3 On The Column

Seth, Ollie & Sheila, the 'London to Cape Town' 3-Wheeler, Join 3 On The Column Classic Car Podcast

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2540922/fan_mail/new] It's time for Andrew and I to book our summer holidays, but the cost of a long haul flight to Cape Town is looking a bit steep these days so we need to find an alternative.  Let's ask Seth Scott and Ollie Jenks, as they've driven there in Sheila, a Reliant Robin van. How hard can it be? Well, in this podcast, we'll be finding out. First, choose your car.  Top of the tree has to be a 3-wheeler because then you can break a world record - for the furthest distance travelled in a 3-wheeled car. Next, you will need a few modifications, and possibly a new engine enroute. Fortunately, Seth and Ollie were members of the Reliant Owners Club, who were able to source and send an emergency 'engine in a suitcase' to them. Then, when you need to get through a border checkpoint, the love and humour that everyone has for these cars will see you through.  Try the same with a new Defender! From roadside repairs, and the ingenuity of the local mechanics, to traffic light vendors looking under the car, trying to locate where the front wheels are, Seth and Ollie tell us how it was. Their chosen charity is https://www.schoolinabag.org/ which helps provide the very basics for school, such as pens and paper, that the poorest children in the remotest places need.  Enroute, Seth and Ollie were able to see first hand just how much of a support this charity can be to these children in the far flung places of Africa. And now to preparations for trip number 2.  It's time for Ollie to start to learn something about football since, from the 11th June, the friends will be touring all of the 2026 World Cup football stadiums, driving across Canada, the US, Mexico and then back to Canada again. 10,000 miles in 39 days, and their chariot of choice for this trip is an ex-London FX4 Taxi currently off the road in Canada that hasn't run for years and won't start! Is that an issue?  Of course not.  They will sort it!  After all, they're seasoned explorers now. instagram/@hold.mygear  https://www.holdmygear.org/  Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2540922/support]

Christianne Ireland, Founder of Ireland Motorsports Meets 3 On The Column Classic Car Podcast

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2540922/fan_mail/new] Following on from the excitement of the recent podcast with Crossley Motorsports, Brian and Andrew feel the need to get back on track (as if we ever were): in this episode we welcome Christianne Ireland, the founder of Ireland Motorsports, and also daughter of Innes Ireland, a Formula One racing driver in the 1950s and 60s.   Innes started his motorsports career in 1952, very much at grass roots level, working his way up to the heights of Formula One by 1959. He also had a career in long distance sportscar racing, driving cars such as the 250 GTO Ferrari, as well as competing in the Daytona 500. Christianne shares with us what's happening at Ireland Motorsports, a not for profit Community Interest Company, which is both helping to preserve the heritage and achievements of Innes Ireland to inspire the next generation of drivers, and providing real-life opportunities and encouragement for young people aged 16 to 24 to get involved in the many different areas of the motorsport world. She also brings us her wonderful personal memories of growing up in her father's motor racing world, with Stirling Moss, Graham Hill and Jimmy Clark counted as his close friends.   How about being taken to school in OVX355D, the third factory Ford GT40?  And then there was the Lime Green GTO.  Mum was on the insurance to drive the car and  so it served its purpose as a family car for getting to the shops for the bibs and bobs of daily life, with room for the dogs in the footwell. Motorsport is undoubtedly in Christianne's DNA.  However, Innes was quite old fashioned and was not going to have his daughter being a racing driver.  So, instead, she went out and bought herself a motor bike! Innes Ireland was as capable under the bonnet as he was as a driver.  In later years, after driving her dad's Aston Martin DB5 Mk 2, Christianne took the car to the garage complaining of a lumpy performance in traffic. The garage's response? "Madam, you need to drive it like your dad did!" Innes had, of course, set up the carburettors to match his driving style. Thank you, Christianne!  This has been a very special and personal insight into why motorsport and its heritage matter and, above all, it is, of course, about its very special people. https://irelandmotorsports.org.uk/ Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2540922/support]

A Celebration of the Invacar: Dez Meets 3 On The Column Classic Car Podcast.

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2540922/fan_mail/new] Those of you who follow classic car social media will have recently seen a blue Invacar, heading north on the M40 to Gaydon for Rustival 2026. In this podcast episode, we are pleased to welcome, Dez, the owner of this car, as our guest. Dez expertly takes us through the history of invalid carriages from their inception in the 1890's, through the peak of the Invacar in the 60's, 70's and 80's, to their all but total removal from daily use and subsequent rise as a collectible classic vehicle. The Invacar is probably the most misunderstood classic vehicle in the history of cars: easily dismissed by people who never owned or drove one, though all of us, who are old enough, remember them well. Dez is a big fan and a knowledgeable historian of them. He expertly debunks the myths surrounding them and explains why they were so brilliantly fit for their purpose, and why, when they were withdrawn from service, they were missed by many of their drivers.  Dez keeps his Invacar Model 70 as a daily driver and with good reason: he is a wheelchair user, living in Central London. We think that qualifies Dez as an expert to make the case for the Invacar as a classic vehicle, which should be remembered as a vehicle that was brilliantly fit for purpose. And yes, they are allowed on the motorway and yes, they can do a steady 60 mph quite happily. Mind you, Dez wasn't flat out that day! Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2540922/support]

Keith W R Jones from The Joy of Specs joins The 3 On The Column Classic Car Podcast

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2540922/fan_mail/new] Despite the title, you'll not need your glasses for this podcast since our guest, Keith W R Jones, is loud and clear.  When he shared the memory of the Vauxhall Albany with us recently, we knew straight away that we wanted to have Keith on the 3 On The Column Classic Car Podcast.  For those who have forgotten the Albany, probably almost all of us, it was a luxury Vauxhall Midi minibus, which came from the factory with metallic paint, tinted glass and, bizarrely, seats from the Astra GTE. Keith is an undercover motoring journalist, who reputedly knows everything, and has, over the years, collaborated with a diverse range of clients to provide bespoke car information packages. As well as all the information stored in his head, Keith has a personal archive of over 50,000 sales brochures, price lists, books, motor show catalogues and magazines.  With magazines, it is the smell, the patina and the tactility that make them special and, he reminds us, not all printed information and knowledge is available online. We find out about the development of Autocar's road test over the years, referencing the fifth wheel, and discover how the world of driving and owning a car, as well as day-to-day life in general, has been reflected in the car magazines through time. 'The Autocar Road Test Record' is Keith's upcoming book about the magazine's first century of road tests. Join us now, as we learn more. To read more about the Joy Of Specs. https://the-joy-of-specs.co.uk/ Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2540922/support]

Dan Ferrari Ford from the XR Owners Club Meets 3 On The Column Classic Car Podcast

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2540922/fan_mail/new] From having his first XR3i aged just 19, an XR Ford has always been part of Dan's motoring life.  Now his family have also grown up with XR Fords, and shared fun times with the XR Owners club.  And what is the ideal garage partner for a fast Ford?  Well, Dan went for a Mondial, his first Ferrari and then traded up to a 360: see the stories of his Ferraris and the fast Fords @danferrariford Are they easy to mend? Can you afford the parts? Can Dan fix it? Make a Dash for a Fiesta and park it in your wardrobe? But will it go up the stairs and, talking of wardrobes and cars, whatever happened to the jacket and shirts on the coat hook of the business car? When the Escort gave way to the Focus, there was a new class leader, and it was brilliant, an engineering triumph.  Did we really know how good it was?   Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2540922/support]