PAUL PAGE IN BANZAI - MARCH 2004
STUART KYNOCH IN RETRO MAGAZINE - MARCH 2004
PAUL WOODS IN RETRO MAGAZINE - FEBRUARY 2004
MIKE SHEAVILLS IN CLASSICS MAGAZINE - NOVEMBER 2003
DARREN JORDAN IN CLASSICS MAGAZINE - MAY
2002
In earlier 2002 CLASSICS magazine approached the
club for assistance in producing the most comprehensive buyers guide to the MR2
MK1 yet published in a British car magazine. Many thanks to Darren Jordan, who's
MR2 is featured, Alan Jones who provided the technical information, Ken Salmon
who co-ordinated the club's involvement, and to Classics Magazine.
One of the journalists who contributed to the feature was Tim Henson, Tim
mentioned to Darren Jordan that he well remembered the launch of the MR2 in
1985. At the time he worked for the now defunct magazine “Motorist” and drove
one of Toyotas press cars for 3 days, during which it made a big impression on
him.
Tim says “ I remember this car very well, in particular how much fun it was
to drive. My wife and I were lucky to have free use of it over one weekend and
took the opportunity to to drive from our home in the west country to Bath. I
can still remember the exhilaration of driving the MR2 along the twisting roads
through Somerset and Dorset. I didn’t realise that that it originally had an FXI
plate, however I do recall traveling to Portugal in January 1985 on a Toyota
press trip ( to drive various new models including the MR2 ) at which time if my
memory serves me right, some of the cars bore Northern Ireland plates".
The particular MR2 that Tim remembers so well turned out to be a Sherwood
Toning example - now in a rather sad state but awaiting restoration in the drive
of club magazine editor Richard Morgan. Tim was delighted and amazed to hear
from Darren that the MR2 still exists.
LAUREN BLIGHTON IN BANZAI -
NOVEMBER 2001
KEN SALMON IN CLASSICS
MAGAZINE - MAY 2000
Monday morning and extremely busy, yet another phone
call but this one was a bit different, could the club supply a MK 1 T-Bar for a
photo shoot Friday and let them have confirmation by the next day!
Not wanting to sound unappreciative of yet another test, and of course an
excellent opportunity to promote the club, I put on a cheerful voice and said
the club would pull out all the stops to find them a car for Friday.
A quick chat with the chairman and editor quickly established that I was the
popular choice without the need to look any further, and so a few days later I
set off on an overcast and dull Friday morning in March for the Bruntingthorpe
proving ground just south of Leicester.
The car was supposed to be clean and tidy so I took the precaution of taking
a leather and sponge along but to my great relief the bad weather was behind us
and their use was not necessary.
Bruntingthorpe is an old wartime R.A.F. airfield which has a 2 mile long
runway for heavy bombers, and together with adjoining roads forms 2 circuits,
one 4.5 miles and a shorter one of 3 miles. The airfield has some interesting
wartime aeroplanes on display and there were even more interesting relics - not
the MR2, X-19, TR4A, and a Porsche 911 which lined up for the photos, but more
planes.
We were met by Tim, Andrew and Peter. The Classics feature was on targa tops
so as soon as we arrived at the main runway the order was to “take off” Apart
from the TR4A which required tools to get the top off and has nowhere to stow it
in the vehicle all the others were quickly removed and stored away. The TR4A was
a beautifully restored example of the ‘Surrey” model, the engine absolutely
gleamed in this car putting mine completely to shame – nobody told me they would
also be photographing the engine and it was great reluctance that I lifted the
engine hatch to display the dirtiest engine present (that is apart from a little
patch on the engine that Darren restored with one of his many cleaners at
Billing last year. I really must get him to finish the job this year). We then
got down to the serious business of the photo shoot with a very accomplished
photographer, who spent several hours with the still shots positioning us in
every conceivable angle. Following a runway lunch by kind provision of Classics
Magazine we progressed to the more entertaining action shots. Firstly we were
asked to drive at a steady 35 mph in formation, three feet from the rear of the
car in front; it was fortunate that I had the photographer hanging out of my T
bar roof, although he did remove his shoes before standing on the seat.
The photographer then positioned himself in a field halfway round the track
and took more photos while we were asked to lap the circuit at speed. Finally
the magazine writer asked if he could drive the cars round the track accompanied
by the owners, and I am delighted to say this was done in a most responsible
manner with no hair raising stunts.
We then said our farewells and thanked Classics Magazine for a most
entertaining day and were left to complete as many laps as we could before
heading for home. If you haven’t already got it, rush out and buy a copy of May
edition of Classics Magazine and read the article. Guess what was the favourite
car, even with a dirty engine? I really must do something about it as I have my
doubts about Darren finishing the job.
KEN SALMON
STUART KYNOCH IN JAPANESE PERFORMANCE CAR - JAN/FEB 2000
STUART KYNOCH IN PRACTICAL
CLASSICS - NOVEMBER 1999
For those of you who haven’t had the good fortune to
read November 1999 Practical Classics magazine and (drool over) see a picture of
your chairman - here is a brief synopsis –
The article was a comparison of small mid engined two seater sports cars that
were almost models of the big Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Maseratis. The five
selected ‘models’ were VW-Porsche 914/6; Fiat X119 Lido; Talbot-Matra Murena;
Lancia Monte Carlo and last but not least a Toyota MR2 MK1 (you know the car I
mean).
I was asked by your committee to attend an all day photo shoot at
Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome in mid August when all five cars would be present.
