Miscellany, March 1998

This year’s Bert Hadley Memorial Championship for pre-war A7s, run by the Pre-War A7 Club, commences on April 18 with a hill-climb at Gurston Down, and ends in September with a sprint at Thoresby Park. Details from Geoff Roe on 01159 894091. The Club also runs the Grasshopper Challenge and a series of A7 trials, etc. Club details from Dave MacCurrie on 01455 239736.

Chris Searle will chair a conference at the Gaydon Heritage Centre on March 21 at which various speakers, including Lord Montagu, will discuss ‘Historic Motoring in a Changing Climate’. It is open to anyone, but early application is recommended. The fee is £25 per person, with free parking, museum admission, reserved parking space for historic vehicles, light refreshments and a buffet lunch. Details: FBHVC Secretary, PO Box 2508, Henfield, W Sussex BN5 9QW.

A Scottish reader, referring to last month’s article about John Cobb, assures us that the memorial stone beside Loch Ness, where Cobb was killed trying for the Water Speed Record, still stands, with the Gaelic inscription translating as: ‘Honour to the Brave and to the Humble’.

The FBHVC continues to campaign for motor vehicle rights and to this end has publicised the fact that vehicle preservation is a world-wide activity, involving over 300 historic car clubs and more than 300,000 individuals. This hobby which began some 70 years ago now constitutes a major industry with a multimillion pound turnover employing many thousands. With the enormous employment resulting from motor racing in this country, how can any Government ignore restrictions imposed from Brussels? The FBHVC is also seeking an extension of the Government ban of leaded fuel, to 2005, instead of January 2000.

Alvis owners are well provided with reading matter, because the comprehensive work by Peter Hull and Norman Johnson, The Vintage Alvis, has been followed by the third edition of Kenneth Day’s Alvis — The Story of the Red Triangle, which covers the whole history of the company, right up to the part its military vehicles played in the Gulf war. It has magnificent pictorial backing including colour plates, and valuable accounts of all the Alvis cars and other products. Published by Haynes, it costs £45.

Number 4 OF AM, for Aston Martin owners with all types of these cars, commemorates anniversaries and anecdotes and has a comparison between the Squire and the LM 10 Aston Martin, etc. Beautifully produced, it is edited by Richard Cutler and published by the AMOC.

Classic & Sportscar had named the most heroic drive of 1997 as that of Mark Walker in the Parker-GN anywhere in the wet, especially on Prescott semi-circle, and no-one can argue with that…