BlaRo
Little Nudger
A few links about the lancia bit for your reading pleasure.
Write up from the integrale owner:
http://www.auto-journals.com/journals/Lancia?model=Integrale&journal=43
Not so positive report from the builder of the Hawk, not a happy man:
http://www.stratossupersite.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=7683
However the question has to be asked: Why send a tired car to a program which is known to hammer cars and rip them apart at the slightest oppertunity? I thought it came across fairly well to be honest, and that lap looked a riot!
Interesting. The spinout setup reflected badly on the car itself, and the owners are genuinely worried about a loss of sales for their kit car company. It's business, after all, and a small outfit like Hawk cars won't have the luxury of a well-oiled PR machine to defend their car on a show watched by almost half of England.
The people who posted in that thread didn't come across as slobbering fanboys, necessarily; I'd be pretty pissed if I had invested hundreds of hours carefully building my own pride and joy merely to be portrayed on television as a careless buffoon. It would be downright insulting.
Of course, that won't stop me from wanting one. I've always wanted a Hawk HF...
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This bit about the Lotus Lada is interesting, as well:
Hammond bore the pants off everyone talking about his dog and his girlfriend and told me I was one of the most cynical people he'd ever met and never spoke to me again all day! Not so much as a 'thank you'! And I was the one who funded and build the engine and countess other things to make the show workable incl almost living at Hethel for a week at my own expense to help Lotus - and they sure needed help because no-one there could remember how to build up a car like that. I was left with the over-riding impression that TG were completely selfish and anyone with half_a_brain can see Clarkson can be really thoughtless and irresponsible on the show on TV, heaven knows how many cars and careers he must have 'buried' with his blabbermouth attitude. To be honest I think he runs that show mainly so he can meet 'celebs' to invite for dinner.
Television is serious business...
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