| John's Guest Book |
If you want to leave a message, please
mail me and I'll post it here. Include
your homepage title and URL and I'll give you a link.
| From: Maaarrghk 25 August 2006 |
Subject: The Beast
Hi John. I linked to your site via Wikipedia. I suggest you contact Practical Classics magazine. They printed a letter from John Dodds after someone mentioned the car. This was around 2 years ago. They may still have some back-issues left. Dodds was living near Malaga at that time and still running the car a couple of times a month in Malaga. He sent in a small picture of him filling up with fuel and the car looked a bit shabby without any wheel trims. Hope this is of interest.
Regards,
Maaarrghk!
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| From: Mike Porter 27 June 2006 |
John,
Loved the site especially the page on 'The beast', I was doing some research on Charlie Broomfields: 27 Litre Rover SD1 with a Rolls Royce Meteor engine and came across your beast pages.
I have added a link to your beast page from one of our sites.
Mike
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| From: John S. 13 June 2006 |
Subject: The Beast
Hi John,
I can confirm that Paul Dodd drove The Beast back from Spain in about 1992. I saw both the car and driver at the Chelsea Cruise at this time…he had literally just got it back to the UK the day before! From memory it hadn’t changed much since the ‘70’s and was still beige.
I recall it sounded quite rough at tickover,
Cheers,
John S
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| From: Al B. 16 May 2006 |
Subject: John Dodd's Beast
hi, i remember the beast?? it was featured in "custom car" a few times. the last time i saw it in there was TODAY a 1974 or 75 CC mag which i had just sold on ebay, it had the " obituary to the beast" which had caught fire, with apparently 45lts of transmission fluid( which caught fire and fueled it). I will contact the buyer and ask them what date the mag was and photo copy it(which i meant to) and send it. john was supposed to be a whiz on rollsroyce auto boxes and if someone broke down, ANYWHERE, he would be off with a spare box/and or bits and get it sorted, going fast in the process. it was supposed to have 28 spark plugs, and he had made the gbox specially as there was nothing available to cope( as to be expected) with the power of a RR merlin engine. this info was in a CC mag, so that would be the place to get anymore info??. i had it each month but only 7 copies survived but the latest was 75, so all the info would be in previous mags. wish i could be more helpfull but it's so long ago. al b
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| From: Greg Ashe 10 April 2006 |
Subject: 124s are cool
Hi superjohn,
It's good to see someone enjoying these old cars. Having moved to the UK, I really miss my old Fiat 124 Sedan. You can see it here and it's nearly as low as your dream car :) Good thing about the Fiat is that I believe they used lighter gauge steel, making them lighter. Mine has a Fiat 1756cc twin-cam with sidedraught Dellortos and weighs in at 920kg. How much does yours weigh?
And Richard Lee, you are a very silly man to say the least. My 124 would wee all over your stupid 325 and I have the satisfaction of knowing that I built it myself and every ounce of its horsepower is down to me. If you love German cars, you are clearly a very dull person with no soul. If you are at all redeemable as a human being, it is possible that a ride in my 265 bhp Lancia Integrale Evo will bring you to your senses. Italian cars are not as reliable as German ones, things do rattle and silly electrical things are temperamental - but that's what makes them so enjoyable. That and the noise they make.
Greg Ashe
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| From: Scottie 3 April 2006 |
Subject: The Car
hi john.
just came across your site and have to say its all very interesting, love the slot cars,
on the subject of the replica of the "car", the granada based one is now in the glasgow area having had the v6 engine replaced by a v8 and has just been resprayed in a friend of mines garage, haven't got any contact details of the owner at the moment but if you want to get in contact with the owner just let me know and i will get some details.
scottie
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| From: Matt from Epsom 9 March 2006 |
Subject: The Beast
John Dodd & family lived in a road parallel to mine in the late 70's early 80's. This road was Links Road in Epsom, a very up market area, and I often used to see and hear "The Beast" being taken out for its constitutional, and believe me, if you think an Impreza or Evo is a cure for mid life crisis, this thing was literally like standing on the main runway at Heathrow.
John used to blast it around the inner road at the race course on a Sunday.....superb....unfortunately you are right, John left for Spain partly (allegedly) on tax evasion charges apparently (although I'm sure he could have offset them against the fuel duty he paid), and the failed court case.
I knew Paul at that time and he stayed behind, only to watch his fathers house and property get repo'd and he promptly disappeared too.
Cant fill in any more details.
