Club news, July 1941

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A COMBINED CLUB GATHERING

The Vintage S.( Bugatti Owners’

Club and E.R.A. Club were due to stage their long-awaited and ambitious combined gathering at Chessington Zoo on July 13th—just too late for a report to be included in this issue, so that a full account will appear next month. The programme included tea, dinner, an exhibition of veteran and racing bolides and Monkhouse’s inimitable film-show. Sam Cluttoti, Erie Giles and Rivers-Fletcher bore the brunt of the organisation, and we hope that there will be more such events subsequently.

750 CLUB

The 750 Club meeting, scheduled for July tith at Coulsdon,also was just too late to be reported in this issue, when an effort is being made to bring MOTOR SPORT out earlier in the month in spite of further reduction in staff due to men being called up andother wartime difficulties. At the meeting previous to this, we omitted mention of II. L. Biggs, who attended with his Fiat 500, but did not stop for tea. A ” Bulletin ” has now turned up again, and most interesting reading is contained therein. We particularly like Holland Birkett’s article on continental touring With an ” Ulster ” Austin Seven. In a letter he urges a small speed-trial, but he nut remembet that the R.A.C. is still allpowerful ; and the R.A.C. has said a most emphatic ‘’ No.” The club is probably going to be limited in future, so far as full membership is concerned, to genuine up to 750 c.c. cars—the secretary seems to be under the impression that the M-type M.G. Midget qualifies ; actually it is an ” 850.” Associate membership is fit

continue. Assistant Secretary : It. Capon, 159, riper Tulse Hill, Lond,m. S.W.2. (Tulse 6426.)’

SOUTHERN AMATEUR M.C.C.

The Southern Amateur M.C.C. held a well-organised Scramble on ” fresh ground at Pirbright Heath on June 22nd. There were four races and the results were : ‘250 e.e. race : G. Robertson

(Triumph). 350 e.e. race : A. Gaymer (Triumph). I.niimited race A. ca. intl.

(Triumph). Sidecar race : II. R. Taylor (Arid l Square Four). Novices Award : J. L. Kendall (Triumph).

SOUTHAMPTON C.C.

This chib continues to hold weekly meet ings Mee work !

RILEY M.C.

A recent con utittee meeting under the chairmanship of Mr. Victor Riley was exceedingly well attended and every effort is to be made to keep the clubalive.

WE HEAR . . .

S. II. Allard was marshalling, along with Alan May, at a reeent motor-cycle scramble. Both now use Ford Tens, but Allard’s father’s smart, chauffeur-driven Allard-Special is still in service. Sydney and his family had a very narrow escape recently during a raid. Whineop did not suffer the nervous breakdown we atttibuted to him recently and is now wit h the R.A.F. again. His wife is doing long journeys in the notional interest and would like to exehange her Fiat 500 for a small sports car of the ” Nippy ” Austin or M.G. variety, if all yO!’e is inten,sted. Strachan expects to take over Moldy’s ex-Peacock Gwynne Eight awl Boddy hos been running his 4-speed, f.w.b. Gwynne Eight coupe 0.11d finds it a quite desirable prollerty. lie may take delivery 4)f a vintage Amilear shortly and will probably replace his old ” Chimuny ” Austin Seven with a late-t via., slightly non-standard Austin Seven -1-speed ‘2-scater. Ile has been hot on the scent of a magnificentlypreserved 1910 7-h .p. 2-cylinder de Dion which narrowly escaped homb-damage in thehistbigLondon raid, but it is Jul elusive motor cal. A reader wants a really fast modern open sports car in really sound order ; letters will be firrwarded. The Ford Motor Company’s ariny instruction book, ” What a Twitt.” is terribly worthwhile, II you can net a copy. Cyril Peacock has been trying to insert a Triiimph Super Seven engine into an

Amilear, Stuart-Wilton has Sold, through this pauer, his excellent 3-litre Bentley to 21a1-1,t. J. It. A. Green, who wal,te ii P the Scuderia M .1.11.S. in the last issue. A 500 c.c. 1912 I’. and l, motor-eyele, in good condition. with original equipment. is for sale in liroinlev. record:. breaking .lowct I described rf:Cent ly by .1. J. Hall has :troused consideroble interest. But there WaS :1 (plieker Out . ‘Flu’ car race fl at S1111’1,4)1)1 t by 1.11(‘ ICIIWC/1 11 19.01 tiers 1I1 1927 was prcpared by Mr. t ‘mpleby, of th,pworth and Grandage, Ltd. He lowered and altered the chassis, fitted a solid rear-axlc and gears of K.RS0.1 steel. The engine was given a special camshaft, special eylinderheads, twin Solex carburetters, enlarged ports, strecial valves uuitI tappets, 1ti..E.805 timing-gears. It new type oil-pump, and

