Another Centenary celebration

The Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers quite rightly regards the 100th birthday of the motor car to have occured in 1986 and it duly celebrated the occasion at Ragley Hall seat of the Marquis of Hertford, with the Master, Richard Dennis Casseley Dallimore heading the Court. A fine assembly of cars both ancient and modern had been assembled and among the coachbuilders represented were Abbey, Abbott. Barker. Blokes, Cockshoot, Ferguson. Freestone & Webb, Garner, Gurney Nutting, Lawton-Goodman, Mayfair, H. J Mulliner/Weymann, Page 8, Hunt. Park Ward. Penman, Scott Bros., Thrupp & Maberley, Vanden PLas, Vauxhall, Windsor and James Young, while the Duke of Westminster’s Dress Coach is on view at Ragley Hall The cars displaying special coachwork included Model-T Ford, Lanchester, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Daimler, Alvis, Albion. Vauxhall and Renault, while the Lawton-Goodman saloon was on the 1930 20/70 hp Whitlock splendidly restored by Graham Bennett over the past five years it having been off the road since about 1956. It must surely be the last of its breed, and displayed lockable tool bones on either side of the scuttle.

A Model-T Ford stood beside Rolls-Royce Motors’ two-cylinder 10 hp Cookshoot tourer. R-R having also sent the famous Barkerbodied 40/50 hp Silver Ghost. Bryan Goodman ‘s also very original 1911, closed Silver Ghost was there, the Royal Mews had sent the H.J Mulliner Rolls-Royce Phantom V which was a wedding present to Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 1950. Coventry’s Museum of British Road Transport had provided another Royal car in the form of the late Queen Mary’s Hooper bodied Daimler that once had a Double-Six engine, and it was nice to see Richard Dallimore. the Master, practising what he preaches with a shared entry of a Mulliner Cloud I, and a 1951 Daimler D18 Special Sports Hooper coupe of the type owned by HM King George VI, now owned by David Adcock. Lord Montagu led the Concours d’Elegance Judges and the National Motor Museum had contributed its 1906 20/30 hp Renault limousine. Lord Strathcarron had his de Dion-engined 1903 Georges-Richard present that has done 25 Brighton Runs the ex-Stratford Motor Museum’s Pll Rolls-Royce with high-lift camshaft was there, and it was a day of fine cars, with a good sprinkling of 4 1/2-litre and Continental Bentleys, etc. Mrs Ridley showed an open Abbott-bodied Lanchester Ten, Marie Adcock a Daimler Barker drop-head Special Sports coupe, the Ford Motor Co ‘s Ford V8 Pilot “Woodie” reminded one of the .’Queen Mum s’ love of these cars, Vauxhall had their Prince Henry present and the 1907 Austin had a large brass casting on the floor reminding its driver of which was the clutch pedal which the brake.

Modern cars were displayed in impressive numbers by Aston Martin Lagonda, Austin Rover, Coleman Milne, Ford of Britain. Jaguar Cars, Land Rover, Lotus Cars, Lynx Engineering, Morgan, Reliant, Rolls-Royce Motors. RS Panels. TVA, TWR, Vauxhall Motors and Wood & Pickett and the MG POE Project coupe had been flown back specially from Turin, while Tommy Sopwith ai rived by helicopter The Guest of Honour at the Banquet was Mr. John Egan of Jaguar Cars. Incidentally, the Worshipful Company of Coachbuilders 1985 Award went to Robin Herd. CBE, of March Engineering, for his work on F1 racing cars. Other awards were as follows Gold Certificate. Rolls Royce Phantom VI Series Production Car Vauxhall Belmont Specialist Class • Lynx D-Type and Austin Montego Estate Prototype Class: Rover CCV. – W.B