Matt
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| From: David Hockham 2 March 2006 |
Subject: The Beast
Hi John.
My name is David Hockham and i worked for John Dodd for twelve years and
at the time he built The Beast.
John Dodd bought the rolling chassis and engine on four wheels from a gentleman
called Paul Jameson. The body was made by a company called Fibre Glass Repairs
of Bromley.
It took up to a year to built and was first tested at Biggin Hill Aerodrome,
It was clocked at doing 90 miles per hour in reverse.
I had the privelage to work on The Beast i built the gearbox a GM400, and
also changed the xj6 rear axle which broke on a few occasions until we fitted
a xj12 rear axle.
On consumption he got 10-12 miles per gallon.
I do believe the car is now in Epsom and is owned by John Dodd's son.
If there is anything else you would like to know please feel free to e-mail
me and i will answer if i can.
Regards,
David Hockham
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| From: Al 12 July 2005 |
Hi there John. I thought I'd respond to Richard Lee on your behalf:
I think, Richard Dear, that you are missing the point by such a large margin that you'd need more than one tank of petrol in your BMZZzzzzz to get there.
It is admirable that you're so happy with your car. I do feel, though, that with just a dash of imagination and you might have chosen something slightly less anonymous than a wall of cream woodchip. Don't get me wrong: It's probably a nice machine (blah blah), but the enthusiasm with which you mention it on this site suggests a low personal horizon.
Coming to this web and writing in Superjohn's guest book has put you more at odds with other readers here than Superjohn will ever be with other road users by having some fun: and you'd be expressing yourself in exactly the same way as Superjohn if you attach a set of "eyebrows" or chrome wheelarches to your ride - just without the big hairy balls. I'm guessing you aren't artistic. Judging by your email, I bet you have to listen for canned laughter to work out when the funny bits are in "Little Britain" and are scared of the dark.
I suspect that John is artistic, has an ability to think for himself, a keen interest in cars and a sense of humour - and for all we know he might own a Bentley. Long may it last.
Richard, thanks for setting this little corner of the world straight: maybe you should go to "vegetarianworld.com" next, and explain in their guest book how tasty suckling pig is.
Keep up the good work, John.
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| From: Richard Lee 4 May 2005 |
Subject: LADA RIVA'S (sic) ARE NASTY BEASTS THAT SHOULD BE CHUCKED IN THE RIVER
I wanted to ask you a question? Why do you like bad cars?. Lada Riva's are horrible motor vehicles.
Near to my house a guy also suffers from the same problem. He owns four trabants. I was stuck behind one of these filthy machines. This thing was spewing out more oil than Iraq. I quickly changed down in my 325i coupe and blasted past this little nasty machine. If I was driving something like his I would slide low down into the seat so no one would recognise me. But I don't. I drive decent German cars such as Audi and BMW. I suggest you drive something decent. You will know what you've been missing once you have. No more rattling noises, slow, unrefined, unsafe, also you will get laughed at if you drive a Lada. A guy at college owned a pea green Lada Riva Estate. He got beaten up for driving this about. So not only have you got to put up with the poor saefty record of such cars you are liable to punched in the head. Not a nice prospect for anyone. Why did you spend you time spraying a car that is worth about two quid? It looks even worse now you have tried to modify this beast. Lowering cars of this calibre is also not a good idea because the springs are worth more than the car. Don't get me wrong I like cars I just don't understand why someone would like these things. They have no redeeming features, apart from the fact that they sink unusually quickly. Regards Richard Lee
Superjohn replies:
Hi Richard,
Thanks for your email. Sorry you think a Lada (conventional 4 cylinder 4 stroke engine in a traditional steel monocoque) is the same as a Trabant (plastic car with dirty 2-stroke bike engine). (Author's note, I do not dislike Trabants, I was just making a point). Pehaps you are ill informed? The Lada 1200 is not filthy or slow (although I'll admit with a top speed of 90mph flat out it is not a long distance cruiser). When I drive to work the speed is always limited by the arse in front in the NEW car. And yes I do overtake. As for dirty (i.e. polluting) have you heard of the radical new theory that engine SIZE is a factor? My Lada is 1200cc, your BMW is 2500cc.
Sorry I am not impressed by your BMW, I drive Bentleys for a living, which combine the German engineering you so love with superior British styling. (Even Ikea wouldn't use the wood out of a BMW dashboard). I think that's counts as driving something decent, but I still like the Lada. And let's not even get into the BMW Isetta bubble cars, or the NSU (=Audi) RO80, with the rotary engine that typically lasted a week. German engineering my arse. And it would just be bad taste to mention the Hindenburg. Who sent the first man into space? Russia. Perhaps Russian engineering is not so bad after all.
