Snapper

I can't get the theme music to Captain Pugwash out of my head.

To think we used to nick and wreck 'em when I was a kid...then bikes got gears and started to look interesting. I had a post war Raleigh that used to do things by itself, like refuse to brake in the dry (I ended up on a Mini roof at some traffic lights). Then there was the time the chain came off when I was impressing this stunning girl. Everything came off, the lights came apart, the lot, Ever Reddies and stuff everywhere. (nothing of hers came off as a consequence!)The front wheel came off once. Then a fool nicked it off me. Poetic justice. We were young and stupid. MB

:cool2:

I've seen one of them over Shropshire....

I feel a quote from True Grit coming on....

Keep 'em peeled...

Is is this some sort of pre-emptive dig? MB

I haven't opened a bottle on my Iltis and never will because last night at 2230 a nice man from Dumfries drove her away carrying a million spiders (some a little too large for my son's liking) to a land called Buckinghamshire. I'd had a glass of Chateau Milton Keynes earlier in the evening when the lad's band played at Club Riga in Sarrrrfend. As advertised on Radio Caroline........don't ask, I thought it had sunk, too. MB

Welcome aboard Goncalo I hope you can learn some good stuff from us. Be sure you will get a lot of nonsense as well. But we're like that...a happy bunch. Mark

It's a bloody nice motor, that's all I know. Good luck.

It looks like we'll need HMVFCrimeWatch in due course. I'm sure there are plenty of members who have a motor with a blue light we can use for the title sequence.. Always dial Milton Abbas 1212 and ask for Inspector Nacker. Though, of course in Norway, I believe it is Inspector Siggursson. You're nicked, Chummy.

Nice to see you back, Lloyd. Hope 2nd Armored are having a big turn out this year... I'm getting a bit bored with snapping the battle from the German end....it's ok for my portfolio (no jokes please friends) but I need more targets... MB

The last SAAB 96 I saw on a rally was the 1980 RAC, I think. Way down the order of course. That would be the year the kid Henri Toivonen won in the Talbot. I met him a few times down the years (shaking hands was hand crushing more like) - one of the last being in a lay by in Greece in 1984 at Bralos where the Lancia team were being stuffed by crap Pirellis. He was still polite even though his rally was in ruins. I also met Attilio Bettega at the same halt - he spoke no English - just a big grin. Now they're both a long time dead - Bettega in 85 and Henri in 86 the year after he won the RAC again - he was as grim as ever - I think we were in Derby or somewhere like that. It was a mad day all round and later on I got locked in a pub toilet for about an hour - they needed a locksmith, but made do with a hammer). At that same halt Massimo Biasion was totally peed off and Markku Alen was the same as normal - mean looking - but totally Finnish. The boss men Fiorio was steaming. The rally people in those days were just amazing; Stig, Hannu, Ari Vatanen, Markku, Roger Clark and Tony Pond - all the names; they were great blokes. The Kenyan asian Shekhar Mehta and his mrs were big smilers...they were special times and the only thing that compares with the MV world.

In the scouts we had a our nifty little belt buckles, which I used for years after leaving. Not for too long as clothing, though; because it was soooooooo uncool when I was a yoof. But the belt had other uses. I discovered that if you tugged it hard from either end it would make a first class cracking noise - so when the opportunity arose I would listen out for the busy boddy women in the flat up stairs to be going up or down and would stand in our "hall" cracking this belt and shouting and yelping "no mum, please no more". She used to stop and listen and then carry on. My mother was a monster who didn't need a belt to do damage, so any little bit of psy ops I could use for revenge was always worth it. The woman tried to take our cat because she was convinced my mother would illtreat it.....ah the joys of a 70s Hackney upbringing.....this story has my kids in stitches. :sweat: MB

The second shot looks like my son's bedroom.....:coffee:

You not doing the driving then, Jack?

Now I know who to hassle about Autocars for the book project :-D

To have a fully charged battery.

If you'd hit him you could have nicked his camera....Zeniths always have a curiosity value. MB

I nearly ran over a bus-spotter at Duxford. I'd gone there for a day's volunteering in the MV wing not realising it was the Businfest day. Driving from the main gate to the LWH was probably as dangerous as my last car ride in Athens. This idiot was gawping at a Bristol Lodekker of some sort. It was green and had place names on it. He might have been killed in a 5mph colision. It's almost a shame he wasn't. It started raining later on and I found myself in a Chieftain which was going off to be a gate guardian somewhere - so we were stripping anything usuable out of it. I was "sitting" where the driver's seat had been, in a pool of rain water and mucl, not pleasant, trying to unloosen various bits and my head was sticking out of the driver's hatch a bit and if I had a quid for everytime one of these bus spotters asked if I was having trouble getting it started, or whether the gun worked or what number it was, Id have enough money to buy at least two pints of beer at Beltring.

Really? Small world. He was a corporal. He definitely liked the old stuff. He was Very helpful and found my mobile when I lost it. I dropped it in the Scammell. Not much has changed on the phones front... MB

I think they are lovely trucks. There was a half ton panel van on Bolero as well. Absolutely beautiful. I'd have one tomorrow - actually I'd have several - this is where my lottery win will go.....when it comes:-D I'll post some pictures when I get home from work. While we're on the subject. Am I correct in assuming the half ton range for the US Army were partly based on civilian vehicles which were altered in stages and that the uprating to 3/4 ton was to beef up the range and completely militarise and standardise them? As far as I know, the 3/4 ton were all built by the Fargo Division of Chrysler...does this apply to the 1/2 ton too?

Because the old British film industry rushed to make so many good, bad and indifferent war films during the fifties and sixties I would suspect the appetite is gone. The public aren't overtly interested either. I can remember young women I worked with being scathing about SPR because "nobody cared" about all that old stuff. It's saving grace was the gory opening sequence for them, because they are used to slasher horror films. There is little point in remaking Arnhem or D-Day as far as the Brits are concerned. It's all been done. The bomber offensive is rocky ground and would be hugely expensive (let's see if Peter Jackson's Dambusters remake ever happens). The Americans continue to have appetites for their war heroes. Even high brow audiences like the American stuff - Especially if they can draw parallels with Iraq and even Vietnam. British films always have to have a message or a subtle point put in by the director, usually against the very people and events that is portrayed. The whole problem with the UK now is the sixties "thinkers" and "trend setters" decided to unburden themselves of our past. It was in black and white. Ignorance is bliss.

What was the 1/2 ton command car we saw at Thorpe Abbotts on Bolero last year??? MB

Don't worry Nigel, we'll get you sorted. When you start or reply to a post you will see the bar of icons above the text pane. If you click on the "paper clip" it will take you to the uploading pain. For each snap you wish to upload, click browse and it will take you to your PC and allow you to navigate to wherever you keep the snaps you wish to share. Find the filename of the snap you want and click open and the filename and link will appear on the browse pane. You can repeat this for a few other snaps, I personally think four maximum look best and you should be sure the file sizes aren't too huge. Once you've made your selection click the upload button (the higher of the two on the pane) and wait for it to do it's magic. When it's done you'll see the filename/links appear in a list on the pane. All you have to do then is write your message and send it and the snaps will be uploaded into your post. I hope this makes sense. If I can do it, anyone can. Mark