A dirty weekend in the BRM
David takes the BRM to Race Retro, but there’s a muddy price to pay
When I backed V844 RBK out of the garage prior for a Friday morning commute to the CCW offices, I was appalled at the external state of the car with dried-on mud on the wings. So, it was treated to a lunchtime fiver clean at the local car wash and it looked as good as new for at least a few hours.
The next day the Rover BRM was the obvious choice when my son, Miles, and I visited Race Retro at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire. Miles’ home is close to one of our favourite stretches of cross-country road – the B676 from Colsterworth to Melton Mowbray. Some people hate it for all its sharp curves and undulating nature but for a nippy, grippy car it offers ideal motoring and forms part of our (imaginary) rally circuit of rural roads through Lincolnshire and Leicestershire’s hinterland. It’s also very popular with bikers.
The ring road around Leicester is less exacting, but once we joined the M69, the car showed its other nature as we smoothly accelerated towards Coventry, enjoying the sight of numerous classics heading for the same show on the way.
This year’s event at Stoneleigh was really good. There wasn’t much BRM content on display, but I did find a piece of Shell Rover BRM gas turbine prototype artwork on one of the stalls to add to my collection. The Rover 200 BRM proved to be a real conversation piece with show-goers and it even earned a brief mention in the Owen Motor Club Classic Section newsletter.
There were more great classics to enjoy on the return journey along the M69 and the 170-mile round trip did both the car and us good. But looking at the condition of the car as I drove it back into its garage that evening, any signs of that clean-up were hidden beneath a new layer of muck. Time for some more spit and polish!