As for getting punched in the face, I am 6 foot 3, and this has never happened to me yet. Unfortunately my height also means I could not slide down low into the seat as you suggest, so it's lucky I do not allow by behaviour to be defined by the prejudice of others.
With regard to redeeming features, the Lada cost 350 quid and I have driven to work in it every day for FOUR YEARS. I think that represents value for money, which is surely a redeeming feature? It is also mechanically simple, any engineer will tell you that LESS = LESS TO GO WRONG. That's why it's so reliable (that's not a typing error, it really is reliable). And remember it's 19 years old, so even if you don't admit it's a classic, it's still running when most cars have been crushed and turned into BMWs. Also remember the Lada started life as a Fiat 124 in 1966. It won car of the year (although admittedly so did the Tipo so perhaps that doesn't mean so much). The 60s = stylish, Italian = stylish, therefore Lada = double stylish. (OK so I went too far with that one).
Perhaps the real truth is that I know Ladas are crap, but I am sufficiently sure of my manliness to not let it bother me. What are you trying to compensate for in your 2.5 litre "injection"?.
Cheers for the mail, I enjoyed it, I'll post it on the site.
John
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| From: Hilton Davis 31 December 2004 |
Dear John - Just looked at your VIVA HC website (via Google). The photos bring back memories of my own VIVA X14 (RCP 834K) owned between 1976 and 79. I paid £700 for it and even at 4 years old it already needed a new front wing (rusty from inside out). I had a second wing replaced in 1978 and by then I had it looking nice. Repainted the Rostyle wheels twice which looked good and I kept the interior beige trim in good nick. It was an Emerald Starmist colour with gold coachlines. Mechanically it was OK apart from collecting creamy oil sludge in the rocker cover top, especially in cold winter running. (known fault on the 1256cc engine?) Sold it for around £600, then bought my first New car (DATSUN) - but I still have happy memories of the Viva. . . All the best for 2005 Regards, HILTON DAVIS
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| From: Superjohn 19 December 2004 |
Hey there, I'm a superjohn. Since I was about 16 people have called me John, but two years ago I upgraded to superjohn. This confuses some, as I'm a girl, but noone EVER forgets my name. In particular I have been known by the name when drawing cartoons for Critic, the University newspaper. I'm pretty famous in my wee home town (Dunedin, New Zealand), especially on campus where as well as comics I've done radio shows, standup comedy, films and capping shows. Last year a friend of mine even made me a big golden cape. So yeah, I guess there are superjohns everywhere, in some pretty weird ways.
Cheers, superjohn
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| From: Lyn Williams 20 November 2004 |
Subject: Allegro Rally Car
Hi, found your web site with pictures of an allegro on, thought you would like to know that the car is still around and in the process of being restored after its heavy roll about 10 years ago. Will send pics once finished. Regards, Lyn Williams
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| From: Andy Carter 19 November 2004 |
Subject: Rally Allegro
hello. i was given your website address because of the rally allegro you have a picture of. can you tell which retro magazine it was in as i am 1 of the owners that now own it and we are looking for as much info and pictures as posible, the car itself still has all the works parts with it and was rallied from the day it left the factory until the late 80s so its pretty
rusty now but we are going to put it back to former glory so any help you can give would be appreciated. just to let you know reference your comment on a 2nd car this never happened the only other rally allegros were private entrys built by the patrick motor group. the car you have in the picture was built by abingdom comps department and rally on national events by abingdon / bmc / bl and more local stuff by howells of cardif a bmc /bl dealer in the seventies the car was sponsored by
the daily mail in wales and castrol the car in the picture is the second shell as sometime in the first six months a well known rally driver whos name escapes me at the moment decided that he would drive it into a wall and wrote it of this car was a burgandy shell and very half hearted attemp by the comps dept but due to the crash it was then rebuilt into a second shell
