How a £2 bolt lead to a Le Man winner....
Oct 23, 2017 19:28:54 GMT
charleselan, Carl, and 1 more like this
Post by Jamie on Oct 23, 2017 19:28:54 GMT
I thought you may be interested in a conversation I had this past Saturday........quite by chance....
I had a couple of jobs to do on the car over the weekend and, as so very often happens, when I got started I realised that I needed a particular sized bolt before I went any further. Despite having literally hundreds of bolts stored lovingly in various coffee jars, baby formula tins and plastic bins in the garage I couldn't find an M10 1.25 pitch (fine) bolt longer than 40mm for love nor money.
Thats not the sort of size to be found easily on a Saturday morning and it was with a degree of resignation that I took to google to search local nut and bolt suppliers. I've tried this before but its never thrown up anything either open at the weekend, or close enough to be useful......this time it brought up a company in a small village called Ansty which is about 5-6 miles from my house - worth a call I thought and dialled the number without getting my hopes up.
The guy answered which was a good start
Not only did he answer, but he had the very bolt I needed and I could pop round a pick it up - the Saturday / weekends work was saved and I set off for the address a happy man.
My youngest son, Casey came with me (named for Casey Stoner) and he was laughing out loud because Daddy was horribly lost......I eventually found the place in the middle of nowhere, opened the gate as instructed and drove inside. On pulling into the driveway it was obvious that this was not the usual place of business of a nut and bolt retailer and it was, in fact, the guys house. What a house it was! A beautiful old character cottage set in large and immaculate gardens with barns everywhere - my sort of place indeed, plenty of room for 'tinkering'.
Anyway, after chatting to the chap whilst he finished washing one of his cars, he proceeded to get the bolts I was after and relieve me of £2, job done. I was extremely happy to have found an excellent source of fixings so close to home and open at the weekend.
Now came the interesting bit.........He asked what the bolts were for and we then engaged in a lengthy chat about cars with me showing him pictures and it was obvious he was an enthusiast of all things mechanical and Motor Racing in general. When I mentioned that I hope to enter some low level hillclimb and sprint events in the car he told me all about his own car that he hoped to finish off and compete with - an MGB with a 2ltr twincam Rover T series engine and TR7 gearbox fitted, he opened one of the barns to reveal the beauty as well and I had a good look.
We carried on chatting about cars and racing and I mentioned that I could see an interesting looking car with a private plate on it in one of the barns when I drove in.....sensing that I'd found a kindred spirit, I asked if I could take a look.
He opened the barn and the car I'd seen was a 1988 Audi Quattro V8 in great condition. We talked about the car for a bit and he explained that it was one of only 6 left in the UK and that he'd bought it about 2 years ago at auction for the princely sum of £2050 - very cheap for a car like that!
We had a look around the car and in the engine bay for a bit and then I asked about the private number plate.....
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The plate was FF9444 and I remarked that it was a very apt plate for that car as FF developments were the prime mover in 4-wheel drive technology and worked with Audi to develop the quattro system etc etc........well bugger me if the guys eye's didn't light up! He knew all about the FF link and explained to me that the car was originally purchased and owned by none other than Tony Rolt, hence the FF plate! The auction house didn't know what they had and he got it for a steal....
I then spent a fantastic half an hour in his company talking about Tony and his exploits in racing, the 1953 Le Mans win, the escape from Colditz......thoroughly enjoyable. He showed me loads on Tony Rolt memorabilia he had including the log book with the name MJR A P R Rolt as the previous registered keeper; you can see that Tony's son owned the car after his death and the car went to auction from there so he's owner number 3.
Attachment Deleted
What a fabulous thing to own and his obvious affection for TR meant the car was in very good hands. I even got to sit in the seat Tony once sat in.......made my day.
I ended up being there for about two hours as, in addition to the Rolt Audi, he also had an Innocenti Mini Cooper in immaculate condition, a 60's Triumph Bonnie as well as showing me photos of an Austin Healy 100/6 that he had imported from America and was currently being restored to show condition - a wonderful way to spend a few hours.
