Club news, October 1942

The Enthusiasts’ Car Club

The Northern Car Club has changed its name to the Enthusiasts’ Car Club, as being a more comprehensive title, the club being open to all and not restricted to any particular part of the country. Regular meetings are held and there are 45 members on the books. A Bulletin is published and it is hoped that film shows, lectures, etc., will form part of the future programme. F.E. Ellis is chairman and Ellis, Gandhi, Morgan, Charlesworth, Murray and Andrews form the committee. The subscription is 5/- per annum.

Hon. Sec., D.L. Gandhi, 134, Heaton Moor Road, Stockport.

The “Rembrandt” luncheon

We sincerely hope that the second wartime enthusiasts’ gathering at the “Rembrandt” on September 27th was a success – and that is not likely to be a forlorn hope. Rivers-Fletcher and S.H. Capon were the joint organisers and no club was involved. Incidentally, in view of certain ill-feeling and confusion resulting from announcements that clubs, declared defunct for the duration, were running such meetings in the past, it is worth putting on record the true facts of the case, as given to us by Rivers Fletcher. The Chessington Rally was organised by Cecil Clutton, Anthony Heal, Laurence Pomeroy, Eric Giles and Rivers-Fletcher. The first “Rembrandt” gathering was put over by the same people and the London Zoo meeting was the concern of S.H. Capon and Rivers-Fletcher.

M.G. Car Club

F.L.M. Harris has had to resign his hon. secretaryship of the M.G. Car Club, a position he has fulfilled so extremely successfully for the past eight years, on account of increasingly heavy R.A.F. commitments. The Club’s solicitors will guard its affairs for the remainder of the war, and stocks of badges, etc., can still be obtained by members, on application to the M.G. Car Co., Ltd., Abingdon-on-Thames.

“Scuderia” Chemvamo

The group of enthusiasts constituting this “Scuderia” has issued No. 6 of its magazine, “The Spinner.” It contains news of its members, a description of a “works” T.T. M.G. Magnette and notes on plenty of interesting sports cars seen in use in the Midlands.

We hear…

Interest in veterans seems to be as virile as ever. The commencing of Hutton-Stott’s 1903 de Dietrich, as recounted last month, has caused a considerable stir amongst horseless carriage addicts. Hutton-Stott has also bought the 1902 10-h.p. Wolseley in Derby and a friend of his has unearthed a three-cylinder Duryea with horizontal engine, about the first that has come to light in this country. In Southampton a 1906 single-cylinder Rover is available for £40.

S.T. Waller, 45, Bassett Crescent, Southampton, would appreciate an instruction book for a 4 1/2-litre Bentley; his 4 1/2-litre car is laid up for the duration. MacLagen is motoring in a 1927 “Aero” Morgan, which, like Lowrey’s, has an o.h.v. Summit engine, while Birkett’s three-wheeler is coming along well – it has one wheel in front, a Raleigh chassis being mated to that of an Austin Seven. The Austin Seven engine is cooled by a radiator on the near side, the driver’s and passenger’s legs extend on each side of the machinery, there is a four-speed gearbox and the back axle is also Austin. Williams, the only Englishman extant to to be serving in Scotland, and Tony Rolt. K.N. Smith and D.H. Murray are together in the same German prisoner-of-war camp. They talk about motor-racing and are trying, through a friend here, to acquire Hampshire’s 1 1/2-litre six-cylinder Maserati in readiness for peace-time racing. Rolt apparently almost escaped, but a full moon spoilt the escapade when he and his companion had nearly made the Dutch frontier. Almack and one of his late colleagues are both in the R.A.F.

Foxlee has a late series Lancia “Lambda” and recruits to the world of two wheels include Kenneth Neve, who has a 1,000-c.c. Enfield, and “Porky” Lees, with a Square Four Ariel “Thousand.” Sam Clutton has acquired an o.h.v. Brough Superior solo. Neve has had a brief run in his “30/98” Vauxhall (O.E. 103), in chassis form. He has lowered it, improved the braking and copperised the head, and the car promises very well indeed. He has also acquired a 1933 T.T. Replica Frazer-Nash for his wife to use after the war, by which time a new engine will have been installed – the past history of this car is requested from anyone who knows AXH585. A completely rebuilt “30/98” Vauxhall, with Bentley brakes, is, or was, for sale at around £100 at Ald’s Garage, Doncaster. A beautifully preserved 1926 Anzani-engined A.C. 2-seater, with high compression head, is for sale at £4.

Dean Fales, writing from America to Cecil Clutton, reports that his “30/98” Vauxhall Velox is going as well as ever and, as it has only run 13,500 miles, he remarks that, driven at wartime economy speeds, “it should last for several generations.” The only non-standard items are the Bosch magneto, 20″ wheels, and the addition of a vacuum gauge and Tapley meter on the instrument panel. In view of the poor reputation of “98” hydraulic brakes in this country, it is of interest that Fales finds those on his car quite effective, providing the pressure is maintained at 7-8 lb./sq. in. Trouble starts when meddlers release the pressure, when fluid will leak past the plunger caps and on to the brake linings.

Last month we queried the whereabouts of the side-valve Aston-Martin which Lambert rebuilt some years ago and sold to Forbes. We now learn that it has been acquired by Anthony Phelps and is still in very fine condition. The front axle has suffered in a crash, but this is being rectified and the car will then replace the owner’s Opel. Phelps, of course, flies for A.T.A. and is able to enjoy frequent convivial evenings in the company of Bunty Scott-Monerieff, who works on A.T.A. aeroplanes, Amherst Villiers and Forrest Lycett. He might exchange the Aston for a 2-litre Lagonda, but it would have to be a good one.

Clark-Kennedy is a Captain in the Far East; his 1914 T.T. Replica 3-litre S.A.V.A. has fallen into a sorry state and its owner has patriotically presented the engine and chassis as scrap.

Graham C. Dix has had to lay up his D.K.W., but has bought another one, which he is pulling to pieces the better to understand its construction. “Tubby” Smith, proprietor of the “Ely” Hotel on the Hartford Bridge Flats, is said to have added a very early de Dion to his collection of veterans, and Boddy still hopes that it may be possible to “import” a two-cylinder Colibri from the Midlands.

K.N. Hutchison has sold his V8 Allard Special and is running a gas-producer Lincoln “Zephyr.” He is seeking a 750-c.c. car for sprint work after the war. His 4 1/2-litre Lagonda is still for sale.