BLOWDOG.COM » makinen

Makinen spills Skyline’s pint

BlowDog — Mon, 15 Oct 2001 19:48:18 +0000

The pub, although one we frequent for its fine carvery, was a poor choice for a car meet. Apart from always being packed on a Sunday anyway, the car park was an absolute nightmare, imagine Brent Cross shopping centre car-park at 6.00pm. I also wonder why there was only 4 other cars there.

It’s a nice feeling having sold the car to someone you know. These little reunions are quite amusing but one day, I’m gonna hide his keys.

Waving the Makinen goodbye

BlowDog — Thu, 13 Sep 2001 00:49:16 +0000

Ack. The Makinen was taken from me today. Sold to the Good Man Quentin of FullOnLoon fame. I trust the car will be looked after, I am also very happy to see the car go to someone I know. This way I get to see the car whenever I want!
Is it just me, or does other become sentimental with their cars? I can’t help but feel terribly sad when it comes to selling these cars. One becomes so attached to them, parting with them is that little bit more special.

Like I needed identity

BlowDog — Mon, 13 Aug 2001 21:43:55 +0000

Not bad for 400 quid, I’m not usually a number plate man, but I couldn’t resist this one.

2 giants. Or 2 dinosaurs?

BlowDog — Mon, 13 Aug 2001 21:41:19 +0000

This car cost £47k new. Now for sale, is there a market for this type of car now?

Are these really £50,000 cars? I really don’t think so. Regardless, this is quite possibly the fastest point to point production car on the planet.

Evo Extreme

BlowDog — Sun, 12 Aug 2001 18:36:32 +0000

Makinen meets up with Evo Extreme

Enough alread – insurance woes

BlowDog — Thu, 28 Jun 2001 00:32:51 +0000

I’m sure everyone gets this feeling time to time, but I have just about had enough. Things going on at the moment. My insurers have shut shop (Independant) which means I have to look elsewhere. Over the course of 10 calls to varying brokers and underwriters, I have collated quotes between £5,500 and £16,000 (!!!!) for a years comprehensive cover. Add to this the issue with the punk who hit my car in his crap metro who now claims I damaged his car in the process. Furthermore, Turtle Wax wheel polish has destroyed my wheels so I am now in the process of claiming some form of compensation from them. I ask you all, is it worth it? At what point does a hobby turn into an obsession? Is there a defining moment? I, for one, refuse to pay that much money for insurance. Its outrageous. I also hate the way I get screwed by all the idiots on the road. And when a man can;t sit back and enjoy his white wheels, then there’s a fundamental problem with this planet. I have a week exactly to decide of the Makinen stays or goes. I bet an Evo 7 is cheaper to insure. And why the hell don’t the London Underground have air conditioning? *Sigh*

Makinen at Bedford Autodrome

BlowDog — Sat, 23 Jun 2001 17:53:49 +0000

Pictures courtesy of Josh Levy ©

Bedford Autodrome is one of the largest motoring entertainment sites in the UK. It has a very large track that is split into 4 mini circuits. Our track for the day was one of the nicest, easiest tracks I have been on. A 2 km straight provided high speed thrills and also ensured many people went home with good ol’ Mr. Spongy Brake.

Fortunately, because of its set up, it is also an excellent track for amateurs. Its vast, wide run off area’s are ideal safety nets for those that require a margin for error. Of course, this also meant that there were amateurs on the track. This isn’t a bad thing altogether, but does mean that one needs to maintain a level of respect for those that haven’t had as much experience as you. This was demonstrated by a number of incidents that could well have resulted in a few shed tears.

A fantastic SIDC event, the day also included an evening BBQ, although expensive, tasted very good. Company was great again and I look forward to the next Bedford track day.

Many thanks to Josh for the fantastic quality photo’s (I have spent a fortune with that guy).

As a footnote, I took wifey out for the first time ever. After the first corner (literally) she shrieked and wanted to come back in. After two laps of absolute torture, I decided to bring the poor lass in. The colour in her face has just returned.

Wedding cars courtesty of friends

BlowDog — Sat, 23 Jun 2001 00:30:54 +0000

Mon sister was given away on this fine day to the wonderful Steven Young. Although the bastards tricked me into accepting a crippled camel, the 40 sacks of rice should help us peasants for a while.

I hate weddings, but this kept me thrilled right to the end, I was soarly dissapointed to see it finish before I did.

