Firstly, a very Happy and successful New Year to all our readers, and by way of a change a 'salutary tale' to start the year:- Back in the October Pylon we featured the address given by Michael Schmutz suggesting that there is a wealth of material lurking in workshops and sheds that could be of use. This is true of both cars and hydros, although age does mitigate against boats, especially if they have not been looked after. It is ironic that any one of the A3 hydros sold recently would have won the 2024 European Championships with 20+mph to spare. A rough count of cars reveals something like 1500 cars existing in Europe, previously but not currently registered most of which would be useable to some degree or other or provide valuable material and parts. Individual models do come up for sale on a regular basis, and there are the inevitable estate sales, but recently there have been some enthusiasts who, although still competing, have been having a right 'clear out'. From two sources alone came around thirty cars, at the top end a selection of FEMA cars that were registered, legal, ready to run and would not be out of place at any current meeting. One was even brand new and had never turned a wheel, although over thirty years old, another a national record holder. A few, still registered, that were older but runnable, along with a number of 'retro style' cars from 2.5cc up to 10cc, again mostly runnable with a minimum of work. All good so far, but then there were about half a dozen that were 'projects', anything from all there but needing to be put together, to just about started but that was as far as it got. No problem, as long as there was sufficient information, or that the cars could be seen in the flesh to ascertain what category they fell into. None of these, apart from one, was not what it seemed, but that one was a real doozy. On the long and boozy nights at hydro meetings the late and lamented Doug would ask us in his thick Lincolnshire accent, 'would you like a story or a saga luv?' So here is a ' Salutary Saga for the New Year'.

On the face of it, all the parts were in the box needed to put back together a car from a well known builder and racer, all stamped with his logo and serial numbers. However, as related to us, a tale of woe unfolded that gradually became the basis for this barely believable story. The motor, coupling, gearbox, fuel cut-off, onboard ignition and tank were all from the same car, but not the pan that was included in the sale, which in turn was already machined and drilled, but of course, not for those items. The gearbox was far too narrow to fit in the pan and as it was still on the build plate had never been tried with the wheels. The engine mounting holes had been drilled to line up the cylinder with the hole in the body, but unfortunately, the body was not for that pan either so the engine was too close to the gearbox to allow for the supplied coupling that matched both. No room to move the motor either it seems as there was a bulkhead for the bridle attachment in the way. The bosses for the cut-off did not match the cut-off and neither did the tank or mounts fit anywhere.

Effectively it was a scrapper, or sell what parts could be salvaged to try and recoup some of the cost. Only the owner, being the perverse sort of character he is, delights in retrieving other peoples cock ups from oblivion, so set about solving all the problems, one by one. It fought to the bitter end apparently, to the extent that when the hold down feet were cut off, the wheels would not fit through the bottom of the pan as they were too close together effectively negating much of the previous machining. The final sting in the tail was when the primer was applied to the body it promptly curdled whatever had originally been applied, so that all had to come off, revealing a perfectly good finish underneath another layer of primer, but a totally different colour?

Finally, in October 2024, there it was, a complete car, ready to run (ish), with fully damped suspension, a triumph of persistence and ingenuity over common sense. As is the norm now for all cars, an inspection followed, everything fine, until it was put on the scales, oh dear. Not just overweight, but solidly obese to the tune of over 1/2lb or 220gms, without fuel or the on-board ignition and still with a 4mm bridle. No diet or course of Ozempic could ever cure that, so a scrapper, sell the parts to recoup the cost, but never the time spent, or see it become a portly shelf queen? It would be unthinkable to consider selling it on, 'sold as seen' but presumably at some stage in its past a previous owner had realised that it was a dog's dinner?

So, a happy and successful new year to all our readers, but beware. We have built up quite a library of 'them as aren't quite what they seem' and another one was added from the first BMFA auction, a very nice Moki TR6 that proved to be an amalgam of three different motors, none of them of the same model. Having seen the photos of what was lurking inside we can only side with the buyer as there was no way any visual inspection would have revealed the internal calumnies.

Inevitably then, the first Pitbox of 2025 features the car described above, or should that read the first 'scrapbox'? The Photo features the most successful tethered hydroplane racer of modern times, the late Vadim Subbotin

One of the great successes in the UK has been the building of the tethered car track at Buckminster and subsequent work that has made it the most used track in Europe. It is now just over five years since Oliver Monk marked out the outline and six months later the first runs were made despite the disruption caused by Covid. It seems fitting therefore that the new Album should be a retrospective looking back at this remarkable facility.

The concluding part of the article outlining the career of Ron Thrower and the cars he built and raced. Unfortunately there has been nothing yet forthcoming that adds anything to the information we have gleaned from period publications and a bit of inspired deduction. However we did receive a photo and description of a replica of the GRP car built some years ago that we have added to the article.