John 'O' Groats To Lands End - Our Story & Potential Record?
Discussion
During lockdown , when the roads were relatively free from traffic , we were getting bored. sat at home isolating , just like the rest of the nation ........ as you do , so to liven things up a bit and with the government , media and plod , focussing on flying drones in the lake district to catch dog walkers. ...We decided as a family to take the dog s for our daily exercise and to make it more fun , why not use the Aston ....and go as fast as possible .. perhaps try a V max test which would be fun to do along the local dual carriageway.
So preparation being key we prepped the car . A recent track day event prior to lockdown had worn the brake pads down nicely , As the late great Colin chapman said its all about saving weight So .......with less friction material , and as this was a speed trial ...who needs brakes ?we were on to a good start !!
Then the tyres we decided to use the well worn track day tyres , they had been worn nicely and resembled racing slicks no tread at all So less tread , better rolling resistance ,, thus a higher top speed
With car ready , now time to get the family in ........always a bit of a challenge . I'd got the wife to diet two days before the planned event .... more saving weight , and managed to squeeze the kids in the back .... Daughter is getting a bit big for the Aston , so we had to get her to stick her legs across the centre console , a bit uncomfortable for her ...but this was only going to be a short drive ... and managed to wedge the dog in the boot ....he had his biscuits so that was ok
the road conditions were dry , it was around 10:00am , traffic was light , only a few articulated Delivery lorries and a few NHS workers in Fiat Puntos to deal with so no issues there and in any case they were bimbling along at about 65 mph
what harm could it do
on our first run we built up to 100 mph , then we spotted a hazard up ahead an old age pensioner travelling around 55 mph in the outside lane in a bloody Citroen C3 who was refusing to move over ,despite our rapidly approaching car up her chuff .......lights on flashing , we got as close as we could .... a bit of drafting and we were past up the inside at 120 mph ....good stuff
now a slight down hill gradient ...125.. 130 ...140 . more traffic an articulated Tesco lorry ...fair game ... never shop there .!!!. past him at 155 ,,, now into a sharp left hander cutting the apex , car is sliding nicely
160..............165...................170
174 mph ...... car is shaking a bit , and i reckon that's enough excitement for today .. and not a single plod in sight ..
here's a photo the wife took to prove we hit 174 mph
of course it all might be a complete fabrication .....................im getting the Scalextric track out instead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om2xuWQWZAI
So preparation being key we prepped the car . A recent track day event prior to lockdown had worn the brake pads down nicely , As the late great Colin chapman said its all about saving weight So .......with less friction material , and as this was a speed trial ...who needs brakes ?we were on to a good start !!
Then the tyres we decided to use the well worn track day tyres , they had been worn nicely and resembled racing slicks no tread at all So less tread , better rolling resistance ,, thus a higher top speed
With car ready , now time to get the family in ........always a bit of a challenge . I'd got the wife to diet two days before the planned event .... more saving weight , and managed to squeeze the kids in the back .... Daughter is getting a bit big for the Aston , so we had to get her to stick her legs across the centre console , a bit uncomfortable for her ...but this was only going to be a short drive ... and managed to wedge the dog in the boot ....he had his biscuits so that was ok
the road conditions were dry , it was around 10:00am , traffic was light , only a few articulated Delivery lorries and a few NHS workers in Fiat Puntos to deal with so no issues there and in any case they were bimbling along at about 65 mph
what harm could it do
on our first run we built up to 100 mph , then we spotted a hazard up ahead an old age pensioner travelling around 55 mph in the outside lane in a bloody Citroen C3 who was refusing to move over ,despite our rapidly approaching car up her chuff .......lights on flashing , we got as close as we could .... a bit of drafting and we were past up the inside at 120 mph ....good stuff
now a slight down hill gradient ...125.. 130 ...140 . more traffic an articulated Tesco lorry ...fair game ... never shop there .!!!. past him at 155 ,,, now into a sharp left hander cutting the apex , car is sliding nicely
160..............165...................170
174 mph ...... car is shaking a bit , and i reckon that's enough excitement for today .. and not a single plod in sight ..
here's a photo the wife took to prove we hit 174 mph
of course it all might be a complete fabrication .....................im getting the Scalextric track out instead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om2xuWQWZAI
I think it is pretty obvious he did the journey exactly as he said in his post. It is backed up by all of the evidence the Police found at his house.