with the typical works dept input strangley it started life with a 1293cc cooper s engine and gearbox which was very strange as the cooper s was out of production at this point, later the comps dept develop the 8 port engine end for more power increase but the car suffered greatly with drive shaft failure until they beefed them up then suffered with diff failure until they beefed teat up then suffered with gearbox failure and so on in later life one owner painted the car orange to match the lovely colour bl were using at the time drivers of the car such as pat ryan, phil cooper bryan culcheth,
russel brookes. a much used much abused rally car. Andy Carter
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| From: Carl Alban 8 November 2004 |
Subject: Lada V8 (Rover)
hi there, Just surfed to your site and found a picture of ME........ Great site mate, keep it up. By the way, Did you know that after an appearance in 'Top Gear' magazine and running 14.01 @ 107mph, I was unable to sell this car, The finish and paint were great, The engine was rebuilt by me and ran like new, and the only guy that wanted it was too big to get in it. In the end the engine and box were sold for £700 and i only wanted £600 for the car......... The rest was CRUSHED at my local scrap yard, It makes me weep how people would not drive it because it was a Lada even thought it had regulaly beaten 911's and Ferraris down the pod....Hmmmmmmmmmm Anyway, Great site, Keep the faith. Carl Alban
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| From: Gabor 7 August 2004 |
Hi SuperJohn, I've just visited your site, it's koool, man! I would like to recommend you a newly built site with some really interesting videos of LADA cars. Actually it' my friend's website, and I build it in my sparetime. Chekit out! www.dcstuning.hu See you, Gabor
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| From: Adam Walker 6 July 2004 |
Hello There, I came across your website and was very impressed with the scalextrics cars on it. I also like modifying scalextrics cars (not that i'm any good) and just though I would send some pictures of my Mini Limo scalextrics car which is based on one of my dads real stretched Mini Limo's (link). Im sorry the pictures are poor quality. I noticed a banger mini and allegro on your site and was wondering how you made them as I would like to do a similar thing to an Escort shell I have. Kind Regards, Adam Walker
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| From: Russell Higgs 10 May 2004 |
Hi there, I came across your site a while ago and meant to mail you then, but forgot, as always. Hope your Lada is still going, as its a very cool car, a poor mans rs1600 if you think about it. anyway, having gained amusement from your ecclectic collection of cars i thought you may like to see ours, sadly not a proper site but im skint so i haveto make do, id be grateful if you could put it in your guestbook so others can see it. cheers anyway, Russ Higgs www.freewebs.com/shedspeed
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| From: Ziggy 26 December 2003 |
hey buddy, my name is ziggy. some 16 years ago, my brother and I where walking down hollywoodblvd, just bought a new Canon camera. passing by Jays showcarplace right on Hblvd, {it`s gone now} we where trying to get some pics of the cars, but it got dark, when Mr Ohrberg approached us and I told him, i do tile and we are germans, he invited us in, for a private showing after they were closed that night. He gave a signed poster with the longest limousine and i gave him my business card. 1 week later, my phone rang, and it was him, telling me something about a Tilejob in the Limo. Should have seen my face drop! Turns out, there is a lil pool in the back of the limo and he wanted a row of tile to accent the waterline {2 feet deep.lol with divingboard} that very night, cause he rented the limo to japan and was to ship the next day {they cut it in half and weld it back together for shipping!] Anyway, I haul`d ass and a few hours later the job was done, thanks to all his mechanics helping. Unfortunately, the pictures where on the new camera and my Bro opened without rewinding, exposing the fu#%$^ing film. Jay to go, where are you now? Ziggylazer.com hollywoodgogos.com hope you enjoy this true story.
