James May and Damon Hill drive my 260Z!

datsfun

Club Member
He told me he had never seen one before - though he had heard about them. He said he was very impressed with it. I think his exact words were: "For a 40-year-old car I couldn't believe how well it handled."


Out of curiosity what sort of age bracket would Phil fit in? Reason I ask is I find it very strange that a motorsport orientated person has never seen a s30 before? Was he that young??

I mean these cars are rare when compared to Escorts MGB, Etypes etc but IMHO there are a few around on the rallying and historic race scene...and static shows too.
 

RIDDLER

Well-Known Forum User
Awesome. So the STIG drove your car too! :driving:

Lord above!!! I didn't realise he was the Stig!!!!

I thought he could drive well - he just got in my car, having never driven it before, and the film you see is his one and only lap in it!
 

RIDDLER

Well-Known Forum User
Out of curiosity what sort of age bracket would Phil fit in? Reason I ask is I find it very strange that a motorsport orientated person has never seen a s30 before? Was he that young??

Maybe he said he had never driven one before. But I'm fairly certain he said seen. I think Phil is in his 30s.
 

Tony 260Z

Club Member
I haven't read the whole conversation above in depth (honestly chaps I think it descends into nit-picking at times) but I was thrilled to see a 260Z on the screen and such a beautiful one too. Well done Riddler! Even if it hadn't "won" I think it would have been good publicity for the cars, but it did which is even better!

I'm a bit surprised the first contact wasn't with the owners' club but I expect that was down to a dopey researcher just using Google.

Anyway.... congrats Riddler. Lovely car! And well done the Z too :)
 

status

Well-Known Forum User
..... Matt long you are spot on mate with wot you say,nice car Mr Riddler,great colour
 
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Matt Long

Well-Known Forum User
So,to be clear, your first track experience was to be driven around Oulton Park, in your own car by the Stig, moments before it goes on the telly and gets driven by Slow and Damon Hill. :cheers:

Just to move away for a moment from the debate about Z availability, and return to the original thread about the show, here is a little video you might find interesting.
Before the filming got under way with James and Damon, a professional driver hired by the BBC - namely GT Championship racer Phil Keen - took my car round the track to check it out and to test sound levels etc.
He asked me if I wanted to ride with him and naturally I said yes.
He wasn't driving at full racing speeds - I had asked him to limit himself to 4500 revs as I didn't want the car thrashing ahead of filming - but for someone like me who has never been on a track it seemed scarily fast! I saw the speedo pass 100mph several times and the speed at which we went into the bends was pretty terrifying.
I couldn't believe how well the car stuck to the track as I did my best to grab some video footage on my phone.
As is always the case, the video fails to convey any real sense of speed. I was literally hanging on to the door handles at times but on the film it just looks like we were cruising round.
We were going far quicker than I would have dared but I never felt in danger which was testament to Phil's expert driving.
Anyway, I have loaded it to YouTube so here is the link. Crank the sound up and enlarge to full screen for the best effect. At least you will be able to hear the car - even a bit of tyre squeal on some corners!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPybJlsRbuQ

[youtube]DPybJlsRbuQ[/youtube]
 

RIDDLER

Well-Known Forum User
So,to be clear, your first track experience was to be driven around Oulton Park, in your own car by the Stig, moments before it goes on the telly and gets driven by Slow and Damon Hill. :cheers:
Well very nearly. I was asked by the BBC to take my car to Oulton the week before the show was filmed so it could be checked out (they obviously wanted to make sure it wasn't an old klunker) and also to test it for sound levels etc.
They told me the driver they had hired to do the job was called Phil Keen but I had no idea he was The Stig until I posted on the forum the video I took on my phone as he blasted me round the track.
To be honest I had almost forgotten in all the May/Hill excitement that I had taken that bit of video. Had I realised its significance I would have trumpeted it a bit more. Been wondering if I should re-post in on its own new thread as it is a bit lost here on page 12 of this one!
 

RIDDLER

Well-Known Forum User
I was thinking that! You need to live a little Rob - life begins at 6000rpm! :D
Hey - she's an old girl with ninety-odd thousand miles on the clock and I love her too much to thrash her that hard! At least I take her out when it's wet, Richie . . . ! Now THAT'S living!
 

richiep

Club Member
The engine will have been rebuilt at some point though Rob will it not?

I guess I'm a little more inclined to give it some stick as the engine in my car has only about 10000 miles on it and is built somewhat more around expressing aggression!
 
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