After speaking to the author of the article prior to the event I decided to get
Liz to drive the NA red MKl and I would drive the SC white one as the author
expressed an avid interest in the supercharged version. Liz and I drove the
relatively short distance from home to the circuit, and arriving early proceeded
to put the final spit and polish to the two cars. The author and the
photographer also arrived early and I offered to sit beside him as he ‘tested’
both cars round the full circuit at a speed, shall we say that I was grateful to
be wearing my brown trousers. Unfortunately one of my week old brand new tyres
on the white SC punctured, and as Liz had to Ieave early for work she kindly
drove the white one back with the undersized spare wheel. (The white one wasn’t
appearing in the article anyway.) After a series of up and down drives along the
perimeter track whilst the photographer took shots of moving fronts, sides and
rears. We then congregated at one of the runway crossings to have group,
individual and close-ups taken of each car. A pleasant pub lunch followed and
afterwards the author drove each of the cars in turn with the owner sitting
alongside. My car was last and I suggested that as he had already proved his
capabilities surely it would be more interesting to really go for it without the
owner’s presence. He fairly leapt into the car and after minor adjustments to
the seat, head rest and steering wheel shot off at a great rate of knots. About
five minutes later he arrived back with a big smile on his face, recollecting
his most enjoyable times when he had in an MR2 on long term test. We then
proceeded to drive round the track in convoy with the photographer taking shots
from the back of a Peugeot estate, asking us at 40mph to get closer, get closer!
The day rounded off nicely when all of us took our cars for a few laps round the
circuit to get rid of any cobwebs. Needless to say although the MR2 was the
youngest car there it certainly received the write up in the magazine that it
richly deserves.
STUART KYNOCH
WENDY BAXTER IN AUTOCAR -
FEBRUARY 1998
DARREN JORDAN IN PRACTICAL
CLASSICS - NOVEMBER 1997
What can I say, what a great day out this was, they
really looked after us after arriving 1 1/2 hours late. I thought that we would
have missed quite a lot but it was the opposite. I still had about an hour to
give the once over with the Autoglym. The photo shoot itself was based at an
Army barracks which we drove past about a dozen times but with armed soldiers
outside and barbed wire everywhere, it didn’t seem the likely setting to be road
testing cars. As we drove in we saw all the other cars and a soldier pointed us
in the right direction. The track they tested the cars on is where the Ministry
test their tanks and jeeps etc. We were told by the editor of the magazine Phil
Bailey, that the cars were being put into pairs comparing one against the other.
The MR2 was against the Mazda MX5. The first thing we had to do was drive up and
down a road photographer took a load of pictures, then we were told to drive in
and out of cones at a speed of 40mph so he could get the angle that he wanted.
The next test we did was to drive around a track, me in the MR2 and a lady in
her MX5. We were then told to keep to 60mph and as close to one another as
possible, which was quite nerve racking because it seemed as though my left
mirror was about 2 inches from her right mirror. It seemed worse for me being on
the outside. The photographer told us there would be no sudden braking. He was
in a car in front with the hatchback Iifted, and with his camera, he seemed to
take picture after picture (good job he didn’t print the one with my hair
standing on end and this woman as white as a sheet). After this was the speed
test, the editor took each car in turn and as you can imagine one or two wanted
to see the insurance documents. He took the Mazda around the track twice but he
couldn’t get his bum out of the MR2, he said he was hooked - he must have gone
round this track at least four times at about 120mph - and all I could think
about was my petrol. After he had tested all the cars he gave each one of us an
interview about what we thought of the car, how it handled and what inspired us
to buy it. He also asked what benefits we got from our car clubs and if we would
recommend them to potential buyers of these classic cars. At about 6pm the day
was over and a great day was had by all. Lastly could I say to Wendy Baxter
congratulations on getting your MR2 selected for a magazine photo shoot, I look
forward to seeing it. Just enjoy the day, I’m sure you will as I did – it was
brill.
DARREN JORDAN
MATTHEW PROCTOR IN CLASSIC CAR
MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 1996
It was a pleasant surprise when I received a phone
call from Classic Car Magazine last month, askingme whether I would be
interested in having my MR2 photographed for the December issue as part of the
“Buyers Guide” section. I had recently purchased my car in March of 1996 after
months of looking around for a 1985 mica blue model. David Lillywhite, the news
editor of Classic Car Magazine had got my name from the dealer where I had
bought it in Chingford, North London. The editor had ideally wanted to
photograph a mica blue model as other colours had been photographed in previous
car magazines. We arranged the photo shoot for a Friday with myself, the editor
and a freelance photographer attending. Fortunately the day was bright and rain
free so all that polishing the night before had been worthwhile! We began at
around 10 am with the photographer taking a lot of pictures in an open
space, so we landed up at a pub car park of all places! (though the most anyone
drank at lunchtime was a pint of lager shandy). The layout of the article was
basically a front and back picture of the car stationary, a moving shot and then
smaller pictures showing areas, good and bad, to look out for if buying an MR2.
In the afternoon we ventured out into the country where the photographer took
pictures of the car for the contents page of the magazine, though I must have
gone up the country lanes twenty times before he was happy with the shot!
The whole day was a pretty good experience particularly as I have had the car
less than a year, so it was quite useful listening to what David Lillywhite had
to say about the car and what research he’d done (check out December’s issue of
Classic Car Magazine).
It might not have been an ‘E’ type Jaguar, a Lotus Esprit, an Aston Martin,
or any other of the cars I had seen featured in previous classic car magazines,
but at the end of the day I thought that the MR2 stood up pretty well to the
test.
