Bangers + SMASH

May 28, 2010 10:23 PM

Caravan carnage at banger race

It gets serious at the 38 second point.

A race with a bang as drivers challenge for honours at the British caravan Grand Prix. Old cars and caravans were transformed into racing machines as 20 competitors gathered in Bovingdon, England for the annual caravan easter race. 20 cars and caravan combinations battled their way around the 300 metre tarmac circuit. The race is 10 laps and those vying for the title must end the race still towing their trailer.

posted by philip-random (28 comments total)

...or what's left of it?
posted by Clay201 at 10:26 PM on May 28, 2010

A little like memorial day weekend at the ferry terminal here on the island. A little saner, perhaps.
posted by maxwelton at 10:33 PM on May 28, 2010

I like dags. I like caravans more.
posted by codswallop at 10:35 PM on May 28, 2010 [3 favorites]

I smell a racing game mod.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:40 PM on May 28, 2010

There is nothing about this that can be improved.
posted by davejay at 10:43 PM on May 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

Ah, I see. A "caravan" is a house trailer.

This is kind of like "Car Wars", only the weapons point backwards. Each driver in the race has a substantial amount of debris that they can drop on the track to interfere with those behind them.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:04 PM on May 28, 2010

Like a combination of racing and demolition derby. People in my neck of the woods would love this.
posted by amyms at 11:18 PM on May 28, 2010

That's definitely Lower Wacker Drive.
posted by trondant at 11:34 PM on May 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

anyone know what the yellow flag indicates? seemed pretty effective...
posted by rainperimeter at 1:22 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

anyone know what the yellow flag indicates?

Hazard, slow down, no passing.
posted by rodgerd at 1:41 AM on May 29, 2010

anyone know what the yellow flag indicates?

"Attention, banger-caravan-race fans! Yellow flag special on curve five! Travel trailers half off! Make that all the way off!"
posted by maxwelton at 2:23 AM on May 29, 2010

Here is a Dutch tv program from the eighties with cars racing backwards. Caravans at 3.29 and 4.43
posted by Pendragon at 2:40 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

They do this at the Waterford, CT Speedway every fall. The whole Zen family always goes.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 4:57 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Any race where the focus is more on doing weird things/having fun more than winning is OK by me.
posted by toekneebullard at 5:34 AM on May 29, 2010

You'd love the 24 hours of LeMons then. Endurance racing for cars under $500. Pics.
posted by Tom-B at 6:11 AM on May 29, 2010

Those crazy Europeans. We'd never do anything like this in Ameri...What?...Did you say school buses?
posted by Increase at 7:13 AM on May 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

Is this the same town with the super excellent tank museum?
posted by Meatbomb at 7:21 AM on May 29, 2010

I should like this, but there are way too many stories of great condition classic cars getting stolen for use in banger racing - the most obvious case being that of the Practical Classics editor who (with reader's help) managed to track the path of his classic Granada from roadside to garage to banger racing track. The police and (more worryingly) the banger racing community did nothing about it.

So, yeah. I can't watch this without mourning the loss of many fantastic old cars (honestly owned or otherwise) wrecked in the name of entertainment.
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 8:46 AM on May 29, 2010

Weeeee!
posted by brundlefly at 8:52 AM on May 29, 2010

I am certain that I'm the only sick individual who was wishing for debris or perhaps an entire car to jump the track and crush the onlookers. Yes, I am certain that I am alone in this.
posted by ColdChef at 8:54 AM on May 29, 2010

The video is even better with the Benny Hill theme song.
posted by bpm140 at 9:12 AM on May 29, 2010

I am certain that I'm the only sick individual who was wishing for debris or perhaps an entire car to jump the track and crush the onlookers. Yes, I am certain that I am alone in this.

Actually, I was thinking it might be more complete if there was a children's playground just off the second turn or something, little darlings chasing balls across the track and the like.
posted by philip-random at 9:21 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

You'd love the 24 hours of LeMons then. Endurance racing for cars under $500.

Fun fact about this race -- if you enter a car that the judges rule to be worth more than $500, the car is seized and destroyed on the spot.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:46 AM on May 29, 2010

What?...Did you say school buses?

Holy fucking AWESOME! Not just racing… racing on a track small enough to fit inside an arena, in a goddamned figure eight!
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:59 AM on May 29, 2010

and then there's the NWLMRA
posted by philip-random at 10:14 AM on May 29, 2010

I-I - I- I have no response to this that isn't pure, genetic level joy.
posted by The Whelk at 10:18 AM on May 29, 2010

Briliiant!
posted by Doohickie at 6:51 PM on May 29, 2010

Didn't Top Gear do this? Bunch of motorhomes, from full-size land yachts to a camper van, going around and around and crashing bits off each other. It was that which made me decide to buy a shuttle bus instead of a motorhome for my new home.
posted by The otter lady at 10:00 PM on May 29, 2010