Enstone ends VSCC Golden Jubilee season

With the December driving-tests at Enstone near Oxford on December 1st, the. Vintage SCC brought to an end its successful Golden Jubilee season, the entry numbering 61 cars, some shared by more than one driver, for the ten tests. The weather was kind, although the aerodrome was ringed by heavy rain-storms. Don’t ask me to explain the names given to the tests, such as “Te Kanawa’s Canter” and “Ricciarelfi’s Race”… Suffice it to say there were even a few “new” vintage cars among the regulars, such as Stanton’s recently-imported Rochet-Schneider saloon, a choice example of well-seasoned French car with an external searchlight, bulb horn, and window tassels, that rolled round in spirited style and looked exactly as if it might once have been a new exhibit at the Paris Salon, say around 1919.

Vauxhall 30/98s were driven by Peppercorn, C. Marsh, who kept his hood up, and Franklin and Scott who were sharing the latter’s ex-John Bolster car until the sump-plug pulled out. There was an early duck’s-back 12/50 Alvis with a special windscreen that looked rather as if it might have been on road-test for Motor Sport in Richard Twelvetrees’ hands nearly 60 years ago, Grant-Peterkin was exercising his 3/4½-litre Bentley, both Type 13 Bugattis of Moffatt and March were going well, and whereas Nice’s Ulster A7 was on original-size tyres, as was Bullett’s, Allison Moores was making good use of some very oversize rear tyres on her Ulster A7. The NA MG Magnette of M. F. L. Allison had a supercharger to aid its performance. A7s predomiated, nine being entered, and the Edwardian class was neatly composed of Collings’ veteran Mercedes, his daughter’s veteran Humber and Hicklings’ mud-spattered 1917 Dodge Four. Variety is the spice of these VSCC events and I enjoyed seeing the Raahauge Trojan and Dearden-Briggs’ 1923 Amilcar among the competing cars. You are also likely to see other interesting things at such gatherings and this time it was a rather sad Flying Flea with a two-stroke flat-four air-cooled engine. More important are the results, appended. W.B.