Please spare us the reactionary rants!

Ihad to smile when I saw Leigh Marsden’s rant about hot rods in your letters page ( CCW 23 August) a couple of inches below the words ‘No place for knee-jerk reactions!’

With hot rodding now widely accepted as a legitimate part of motoring heritage, and traditional-build cars welcomed at Goodwood, Prescott, Chateau Impney, etc, I’d hoped that this sort of ill-informed nonsense was a thing of the past. To suggest that these cars may be illegal, unlicensed and uninsured is little short of libellous. For Mr Marsden’s information, fenders/mudguards and bonnets are not requirements for the MoT test. Many regulations have exemptions for older cars or are open to interpretation. For example, fenders are necessary to stop spray and mud, so a hot rodder that carries a detachable set in the boot during dry weather would not expect to be troubled by the police, while most cars without a bonnet have shrouded fans and covers over moving parts. I wonder if Mr Marsden can offer any genuine example of ‘a child being thrown into an engine compartment’, or indeed any death or major injury resulting solely from hot rod modifications?

To suggest that one group of enthusiasts with DVLA-registered and insured cars should be targeted by the police is outrageous; and to seek to excuse dangerous modifications to classic Jags at the same time is hypocritical. I also wonder if there is an element of snobbery here – would Mr Marsden endorse show organisers turning away vintage GN or Fraser Nash hill climb specials for the same sort of reasons? Somehow, I doubt it.

Perhaps Mr Marsden might find a better audience for his reactionary rants in his favourite tabloid newspaper. Which I’m guessing is the Daily Mail!

Andrew Davis, Lichfield, Staffs