CLASSIC ADVENTURE
Magical; petrolhead heaven with a challenge at every corner... our Manx mission starts here
The Isle of Man is a car lover’s playground. Great roads, great scenery and great history all combine in a 30x11-mile slab of rock that appears to contain every type of landscape the UK has to offer. Mountains, rolling hills, wide-open alluvial plains, beaches, cliffs, and fascinating towns and villages… it’s the definition of a microcosm.
Then there’s the TT, the annual motorcycle racing event run on the island that has taken place almost every May/June since 1907. It is the most dangerous event in the world: many competitors have died and its continued existence is something of a miracle. Still, the world’s most fearless road racers gather to pitch themselves against the incredible 'Mountain Course' every year and the 37.73-mile beast of a road circuit is seen by many as the ultimate test of a rider’s skill.
Did you spot the word ‘road’? Us too. For most of the year the TT roads aren’t used for racing, Rolling back the covers from my 1960 Morris Minor convertible after its winter hibernation, I dipped the oil, checked the coolant and brake fluid levels then pulled on the bakelite starter switch. Despite laying idle for six months, the 998cc A-series burst merrily into life, sucking slightly stale super unleaded through its HIF38 SU carburettor. I threw my comprehensively heavy go anywhere tool bag and spares box into the boot, collected photographer Howell and set out on the 135-mile blast across to the docks at Liverpool.
A MINOR DETOUR MATT TOMKINS
1960 Morris Minor Convertible
Blasting in the Minor isn’t exactly rapid though. The 4.55:1 final drive means that despite the engine’s ability to rev beautifully freely, 50mph cruising is the best my mechanical sympathy will allow. Wind in the hair on this glorious afternoon, however it’s a joy to potter along the A6006 from Melton Mowbray to Zouch before hopping onto our first bit of dual carriageway, the A50 then M6 and M62 and into Liverpool.
After three hours on the evening Steam Packet ferry from Liverpool into Douglas, I spent my first hour on the Isle of Man in inky blackness, just desperate to reach the hotel as former biker and PC photographer Matt Howell enthused of TT trips past from the passenger seat.
Tuesday morning broke and, to the sound of the sea lapping the shore and with the sun shining, we set off for a ‘hot lap’ of the course. Well, most of the course, the mountain stage was closed for maintenance. There’s no speed limit out of town – ‘open’ really does mean open, but in the Minor open meant thr
