Transport Archives - Page 6 of 16

Lotus Day At Transport Museum This Sunday

Aberdeenshire, Information No Responses »

Jul 302015

With thanks to Martyn Smith, Marketing & Events Organiser, Grampian Transport Museum.

This Sunday 2nd August the Lotus Enthusiasts Group Scotland will be hosting “The Lotus Day” at the Grampian Transport Museum.

Now in its 4th year this popular event sees Lotus cars from all over Scotland in attendance.

50 years of Lotus cars will be on show, with examples from the early 1960’s up to the very latest production cars, capable of 0 – 60 mph times of less than 4 seconds and top speeds in excess of 170 mph!

The event has proved popular with museum visitors and club members alike, with club members given the unique opportunity not only to display their cars but also to take members of the public out for laps on the museum’s road circuit, between 2pm and 4pm.

In addition to the passenger rides there will also be a static display of some very rare cars including the first production Lotus Esprit and a Lotus Exige LF1, built to commemorate the 1st of 81 Formula 1 victories which was achieved by Sir Stirling Moss at Monaco in 1960.

Lotus is a marque synonymous with motor racing and their race pedigree can be seen clearly in the road cars they produce.

Admission to The Lotus Day is included in the museum’s standard admission – £9.50 for adults, £7.50 for concessions and 2 children are admitted FREE with every adult.

Preceding Lotus Day the museum will be treating visitors to a day of nostalgia on Thursday 30th July with a one-off 90’s Day – along with a soundtrack from the era, the museum will also be running 90’s themed quizzes for younger visitors to enjoy.

Visitors to 90’s day will also enjoy reduced admission, with adults just £2.80 or a family ticket, priced at just £5, admitting 2 adults and up to 4 children.

AllFord at Alford: More Cars Confirmed For Event

Aberdeenshire, Information No Responses »

Jul 242015

With thanks to Martyn Smith.

The Grampian Transport Museum, Alford, will once again be welcoming Ford fans when AllFord returns for the second year on Sunday 16th August.

Launched in 2014, AllFord at Alford is a celebration of everything ‘Fordie’ from 1908 to the present day.

Over 200 vehicles took part in last year’s inaugural event, with vehicles ranging from standard family cars to high spec rally vehicles and rare examples that caused such great excitement at the dawn of the motoring era.

The organisers are delighted to announce that Ford UK will be supporting this year’s event, ensuring an impressive line up of the very latest Ford models straight from the showroom. There will also be a dedicated Ford Marquee, with Playstation driving simulator and dedicated brand ambassadors on hand to offer advice to enthusiasts.

Over 100 vehicles entries have already been received, including a pair of Model T fords dating from the early 1900s entered by James Gray on behalf of the Fraserburgh Vintage Car Rally. A pair of 1997 Mustangs are joined by numerous Fiestas and Escorts, including several MK2 examples – with the second generation of the popular vehicle celebrating its 40th birthday this year.

The popular ‘Choice of the people’ award will once again allow visitors to vote for their favourite car of the show. Craft traders, specialist suppliers and accessories retailers will add to the show atmosphere of this unique event.

There is still time to enter your Ford – entries are open until Friday 24th July and can be made online at www.gtm.org.uk.

Entry is just £10 per car which includes free entry to the museum for 2 people/ Entry is open to any Ford car, or Ford powered vehicle, manufactured from 1908 onwards.

Made In Scotland – This Sunday AT GTM

Aberdeenshire, Information No Responses »

Jul 162015

With thanks to Martyn Smith.

The Grampian Transport Museum in Alford will be welcoming surviving examples from the Scottish Motor Industry to a one off event this Sunday.

Made in Scotland – an event running in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name in the museum building – will showcase everyday cars, such as the Hillman Imp – which were produced at the Rootes plant in Linwood, Paisley.

A 1973 Davrian Imp racing car, owned by renowned Imp expert Dave Cooper of Midhurst, West Sussex, will also be on display and will in fact be driven some 600 miles to the event.

Dave will also be talking to the museum’s Young Engineers team and offering advice on how best to restore the museum’s own 1965 Hillman Imp.

The First Group Heritage Trust and Aberdeen & District Transport Preservation Trust will display a number of buses, once operated in Aberdeen and bodied by Alexander of Falkirk. The museum’s 1914 Sentinel Steam Waggon – the oldest fully functional example remaining – will offer museum visitors the chance of a ride around the circuit, as well as demonstrating the difference between steam and motor lorries of its era.

