Discussion
Many, many years ago, a friend of my dads was caught in a speed trap. He convinced the officer that his car was not capable of breaking the national speed limit, and so the officer let him loose, with the agreement that he could double back, and speed past the trap once again with the pedal to the metal, to see if his car was capable of breaking the limit.
Praps in those days they didnt have sports pipes, officers were dumb, and policies dumber. But for reasons you'll have to trust me in telling, this is how it happened.
With the officers permission, the guy got back into his car, doubled back up the opposite way, and as agreed joined the highway again and blasted by the officer as fast as his car would take him.
As it happened, the guy was driving a heavily modified and tuned car, probably blew the radar reading off its scale, and got away scott free.
And no, the copper didnt take the licence plate
Praps in those days they didnt have sports pipes, officers were dumb, and policies dumber. But for reasons you'll have to trust me in telling, this is how it happened.
With the officers permission, the guy got back into his car, doubled back up the opposite way, and as agreed joined the highway again and blasted by the officer as fast as his car would take him.
As it happened, the guy was driving a heavily modified and tuned car, probably blew the radar reading off its scale, and got away scott free.
And no, the copper didnt take the licence plate
deckster said:
And no, the copper didnt take the licence plate
Yeah, right. Whatever.
30 years ago, the world was a different place. After 20 years of scratch-chin myself, I thought Id post.
People like me probably had a term for people like you 30 years go, feck knows what it was though
This story was in Practical Classics a while back. The car was a Standard Ten (usual Vmax: 65-70 mph), fitted with a 2.5-litre straight-six from a Triumph 2500PI and heavily tuned TR-style, now capable of propelling the little Standard (badged 'Standard Six' 
) to nearly 130 mph.
The Standard was clocked at some outrageous speed by the police, who took one look at the car, assumed there was something wrong with his equipment, and let them go.
Now if only Lotus were known for their 70 mph economy models!
) to nearly 130 mph. The Standard was clocked at some outrageous speed by the police, who took one look at the car, assumed there was something wrong with his equipment, and let them go.
Now if only Lotus were known for their 70 mph economy models!
Recently???? The article was in feb 2003! Just foudn the article. Clocked at 123mph. It follows to mention an officer who was pursuing a racer and after losing it pulled in at a known race car builder, and upon lifting the front of a covered car in a shed to reveal a v12 brm started reading the land owner his rights. The land owner then uncovered the back of the racer to reveal the lack of any engine, gearbox or rear suspension...
I recall from some similar periodical the tale of a young blood, probably inter-wars, driving an MG or similar at speed down a country lane.
Presuming himself to be the only car likely to be on that road, he took a sharp bend on the wrong side of the road... and passed another MG being driven in similar fashion, on his wrong side of the road.
Both cars stopped and, without saying a word, the drivers shook hands and went on their way.
>> Edited by wedg1e on Monday 25th April 01:07
Presuming himself to be the only car likely to be on that road, he took a sharp bend on the wrong side of the road... and passed another MG being driven in similar fashion, on his wrong side of the road.
Both cars stopped and, without saying a word, the drivers shook hands and went on their way.
>> Edited by wedg1e on Monday 25th April 01:07
Along a similar vein, my Uncle who likes his cars/bikes and used to live in South Africa told me about a guy in a Porsche 959 who got clocked at around 200mph near Cape Town in the early hours and the local judge was woken up especially
The story goes that the judge claimed he did not believe the car was capable of those speeds so he had the road closed off and he drove the 959 as fast as he could down that stretch of road...and then let the owner off with a harsh warning
But then again, my uncle is full of shit most of the time...
The story goes that the judge claimed he did not believe the car was capable of those speeds so he had the road closed off and he drove the 959 as fast as he could down that stretch of road...and then let the owner off with a harsh warning
But then again, my uncle is full of shit most of the time...
lanciachris said:
Recently???? The article was in feb 2003!
Anything is possible in the worldly sense. My dad once grabbed a hand full of cigarette buts at a party, and thinking they were peanuts shoved them in my moms mouth. If that same incident happened elsewhere, it doesnt mean it couldnt have also happen to someone else. His story dates back decades, I thought Id share it as its been on my mind for most of my life
im loosing sleep over it. Both incidents occurred in cape town, funnily enough
motco said:
I had a 1956 Standard Ten between '63 and '67. I'd be surprised if there was room in the engine bay for a six cylinder engine. And the brakes.....
