I will have raced with / against you in the TA Center days, i use to love it there with my Hotshot, we as the Bromyard bunch always use to pit together in those days. I went past the old Bulls Head track a few weeks ago and was shocked to see nothing there at all now.
Those names ring a bell, i seem to remember a James Bond (really) with a PB and also Chris something with a Gold and white Cat.
From my Hotshot i went to a PB Mini Mustang which i have just restored to run in the Vintage class at Caldicott.
When Hereford moved from the TA Centre i raced at Kidderminster and Worcester.
Cheers
Rich
Quote:
Originally Posted by dirt track date
Wow what a cool thread....................................
I remember going to thee Eastor model show with my parents in 1982 ?? maybe 83 and watchng the boats and planes, but being totally obsessed with the buggies, I loved it when they wheelied off the line!! I was so exciting because unlike real motor racing you could see the whole track. We went every year after that, me and my brother used to choose a car that we liked the look of at the start of each race and see who came in first, we begged and begged for our own car but my dad used to say 'they're not toys' and 'they're too expensive etc....'. I used to look forward to Eastnor all year just to watch the buggies and see 'whos' car would come in first every race. In mid /late 1986 my dad heard about racing at the TA centre in Hereford so we used to go and watch the racing (I think it was on tuesday night) still dreaming that one day I'd be able to have my own car. I remember the fast drivers were driving SWB Cats and PB Mini Mustangs, Dave Rogers and Clive Hall ruled supreme in Hereford back then. In early 1987 after 5 years of begging and nagging my parents finally conceded and my dad swapped his prized model boat for a Marui Samurai. That car was so bad, the diff gears used to strip every other race. Me and my brother race alternate weeks. I used to practice at home in the garden after mowing a track into the front lawn but the Samurai was really no fun and the majority of the time it was in bits, I remember frantically trying to change those stupid diff gears in the back hall of the TA centre. Christmas 87 was the best year ever my parents bought us a Mardave Meteor to share between us. I remember building it on the kitchen table with my dad. It took 2 days to build!! I think my dad let me and my brother do most of it and at 12 and 11 respectively i don't think we had a clue!! For my birthday we got a new body shell (I'll post some pics because i would love to try and identify it so that I can rebuild that car) and painted it british racing green with some white stripes, our Meteor now looked like the fast cars. Some time late 87 we got another Meteor so we could both race at the same time, loads of other kids had Meteors so we had our own little Meteor pitting area. Racing by this time had moved to the Shire Hall and the Meteor was now long wheel base with long wishbones, MG Orange Dot with a Speedmaster Silver Star speed control. I got that car in the A final one time, soooo proud, but spent most of the time getting out of the way of the fast boys ha ha ha!! During the summer we raced behind the Bulls Head Pub in Hereford, various other school fetes, steam rallies and Eastnor Model Show. Some time in 89 I sold one of the Meteors and got a 2nd hand Top Cat, I remember racing this outside at the Bulls Head and racing at Eastnor with a Trinity 19 double which I bought from a team driver (so he said) managed the C final and was the highest placed 2WD. I sold the Top Cat in early 1990 and bought Clive Halls old PB Mini Mustang which I remembered from the TA Centre days of watching and dreaming. The Mustang was a little out of date but at least it was 4wd and I could win the B final from time to time at club level. I think I had the Mustang for 4-5 months before I sold that and got a second hand worn out Lwb Optima Mid with a red anodised tana plan chassis. I really loved that car and regularly used to win the B final. This car was great indoors and outside on grass. Sadly this was sold in early 1991 and I bought a Swb cat for £20 (Oh how I wish I'd kept it) and sort of converted it to a Pro Cat, well it had a Pro Cat Body and Chassis, I hated this car, it was horrible to drive, but by this time girls and music were taking over and nothing puts off teenage girls more than 'going to play with toy cars'. So in the summer of 1992 aged 17 I took my 'Pro Cat' to Eastnor Model Show and sold it for £35. I've still got my original Meteor although it needs a new chassis because the endless modifications finally cause it to snap. Occasionally I'd go and watch the racing at Hereford but soon I was playing in bands and that was the end of that....... Until May 2010 when I got a Mardave Cobra off ebay and bashed around the garden for a bit of fun. I liked it A LOT. September 2010 I started racing an Associated B4 at Stoke Model Car Club and tried to collect all the cars I owned as a kid. So far I've got all of them except a SWB Cat, but these are rare and expensive now. Any way thats my memories of the happiest times growing up and the best time I ever had with my dad.  |