Old-fashioned pursuits brought alive in a quiet Surrey village
When a friend invited me to a hill climb in Surrey I thought he mean rambling; instead we watched E-type, Bentley, ’Nash, Integrale, 2CV, Griffith and a puttering two-stroke 360cc Subaru slither up a narrow lane and disappear over the crest of the North Downs. An untimed event raising charity money, the Shere Hill Climb ran on a...
Through the thoughtfulness of that great enthusiast and historian, Hugh Conway, we were able to read an article entitled "Reminiscences of 50 Years in the Field of Aircraft Propulsion," written by Sir Roy Fedden, Honorary Fellow, for the journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
In the course of this long and interesting article Sir Roy writes about the 1914 G.P. Mercedes racing car, which,...
A section devoted to od-car matters
V.S.C.C. driving tests, Fawley (May 21st)
Following a Concours d'Elegance in the rally field of the Montagu Motor Museum, won by Wrapson's 1939 Rolls-Royce Wraith saloon with "fast-back" lines, the tests were held at Fawley by permission of Esso. The star entry was First's 1930 2-litre Amilcar straight-eight d.h. coupé from Prague. It had arrived via France and...
A section devoted to old-car matters
The V.S.C.C. Driving Tests, Silverstone, December 10th: The Vintage S.C.C. is on the whole traditional and in December it has its driving tests at Silverstone; it would seem unusual if it were otherwise. This year heavy rain showers greeted the entry of 14 sports cars, 40 standard sports cars and 21 touring cars but at least it wasn't foggy, or snowing. Peter...
A section devoted to old-car matters
V.S.C.C. Driving Tests, Shrivenham, February 5th: Traditionally (and, as I have observed previously, the Vintage S.C.C. is closely associated with tradition) the first daylight event of the year in this Club's fixture-list is a series of driving tests. These are held every other year at Charterhouse School, where the Club's present Secretary was educated...
The cancellation of the Belgian G.P. is still provoking much thought and comment, and having moved closer the issue is much clearer, though not officially. In Belgium, as in Germany, France, Spain and Great Britain there are rival factions trying to gain more power in the organisation of motor racing. To the motor-racing enthusiast who is not making money out of racing, but paying to watch, all...
Premier VSCC contest winner enjoys the fruits of a successful season of bare-bones racing
One of my appointments at the Race Retro exhibition (see also p22) was to watch the VSCC Motor Sport Brooklands Memorial Trophy being presented on the show stage. This award goes back to 1950 and Bill Boddy's desire to perpetuate the memory of his beloved Brooklands which never re-opened after the war. Bill...
A lunch to celebrate Mike Hawthorn leads to an unexpected private view
At the Bill Boddy Tribute Day, Tim Ely, who owns Mike Hawthorn’s Riley Ulster Imp (top), invited me to one of the Hawthorn lunches he organises to commemorate the Farnham ace’s death and his title win. In October I duly pointed the Mk2 towards The Barley Mow at Tilford, Surrey, where a gaggle of old cars assembled on the...
It was appropriate that there were three Brescia Bugattis among the 250 car and motorcycle entry for September’s Kop Hill 99th anniversary celebration. In 1925 Francis Giveen, an undergraduate who had acquired Raymond May’s ‘Cordon Bleu’ Brescia, crashed there and broke a spectator’s leg. As a direct result the RAC banned speed events on public roads, thus giving the Princes Risborough hillclimb...
A Section Devoted to Old-Car Matters
V.S.C.C. Prescott Hill-Climb (August 11th)
In a year of excessive wet, the Vintage S.C.C. was lucky, Prescott being bathed in warm but not too-hot sunshine. In spite of ideal conditions, only two class records fell, to Clarke's Austin Special and Smith's Alvis-engined Frazer Nash, and although Cottam made f.t.d. in the 1953 2-litre Connaught he was 0.95 sec....