I think the engine spilled over into the cockpit IIRC, with the windows heavily tinted. Must've been a right handful. I've heard about people putting big American V8s in Minis and driving them from the back seat, so it's not so unusual.
About 20 years ago I heard a story about a team preparing for Le Mans. Rather than spend money on hiring an airfield for their high speed test, they decided that the M4 in the early hours was entirely appropriate.
They parked the truck at a junction in the wee small hours, and set about prepping the car. A mechanic watched from the bridge to make sure the motorway was clear.
Unfortunately, plod arrived, curious why a truck was parked up there, and circled. Cue much heads down and pretending nothing was going on. Finally, plod moves on, and the guys quickly finish up and get the driver out for a successful test.
However. In the panic, the spotter had missed a van happily trundling along in the middle lane. They would have got away with the whole thing, except the Police got a call from a very shaken White Van Man, claiming he had been undertaken by someone doing 200mph.
They parked the truck at a junction in the wee small hours, and set about prepping the car. A mechanic watched from the bridge to make sure the motorway was clear.
Unfortunately, plod arrived, curious why a truck was parked up there, and circled. Cue much heads down and pretending nothing was going on. Finally, plod moves on, and the guys quickly finish up and get the driver out for a successful test.
However. In the panic, the spotter had missed a van happily trundling along in the middle lane. They would have got away with the whole thing, except the Police got a call from a very shaken White Van Man, claiming he had been undertaken by someone doing 200mph.
HiRich said:
About 20 years ago I heard a story about a team preparing for Le Mans. Rather than spend money on hiring an airfield for their high speed test, they decided that the M4 in the early hours was entirely appropriate.
They parked the truck at a junction in the wee small hours, and set about prepping the car. A mechanic watched from the bridge to make sure the motorway was clear.
Unfortunately, plod arrived, curious why a truck was parked up there, and circled. Cue much heads down and pretending nothing was going on. Finally, plod moves on, and the guys quickly finish up and get the driver out for a successful test.
However. In the panic, the spotter had missed a van happily trundling along in the middle lane. They would have got away with the whole thing, except the Police got a call from a very shaken White Van Man, claiming he had been undertaken by someone doing 200mph.
I think this is the story - had tragic consequences!
From the speedlimit.org.uk FAQ:
Q: When was the 70 mph motorway speed limit introduced in Britain?
A: The 70 mph National Speed Limit was introduced as a temporary measure in December 1965. It is often blamed on Barbara Castle, but at the time the Minister of Transport was Tom Fraser.
The reason given was a spate of serious accidents in foggy conditions, but it is often claimed that the MoT had been alarmed by AC Cars testing their latest Cobra on the M1 at speeds up to 180 mph.
It was confirmed as a permanent limit in 1967, by which time Barbara Castle (a non-driver) had become Minister of Transport.There was surprisingly little debate at the time: the fact that the average family car of the time could only just exceed 70 mph perhaps had something to do with this.
>> Edited by markbarton on Monday 25th April 15:33
My dad was stuck for something to do over the summer when he was he was at school. A friend invited him over to stay for a few days.
This friend turned out to live in a very nice house with two absent parents who had left the brand new XK150 at home.
The two boys decided that they had to try out the new Jag.
They decided it would be real fun to race around an old aircraft runway trying to shoot cans with the shot guns that had also been left at home by the absent parents.
And just for good measure my dads friend took his pet rabbit along for the ride.
They thrashed the XK up and down while riding shot gun out of the window.
The police turned up just as they were leaving.
Apparently they took the attitude that boys will be boys and just drove them home after extracting a promise not to misbehave again.
This friend turned out to live in a very nice house with two absent parents who had left the brand new XK150 at home.
The two boys decided that they had to try out the new Jag.
They decided it would be real fun to race around an old aircraft runway trying to shoot cans with the shot guns that had also been left at home by the absent parents.
And just for good measure my dads friend took his pet rabbit along for the ride.
They thrashed the XK up and down while riding shot gun out of the window.
The police turned up just as they were leaving.
Apparently they took the attitude that boys will be boys and just drove them home after extracting a promise not to misbehave again.
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