Author: Chris Andrews

Chris, known as Cess on the forums, is a long time RMS member. He is a fervent motorsports enthusiast and lover of all things automotive. He can be found on the ditches of most Irish rallies, at Mondello watching drifting or in front of the TV watching motorbike racing.

Ford unveiled a sensational new advert for the Fiesta ST this week, featuring World Rally Championship driver Elfyn Evans piloting the car at speed, 400m below ground in a salt mine. This advert, called “Undertrack “, is the latest instalment of the Greatest Driving Roads series of short films featuring the Blue Oval’s performance vehicles. Ford had previously taken the Ford GT, Focus RS and Mustang Convertible to some of the most stunning environments across the continent, including the Arctic Circle in Norway and the sunny climes of Mallorca. Ford has been tight-lipped about the whereabouts of this underground location, but…

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The humble Mini, that enduring design icon, will be the centrepiece of a brand new event next week. On 15th July, Mini Magic, based in Tynagh, County Galway will offer Mini lovers a chance to display and take their cars on the track. Event director, William Neill, said: “Mini Magic will be more than a gathering. It will be time to enjoy Minis – and for those who want to – get them on track. Rally, road and race will gather to share the day of celebration together.” The event is open to Minis, great and small. Retro rides, concours examples and…

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Irish rallying springs into life this weekend with action scheduled on consecutive days, north and south of the border. The 2018 McGrady Insurance MSA Northern Ireland Stage Rally Championship blasts off of Saturday with the Bishopscourt Stages Rally. Whilst on Sunday, the Triton Showers National Rally Championship returns to the stunning setting of Achill Island on the Wild Atlantic Way for the Mayo Stages Rally, the first round of that series. Both events have attracted high quality fields and the competition promises to be fierce. At Bishopscourt, four former Northern Ireland champions will be vying for victory. Derek McGarrity, who…

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Winter sunshine bathed Kirkistown Race Circuit and the scent of hi-octane fuel filled the air, as rally cars cut loose for the official launch of the 2018 McGrady Insurance NI Rally Championship. This year’s NI Rally Championship will be the 36th running of the series. It was first organised in 1977 when Ronnie McCartney became the inaugural champion. After a dry period between 1982 and 1987 when the Championship didn’t run, it was revived in 1988 and has run successfully every year since. The first round kicks off on 10th March with the Bishopscourt Stages Rally, an event which is also…

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If motorbike enthusiasts needed any excuse to congregate and eulogise about the prospect of the World Superbike Championship visiting these shores, then the NI Motorcycle Festival provided that perfect platform. The new track at Lake Torrent dominated the conversations on stage and off stage. Punters mingled with famous faces, famous machines and displays off all the gear that you would ever need and more. The crowds that thronged the floors of the Eikon were a visible representation of how popular and all-pervasive motorbikes are in Northern Ireland right now. Jonathan Rea’s recognition in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year…

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There are three certainties in life – death, taxes and singing competitions on the TV. No matter what guise the show takes, the format is the same. Fame hungry wannabes belting out murdering original hits with karaoke cover versions week after week. “You’ve really made that your own” is the standard refrain. But it’s not that easy to take someone else’s classic and leave your own stamp on it. It’s easier to get it wrong that take a classic and improve it, in every possible way. The same rule applies to cars. There are very few enduring automotive icons, but…

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After last year’s breakthrough event, Japanese Car Culture came back bigger and better than ever. Even before the show opened, queues had formed outside the Titanic Exhibition Centre, all eager to immerse themselves in the best JDM-inspired cars that Ireland has to offer. The lobby of the venue merely whetted the appetite. A selection of high-powered R34 Nissan GT-Rs and a side order of Mitsubishi Evolution was the starter for a sushi train of modified machinery. The inital conundrum was working out what to look at first. I mean, logically, somewhere so small and so far away from Japan shouldn’t be able…

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The early bird catches the worm. Especially on Sunday morning when the Thoroughbred Sports Car Club are hosting one of their rapidly expanding cars and coffee events at Down Royal Race Course. That’s a horse racing course, just to be clear. But the parade ring has never witnessed anything like the mechanical horsepower on show at this event. As always, the everyone is welcome in anything that they can drive. So the latest technologically laden supercars, with more computing power than a NASA space mission share a car park with spritely little lightweight MGs. A testament to a bygone era, when…

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The first weekend in June should herald the onset of summer; however, no season can be taken for granted in Northern Ireland. The weather forecast was typically grim for Ballee, home of Ballymena CarFest: warnings of torrential rain, hail and a plague of locusts all flashed up on my phone weather app at some stage. However, surprisingly (after a brief monsoon) the clouds parted, the sun broke out and somehow I managed to get slightly toasted at one of the most understated, but utterly brilliant automotive events around. Ballymena CarFest is a haven for anybody that just likes cars, vans and trucks.…

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Nestled at the foot of the Mourne Mountains, the beautiful seaside town of Newcastle played host to the annual Peak Performance Motor Club annual show. The open gate policy of the Club saw a huge range of cars invade the Donard Park, taking advantage of the beautiful, early May sunshine. The ubiquitous Ford Escort was present in at least four different variants: the model that started it all, the evergreen Mark 1, right up to the raucous rude boy Mark 4 Escort RS Turbo. Classic Fords are a stalwart of the Northern Ireland show scene. Fiestas, Sierras and even a P100…

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If sporting Fords were your kind of thing, then Ballymena Showgrounds was the place to be. The Northern Ireland RS Owners’ Club gathered en masse for their annual regional day. The covers came off a plethora of truly remarkable Fords, for the event. The Ford Escort Cosworth remains a thing of absolute beauty since its incarnation in the 1990s. Escalating values have more or less taken any thoughts of owning a Cossie out of the hands of ordinary punters. If you can find one for sale, expect to part with a sum which will make your bank manager cry. When…

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Fiat is an automotive monolith and Italian industrial giant. Despite manufacturing cars for over 100 years, in all shapes and forms, its image and reputation has been dogged by the legacy a range of unimaginative and wholly unreliable cars which it churned out throughout the 1980s. Every model was dull eurobox, with cheap and nasty components. A world removed from the zesty Fiats of the 60s and 70s. If you wanted a fun family car, with a raucous twin cam engine, first stop was Fiat. If you wanted a sharp handling hatchback, there was a Fiat for you. Low cost…

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