Special thanks go out to :

Mark (R19KET) for assisting in the preparations.
Adam M for allowing us to use his car as a wedding car, thereby showing mine as being better han his.
Alex Creasey for helping with taxiing people around.
Greg for saving the day on numerous occasions.
Caterboy for coming.
And James and Jamie for being game for a laugh.

Belly dancer rocked.

Evil eye succeeds again

BlowDog — Fri, 01 Jun 2001 22:02:17 +0000

Whilst enjoying a leisurely drive down one of my favourite B roads today, I was pleasantly surprised to see a Metro with 6 occupants come tearing round a bend to face me (death) in the eyes. I was going slow, in anticipation that a Metro with 6 occupants on board may come round the bend faster than they should do. One very long skid later, they Metro was kind enough to take some of my paint with it on its way past. I hope I wasn’t too aggressive, it seemed the 6 boys were afraid to come out of the car. Apparently, I was scaring the shit out of them with my rage of fury. Now, I am a sympathetic person, really I am. But I have been screwed recently by a particular Canadian friend and have learnt from it. But when faced with a kid who pays £2300 insurance for a Metro 110 and earns £300 per month from a part time job at Sainsbury’s, my pity buttons start getting pushed.
NO I SHALL NOT SUCCUMB! Luckily, the damage was superficial. I shall still make the little bastard sweat a bit. Grrr..as we say back home, the evil eye is a powerful tool of envy.

Bedford Autodrome pics with the R34

BlowDog — Fri, 25 May 2001 21:50:54 +0000

Pictures courtesy of Josh Levy ©

A fantastic SIDC event, the day also included an evening BBQ, although expensive, tasted very good. Company was great again and I look forward to the next Bedford track day.

Many thanks to Josh for the fantastic quality photo’s (I have spent a fortune with that guy).

Castle Combe rally day

BlowDog — Sat, 05 May 2001 22:14:51 +0000

The cars
Lots of group b monsters, superb

The parade
Which I wasn’t invited to =(

Evo 7’s
Help me choose a colour (will be up later)

Evo 6’s
A huge assortment on the day. I read 80 somewhere ! (will be up later)

Castle combe was host to the rally supercar day this beautiful saturday spring morning. We were blessed with fantastic weather and a staggeringly beautifull array of cars. A bias towards rally cars and their homologated brethren meant the cars were admired and by all motoring clubs throughout the country.

An outstanding memory of mine is the noise the audi quattro sport was making. It really did send tingles down my spine. Suprise of the day goes to the red fiesta that took part in the rally sprint. Never seen anything move so fast. Bit ironic really, considering we were giggling at it earlier in the day. Very impressive.

Stef came off too, which is no suprise. He seems to be intent on having at least one ‘off’ per track day. I know that he never puts anyone in any danger, but this does put a black mark on to the reputation of the club. I know for a fact that the mlr consistently criticise the sidc and more specifically its drivers for their inability to control their cars on the circuit. A glance at any of their past four newsletters will confirm their attitude. No doubt the club is becoming tarnished with the same brush that once painted the rsoc. My bias is still towards the sidc, my interest in the mlr has waned somewhat in light of past experiences. So stef, mail me if you disagree and i’ll put your reply up.

I didn’t put my car up on track though. Party because mrs blowdog was with me but also because I plan on selling my car now. I will put up a formal update to confirm this but essentially, I didn’t want to tempt fate. Having said that, there was a hell of a lot to look at, the track action was quite fun, the talent was quite high and the cars on show were mesmerisingly gorgeous.

Evo 7’s were there in force and served no purpose other than cementing my decision with regards to its purchase. Only question is, which colour do I go for?

Also a quick mention to the sidc boys. Lots of fun had, thoroughly enjoy the company of the club and look forward to many more future events.

Moments worthy of storage to my memory:

The stupidly fast mk 2 fiesta. Fastest thing of the day.
The lancia integrale with martini colours. I can see where the makinens styling is influenced from.
The metro (?!) 6r4’s.
Russ swift and donuts in a makinen.
The dragon cars, evo’s with lovely decals.
The blue makinen.
Ralliart uk’s evo7s lined up.
Stef in a four wheel drift.
Jacket potatoes with cheese and beans.
The audi sport quattro raping the roads outside.
The skyline with 19’s.

