pug_ham 242 3 Cars Posted September 11, 2011 Nice collection of valuable items. g Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
harryskid 193 Posted September 11, 2011 I am not jealous just pure envy ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happygoron 2 Posted September 11, 2011 I am not jealous just pure envy ! A better view of the 250gto courtesy of Martin Brundle (http://www.twitter.com/mbrundlef1) http://yfrog.com/nxynzkj Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DanteICE 72 Posted September 12, 2011 Mark Hales is a very well respected man in racing and is a very luck one at that. I was told he had the opportunity to be in F1 however the timing wasn't right, however he has never paid for a race car drive in his life. I've heard a lot about his skills and that is from other racers who were quite frankly jealous of his abilities. This is why he is Nick Mason's driver for all his cars, because he has great mechanical sympathy and understanding of car dynamics. He had to try and teach Martin Brundle how to drive the GTO as it is is very fragile and does not handle like current cars; from what Mark told me you sort of throw it into a corner and let the balance of the car drag it through and hope you weren't going too fast for the exit. Apparently (information from Mark himself) Nick was offered in the realms of £20 million for his 250 GTO; as unlike most it has a great wealth of racing history and not just by Nick and Mark. Mark works for TrackDriver Magazine (well part owns it I think) and I met him and worked with him at the AutoSport show in January and he is near perfect in his personality, such a nice man. Respect to both Brundle and Hales for driving that high cost irreplaceable machine at Goodwood. Geoff Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baz 421 Posted September 12, 2011 You could've saved some time Geoff; http://www.markhales.com/index.html Nick is also a bloody good bloke, the GTO is insured for more than that... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Simes 248 2 Cars Posted September 12, 2011 (edited) Mark Hales is a very well respected man in racing and is a very luck one at that. I was told he had the opportunity to be in F1 however the timing wasn't right, however he has never paid for a race car drive in his life. I've heard a lot about his skills and that is from other racers who were quite frankly jealous of his abilities. This is why he is Nick Mason's driver for all his cars, because he has great mechanical sympathy and understanding of car dynamics. He had to try and teach Martin Brundle how to drive the GTO as it is is very fragile and does not handle like current cars; from what Mark told me you sort of throw it into a corner and let the balance of the car drag it through and hope you weren't going too fast for the exit. Apparently (information from Mark himself) Nick was offered in the realms of £20 million for his 250 GTO; as unlike most it has a great wealth of racing history and not just by Nick and Mark. Mark works for TrackDriver Magazine (well part owns it I think) and I met him and worked with him at the AutoSport show in January and he is near perfect in his personality, such a nice man. Respect to both Brundle and Hales for driving that high cost irreplaceable machine at Goodwood. Geoff He also writes in Octane magazine. I've seen him race a few times with Nick Mason's cars, incidently he's sharing the GTO this weekend at the revival with Brundle as NM has decided he's not up for it. Nick Mason's book "Into the Red" is well worth it if you're a fan of these (his) carts. Comes with a CD soundtrack of them being driven around a myriad of circuit in the UK. He is a nice bloke and always up for a chat. Edited September 12, 2011 by Simes Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GLPoomobile 958 Posted September 12, 2011 You've all got it totally wrong! This guy knows what he's on about How very gracious of multi-millionaire lefty-luvvie Nick " to let us ordinary people take a look but not touch his toys" What has the Lefty establishment got lined up for us next. A guided tour around Blair's property portfolio? Wine tasting in Tuscany with Polly Toynbee, A guide to tax avoidance presented by Bono. Isn't this modern technology wonderful. Without it the champagne socialists would find it far more difficult to rub our noses in it!