special pi:4(MS. tl I a compressionratio of 10 to 1 iL gave about 31. b.h.p. at 5,000 r.p.m. and as it 2-seater, reached .76 m.p.h. in A of it mile. When Hepworth had finished with it, he presented it to Bradfind Technical College. Ina it is no longer available. An experimental three-cylinder Scott two-stroke engine is hieing tried-out in a .small sports-car chassis. The sports editor of a N?cekly motoring journal, discussing Malcolm Campbell’s old Sunbeam, is under the impression that the Napier ” Lion” is a V-12 engine ; actually it is a “V ” unit with three blocks of four cylinders each. The car appears to

be the old :350 h.p. ex-Brooklands machine with some additious to the rear-end streamlining. Billy Cotton hought it, but it Seen!, h haVi, 10111111 its way ti Lancashire. It was not, of course. hy any means ” Blue Bird 1. Fred(‘ it Dixon has been loeked-up again. It. S. Shapley has acquired the ex-Denis Evans It-type M.G. with hvin-o.h.e. Poineroy-AleEvoy cylinder-head. It has been in the possession 1,f Val Handley and is in quite good order. Shapley intends to lower the radiator :thrum ti in. :old re-streamline the front end a Vier the Var. N-Ve know a ,,rasimit F and N type M.G. 4-seate1s. loth in the London

area, if needs spares. An attempt haN been made frmn an address in Sussex to run a him-page newsheet, relating to old ears and containing breakers’ advertisements for same. ..pparently the first istie was published if) SeptC16her t 9:38 as “lire Veteran Automobile and Advertiser.” butt faded. out after a while. A Salmsour is said to he for sale in Voreester. Many readers have requested reprints of !last AloTort Scoter road-tests ; we iiirrie to eommenee a summary of such rentals in the next ltiStIV.

GENERAL NOTES

There has not been .st, !malt motoring of late, if one u-v tarts. keearr,u.. it is Lou stupendous to he quite Left,volute, that two-dav dash ronlit I 116, iaird in the ( hrvsler. Put tine evening three enthu siasts went out to a local breaker•s anti spent. if most interesting evening thew, an early Lagonda saloon of the oil, inlet, sideexhaust and transverse front spring variety, mid a Riley ” Redwing chassis being auntaarst the ” to say flu it hing of a :f-earburetter ” Silver Eagle ” Alyis 2-seater, which later arrived at the home statute hehind an 11.11.G., proving, i•N:111O11:1.tic iii, to he in very strum] uunder. Then there have been great. deeds at his pailieular stable, where several enthusiasts kt’cp interesting ears in big sheds in pleasant country surroundings. Almosl. every line evening ” shop ” is talked while a r.w.d. Traota is gradually endowed with a new engine and an 11.11.G. is given routine maintenance. One eveningau ” rlster Austin Seven arrived. to be .stood beside one of I he orange, ox-works T.T. Austins ; another tina a stately Riley ” kestrel ‘• saloon, NN’ilson box imitating the sirens, broke a long journey to pay a visit. On another occasion very ” trials ” Austin Seven 2-seater arrived, pungent with “H fumes. stir rtable only by reason of twin batteries which were putting 12 volts through the starter., and its ituredibly dirty owner there and then took off its down-draught carburetter, pulled the Cozette compressor front the a li.,rementioned T.T. Austin and converted it to atmospheric induction in deference to ” Pool.” Of course, that led to a rim in the rain to a distant cafe, that a colossal meal of steak zind chips might be consumed, the crackle of the little car’s exhaust, its grand handling properties bringing back a rather sad yearning for better times, albeit the maximum had fallen hv some 20 in .ph. This same person was I hen met early one Sunday in London, the plot Irving to drive his nev? Ivtaxed Ilumberette down to the stable. Alas, the back-axle had ceased to di ive the previtms evening, so the T.T. Austin taken to a motor-cycle scramble. lie of these episodes that help one to forget thi VOt all)CarNi on yet allot her Saturday in what at hrst itppeared to in a ShelskY Speci:11,•’ hut winch, i!1 whit y, was an Austin Seven four-speed chassis with wooden mudguards and seat. The engine had been rebored and fitted with new rings, and in the early hours of the Sunday morning the car went away endowed with the hody from the aforementimied ” trials 2-seater. Next, the comic fourspeed twin-carburetter Gwynn(‘ Eight coupe was made to function, and very excellent it proved to he, needing real skill to handle decently by -reason of a vertical gear-gate and fierce cone-clutch, and having performance sufficient to offset the jeering el6111111AltS of one’s fellowmotorists. It handled well, too, Alereedes star wagging happily on the radiator-eap, so that we took it stritightavav on a 70-nub’ run, ending in Vest. End London traffic. Thus, with the official six-dayshard, the war rolls by, and peace comes nearer,