A 1927 Rolls Royce 20HP, which was bodied by Claud Hamilton of Aberdeen and now owned by Tom Muir of Kirkcaldy, will be making the journey north for Made in Scotland and joined by a pair of stunning Arrol Johnston vehicles which are also a part of the family collection.

A purpose built single seater racing car, the GWR Raptor, designed by former F1 Lotus designer Martin Ogilvie and built by former Scottish Champion and 2 time British Hillclimb champion Graeme Wight Junior, will be taking part in a demonstration on the museum’s circuit.

Made in Scotland takes place this Sunday, 19th July, from 12noon – 4pm and is included in the museum’s standard admission, £9.50 for adults, £7.50 for concessions with 2 children admitted FREE with every adult. More information can be found online at www.gtm.org.uk

Over 5,000 Enjoy SpeedFest15 at GTM In Alford

Aberdeenshire, Featured, News No Responses »

Jul 102015

With thanks to Alford Speedfest.

Record crowds attended SpeedFest15 on Sunday 5 July. Over 5,000 enjoyed sunny weather at the GTM in Alford, and a show which was opened by Dai Heather Hayes’ aerobatic display.

Organised by James and Sarah Parker and Tony Yule and their team of marshals and assistants from Black Dog Events.

As well as the annual Pursuits, new to SpeedFest this year was the Kinghorn Alford Drag. Andrew Cowie’s 800bhp Nissan Skyline finished first and was awarded a prize kindly donated by RA Plates.

Crowds enjoyed the spectacle and sounds of the 24,000cc Napier Bentley.

Motoring Journalist Simon Taylor from the Hollywood film Rush demonstrated the Charlie Bang slingshot dragster and was joined by Scotland’s fastest accelerating car, Colin Millar’s Flying Fyfer.

James Parker wowed the crowds again with smoke, noise and speed from the Indianapolis 500 pole setting Jim Robbins Special (pictured above).

Grampian Kart Club demonstrated their exciting karts showcasing some champions of the future, and Blata UK provided entertainment with a mini moto race.

Joining our SpeedBirds were Julia Stewart and her team of catsuited-pit girls adding glamour to an impressive line up of trade sands including Park’s Motor Group, Sytners (Lamborghini Edinburgh), Leven Car Company, Murray Motor Company, Aberdeen Porsche centre and Glack Attack.

Stig’s Scottish cousin, the ‘Stag’ was seen wondering around the site and then ‘stole’ the 8 litre Dodge Ram pick up and started drifting and smoking it around the track until the Black Dog marshals red-flagged him to a stop and security were brought in to remove him. In true form the Stag was clearly not impressed at being manhandled off the site.

Organisers Tony and James said ‘The record crowds here enjoyed a day full of on-track excitement, high octane demonstrations and we were delighted that the slick timings gave non-stop thrills’. Tony was delighted to have a head-to-head with co-organiser James in the well-loved vintage Frazer Nashes, ‘As well as seeing all the modern supercars at the event, It was a great experience for me to see how the 80-year old car handles as speed, I real eye-opener – I tried my best but I was beaten by its owner (maybe he’ll let me drive it again …) Great fun’.

A great display of exotic and iconic sports cars was supplemented by GT Scotland who had an impressive line-up, including a Bugatti Veyron.

SpeedFest 2015 This Sunday, July 5

Aberdeenshire, Information No Responses »

Jul 032015

With thanks to Martyn Smith.

The Transport Museum’s events programme included SPEEDFEST for the first time in 2010 as a stripped down celebration of post 1955 fast cars. This Sunday will see the sixth SpeedFest and the event promises to be the biggest and best yet.

SpeedFest is now by far the largest car event held on the GTM site and must be one of the most action packed motor events in the UK.

For 2015 organisers have assembled an amazing programme. Track activity includes, drifting, mini motos, racing karts, dragsters, rally stage and top of the bill, the unique SpeedFest pursuits. The pursuits are a chance for supercars to demonstrate their awesome performance on the museum test track. Over 100 specially invited performance cars take part in this amazing spectacle.

SpeedFest brings to Scotland and the NE many great rarities. Numerous classic sports rally and race cars are attending this year including the methanol burning 160mph Indy Racer known as the Jim Robins Special that held pole position in the Indianapolis 500 in 1955 and a ‘Sling Shot’ dragster that won the record in the USA in 1966.

A massive 24 litre Napier Bentley vintage racer will be put through its paces evoking a period when aircraft engines gave race meetings very distinctive sounds and smells! Another visiting dragster will be the 1150bhp nitro burning ‘Outlaw Anglia’ that will give a tyre burning demonstration of outrageous power!

