Classic car mechanic’s weekly motoring – Festival of Speed – let’s go to work

‘In the corner of the workshop, Olli Ragbin sits watching events unfold before him’

Tis the absolute highlight of my year. The annual motoring extravaganza is a truly global event, held as summer rolls in and the big automotive guns come out. If the weather is good, it’s glorious. If the weather is bad it’s glorious, just with added moisture.

This year was warm and dry. Good start. In my excitement, I had already prepped the household for the morning drill of ‘up and at ‘em’. Timings were there for a reason and not to be trifled with. We were leaving at 6:45am and anyone not up, showered or wearing a smile would be left behind. Sorry. Dem da rules.

Between Mrs Olli and I we’d prepared a playlist for the trip. You know the sort of thing, 1 song each, played alternately. Gives everyone a taste of other people’s musical bent. What more could the trapped car occupants want? Forced smiles and now forced early morning listening. Cosmic.

This is where things started to go wrong. Mrs Olli in her infinite wisdom had selected tracks that, shall we say, were not quite aligned, or one may even argue appropriate for the age of some of the listeners.

Much apologising to the 12-year old and the nervous anticipation of all the questions some of the lyrics were bound to drive. Luckily, I didn’t have to embarrass myself with my hastily contrived lyrical explanation about one young rapper’s fascination with his close friend’s cat.

My selections fared little better with accusations of attempted ‘crowd-pleasing’. A harsh verdict I thought. Anyway, we landed at Goodwood and everyone was hastily exited from the car so I could start my main job of the day, leading the team from car-to-car-to-bike-to-car whilst trying to contain my excitement. And what a selection we had before us. Some brief highlights below and then on the real job at hand, the CCM update.

The car park is as good a place as any to see some absolute gems. This Carrera 2 looks just sooooo right

I bored everyone to tears with my regaling of 635 ownership. Still, this thing was an absolute monster on the hill. The shark-nosed 6 series. Sensational

A nod to Shrimp-eye Justin. Just his cuppa tea I reckon

The yoofs liked this one. Typical. A 'Liberty Walk' GTR apparently. Perfect for taking your mum to the shops

I know, I know, not strictly a classic. Am I the only one here who likes a long-wheel base Bentley Flying Spur? Seems so....

The simply stunning Singer 964 Turbo study. 2 seconds after this shot was taken, I was berating the plastic bag-carrying onlooker for not paying enough attention. Some people, honestly....

And so to this week's workshop photos....

'Let's go to work'.... 'Little green bag' playing in the background

Never creep up on a tech with an air hose. 3 seconds later and we were peeling Will 'I aint' from the ceiling

The Spitfire resto moves ever onward. This is going to be sensational when completed and ready for the road

The Spitfire in full 'eat your dinner off it' spec

Ingrid blinked and Eric had bought a roof tent for the Rangey. His opportunism is legendary. He riffled out excuse number 8 from his little black book. 'I bought it for you love'. This was dismissed with a tut and raised eyebrow

OK, the techs yet again delight in sending me photos of things I don't recognise. This week we have a rubber thing mounted on a metal thing by a big bolt. I give up......literally no idea

Shrimp eye regretted his 7 pints of cider the night before. Alfie looks genuinely frightened as he isn't splash-proof

A beautiful SC. Got itself into a bit of bother locally so the owner contacted us to help out. Eric insisted on being the one to drive it back once sorted. He's good like that

This is just great. Brilliant achievement Sam. All my old certificates seem to recognise 'Mildly above average attendance'. Not to worry. I've got Sam's certificate and a bootleg version of photoshop. It's my past and I'll reinvent it however I please...

Taken aback by current celebrity vogue of an entourage, Eric now travels everywhere with this lot, demanding peeled grapes and bottled Evian. He's spending a small fortune on Uber XL's

Let's finish off with a little bit of customer feedback. You may recognise this Bristol from previous blogs. Great to see her on the road. They are unique and wonderfully British examples of bespoke car building.

It was well worth the wait !

Bristol 407, 1961, was left to my brother Peter and I by our Bristol enthusiast Uncle Ernest. Lots needed doing. Eric and his team went through the car, sorting all mechanical issues with great skill and an equal amount of patience. Getting parts took forever but wow, what a difference.

407OAE is now back on the road and driving beautifully. Appreciated everywhere. We have to allow extra time on every journey to speak with the admirers. Thank you Eric.

All we need now is for petrol prices to come down to 1961 levels !

Steve Charles

This is why we love what we do. Making folk happy and looking after beautiful cars.

From all of us at CCM, have a wonderful week and get out there and enjoy the sunshine.

Olli

'Grandchild no: 11. Dorothy. Owned by Tasha'. Can I just be clear, these were Eric's words, not mine. Sometimes his 'matter of factness' underplays his inner self... he's a softie at heart....