He was stupid for publicising it in the press though and retaining the evidence.
The news says:
"A tracker Davies purchased a month before the journey shows that on September 5, 2018, at 8pm the tracker was recorded in John O’Groats but by 5:36am the same tracker recorded that it was in Lands’ End some 841 miles away."
Therefore
1 - he genuinely convinced/created a doubt to the jury he wasn't driving or did it in 12 hours as claimed
2 - the jury just took sympathy on him and let him off (probably what happened I reckon)
He was stupid for publicising it in the press though and retaining the evidence.
The news says:
"A tracker Davies purchased a month before the journey shows that on September 5, 2018, at 8pm the tracker was recorded in John O’Groats but by 5:36am the same tracker recorded that it was in Lands’ End some 841 miles away."
Therefore
1 - he genuinely convinced/created a doubt to the jury he wasn't driving or did it in 12 hours as claimed
2 - the jury just took sympathy on him and let him off (probably what happened I reckon)
RDMcG said:
I am not in the least shocked,. As others have said,.people speed. I don't think it is the end of the world. I come from the era when the PH motto was "speed matter". Still works for me!
This was a planned example, and I just thought he would have been wise not to put it in social media. I never understood the idea of broadcasting an illegal act. The world of selfies and videos has changed the world and people seem to have an endless need to achieve internet fame.
Yes, that's my take on it too. Sadly there are too many people on this car forum who don't agreeThis was a planned example, and I just thought he would have been wise not to put it in social media. I never understood the idea of broadcasting an illegal act. The world of selfies and videos has changed the world and people seem to have an endless need to achieve internet fame.
Paul Dishman said:
RDMcG said:
I am not in the least shocked,. As others have said,.people speed. I don't think it is the end of the world. I come from the era when the PH motto was "speed matter". Still works for me!
This was a planned example, and I just thought he would have been wise not to put it in social media. I never understood the idea of broadcasting an illegal act. The world of selfies and videos has changed the world and people seem to have an endless need to achieve internet fame.
Yes, that's my take on it too. Sadly there are too many people on this car forum who don't agreeThis was a planned example, and I just thought he would have been wise not to put it in social media. I never understood the idea of broadcasting an illegal act. The world of selfies and videos has changed the world and people seem to have an endless need to achieve internet fame.
Tommy Davies telling the story on Vinwiki: https://youtu.be/pu2zIPHRi4E?si=RabMY3KjVDy6iR_G
Jobbo said:
Tommy Davies telling the story on Vinwiki: https://youtu.be/pu2zIPHRi4E?si=RabMY3KjVDy6iR_G
I tried watching that when it got uploaded, but compared to some of the tales from the Yank contingent on that channel the chap just comes across as a bit.....boring (sorry not sorry). I don't think the longer-form Vin Wiki videos work that well in fairness, plus been some odd content over the past year or so to say the least; can't understand why they keep giving air time to that fat-faced chap with the 10 day stubble who does nothing but try to talk-up values of Jaguar XJR15s 
Best of luck with that one chief, fortunately having driven one i'm aware of how 'not great' they are.Only question I have from the past pages - WTF is "...a real dime bar moment"? Saw some chap say it, wasn't sure if he'd misspelt 'Daim Bar' or if it was some odd turn-of-phrase which i'd never heard before.
Jobbo said:
Tommy Davies telling the story on Vinwiki: https://youtu.be/pu2zIPHRi4E?si=RabMY3KjVDy6iR_G
That is really boring to watch and the guy just comes over like he's a bit of a knob. Vinwiki has had some interesting characters, this guy isn't one of them.
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