Despite my previous rants with regards to mlr, I cannot doubt the amount of work darin et co was getting through on the day. He always seemed to be out of breath and never stood still for more than a second. So well done to them. Without them it wouldn’t have been possible.

Dammit I could go on. Roll on bedford.

Penthouse meets Top Gear

BlowDog — Fri, 27 Apr 2001 00:07:41 +0000

Was honoured to grace the pages of Fast Car Magazine this month. Despite the embarrassment of reading said magazine on the London underground, there were one or two good pics in there.

Better than a Mak?

BlowDog — Fri, 27 Apr 2001 00:05:26 +0000

I currently have some very good offers for an Evo 7 from two very reliable sources. One is from Roger Clarke motorsport, whom I have purchased 3 cars from in the past. They have never failed to provide me with bona fide cars and have never ever let me down before. Having said that, Iain Litchfield has touched my heart with his honesty and frankness. It’s refreshing not to get sales talk from a dealer in cars. Regardless, I want an Evo 7 now, I just need convincing and so far Litchfield imports have the best offers going.

Face off in Bushey

BlowDog — Wed, 18 Apr 2001 22:23:33 +0000

The weather was superb, the cars were clean, I had a spare roll of film in the camera. So why not?
I am still trying to hone my photography skills and I am buying a new scanner to compliment this. Unfortunately, my mad camera skillz aren’t up to scratch yet, which is why the pictures I produce still look decidedly dodgy, despite there being a fantastic array of colours to work with.
Adams car is ok, considering.

Belgium in the Makinen

BlowDog — Sun, 25 Mar 2001 17:59:12 +0000

Another big mistake in our choice of travelling times. A 2 hour sleep gave way to a 3 am start at south mims services. Met up with a number of folks along the way and made our way to belgium. The company was superb. Highlights of the day in no particular order :

A group of 10 cars cruising 3 abreast at 150 mph (private roads, of course)
The excursion off road. (have you ever seen 8 cars donuting on an acre of grass?) Funniest thing ever
“gents, i want to hear some engine noise” which then followed an orchestra of boxers in a tight belgian town centre street
Ronnies standing starts. I loved the clutch smells and it brought tears to my eyes
Simons obsession with amsterdam
Chocolate hunting in a seaside resort full of belgians who had never seen a car before
20 subarus doing a 3 point turn in a tight housing estate
Motorola radios
Wobbly brakes
90 year old police men
Fill ups every hour
Credits :

Simon as my co-driver, no regret there. A fantastic source of humour and just great company. Also perhaps the only person i would trust in the world to drive my car
James harvey and linda were just top top people. A lot of these photo’s are actually theirs, i hope they dont mind.
Linda, you are just the most hilarious person to listen to on the radio, like full on military style
Alex and his bro need mentioning, despite the fact that he did nothing but abuse my car all day. I will let it go this time though. Next time, there’ll be trouble tho
Mark. You get full marks for being crazy dude of the day. Thank you so much for bringing on and instigating the max-power attitude which ended up rulling the rest of the day
Rob, i said this before and i’ll say it again. You have the best looking impreza i have ever seen. Goes and sounds fantastic.
Sean, i hope you bit the bug (if you didn’t, you should be dead!) This is what impreza ownership is all about and i look forward to seeing you out again.
Clive, cheers for helping me find the chocolates that i oh so needed to bring back to mummy and the misses.
Dom, your rb5 was very pretty and added to the diverse selection of imprezas we had. I can still smell the clutch!
And finally, ronnie. Great fun we had, on field and off. You seemed to take a liking to radio chatter (although i’m not sure about the arsenal stuff!), i hear you touched 170ish at one point (private roads, of course). I was always real glad to see that you were game for a laugh at all times, be it on the highway or the fieldway =0

Thanks to geert and james for the pictures (some were mine, actually)

It initially seemed like a failure, getting lost there, tired, hungry. But it turned out ok. I will definately be going again very soon

Thanks theo and geert for organising it

The B660 in the Makinen

BlowDog — Sun, 26 Nov 2000 22:38:45 +0000

I was introduced to this fine piece of civil engineering, the b660 road, starting at Bedford and ending up 30 miles north. fast bends slow bends sharp ones blunt ones straights narrows, this road has them all.

A very challenging road which leaves you completely drained after. which is why we did it twice.

Cheers to rob, mark, mark, jean-mark, alex and simon. especially to rob for the extra photos.