Top 10 activities for car nuts in quarantine (part 1)

We’re just about all in (doors) for the long haul, now that COVID-19 social distancing and self isolating measures have arrived on the scene.

To paraphrase the satirical words of Big Audio Dynamite, now that socialising is death, better lead a boring life.

But it doesn’t have to be that boring. Particularly not for car enthusiasts.

Perhaps you’re already keeping yourself occupied reading news and reviews at carsales, but you may supplement that by rediscovering things that were long packed away as your kids grew up (or as you grew older). Things like these...

This really needs no explanation. You own a massive flat-screen telly with a games console or two to play games off the net or on DVD-ROM. It’s been a while since you last had a go. Don’t be put off by your singular lack of success last time. You now have a lot of otherwise unproductive hours to hone your skills to the level of a professional driver, and the training grounds are diverse.

There’s iRacing for PC, F1 2019 for xBox, PC and PS4, plus Forza for xBox One, Grand Turismo for PS4 to name just a few examples. There are also many older games that still stand up pretty well.

And you can even watch pro-racers doing their best on some of these platforms. Both Supercars and TCR have announced eSports series recently.

The driveway makes a perfect drag strip for radio-controlled race cars. Why not map out a couple of long straights with a couple of chicanes and corners?

Challenge your neighbour to a Supercars grudge match. Just don’t get involved in any Murphy/Ambrose antics.

Physical contact is currently outlawed by government – and we’re sure they’re not just outlawing hugs, kisses and handshakes.

They’re not as challenging as either RC cars or computer games, but slot cars (think Scalextric) can bring together a parent and their offspring for a bit of quality bonding.

With nothing more than a hand-held ‘throttle’ to induce oversteer, beating your rival is often simply a matter of taking the inside track and knowing just how far you can make the car slide before it spins out or spears off the track at full tilt.

Younger kids don’t always understand the whole competitive ethos concept; they just love the spectacular crashes. For them, it’s all part of the fun to run over and retrieve the ‘wrecked’ car from its landing site, Mum’s sewing basket or nose down in the aspidistra pot.

Slot cars are pretty tough; they will take a fair amount of damage before calling it quits. That makes them perfect to keep your young car enthusiasts engaged for hours on end.

Eventually, after the adrenalin gland has had a good work out, you are probably ready to sit down and pursue a more sedentary activity – something to test your creativity and patience. At that point, it’s time to drag out that half-finished model kit from years ago and get a move on.

The two best-known brands of plastic kits are arguably Revell (pictured) and Tamiya. Although assembling polystyrene model cars is more likely to be a pastime for older blokes, there’s still a lively interest in the pursuit.

Just browse any online model or hobby shop and see for yourself the selection of kits emblazoned with high-performance cars from Japan, the USA and Europe.

Any self respecting car enthusiast will likely have an extensive library of movies or TV series on DVD or in the cloud. Whether your taste runs to Ronin, Baby Driver or Bad Boys, there should be no end of films to keep you glued to the screen.

Cars driven to their very limits make great subjects for entertaining video. The films don’t have to be fiction, of course. They can be highlights of a race series, a documentary concerning an iconic sports car or a dramatisation of real-life events, such as Rush or Ford v Ferrari.

Whatever you fancy, however, there are probably hours of viewing pleasure in your stash of DVDs or already purchased through iTunes. You could download a great film from one of the streaming services (such as Netflix or one of the free-to-air TV channels) or even watch an intriguing doco on YouTube (like a Carsales video?).

The possibilities are almost endless.

Special mention to for Netflix latest season of Drive to Survive. Our Dan is the star again…

Watch out for Part two of Top 10 activities for car nuts in quarantine.