Banger Racing

[fatbloke]

After reading a comment in another topic about banger drivers, i'm curious to hear your thoughts on this part of the sport - is it ruthless destruction ofour heritage, or simply a way of sending a knackered old motor to heaven in a blaze of glory ?

FWIW, I got into motorpsort through banger/stock car racing & I still think it's some of the best entertainment that there is.

Over to you...

[Peter Mallett]

When I was but a lad, I lived about half a mile from the Aldershot Stock Car stadium. loads of banger racing and some good late night parties.

Not sure if this is the right forum tough. But hey ho.

FWIW I think there sre some cars which deserve to be scrapped in this way and don't forget, the only reason they're entered is because nobody wanted to restore them. So at least we get to see some interesting machinery, even if its only a brief glimpse.

[TimD]

Ah, that'll be me then, with the reference to the dead Skyline GT.

Time was, I used to enjoy going to banger racing at Wimbledon and Bovingdon. However, things have moved on a bit, partly in car design, partly in my own sensibilities.

These days, the world population of Mk2 Ford Granadas is being depleted at the rate of about 200 per week, just through banger racing. Now, whatever your feelings about an old Ford Grandad, it has to be said that fleets of identical three-box motors beating each other into similar piles of junk can get monotonous.

The banger drivers obviously feel the same way, as they are more and more inventive in their search for interesting "material".

I have seen adverts recently offering as much as £500 for the right Rover P4, P5, Austin A60 or Morris Oxford. Now that sort of price will not be purchasing a scrapyard queen. That's the realm of the MOT'd usable classic.

But that's not all. Perhaps you would indulge me with a little list of vehicles I know for sure have been destroyed since November on British banger tracks.

1949 Humber Super Snipe
1959 Morris Oxford V (one of the very first, and 1 of less than 20 known)
1983 Jaguar XJ-S Eventer (coach-built hatch, on the same principle as the Scimitar. One of only 55 ever built)
5 separate Rolls Royce Silver Shadows
1960 MG Magnette III
1963 Rambler 770 Station Wagon
1953 Buick Century
1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass
Ford Granada Ghia Coupe stretched limousine. YES a Granada Coupe stretch. One of only 6 built
Austin 3-litre Ambulance. Only 12 ever built. So far banger racers have smashed 8 of them.
1965 Bentley S3
1955 Jaguar Mk7
1954 Austin A40 Somerset
1953 Triumph Mayflower

And a 1930 YES 1930 Daimler Straight-8 Funeral Car. The only one known to exist.

And let us not forget that the police became involved when a Vanden Plas A135 Princess Hearse, a national CONCOURS winner was stolen from a club member, and was later found on a scrap pile, having been very obviously banger raced.

Do you detect from my tone that this culture of "interesting" material has gone a bit far in my book?

[Peter Mallett]

Tim.

I think you make some very good points and sadly it appears that the banger bloke is more intent on mayhem than competition. It wasn't always thus. Remember back in the sixties and seventies the classic car movement was restricted to old blokes in cloth caps polishing their Austin Sevens. Banger racing provided cheap motor sport for the enthusiast who could never aspire to "real" circuit racing or even stock cars.

I guess we can't blame the banger racer because he/she knows no better. If they did they'd buy the cars, polish them and then sell them at a profit.

[Graham]

Tim,

You have GOT to be joking about those cars being wrecked...?!

Surely not the Bentley or Oxford?

I have to say I'm rather sickened if it's true. Idiots.

[Sparky]

Graham, these guys are in it for the shock factor; To see who can wreck the most outrageously rare car.

I heard/read an interview with a top driver in the Northern leagues who regularly races Shadows.
When asked what his dream banger would be, he replied "Well, it's gotta be the Queens Limo, innit?!"

I'm also deeply shocked about the 'theft for material' issue. How on earth would you be able to tell the difference between your A60 or P5B when there's no interior, glass or original paint left?

I remember at the 'Spede weekend' (correct spelling) in Ipswich '94, I think it was, they had to ban camping the following year due to the numerous thefts of vehicles and parts in the town that July weekend the previous year.

This is wrong in so many ways I don't know where to start! And these are just common or garden 'classics'.

The destruction of precious and irreplaceable cars just for the sake of shock value is to me disgusting.

But what can be done?

[TimD]

Yes, Graham, I'm afraid it's all true, every one - even the Bentley.

The guy who smashed the Oxford actually painted a slogan on the back, to draw attention to the fact that he was racing a rare Mk5 (1958-1961) car, not a more common MkVI (1961-1971) machine.

He has also done the same thing with a Morris MS Isis, which is the same shell as an EARLY FIFTIES Morris Oxford, but has an ultra-rare six-cylinder engine. His slogan simply drew attention to the forlorn little Isis badge on the boot, and a scrawled "Not an Oxford" motif.

On May 21st 2000, at Wimbledon Stadium, an event took place known as the Golden Oldies Festival.

This is an inventory of what was destroyed.

1 Austin A40 Farina
1 Austin A55 Mk2 Cambridge
5 Austin A60 Cambridge
3 Austin A110 Westminster
1 Ford Capri Mk1
1 Ford Cortina Mk2
1 Hillman Hunter
2 Hillman Super Minx
2 Jaguar Mk10
2 MG ZB Magnette
2 Morris Oxford VI
1 Riley 4/72
7 Rover P4
12 Rover P5B 3.5 litre
1 Toyota Crown
3 Triumph 2000
1 Vauxhall PB Cresta
1 Vauxhall PC Cresta
2 Volvo 144
1 Wolseley 6/110

"Star Car" of the evening, given an award for rarest, oldest "material" was a 1953 Vauxhall Wyvern.

Apart, perhaps, from the Volvos and the Hillman Hunter, every one of those cars destroyed on Sunday is of a type that is supported by an enthusiastic owners club. One of the P4 Rovers actually bore a slogan, taunting Practical Classics magazine readers who had tried to save the car.

I think it's fair to say that enough is enough. If P5B Rovers are destroyed at the rate of a dozen a week, how long before there are none left at all?

In case anyone is under the impression that I went to see this vandalism take place, I actually hunted down some of the banger racing sites on the web and had a look at their news photographs. I understand that another 21 cars not illustrated were also consigned to the scrapyard at that time.

Incidentally, people, when was the last time YOU saw a humble Hillman Hunter being used on the road?

[fatbloke]

Why didn't these enthusiasts buy these cars instead of the banger drivers then ?They're free to do so, surely ? And, as Peter says, if they were motors which could be restored, then the banger boys would restore them themselves and make a tidy living at it - most ( ) of them are not thugs, but businessmen with families to support. Bangering is just a hobby...

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If P5B Rovers are destroyed at the rate of a dozen a week, how long before there are none left at all?
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But do they ? These special meetings are still quite rare - certainly not every week of the year. And the cars aren't destroyed week in, week out either - you'd be surprised how many meeting a car can last if it's up to the job in the first place.

I do see your point, but I wonder what would happen to these cars if they weren't bangered ? As no-one wants to buy them for restoration, I can only presume that they will sit in a barn, rotting away. That, to me, is the waste.