Club news, March 1953
We hear…
Stirling Moss has been road-testing moderately-priced British cars made by the Big Five, for the Sunday Express. The Andover and District Model Engineering Society is organising a meeting of traction engines, steam road-locomotives and steam wagons just outside Andover on Easter Monday. The Editor has acquired some vintage clockwork Hispano-Suiza and Citroën models and wonders if any more “toys” of this delectable sort are around.
A newly-formed syndicate will run three Series-A Formula ll Connaughts in this year’s races. The team, financially independent of the works, will be managed by Peter Murdoch.
The pupils of Ackworth School last year reconditioned a 1922 Rolls-Royce “Silver Ghost,” built a shooting-brake body on it and then went for a tour of Scotland in it. They are now working on a 1927 Twenty Rolls-Royce, which they propose to take abroad.
***
Club Silverstone Meetings
Amongst club race meetings, all of them invariably enjoyable for competitors, officials and spectators alike, those round the Club Circuit at Silverstone are particularly praiseworthy. If by the end of the year regular habituees get somewhat tired of driving along the same route to the venue, this is offset by the interest in watching different clubs and drivers using exactly the same circuit at each meeting. Strictly, admission to these club days is by ticket only, for political reasons, but by lunching adequately a member of the appropriate club a few days beforehand or even by addressing a begging letter to the appropriate club secretary, you will usually be able to equip yourself and friends with the required piece of pasteboard and will only be called on to pay for parking your car. We give below the dates of those Silverstone club fixtures, as they are agreed at present (major changes are unlikely), and commend them to you, while reminding those farther afield that similar club racing takes place at Castle Combe, Thruxton, Crimond, Snetterton, Ibsley and other circuits. The Sport certainly flourishes strongly at Silverstone during club meetings, in rather a Brooklands tradition, and we again commend you to don winter woollies and aim your vehicles at this barren ex-aerodrome in Northants on the days listed hereunder :
May 2nd: V.S.C.C.
May 23rd: Maidstone & Mid-Kent M.C.
June 6th: Eight Clubs.
June 27th: Midland M.E.C.
July 4th: M.G. C.C.
July 11th: V.S.C.C.
Aug. 1st: Bentley D.C.
Aug. 9th: Bugatti O.C.
Aug. 15th: Aston-Martin O.C.
Aug. 29th: 750 M.G. Six-Hour Team Relay Race.
Sept. 5th: S.U.N.B.A.C.
Sept. 19th: Peterborough M.C.
The Motor Sport Club Trophy and cash prizes will be contested again at most of these meetings.
***
V.C.C
The Veteran Car Club of Great Britain announces the following programme of main events to take place during 1953:
April 11: Rally to Leicester.
May 2nd: Rally and Trial — Yeovil.
May 7th: Rally to Chester.
June 7th: Coronation Rally and Run — London/Windsor.
June 27th: Rally and Trial — Oxted, Surrey.
July 11: Rally and Speed Trials — Hastings.
Sept. 6th: Rally and Concours d’Elegance — Hull/Scarborough.
The highlight of the year will, of course, be the Coronation event on June 7th. Organised in conjunction with the Corporation of Windsor, the event will start with a Rally in Hyde Park. The cars will then proceed, in the course of a timed run, to Windsor. Thereafter they will proceed in cavalcade through the Royal Borough in connection with the Coronation celebrations. Finally, entrants and their friends will have the opportunity of a visit to Windsor Castle or a river trip.
***
Herefordshire M.C.
The third Welsh Rally will start near Hereford on the afternoon of March 21st and will finish at Leominster about 24 hours later over a route of second and third class roads almost entirely in the Principality.
The invited Clubs are: Brecon M.C., Bristol M.C. & L.C.C., Cheltenham M.C., Hagley & District L.C.C., Seven- Fifty Club, Severn Valley C.C., and Worcestershire M.C.
The mileage will be approximately 500 and the route will traverse much of the country used by the Welsh sections of the National Rallies plus the mountainous, interesting but little visited corner, Snowdonia. During daylight hours, competitors will pass through much of the finest scenery of Central Wales.
Applications for supplementary regulations and entry forms should be made to the Hon. Sec., “Caerdeon,” Camp Road, Ryelands, Leominster, and they will be dispatched as soon as they are available.
In addition to the usual outright winner and class awards there will be awards for the best performance by cars up to 750 c.c., and for those built prior to 1935.
***
Peterborough M.C.
The Peterborough M.C. announces some of the 1953 fixtures as:
Feb. 5th: Dinner and dance.
Feb. 14th/l5th: Night Navigational — “Nocturnal Noggin.”
Mar. 8th: Sporting Trial—Warco Cup.
Mar. 16th: Film show — Cook Inn.
April 26th: Spring Rally.
July 4th/5th: Night Trial.
Sept. 19th: Race meeting –Silverstone
***
Lancia M.C.