Modern supercars will be very much involved with a 727bhp McLaren P1 that also boasts another 176bhp from its supporting electric motor that can be used to save fuel or assist the main twin turbo V8. A Ferrari 458 Speciale completes a line up of Ferraris and other Italian supercars plus a genuine Group 4 Lancia Stratos with impressive competition history.

The motor trade are supporting SpeedFest more than ever this year with Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, McLaren, Maserati, Porsche, Lotus, Bentley and Aston Martin all in attendance. Collectively the trade bring SpeedFest right up to date by showing the latest models in an historical context.

Trade stands, food stalls, rides and a chance to view the museum’s 2015 exhibition make SpeedFest a very special day. There is a free park and ride provided by the Alford Bus Collection and better still the first 600 to arrive are treated to a couple of laps of the track in one of the participating cars in the ‘Early Bird’ rides for the first hour from 11am. Gates open at 10.45 for a day to remember!

DIGG Councillors Secure Policy Wins

Aberdeenshire, Information No Responses »

Jun 112015

Green councillor Martin Ford.

With thanks to Martin Ford.

A range of Council improvements are on the way for Aberdeenshire residents following the agreement struck between Democratic Independent and Green Group (DIGG) councillors Paul Johnston and Martin Ford and the Council’s newly elected coalition administration.
The two DIGG councillors voted in favour of electing the new administration at the special full council meeting on Monday – in order to secure important Council policy changes the new administration has agreed with the DIGG to introduce.

Green councillor Martin Ford said:

“The new administration has made a formal agreement to implement a range of DIGG policies.

“Under the DIGG agreement with the new administration, the Council will in future undertake proper public consultation on its annual budget. The Council will increase the annual spend on support for active travel – cycling and walking – and bring in other measures to help reduce carbon emissions.

“There will be no cuts to the budget for community learning and development. The Council’s procurement rules will be changed to take account of wider benefits that might be secured through purchasing decisions.

“The Council will support including re-opening the Dyce to Ellon railway line in the proposed Aberdeen City Region Deal.”

Democratic Independent councillor Paul Johnston said:

“We believe the changes we have agreed with the new administration will deliver real advantages for Aberdeenshire residents.

“The DIGG has not joined the new administration. We remain an independent opposition group on the Council. We have agreed to support the new administration on a limited basis in return for policy changes and to give the Council stability.”

The two DIGG councillors and independent councillor Dave Stewart were the only three members of Aberdeenshire Council not to change their situation – remaining in opposition throughout.

The new Aberdeenshire Council administration is a Labour/Independent/SNP coalition.

Cllr Martin Ford said:

“The DIGG looks forward to working constructively with both the Council’s new administration and those who are now also, like us, in opposition.”

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Greenpower Returns To Alford 12th & 13th June 2015.

Aberdeenshire, Information No Responses »

Jun 112015

With thanks to Martyn Smith.

Grampian Transport Museum is delighted to host the latest heat of the internationally renowned Greenpower F24 competition, which takes place at the museum on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th June.

The museums Young Engineers club, a group aimed at youngsters of secondary school age, will be competing for the seventh year in a row.

Led by a team of enthusiastic volunteers, the youngsters meet at the museum’s Collections Centre every Saturday morning and build, test, race – and maintain – their own F24 vehicles, the Alford Spyder and Alford Bullet.

Team members are given the chance to participate in all aspects of the construction process, including mechanical and electrical aspects. The competition also allows team members the chance to build and develop group skills and leadership abilities. Due to the nature of the Formula 24 event the youngsters will also develop a better understanding of track safety as well as developing their driving skills.

Commenting on the event Trustee Paul Lawson said:

“Greenpower is a fantastic competition which the Grampian Transport Museum is proud to host. It’s a great way of encouraging students into science and engineering and provides a number of exciting opportunities. The team enjoyed a very successful season in 2014, with all three of our vehicles progressing through to the final at Goodwood in October and we’re hoping to enjoy a great start to this season!”

The Young Engineers club was formed in 2008 and is an important part of the museums educational remit. A new visitor reception, due for construction this winter, will enhance the profile of the team with a special display featuring some of the teams former vehicles. .

Made In Scotland – Exhibition At Transport Museum

Aberdeenshire, History No Responses »

Jun 052015

With thanks to Martyn Smith.

The Grampian Transport Museum in Alford is looking for surviving examples from the Scottish Motor Industry to take part in a one off event which is taking place in July.

Vehicles produced, designed or with major components manufactured in Scotland will be eligible to enter Made in Scotland – an event which will bring alive an exhibition of the same name in the museum building.

