23/02/2026
Classic Saloons & VW Beetles - 19th February 2026
On Thursday night, we had a double portion of classic saloon car racing, first we had the VW Beetle Challenge and then we had the normal saloon car race. We had 11 club members and a visitor in the form of Terry taking part. As an experiment, Ian R added another ‘person’ to the 12 drivers, to create the ‘perfect’ algorithms which needs 13 drivers to be taking part in the event. As Ashley was originally scheduled to be with us, but he could not make it he became the ‘virtual’ driver!
The Beetle race featured 9 drivers, with cars of many shapes and colours. Alf had his suspiciously wide Group 5 Carrera Beetle, Dennis his new green DDM produced Beetle. Herbie drove my copy of Herbie and Mike my orange one. They looked all looked very splendid; but when they are moving it is the improbable attempting the impossible!
There were 3 heats, each featuring 3 cars, the winner of each heat and the fastest runner up participated in the final. The final consisted of Alf, Mike, Ken and Herbie as the fastest runner up. The challenge of keeping these cars upright and moving at a significant speed is to me, the ultimate challenge of the art of driving. Mike took out Herbie twice and Herbie had his revenge once, in addition to mostly running on two wheels! Unfortunately, Ken’s car ended up in the wrong lane and the rescue attempt damaged the body posts, so it had to be retired. Alf’s wide car ran imperiously and won easily. Although I did not make the final, at least two of my cars did coming second and third, more of this fun later in the year
Before the main race now took place, there was a concours competition, which ended up in a two-way tie between Terry and Herbie on 12 points, Dave came third with 8 points.
There were 13 heats, some of these only having 3 real drivers because of the need for a ‘virtual’ driver. It was nice to seem Martin back with us this evening. There was a wonderful range of classic saloons taking place, from Alfa GTA’s, BMW 2002’s Mini’s, A40’s Imps VW Beetles to Ford Zodiacs. Ian R’s black and gold Mini was insanely fast, but some of the Alfa GTA’s were close to him. Ian R won 3 heats, Dave, Richard and Martin won 2 heats each, Herbie, Alf, Terry and Ken won I heat each. Herbie’s very fast Alfa had a couple of handling issues, due to him changing wheels and tyres, something that would suit Dave later. Mike also had tyre issues, his Alfa becoming a very convincing drift car! Ian R had the fastest lap in the heats with a 6.902, closely followed by Herbie with a 6.967.
The D final was won by Mike, who had decided to use his orange Imp, he had the fastest lap time of 7.734. Mike also won the C final, beating Ken who had the fastest lap time of 7.461, Mike recording a close 7.481. The B final was a close race, but Herbie with his challenging Alfa eventually won recording a fastest lap of 7.076.
The A final featured:
Ian R in the red lane. With his black and gold Mini
Dave in the blue lane with his gold Alfa GTA
Richard in the green lane with his orange and white Imp
Herbie in the yellow lane with his dark red Alfa GT.
It was a refreshing change from the Peugeot fest that the normal Saloon class A final has become!
Ian R raced off into the lead with Dave doing his best to keep up with him, Herbie’s Alfa was becoming very difficult to drive by now, with frequent de-slots. Richard’s Imp ran steadily in third place. So, eventually the race finished in the above order. If Herbie’s car had behaved itself the race may have finished quite differently! Ian R had the fastest lap in the final with a 7.004.
So ended another wonderful night of classic car racing, thanks to Alf for organising the event, it was good to see it so well supported. Thanks also to Iain for providing the food. If you have not taken part in a classics event yet, come along there are always some spare cars to use. The next classics event is for F1 on the 9th of April moving at a significant speed is to me, the ultimate challenge of the art of driving. Mike took out Herbie twice and Herbie had his revenge once, in addition to mostly running on two wheels! Unfortunately, Ken’s car ended up in the wrong lane and the rescue attempt damaged the body posts, so it had to be retired. Alf’s wide car ran imperiously and won easily. Although I did not make the final, at least two of my cars did coming second and third, more of this fun later in the year!
place, from Alfa GTA’s, BMW 2002’s Mini’s, A40’s Imps VW Beetles to Ford Zodiacs. Ian R’s black and gold Mini was insanely fast, but some of the Alfa GTA’s were close to him. Ian R won 3 heats, Dave, Richard and Martin won 2 heats each, Herbie, Alf, Terry and Ken won I heat each. Herbie’s very fast Alfa had a couple of handling issues, due to him changing wheels and tyres, something that would suit Dave later. Mike also had tyre issues, his Alfa becoming a very convincing drift car! Ian R had the fastest lap in the heats with a 6.902, closely followed by Herbie with a 6.967.
The D final was won by Mike, who had decided to use his orange Imp, he had the fastest lap time of 7.734. Mike also won the C final, beating Ken who had the fastest lap time of 7.461, Mike recording a close 7.481. The B final was a close race, but Herbie with his challenging Alfa eventually won recording a fastest lap of 7.076.
The A final featured:
Ian R in the red lane. With his black and gold Mini
Dave in the blue lane with his gold Alfa GTA
Richard in the green lane with his orange and white Imp
Herbie in the yellow lane with his dark red Alfa GTA
Car Play Vehicle Toy Model car Scale model
It was a refreshing change from the Peugeot fest that the normal Saloon class A final has become!
