wheel steering) it's surprisingly manoeuvrable with an incredibly tight turning circle. I even managed to parallel park it without killing the cone markers...

The Leyland was pretty much what I expected. I've spent some time in the back of these things and I remember the sharp brakes sending unsuspecting people flying, so the grabby brakes were no surprise. Good levels of grip though. All in all, it was a fun (and informative) couple of hours!

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Car Stunts and Monster Trucks: California Motor Show

Here's a brief highlights video from a car stunt show which I attended with my son, on a whim, while on holiday in Spain. Apologies for the phone camera quality! 

Anyway, it was a decent show and you'll see stunts from cars, quads and monster trucks.

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Caffeine and Machine 5th Birthday - 25th October 2023

Caffeine and Machine ran a number of events for their fifth birthday week, of which this was one. A good turnout of cars braved the chilly (but thankfully dry) October weather ensuring that there was surely something to interest anyone.

My highlights video and gallery is below.

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Lakeside Motor Museum

On a family weekend in the Lake District (north west England) we made an impromptu stop at the Lakeside Motor Museum. It turned out to be a diversion well worth taking. 

There's a good variety of vehicles displayed, from vintage cars and vans through to rare sports cars and a stand dedicated to Isle of Man TT legend John McGuinness.

There's also a room dedicated to Donald and Malcolm Campbell and their land speed record attempts and vehicles.

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Limitless Club Meet - Kingsley Café 8th October 2023

I stopped by Kingsley Café (in Eynsham, west of Oxford) while heading home from Bicester Heritage's Sunday Scramble show. Limitless were holding a car club meeting there and, although I dropped in many hours after it had started (when, I suspect most people had left) there were still a few interesting cars hanging around. 

Gallery below.

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Bicester Heritage - Sunday Scramble October 2023

Another excellent Sunday Scramble in Bicester (although the unseasonably warm October weather certainly helped!). There was plenty to see and many interesting vehicles were in attendance. 

Check out the highlights video below and the gallery of pictures after.

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Hardknott Pass, Lake District - Drone and In Car Footage

Following my recent video from Honister Pass, this one shows Hardknott Pass (also in the Lake District, a few miles south of Scaffell Pike - England's tallest mountain). Hardknott is a lot less accessible, with the uneven and undulating road (and its very poor surface quality) causing my car a couple of traction and clearance issues. That said, the view from the top at sun rise was stunning! This video starts with some drone fly overs, showing the route from above, before switching to in car footage. Below the video are some photos from along the route, including that sun rise.

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Honister Pass, Lake District - Drone and In Car Footage

A showcase of the Honister Pass in the Lake District, north west England. The video commences with a short drone flight, the video moves in-car so that you can see exactly what it's like to travel across this picturesque mountain pass. Also, you'll find a few pictures after the video.

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Black Swan Classic Car & Motorcycle Breakfast Meet - 13th August 2023

A Sunday morning trip out to The Black Swan in Ockham for their monthly car meeting. A nice variety of vehicles were in attendance and their breakfast is an effective hangover cure!

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Banger Racing at Standlake Arena - 23rd July 2023

A first time visit to watch banger racing with my son at Standlake Arena in Oxfordshire. It was refreshingly relaxed when compared with professional racing, with open access to the pits and near constant, action packed, racing due to the fast turnarounds. Also, you have 5 or 6 hours of racing on offer which ends up resulting in good value for money. My 7-year old son had a great time.

I only had my phone with me, but I grabbed some photos (shown below).

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