S.T.D. Register Inter-Register Contest (April 3rd)
The S.T.D. Register’s first Inter-Register Contest of 1960 consisted of a navigational-cum-observation run which started from the Stratton Hotel, Stratton, near Cirencester, which has just been taken over by Dick Henderson—next time you are that way, call in and look at the pictures of radiators that adorn the bar!
Thirty competitors took part, of which the S.T.D. Register produced four Sunbeams and a couple of Talbots, the 12/50 Alvis Register six entries, the Fiat Register four Fiats, comprising Longson’s rare 1930 sports 514MM, a 1926 501B, a 503 and a 509A, the Bull-Nose Morris Club a varied entry of five, including Cowley, Oxford and Lytton Jarman’s 1926 ex-Fernihough M.G. Super Sports, and the newly-invited Austin 12/4 Register seven cars, of which the most exciting was R. J. Wyatt’s “Brooklands Sports” Austin Twenty with centre-lock wire wheels, a Frazer Nash camshaft and a throaty exhaust note. There was but a lone Humber, a smart 1927 14/40 coupé.
Drivers and navigators spent a busy afternoon in pleasant country looking for clues and collecting items such as a snail and a spider, but the cars were less strenuously tested, the time schedule deliberately being a lenient one (average speed under 15 m.p.h.), although one extremely steep hill stopped a Fiat and made many drivers wonder if they would suffer the same fate. The event finished at the Moorcourt Hotel at Minchinhampton Common, where an excellent 3s. tea was served. Mrs. Boddy announced the results, presented the prizes and paid tribute to the hard work of Mr. F. W. Joyce in organising the event.
Results:
1st: S.T.D Register, 69 marks. 2nd: 12/50 Alvis Register, 64 marks. 3rd: Fiat Register, 52 marks. 4th: Austin 12/4 Register, 37 marks. 5th: Bull-Nose Morris Club, 26 marks.
Best individual performance: R. C. Carter (1935 Sunbeam 25) … 26 marks
Best visitor: A. Collins (1931 12/60 Alvis) … 24 marks
Second-best visitor: G. N. S. Davies (1931 12/60 Alvis) … 22 marks
Second-best S.T.D. Member: C. G. E. Paget (1934 Sunbeam 25) … 23 marks
Third-best S.T.D. Member: V. Rawlings (1931 Talbot 90) … 22 marks
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West Essex C.C. National Speed Trial
This efficiently organised event was held at North Weald aerodrome on Sunday, April 3rd. G. H. Keylock in an F.2 Cooper made the f.t.d. of 21.70 sec. which was 0.83 sec. slower than Brightman’s record of last year. A heavy shower of rain in the afternoon did not affect the cars, even at the start, and most competitors got away without difficulty. This type of event attracts all classes of cars and drivers. There were home-built “specials,” Jem Marsh’s controversial part-wooden Marcos and of course expensive machinery such as the DB4s of Messrs. Leake and Gates. Towards the end of the day somebody decided to brake on the pneumatic tube of the electronic timing gear causing a breakdown. Nevertheless, the cars were eventually made to run singly down the course, and so use part of the timing apparatus, a tribute to the ingenuity of the club’s electrical engineers.—A. W. G.