Brescias at play

Owners of 113, T22 and 123 Bugattis spent an enjoyable weekend in Herefordshire on July 29-30, organised by Barbara and Ernie Allen.

Assembling at the home of Bunty and Hamish Moffatt for lunch, they took in a trials route around an airstrip before departing by a scenic route to Hereford’s Museum of Cider, and dinner in Bulmer’s Cider Mill. Next morning another scenic route took the Brescias to the home of Carole and Rodney Felton near Ross-on-Wye for another excellent lunch, and driving tests in the castle keep and adjacent meadows.

By this time eleven Brescias had arrived, one on its trailer awaiting a new body. Rodney and Sir John Venables-Llewellyn had a go in Moffatt’s wicker-seat T13, and the former shared his well-known car with Ernie Allen, who had brought his recently-completed three-seater (the only one with two-wheel braking) and has more Brescias in his workshop. The Rippons had their smart blue late-model Wills-bodied tourer, Mrs Sylvia Roberts in her long-chassis pointed-tail two-seater was the only lady trying the tests, and David Sewell had both his well-known Brescia and his recalcitrant “Cordon Rouge” hybrid, which Sir John eventually persuaded to fire up. The test times were for personal edification only, but we enjoyed fast runs and skid-turns by Moffatt and Sewell, and by a Riley Special. In the car-parks T37, T35, FWD Alvis, Monza Alfa, Rolls-Royce tourer and others supported the exploits of these early types from Molsheim. WB