Made in Scotland tells the fascinating story of the Scottish motor industry.

Having had a great start with the famous 3 A’s (Albion, Argyll and Arrol-Johnston) the industry was once considered the envy of the motoring world, in fact Argyll’s factory in Alexandria was often referred to as ‘Palatial’. Sadly the fortunes of the three manufacturers took a turn for the worse in the depression years between the first and second world wars.

There was a brief revival in the 1960s thanks to the volume production of the Hillman Imp at the Rootes plant at Linwood, Paisley. It is anticipated that the largest number of preserved vehicles at Made in Scotland will be Imps, or their derivatives.

One of these will be a 1973 Davrian Imp racing car, owned by Dave Cooper from Midhurst in West Sussex. Dave plans to drive up for the event and will also be giving a talk to the museum’s Young Engineers club and advising them on how best to restore the museums own 1965 Hillman Imp.

It is also hoped that commercial and specialist vehicles, for which Scotland is well known, will be in attendance in large numbers.

Pride of the museums collection is a Glasgow built 1914 Sentinel Steam Waggon – the oldest fully operational example remaining – which will play a key role in the event, offering museum visitors a rare chance to ride onboard this venerable veteran! The Sentinel will also demonstrate the difference between steam and motor lorries of its era, with the results likely to surprise a few onlookers!

Mike Ward, museum curator, explains the rationale behind the event.

“Grampian Transport Museum pursues a policy of ‘ringing the changes’ with seasonal exhibits, in order to constantly engage with its catchment audience. We often take the opportunity to bring exhibits to life by building an event around the same subject.

“One of the main themes this season only is Made in Scotland which looks at the fascinating story of the Scottish motor industry and this new event echoes the indoor exhibition. It gives us the chance to show these amazing vehicles on our specially developed site.“

There is no vehicle entry fee for Made in Scotland, however entrants will receive complimentary museum admission and 2 vouchers for a special entrants BBQ. Entry forms for Made in Scotland can be downloaded from the museums website – www.gtm.org.uk/whatson

Made in Scotland.
Grampian Transport Museum
Sunday 19th July 2015 from 12noon – 4pm

Dyce To Ellon Railway Campaign: Councillors Inspect Route

Aberdeenshire, News 1 Response »

May 292015

With thanks to Martin Ford.

Aberdeenshire councillors Paul Johnston and Martin Ford have cycled the route of the closed rail line between Dyce and Ellon using the cycle/walk way now on the track-bed.

The two councillors are campaigning to have the rail line re-opened and wanted to see for themselves what work might be required to reinstate the railway.

Said Democratic Independent councillor Paul Johnston:

“I was a member of Grampian Regional Council’s Infrastructure Committee when I supported that council buying the route some 35 years ago. Even then, the hope was the line could one day be re-opened.

“Nothing we found today cycling along the route would be a major obstacle to re-opening the line.

“I am more optimistic than ever before that re-opening is now a real possibility.

“We believe the City Region Deal offers the best prospect for taking rail re-opening to Ellon onwards from being an aspiration to making it a reality.”

Green councillor Martin Ford said:

“It’s time to move forward on re-opening the rail line to Ellon. Better public transport is essential to cut road congestion and reduce carbon emissions, in line with commitments to tackle climate change. Reinstating the railway would also offer significant economic development opportunities.”

A number of former rail lines in different parts of Scotland have been been rebuilt and re-opened in recent years. The longest new route, the almost thirty miles of rebuilt railway from Edinburgh to Tweedbank in the Borders, is due to open on 6 September.

The former railway from Dyce to Ellon is about 14 miles long and, apart from one very small section, the whole of the track-bed is owned by Aberdeen City Council or Aberdeenshire Council. If the railway was to re-open, the current Formartine & Buchan walk/cycle way would have to be relocated to an adjacent position.

Said Cllr Ford:

“Re-opening the line from Dyce to Ellon presents fewer difficulties than other recent rail re-openings. The land has not been sold off piecemeal. There are no tunnels, and no problem of mining subsidence. A number of bridges are missing or would have to be replaced, but that would be true of virtually any closed railway it was decided to re-open.

“There appears to be enough land along almost the whole route to allow both a reinstated railway and a cycle/walk way to coexist without the need to buy additional ground.”

Cllr Paul Johnston said:

“Of course, a great deal of technical work will be required for a transport project on this scale. The planning process too will take time. Aberdeenshire Council, though, has already expressed its support in principle for exploring re-opening. The City Region Deal offers a great opportunity to bring that hope to fruition.”

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Supercars Return To NE Scotland’s Premier Motoring Event.

