Scumball 2007
Scumball 2007 has come and gone and what an event it turned out to be, my veteran team mate Jim “Bootsy” French and I had a lot of high points and a couple of low points!
The ’Red Rocket’ aka a 1989 Mark 2 Golf GTI 16v was our chariot of choice having previously completed the 1100 mile roundtrip to the Nurburgring without too much trouble (Well the engine did fall out two days later!). Meeting up with the fifty other cars at Nottingham for the event briefing, our golf looked the smartest out of all the cars, thanks to Digital Deadline for their superb work.
The 3 laps of Donington Grand Prix circuit were an excellent opportunity to open up the car and get a feel for the handling capabilities prior to the Nurburgring. As the third car out we had two clear laps and then found ourselves on our own heading down to Dover, We were constantly trying to find out the extent of the damage to my dad and brothers Golf VR6 as it had to limp away to a local garage to fix an overheating problem.
The camaraderie was superb, 50 cars all lined up at Dover waiting to board the ferry, all raising money for charities which ranged from Lions Clubs to the RNLI; Cancer Charities to Air Ambulances. A record £4000 was raised by one team for the Friends of Chernobyl’s Children and the event claims that over £50,000 was raised in total for good causes.
Our 18 year old Golf GTI was actually quite a tame choice of Scumball chariot. Braver competitors included a London Taxi cab, a Hearse with Nitrous Oxide injection and an American Stretched Limo. All purchased for less than £1000, mostly on Ebay without even seeing them first hand.
The journey onwards to Belgium was a delight and all seemed to be going well, but some things are meant to be a challenge. The following day on the scenic drive through Eupen after a quick refreshment stop, all the cars were ready for a nice cruise through the mountains, we soon had to call the troups back as our clutch cable snapped. Thanks to the superb help of fellow Scumballers our cable soon fixed, Blue Peter would have been proud of the handy work and what a few coat hangers can do!
Some other cars were not so lucky. Three teams ended up scrapping their cars in Germany after dramatic engine failures on the track, including an ex-police Volvo T5, Ford Capri and BMW 7 Series. An MR2 and Omega V6 both remodelled the track’s armco and an Audi Quattro was stretchered off at great expense.
A brief stop in Paris before our Ferry back to Dover marked the end of an 1100 mile road trip. The team spirit was fantastic over the five days. 100 petrol heads all agreed to meet up for next years Scumball Rally in more extravagant (and probably unreliable) vehicles that cost less than a set of tyres for the usual super-cars taking on the Ring.
Both Jim and I are pleased with the £3000 raised for Everyman (male testicular Cancer charity) by competing in this motoring rally. We shall be back for 2008 and already have grander plans and a Porsche 944 has been purchased and is already being worked on to fix the many issues!.
A big thanks goes to ZOO magazine for the very generous donation, Leysland High School staff and pupils for their support, Pearces the jewellers in Melton Mowbray, Digital Deadline for the car vinyls, Kev Moore construction, COGA pa for endless laughs with their PA system, the quality clothing supplied by Uber9 and the in car camera system loaned by Goldstar.