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| From: Donald G MacKenzie 25 November 2003 |
G'day John, I'm not sure what you mean about the "estate" model Datsun. Datsun 120Y's were a huge hit here, (Australia), in the 70's Hope this site may help you. Sorry its 1/24 not 1/32, I don't even know what scale the Scalextric system is. A mate and I have just started racing his new kit with the new Advanced Track System. I was surfin' round the net as I own a Datsun 120Y, 1978 model. Just finished doing the 200,000 km service actually. Cheers mate, Don :-)
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| From: Xavier Taylor 14 November 2003 |
Hi there, Congrats on an excellent site. I am presently part of a team constructing a car website www.torquecars.co.uk, but i am in charge of the VW part of the site! Check out www.torquecars.co.uk/vw (its not finished, but is live). This part of the site is aiming to cover all things VW, especially the classics (I own a 1972 GT Beetle) - and part of it is going to include a list of readers rides. If you'd like to have your car/camper van featured, email me at: xav@torquecars.co.uk we'd be happy to provide a link to your website in return. We'd appreciate info and pics on your camper. Hope you like our site. Regards xavier taylor
www.torquecars.co.uk
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| From: Robert Bodine 19 October 2003 |
Subject: Jay Ohrberg
Hello, My name is Rob Bodine and I work with Jay and was wondering if you could help with making a web page and or helping get more info about Jay? If your interested please contact me at (work) 510 xxx xxxx or (cell) 510 xxx xxxx I'm working on the ninja turtle bus with a 10 day deadline. Jay will be at the shop next week and I could set up a meeting. Thanks, Rob Bodine
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| From: Chris Wright 30 September 2003 |
Hi John, Just been having a quick look at your website, very good it is too. I don't know if you still want them but I make resin 1/32nd bodyshells of the Hillman Avenger and 105E for Anglia for slot racing, please have a look at my website www.onethirtysecond.co.uk the Avenger is under 70s and the Anglia 60s (obviously really). Bodyshells are £15 each which includes windows (vac formed), vac formed general purpose drivers platform, the Anglia has seperate bumpers and the Avenger has a seperate front bumper and choice of grills (this is to allow the eventual use for a MKII Tiger). Strangely enough I am considering a Vauxhall HC viva and a banger racer Austin Cambridge A55 or A60. I keep thinking about the Allegro but just can't bring myself to do it.... Steve at BMC 32 makes an Austin A35 complete slot car kit as well (around £45 unbuilt from memory) plus he is bringing out a Morris 1000 (but not a traveller yet). Anyway, good luck with your search, cheers, Chris, onethirtysecond
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| From: Russell Higgs 30 September 2003 |
Subject: what a superb collection of cars!!!
Hi, i stumbled across your site accidentally and ive got to congratulate you on a superb collection of cars, a man after my own heart. I especially like the allegro, a masterpiece of engineering. Much like yourself, I have had a selection of cars of questionable taste, mostly minis, but the odd capri, beige fiat uno, and citroen 2cv. I think you may like to see a website entitled www.V8mini.co.uk. Good luck with the lada, and keep an eye out for my site, which should be appearing as soon as i can figure out how to use a computer properly, probably entitled "shedspeedracing" or summat similar. Thanks again for cheering my oherwise dull afternoon up! Russ Higgs
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| From: Tony 25 August 2003 |
Subject: Hey, I know about "The Car" replicas!
Hello. Just stumbled across your web page and looked at "The Car". I spoke to the guy who owned the 1st replica you show at north weald. I attended The guildford cruise for about 4-5 years approx 1991 1995 and the car used to turn up there regularly. It had an american base and ran a hot motor And i cant for the life of me remember what but i had a hunch it was early 60s Ford. The last time i saw it it had pink neon's underneath and remote control hydraulics. The guy used to stand 4 or 5 feet away and when the crowd where all peeringin the car he used flick the switch the car would move and some blond would always scream!! This info might be of use to you? Regards, Tony
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| From: Ivor Clark 3 July 2003 |
I believe the avenger shown, series 8 . MOPAR is reg. no PSW333S which I built and drove. March 1978 was its first event. Co-driver was Louise Aitken, in her first rally, later to become LADIES WORLD CHAMPION. Leading at halfway. 2nd Gallager Heggie, Andrew Cowan. A misfire fault later dropped us to 3rd overall, first GP1. Won Scottish GP1 in 78. 10th O/L on Scottish, first non-works car, first private entrant (500 smackers), first GP1, first 1600. Used in 79 to win O/L Castrol Autosport championship. Six wins, one 2nd from 9 events. Sold to Ireland after non-finish on the Circuit in 1980 (engine failed after a yum, while lying 5 O/L. Regards, Ivor Clark.
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| From: Bob Avenger 26 May 2003 |
Now i know where all the old 'vengers go....... just thought i would write to ask if i can include your site into my own owners vehicles section, see site below... im sure its your avenger that i have on my sales/wants page, that someone sent me.... if your planning to keep the pics on site, then i could link from mine as i have done with a few others. i have been on the web now for about 5 years, and this is the 1st time i have seen your site, so im sure that others would like to read about your avengers. all the best, Bob
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| From: Steve Phelps 22 Aug 2002 |
Hey John, Thanks for the link to my page. There is another page at nismo.org with some other (newer) photos. The latest one shows the car with the front wheels off the ground comming off the line at a track in St George Utah, USA. We moved this last year so we have been idle a bit, BUT! we now have a tunnel ram intake for the car and will have it out again real soon. Check the website for updates soon too. The Honda is history and we are looking for another Bee!! Nice site Bro Cheers, Sageman
World Famous Honey Bee
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