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy_C 50 Posted September 13, 2011 You could've saved some time Geoff; http://www.markhales.com/index.html Nick is also a bloody good bloke, the GTO is insured for more than that... It's not insured for anything like that as it happens but client confidentiality prevents me from saying any more I'm afraid. My boss has looked after Mr Mason for the last 25 years and I was lucky enough to see his cars for myself 2 years ago. Didn't meet the man but the cars were more than enough!! The GTO gets raced very regularly and isn't cosetted in any way whatsoever - bloody first class if you ask me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Simes 248 2 Cars Posted September 13, 2011 It's not insured for anything like that as it happens but client confidentiality prevents me from saying any more I'm afraid. My boss has looked after Mr Mason for the last 25 years and I was lucky enough to see his cars for myself 2 years ago. Didn't meet the man but the cars were more than enough!! The GTO gets raced very regularly and isn't cosetted in any way whatsoever - bloody first class if you ask me. I thought you may have been involved in the insurance of these! Don't you look after David Pipers too? I seem to remember you saying that they are uninsurable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2-Pugs 57 Posted September 13, 2011 You lot will no doubt roll your eyes when I say this but Nick Mason was apparantly one of the people Peugeot tried to sell a 1FM to back in the day. Unsuccesfully it would seem.. :-D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baz 421 Posted September 14, 2011 It's not insured for anything like that as it happens but client confidentiality prevents me from saying any more I'm afraid. My boss has looked after Mr Mason for the last 25 years and I was lucky enough to see his cars for myself 2 years ago. Didn't meet the man but the cars were more than enough!! The GTO gets raced very regularly and isn't cosetted in any way whatsoever - bloody first class if you ask me. I thought i remembered you saying something along the lines of what i said, it seems not, apologies! Exactly & i love that it's still used, and hard! To quote Hales quoting Mason; ''he told Brundle that it was ok to bash it, but please not to roll it over... A bash is part of the patina, but a roll would be impolite.'' Brundle & Hales did a shakedown trackday in the GTO at Silverstone last month too!! Mark described it as a 'Perfect day'! I should think so!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Simes 248 2 Cars Posted September 14, 2011 Aformentioned GTO with Brundle at the wheel (last years Revival) Not one of my best shots, but I should have few more come this weekend. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy_C 50 Posted September 15, 2011 I thought you may have been involved in the insurance of these! Don't you look after David Pipers too? I seem to remember you saying that they are uninsurable. Nope - Piper never used to insure at all but I believe he now does following an incident... I thought i remembered you saying something along the lines of what i said, it seems not, apologies! Exactly & i love that it's still used, and hard! To quote Hales quoting Mason; ''he told Brundle that it was ok to bash it, but please not to roll it over... A bash is part of the patina, but a roll would be impolite.'' Brundle & Hales did a shakedown trackday in the GTO at Silverstone last month too!! Mark described it as a 'Perfect day'! I should think so!! "a roll would be impolite" - love it! I saw the GTO in rolling shell form a couple of years ago in his workshop during its routine rebuild/refresh. It's been as far afield as Australia and the USA and racks up some serious road and track mileage. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
j_turnell 134 3 Cars Posted September 15, 2011 (edited) We had the GTO in at work this week getting it ready for this weekend, had it on the rollers Brundle was complaing it was flat after 6k and it had a missfire. It was eventually all sorted and it left around 10:30 last night lol. Sounded fantastic was revving to around 8k, unfortunately cant post any vids of it. Edited September 15, 2011 by j_turnell Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars Posted September 15, 2011 I saw this in a back street garage in Sheffield once! I couldn't believe it. It was the Pete Waterman car that was crashed at Oulton. IIRC it was all genuine parts but never made at Maranello and the American chap who built it back in the day ended up with some concrete wellies... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
screwloose 6 Posted September 21, 2011 Some of those aren't actually owned by Mason.... And they're not kept in a hanger on an airfield in the middle of nowhere as that video suggests. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy_C 50 Posted September 22, 2011 Some of those aren't actually owned by Mason.... And they're not kept in a hanger on an airfield in the middle of nowhere as that video suggests. Hate to contradict but they are and they are. Been there several times. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baz 421 Posted September 23, 2011 Doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites