Club news, January 1952

We hear

Those Schuco toy cars that intrigued us in our youth, including the brisk Schuco Mercedes, are available, from Harrod’s, although the price of the latter has risen from about 5s pre-war to 27s 6d. 

Eric Oliver, Sidecar Champion of the World, was to have tried the Kieft 500, the original Moss car, at Goodwood on December 1st, but Eric Brandon went out first and had irreparable engine trouble.

A very early Panhard dog-cart has be-en unearthed in Kidderminster and we hear of a pre-1914 Calcott light car near London. Lockhart has a solid-tyred Trojan which he hopes to drive in the next Land’s End Trial.

N Riddell, Bryn Maelgwyn, Cwlach Road, Llandudno, seeks an “8.3” Renault clover-leaf. G Wilson LDS, has the Alfa-Romeo in which GET Eyston took long-distance Class E records in 1930 at speeds exceeding 95 mph. TH Legget owns one of the ex-works TT Singer Nines and one of the ex-Barnes team cars is believed to be in London. The diesel-car speed record is claimed by J Jackson (Cummins Diesel Special) at 105.23 mph. A reader whose telephone number is Uxbridge 1108 wishes to contact the owner of the smartly turned-out green Rover Meteor two-seater which negotiated Uxbridge roundabout on Western Avenue, going East, some weeks ago. He apparently has two of these cars.

A well-restored 1907 Adams “pedals-to-push” tourer and a large Edwardian de Dion Bouton were lying in the open at a garage in a Hampshire village.

The Sporting Record again asks people to vote for the “Sportsman of the Year,” for which it presents an annual cup. Last year over 244,000 votes were received and Reg Harris got the cup. Here is a chance to do racing motorists or motor-cyclists some good—send your vote, with name and address, to 184/5, Fleet Street, EC4.

Clive Windsor Richards, well known at Brooklands before the war, is now managing director of the Galibier Eng Co Ltd, Farnham, which applies-electrolytical polishing of metal by the Electropol electro-chemical process. RG Bracewell, 19a, Great Victoria Street, Belfast, has a 1937 21/2-litre Jaguar with 31/2-litre engine. He wants to know how to tune it for speed and also needs an instruction book. A 501 Fiat with utility body was for sale in Essex for £25. The new address of Fina Petroleum Products Ltd is 25, Victoria Street, SE1. Newman Neame, publishers of Alan Hess’ latest book “Wheels Round the ‘World,” arranged for copies to go to Cape Town by road. They were taken by two young men and an 18-year-old girl who left England on November 20th to travel, via France, Spain. Algiers, the Sahara and Nairobi, in a 15-cwt Chevrolet truck.

G Tweedie Walker is motoring in a 1929 Rhode ‘Hawk’ saloon, and seeks some rear brake shoes for it. E George Bergiuis is anxious to discover whether anyone knows of a Kelvin car. About 13 were built and a dozen sold between 1904-6, by the Bergius Car and Engine Co, Glasgow, founded by Mr. Bergius’ father. The cars were four-cylinder, It ignition, live-axle jobs and at least one went to London while another competed successfully in the 1,000 mile Scottish Reliability Trial of 1905. If anyone has any information, please send it to “Firbank,” 250a, Nithsdale Road, Glasgow, S1. HH Archer is running East African Speedway Special out in Kenya. He uses a Mk V Jaguar as it family car and speaks highly of it and does his sports motoring in a I3/4-litre Gran Sport AlfaRomeo.

Congratulations to Barclay Inglis on his engagement to Miss Margaret Willis, and to Charles Buttner, Sec of the Hants and Berks MC on his engagement to Miss Heather Williams. And to Gilie Tyrer on his marriage to Miss Peggy McKay.

In Australia Alex Mildren has been racing one of the long-tailed aluminium-bodied 2-litre Dixon Rileys.

RAC Competitions Commitee

The following statement has been issued by the RAC about the Committee which controls the Sport in this country.

The Competitions Committee is currently composed of the following members:- Maj IA Baddesley, Maj Gen AH Loughborough, CB, OBE, HJ. Morgan, His Grace The Duke of Richmond and Gordon, DJ Scannell, AK Stevenson, OBE, JN Toulmin, RL de Burgh Walkerley, John Cobb, SC Davis, DG Flather, E Giles, Sir Algernon Guinness Bart, ,The Rt Hon Earl Howe, PC, CBE, VRD, RNVR (Chairman).

Lord Howe, is not only a past winner of the British Racing Drivers’ Club Gold Star, but is now president of that club. The deputy Chalmnin, Sir Algernon Guinness, was one of the leading drivers of the early years of motor racing and has never lost his enthusiasm for the sport. John Cobb is still holder of the world’s Land speed record, and the Duke of Richmond and Gordon not only has successfull racing experience, but is responsible for the Goodwood Circuit. Desmond Scannell is Secretary of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, and John Morgan is Secretary of the British Automobile Racing Club. JM Toulmin is chairman of the British Trials Drivers’ Association of which DG Flather is Hon Secretary. AK Stevenson has a long record of competition organisation as Secretary of the Royal Scottish Automobile Club, whilst E Giles, now President of the Bugatti Owners’ Club, was responsible for Prescott. R Hughes is Chairman of the Midland Automobile Club’s Competitions Committee, and Major-General Loughborough has been an official Timekeeper for many years. Major Baddeley, now President of the Motor Cycling Club, was the moving spirit behind its years of growth. SCH Davis was Sports Editor of The Autocar for a quarter of a century, and Rodney Walkerley is currently Sports Editor of the Motor.

In addition, the Committee is strengthened by the attendance of The Marqess Camden, a Vice Chairman of the RAC with a long and active knowledge of the sport as a Competitor and an Official; Major General Davidson who is Chairman of the RAC Technical Committee; and by an official of the ACU to act as liaison between the two forms of Motor Sport.

Thus the Committee assembles experience of all types of competitions from major International races to ordinary Club events.

Hot Stuff

The following story appeared in an Adelade evening paper recently. The car was a 6C Maserati:-

“Racing car driver Eldred Norman had two purposes in mind as he hurtled round Woodside course in the first event yesterday. One was to win the race, the other to get his lunch ready. Strapped to the exhaust pipe of his Maserati as it sped round the circuit were two cans of pork and beans–piping hot for lunch as soon as the race ended.”

December Quiz

Last month we decided to make the Quiz picture comparitively easy and in consequence were swamped with “entries”. Nearly everyone knew the car was an Alvis, many giving type and date. which, adds to the fun but was not called for. In actual fact the car was once owned by the present Editor of Motor Sport, which was when the photograph was taken.

The car possibly started life as a side vaIve “12/40,” a few of which were turned out with the “duck’s-back” polished aluminium body, circa 1923. But when Boddy bought the car it had an ohv “12/50 ” engine, and in this form he ran it for a time. It weighed only 17 cwt, had a chassis flexible for an Alvis (the engine was on a sub-frame), and performed very well.

One reader thought a strip should be torn off because the rather crude blade wings were mounted on the brake backplates, but we can assure him that they were mounted on the side-members, front and back. Someone else said he knew it was an Alvis—why you could even see the hare mascot on the radiator cap—actually this is a tin of metal polish sitting on the scuttle. Some readers drew very nice Alvis badges !  All right, wait until next time !

There were some incorrect solutions and these covered Jowett, ABC, Arab, MG, Hillman, Palladium, Bayliss-Thomas, HE, Windsor, Rover, LeaFrancis, BSA, Rhode, AC, and even GN.