The Lancia M.C. are holding their Spring Meeting on March 8th, starting from the Myllett Arms Hotel, Western Avenue, Perivale, Middlesex. The following Clubs are invited: B.A.R.C., U.H.U.M.C., W.E.C.C., London M.C., 750 M.C., Lloyds M.C. and Chiltern C.C. The event consists of a road section of some 60 miles in the morning and driving tests on a concrete surface in the afternoon. Regulations may now be obtained from: Mrs. Neil Freedman, 4H, Hyde Park Mansions. London, N.W.1 (Paddington 9476) who will also be pleased to hear from anybody willing to marshal.
***
Mid Surrey A.C.
The Annual General Meeting of the Mid-Surrey A.C. was held at the “Queen Adelaide, ” Ewell, on January 16th. The Club membership now stands at over 100. The main events for the coming season are as below :
April 19th: Grand Cup Trial, in Surrey.
May 17th: Driving tests, in Surrey.
June 14: Speed Trial, in Surrey.
July 26th : Barnstaple Cup Tria — Hants-Wilts.
Sept. 19th/20th: Rally — Berks-Oxon.
To cater for the “standard car” devotees, a treasure hunt is being arranged for February 8th, starting from the “Sugar Bowl,” Burgh Heath, Surrey, at 2 p.m.
Fifth International Tulip Rally
Competitors in the fifth International Tulip Rally, which will be held from April 27th till May 2nd, may start from one of the following towns: Basle, Brussels, The Hague, Hamburg, London, Paris and Stuttgart. From these points of departure they are to drive, over distances varying from 460 to 530 kilometres, to Spa where the combined route begins, which is the same for all competitors. This joint itinerary leads via Luxembourg, Epinal, Belfort, Geneve, Champagnole, Gerardmer, Saarbrucken, Liège, Roermond, Eindhoven and Breda to Noordwijk on Sea.
The first competitor is expected to arrive at Noordwijk on Wednesday morning, April 29th, at 8 o’clock local time.
The system of eliminating tests and so-called “special stages,” which proved to be a great success in previous rallies, will be maintained this year. The final eliminating test will be held on April 30th on the circuit of Zandvoort.
***
750 M.C W. Hants & Dorset “All-Comers” Trial (Feb. 8th)
This event was held under wintry conditions on private ground near Christchurch, ordinary cars such as a vintage Lea-Francis two-seater and a 1-1/2-litre Invicta saloon and some moderns having classes to themselves. The exposed plateau provided a number of hills of the steep, straight-up variety, on one of which artificial hazards were provided. The entry of 19 suffered from non-starters, and a bit of a jumble occurred when it was found that small boys had removed the marker flags which indicated the “sections.” But everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.
P. Cooper’s Vanguard saloon caused much mirth by discarding personal belongings from its boot as it successfully ascended the worst hill of the afternoon, aided by auto-bouncing of the car on its soft springs. This episode was rendered the more amusing as the spring-loaded lid of the boot shut ere the climb was completed! This saloon won Class 2, with second place a tie between S. B. Southcombe’s Sunbeam-Talbot and K. P. Stanton’s Austin Seven. H. Sinclair-Sweeney’s Ford Ten-engined Special, only blown car running, took the Specials Class, with second place awarded to N. W. Hullah’s Allard, which didn’t look like a “special” at all. G. Tapp’s blue Buckler suffered too tough a skin to the rice pudding and clutch slip, and H. Birkett arrived too late in his new Austin Seven Special to do more than demonstrate to the crowd and his decorative lady passenger. A TC M.G. scraped off most of its rear number-plate but J. H. Street’s stripped 1,081-c.c.(?) Ford Popular saloon, sans doors and trailing a sparking cable, rushed about impressively. But how does he insure it ?
Of the “ordinaries” victory went to R. P. Standbridge’s Austin A40, from R. C. Warne’s aged Austin Seven saloon with four-speed box, S.U. carburetter, sports valve gear and other mods, which had been administered to during a night-long session. Stanton took the 750 Formula award, Street the I,172-c.c. Formula award. After it all the excellent Shell films of Le Mans and Brands Hatch were projected in a charmingly amateur fashion.—W. B.
***
Alvis Owner Club (S.E. Section)
The Chiltern Rally on February 1st attracted an entry of 19 cars, representing 25 years of Alvis design. The competitors found that keeping within the 40-mile minimum distance and averaging 25 m.p.h. was no mean feat on the winding country lanes. The special test consisted of a stop with the front wheels between two lines and a restart followed by an observed hill, all on loose surfaces of about I in 5. Only four competitors retained full marks on the stop and restart but most made light of the observed hill. Some 70 members and friends had tea at Beaconsfield, where results were announced and awards presented.
Results:
1st: E. M. Longton (1927 12/50)
2nd: Tie — A. W. Hardy (1934 Speed Twenty) and K. G. Rawlinson (1937 Silver Eagle).
3rd: I. A. Ballard (1928 12/50).
***
Morgan 4/4 Club
J. S. Atkins has resigned the Hon. Secretaryship of Morgan 4/4 Club and his place is taken by S. G. Dyke, whose address is: “Hawthorns,” Sandy Lane, Newcastle, Staffs.