Brighton Points

Sir,

I was amused to see that my old friend Ted Woolley has been “knocking” the VCC again. I am not the Chairman of the VCC however, only its Hon. Editor, and the remarks of which Ted complains were not mine. It might have been a little more objective of Ted to have written to me, as Editor of Veteran Car rather than you as Editor of Motor Sport, however. Never mind, but may I use your columns to straighten out a few other points?

The London-Brighton Run has never been the preserve of the VCC. At various times it has been organised by the Sunday Graphic and Daily Sketch, The Autocar and for over fifty years by the RAC. It has never been a VCC event. I personally, can see nothing wrong in the VCC’s Chairman expressing regret that some of those who enter cars every year for the “Brighton” don’t bother to join the Club and take part in the very many excellent rallies organised by it throughout the year for veteran and Edwardian vehicles.

But he destroys his credibility entirely by his attack on the VCC Members’ List. I certainly know of no Club whose members and cars list is up to date by the time of publication and there is nothing that the VCC can do to prevent its members selling their cars to each other. The majority do so quite frequently without notifying headquarters. The fact is that nearly all the cars listed are probably still owned by members of the VCC (either at home or abroad) even though we don’t know by whom. The real value of the listing is that it keeps a record of most known cars and — like the VSCC members and cars listing (which is equally out of date after a few months) is an excellent starting point if you want to trace whether a particular year or model of car exists.

Human nature being what it is, them is no better way to handle the members list at present, and most members would prefer to have it, with all its imperfections, than to be without it. And that goes for Ted Woolley, too!

M. Worthington-Williams

Newcastle Emlyn Editor VCC Gazette