UKDRN

Anything Nostalgia Related.

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 #24539  by keith potter
 
hello! these are the only fotos of the accident of the devil at the itlaian motor show in 1979 with me keith potter dave page and steve murty, getting ready for demo run then ouch and the next day running without the body, it just seems my car just didnt like keeping its clothes on :lol: the cause of the accident was the throttle overcentered by the time i had killed the motor there was nowhere to go so i tried to spin it round rather than hit a wall head on but it just flipped on its side and slid backwards lucky for me it just slid to a stop without hitting anything but i was stuck in the car because of the chain steering wheel then a hand came through the window with an allen key so i could remove it thanks pauline. that was the reason i changed the chain steering wheel dangerous that the other problem just prior to the run thick fog fell on the arena . thats why a couple of the fotos look a bit misty
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drag racing the devil italy 1979.jpg
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 #39416  by PaintermanVic
 
Bloody Hell! Finally!

Keith, we shared that (mad) stand with you in Bologna, in Italy, back in '79. I've got a sh*t-load of photos that I'm sure you'd like to see (or have copies of) from that little "adventure". I tried to make contact with you at the 'Pod when you were there as a "Guest of Honour"... seems like only 3 or 4 years ago - but could be up to... oh, I dunno, I'm losing track of time!

Anyway, unfortunately, it didn't happen on that occasion.

Let me give you a verbal taster of some of the pics that you can have, like... Remember on your way down through France, in the middle of the night, when your tow-ball let go when you were passing through some little village, and your "green-house" trailer ran down-hill into a parked truck? Unbelievably, probably the only English-speaking person in the village just happened to be walking his dog, and who, after recognising your dilemma, not only repaired the setup for you, but added a "safety-chain". Not only that, (if I recall you telling me about the incident later correctly), didn't even charge you for his timely assistance! Well, no, I don't have photos of the actual crash, or its' immediate aftermath, but I DO have pics of you posing alongside the trailer on the venue car-park (daily make-shift drag strip at the "Show") together with the temporary black gaffer-tape repairs to the perspex windows.

Then there are a handful of pics of that loony guy in the kilt(?!) who acted as a substitute "Christmas-Tree" with his frantically-waved chequered flag, who would dash across the "track" in FRONT of you and Reg Hazlewood in his family's Thunderbird Topolino - AFTER you'd launched from the "start-line" on your eighth-mile burnouts! Remember? Even YOU were a bit concerned for his - and your's and the Devil's safety! ("If he thinks that I'll be able to avoid him at around 100mph, he oughta be thinking again!"). I gotta confess, at the time - and ever since for that matter, I've wondered what the possible connection could be between a kilt, a chequered flag waved by a mad Italian guy wearing the aforementioned kit, and drag-racing might have been? Oh well, the spectators seemed to enjoy it all!

Then there were the riots on the stand, caused simply because posters of the cars were being handed out! Oh what (scary) fun eh?, with the "Arma dei Carabinieri" security/bodyguards trying to calm the over-excited "fans" down with the help of their gun-butts!

BTW, you may not remember, but I was responsible for getting the "Freedom" Model "T" and the ex-John Baldachino "Hot 'n' Bothered", Pop van there safely - delivered on a borrowed 2-car trailer, towed by an effin 1600 Transit! (in fairness, it didn't miss a beat, there and back!).

Dunno what your "return journey" was like, but ours involved a 2-day wait at Dieppe for a break in the Channel storms, after which, a Channel-crossing that convinced me that (a) I will never EVER suffer from sea-sickness (because I didn't on that occasion), and (b) that the Ferry crew should've chained down our rig, like they did with the Artics. This would/could have prevented the extensive damage caused to Hot 'n' Bothered when our rig was dashed against the inner side of the ferry!

I guess that's about it for now. Re. the photos, I'll happily load 'em onto here, 'cos I'm sure others will find them interesting too, but if you'd like me to also send you decent quality ones, gimme a shout via email at vic_rollins@yahoo.com.

Regards & Best Wishes,

Vic Rollins. (aka, PaintermanVic.)