Aberdeenshire, Featured, Information No Responses »

May 292015

With thanks to Martyn Smith.

Outlaw Anglia dragster.

Enthusiasts will soon be heading to Aberdeenshire for the annual SpeedFest, ready to be thrilled by the largest gathering of rare supercars, exciting performance cars, and historic racing cars in the North East of Scotland.
The Organisers are delighted to welcome back Park’s Motor Group of Hamilton who will be showcasing another iconic collection of McLaren, Bentley and Maserati sports cars.

They also wish to welcome back Town and County Porsche who are returning with a very exciting stand for 2015.

Additionally, the Organisers are thrilled to welcome The Leven Car Company (Aston Martin & Rolls Royce), Murray Motor Company (Lotus) and Sytners (Lamborghini and Ferrari) to the event for the first time.

SpeedFest is an established flagship event organised and hosted by Black Dog Events and held at the Grampian Transport Museum in Alford. SpeedFest always generates a huge amount of excitement and this year will showcase over 100 specially selected and invited cars to make up what the Organisers believe will be the best entry list ever seen in the North East.

All cars participating in the event shall be made as accessible as possible to the public.

The hub of the event is the short oval road circuit, which will play host to the famous ‘Alford Pursuit’ along with a new event for 2015, the Kinghorn Bodyshop-sponsored ‘Alford Drag’. As well as seeing the cars being put through their paces, spectators will have the opportunity to experience the thrill of on-track action for themselves by riding ‘shotgun’ in some fast car rides (available for the first 150 ‘Early Birds’ through the gate before the event gets fully underway).

However you can ensure you get an Early Bird Fast Car ride by purchasing a advanced ticket via our website www.alfordspeedfest.co.uk.

Organisers James Parker and Tony Yule comment that Alford SpeedFest15 is ready but are keeping their lips (mostly) sealed regarding what spectators can hope to see at the event:

“It’s going to be a pretty full programme of on-track activities,” says James. “We will be featuring some old favourites such as the Drifters, the dragsters and the aerobatic display, but we will also have some new and exciting things to showcase too – such as karting and mini-moto demonstrations along with a rather special finale – a specially designed rally super special stage featuring some very impressive rally cars!”

“We don’t want to give too much away,” adds Tony, “we have to keep our powder dry a bit… But we are just so excited by this year as it should be one to remember – we have gathered together a fantastic range of manufacturers to display their current models, along with some interesting and exciting trade stands…. Not to mention all of the on-track stuff which has taken months to organise and arrange. We’ve ordered good weather for the event!”

Colin Millar from ‘Flyin Fyfer Drag Racing Team’ will be on hand to demonstrate his 1150bhp nitrous powered ‘Outlaw Anglia’ dragster in an ear splitting, earth shaking and tyre burning display of POWER!! The Anglia can cover the fabled quarter mile sprint in an amazing 7 seconds.

SpeedFest15 will also play host to 2 returning cars loaned to the event by Mr E. Dean Butler: the ‘Jim Robbins Special’ Indycar which took pole at the 1955 Indianapolis 500 and the ‘Charles Bang Special’ slingshot dragster powered by a flathead Ford V8 with Offenhauser heads which set the US ‘D’ class quarter miles record at 10.32 seconds in 1966.

Historic racer Chris Williams returns to SpeedFest15 with another unique and powerful Bentley.

Fresh from his demonstration of the ‘Packard Bentley’ in 2014; Chris will unleash the might of his ‘Napier Bentley’ vintage racing car.

The Napier is a one-off special built on the chassis of a 1929 Bentley. It features a 24-litre Napier Sea Lion W12 boat engine that develops approximately 550bhp through the rear wheels (which are almost constantly smoking!!) whilst the stubby exhausts emit sparks, flames and smoke! The sound of this car is not to missed – having been likened to a World War I bi-plane or a cluster of mortar bombs being detonated!!

Both James and Tony promise a great day for enthusiasts and families with exciting non-stop action on the circuit, and a range of side stands and activities for families.

Local and national companies are providing support for the event, including Park’s Motor Group, Sytners (Edinburgh), The Leven Car Company, Town and County Porsche (Aberdeen), Murray Motor Company, Kinghorn Bodyshop, Glack Attack mud run, EDB Racing, Autoglym, Quantum Remapping, Aberdeen Alarm Company, AM Details, Fennel Media and Terraclean.

Alford SpeedFest15
Sun 5 July 2015: 11:00am- 5:00pm
Grampian Transport Museum, Alford, Aberdeenshire AB33 8AE
Adult £10, Child £5, OAP £7, Family £25

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