PetrolBlog meets...@Petrolthreads

Automotive attire falls strictly in to two categories. On the one hand there's the frankly dreadful manufacturer-led or cheesy high-street clobber. Then there's the infinitely cooler rags you'll find on the internet or advertised in the back of car magazines. Petrolthreads is a company which falls firmly into the latter and is a purveyor of some of the finest automotive t-shirts on the net. Indeed, regular viewers of Fifth Gear may have spotted Jonny Smith and Tom Ford wearing some of Petrolthread's finest attire.

You won't find Volkswagen camper vans on the Petrolthreads website. Instead you will find some classics from the 60s, 70s and 80s, including the MKI Escort, Lancia Delta Integrale, Lotus Cortina and BMW M1. The latest edition to the range is the Triumph Dolomite, which also happens to be one of my personal favourites. So much so that I've ordered one for myself!



It is reassuring to know that Peter, the man behind Petrolthreads, is himself somewhat of a petrolhead. His own Twitter feed at http://twitter.com/petrolthreads is enough evidence to suggest as much. But Peter is also track day enthusiast and can often be seen at the wheel of 'Herman' the BMW during the summer months. Here he is to tell the story:

Last summer during a marathon internet car classifieds session I discovered a track day project BMW 325i, it had been used as a track car and then half way through making some mods the owner had lost heart, time and money and just garaged it. I was after a cheap rear wheel drive car to take on track and, as a child of the 80s, always loved the E30.

So the next day I called the guy and it turned out he lived three miles away from here in Milton Keynes. So I arranged to have a look but realised as a total mechanical numpty I needed help, and so via the medium of Twitter I sent a message looking for help. None other than Ralph Hosier came to my rescue, having prepped an E30 for racing, he helpfully came along to have a look with me and gave me some tips on what needed to be spent and where. And so a deal was done.

The car had mismatched suspension, front hubs from an E36, unsprayed wings and a missing M-Sport body kit. But it did however have bespoke carbon fibre sunroof blank and boot made in the motorsport workshop where the guy worked.



 

The first task was to put the original front hubs back on and get it road legal and MOTd. This proved to be little trouble via a local garage I know. Then on to a small specialist working out of some farm buildings in Silverstone to have the more serious stuff done. The roll cage was refitted - properly this time. A second racing seat mounted, new harnesses re-mounted and most significantly a low cost respray in what other colour but Red Bull Blue (pride of Milton Keynes!).  And I couldn't resist a new OMP racing steering wheel!

The car had previously been used for hill climbing, (by David Baddiel's Dad in fact), so the suspension had already been upgraded. But I did upgrade the pads to EBC yellow stuff.



 

Since then I have done three track days, two at Bedford and one at Rockingham and apart from shredding a brake caliper at the end of the first day which was a bit of a shocker, it hasn't missed a beat. During the winter I am going to treat it to some adjustable top mounts, a bit of a clean up inside and some new tyres, maybe even some 888s or second hand slicks.