Casey was happy running around with the chaps dogs and his charming wife even made me a cup of tea! Who'd have thought a £2 bolt would lead to a Le Mans winner......
Attachment Deleted
I had a couple of jobs to do on the car over the weekend and, as so very often happens, when I got started I realised that I needed a particular sized bolt before I went any further. Despite having literally hundreds of bolts stored lovingly in various coffee jars, baby formula tins and plastic bins in the garage I couldn't find an M10 1.25 pitch (fine) bolt longer than 40mm for love nor money.
Thats not the sort of size to be found easily on a Saturday morning and it was with a degree of resignation that I took to google to search local nut and bolt suppliers. I've tried this before but its never thrown up anything either open at the weekend, or close enough to be useful......this time it brought up a company in a small village called Ansty which is about 5-6 miles from my house - worth a call I thought and dialled the number without getting my hopes up.
The guy answered which was a good start
Not only did he answer, but he had the very bolt I needed and I could pop round a pick it up - the Saturday / weekends work was saved and I set off for the address a happy man.My youngest son, Casey came with me (named for Casey Stoner) and he was laughing out loud because Daddy was horribly lost......I eventually found the place in the middle of nowhere, opened the gate as instructed and drove inside. On pulling into the driveway it was obvious that this was not the usual place of business of a nut and bolt retailer and it was, in fact, the guys house. What a house it was! A beautiful old character cottage set in large and immaculate gardens with barns everywhere - my sort of place indeed, plenty of room for 'tinkering'.
Anyway, after chatting to the chap whilst he finished washing one of his cars, he proceeded to get the bolts I was after and relieve me of £2, job done. I was extremely happy to have found an excellent source of fixings so close to home and open at the weekend.
Now came the interesting bit.........He asked what the bolts were for and we then engaged in a lengthy chat about cars with me showing him pictures and it was obvious he was an enthusiast of all things mechanical and Motor Racing in general. When I mentioned that I hope to enter some low level hillclimb and sprint events in the car he told me all about his own car that he hoped to finish off and compete with - an MGB with a 2ltr twincam Rover T series engine and TR7 gearbox fitted, he opened one of the barns to reveal the beauty as well and I had a good look.
We carried on chatting about cars and racing and I mentioned that I could see an interesting looking car with a private plate on it in one of the barns when I drove in.....sensing that I'd found a kindred spirit, I asked if I could take a look.
He opened the barn and the car I'd seen was a 1988 Audi Quattro V8 in great condition. We talked about the car for a bit and he explained that it was one of only 6 left in the UK and that he'd bought it about 2 years ago at auction for the princely sum of £2050 - very cheap for a car like that!
We had a look around the car and in the engine bay for a bit and then I asked about the private number plate.....
Attachment Deleted
The plate was FF9444 and I remarked that it was a very apt plate for that car as FF developments were the prime mover in 4-wheel drive technology and worked with Audi to develop the quattro system etc etc........well bugger me if the guys eye's didn't light up! He knew all about the FF link and explained to me that the car was originally purchased and owned by none other than Tony Rolt, hence the FF plate! The auction house didn't know what they had and he got it for a steal....
I then spent a fantastic half an hour in his company talking about Tony and his exploits in racing, the 1953 Le Mans win, the escape from Colditz......thoroughly enjoyable. He showed me loads on Tony Rolt memorabilia he had including the log book with the name MJR A P R Rolt as the previous registered keeper; you can see that Tony's son owned the car after his death and the car went to auction from there so he's owner number 3.
Attachment Deleted
What a fabulous thing to own and his obvious affection for TR meant the car was in very good hands. I even got to sit in the seat Tony once sat in.......made my day.
I ended up being there for about two hours as, in addition to the Rolt Audi, he also had an Innocenti Mini Cooper in immaculate condition, a 60's Triumph Bonnie as well as showing me photos of an Austin Healy 100/6 that he had imported from America and was currently being restored to show condition - a wonderful way to spend a few hours.
Casey was happy running around with the chaps dogs and his charming wife even made me a cup of tea! Who'd have thought a £2 bolt would lead to a Le Mans winner......
Attachment Deleted
