VSCC Madresfield

Heavy rain tried to wash out these annual Vintage Sports Car Club driving tests, but thankfully it failed.

Hamish Morton’s Bentley did battle against three 30/98s, one of which crawled past in the first part of the fast/slow test, whereas the Bentley wanted to gallop. One of the best here was Mackenzie’s 41/2-litre Invicta coupé, but young Harcourt-Smith’s Ulster A7 seemed even slower at 36 seconds and Hancock’s dignified 1925 5.7-litre Daimler limousine went by at the rate of one rev of a road wheel per three seconds. Heard’s 1932 11/2-litre Invicta tourer also went quite slowly here, an interesting point (no pun intended!) being its faired door-hinges.

Turning out smartly — even hood up — was Hall’s 1938 16/80 AC tourer, and a racing note was sounded under acceleration by Bell’s MG Midget. Lemon’s 30/98 managed the slow section sedately, burbling quietly away thereafter, while Wyn-Owen was there with “Babs” (which kept to its trailer) to see his son drive his Aero Morgan.

John’s TT Replica Frazer Nash had sheet damp SUs peeping from its bonnet, and it was nice to see Beasley in a four-seater air-cooled Rover 8. Miss Brewster and her mother shared a Nippy A7, which was not quite as nippy as it might have been when Ma looked for a lower gear for pick-up after the slow run.

The results tell the rest of Madresfield’s rainy story. WB