Ian R raced off into the lead with Dave doing his best to keep up with him, Herbie’s Alfa was becoming very difficult to drive by now, with frequent de-slots. Richard’s Imp ran steadily in third place. So, eventually the race finished in the above order. If Herbie’s car had behaved itself the race may have finished quite differently! Ian R had the fastest lap in the final with a 7.004.
So ended another wonderful night of classic car racing, thanks to Alf for organising the event, it was good to see it so well supported.
Before the main race now took place, there was a concours competition, which ended up in a two-way tie between Terry and Herbie on 12 points, Dave came third with 8 points.
There were 13 heats, some of these only having 3 real drivers because of the need for a ‘virtual’ driver. It was nice to seem Martin back with us this evening. There was a wonderful range of classic saloons taking place, from Alfa GTA’s, BMW 2002’s Mini’s, A40’s Imps VW Beetles to Ford Zodiacs. Ian R’s black and gold Mini was insanely fast, but some of the Alfa GTA’s were close to him. Ian R won 3 heats, Dave, Richard and Martin won 2 heats each, Herbie, Alf, Terry and Ken won I heat each. Herbie’s very fast Alfa had a couple of handling issues, due to him changing wheels and tyres, something that would suit Dave later. Mike also had tyre issues, his Alfa becoming a very convincing drift car! Ian R had the fastest lap in the heats with a 6.902, closely followed by Herbie with a 6.967.
The D final was won by Mike, who had decided to use his orange Imp, he had the fastest lap time of 7.734. Mike also won the C final, beating Ken who had the fastest lap time of 7.461, Mike recording a close 7.481. The B final was a close race, but Herbie with his challenging Alfa eventually won recording a fastest lap of 7.076.
The A final featured:
Ian R in the red lane. With his black and gold Mini
Dave in the blue lane with his gold Alfa GTA
Richard in the green lane with his orange and white Imp
Herbie in the yellow lane with his dark red Alfa GTA
It was a refreshing change from the Peugeot fest that the normal Saloon class A final has become!
Dennis his new green DDM produced Beetle. Herbie drove my copy of Herbie and Mike my orange one. They looked all looked very splendid; but when they are moving it is the improbable attempting the impossible.
There were 3 heats, each featuring 3 cars, the winner of each heat and the fastest runner up participated in the final. The final consisted of Alf, Mike, Ken and Herbie as the fastest runner up. The challenge of keeping these cars upright and moving at a significant speed is to me, the ultimate challenge of the art of driving. Mike took out Herbie twice and Herbie had his revenge once, in addition to mostly running on two wheels! Unfortunately, Ken’s car ended up in the wrong lane and the rescue attempt damaged the body posts, so it had to be retired. Alf’s wide car ran imperiously and won easily. Although I did not make the final, at least two of my cars did coming second and third, more of this fun later in the year
Before the main race now took place, there was a concours competition, which ended up in a two-way tie between Terry and Herbie on 12 points, Dave came third with 8 points.
There were 13 heats, some of these only having 3 real drivers because of the need for a ‘virtual’ driver. It was nice to seem Martin back with us this evening. There was a wonderful range of classic saloons taking place, from Alfa GTA’s, BMW 2002’s Mini’s, A40’s Imps VW Beetles to Ford Zodiacs. Ian R’s black and gold Mini was insanely fast, but some of the Alfa GTA’s were close to him. Ian R won 3 heats, Dave, Richard and Martin won 2 heats each, Herbie, Alf, Terry and Ken won I heat each. Herbie’s very fast Alfa had a couple of handling issues, due to him changing wheels and tyres, something that would suit Dave later. Mike also had tyre issues, his Alfa becoming a very convincing drift car! Ian R had the fastest lap in the heats with a 6.902, closely followed by Herbie with a 6.967.
The D final was won by Mike, who had decided to use his orange Imp, he had the fastest lap time of 7.734. Mike also won the C final, beating Ken who had the fastest lap time of 7.461, Mike recording a close 7.481. The B final was a close race, but Herbie with his challenging Alfa eventually won recording a fastest lap of 7.076.
The A final featured:
Ian R in the red lane. With his black and gold Mini
Dave in the blue lane with his gold Alfa GTA
Richard in the green lane with his orange and white Imp
Herbie in the yellow lane with his dark red Alfa GTA
It was a refreshing change from the Peugeot fest that the normal Saloon class A final has become!
Ian R raced off into the lead with Dave doing his best to keep up with him, Herbie’s Alfa was becoming very difficult to drive by now, with frequent de-slots. Richard’s Imp ran steadily in third place. So, eventually the race finished in the above order. If Herbie’s car had behaved itself the race may have finished quite differently! Ian R had the fastest lap in the final with a 7.004.
So ended another wonderful night of classic car racing, thanks to Alf for organising the event, it was good to see it so well supported. Thanks also to Iain for providing the food. If you have not taken part in a classics event yet, come along there are always some spare cars to use. The next classics event is for F1 on the 9th of April.
