V-E-V odds & ends, May 1979

Those who feel that minority movements deserve especial support will be glad to know that the Trojan OC had its AGM and dinner on April 7th and intends to stage its Gloucester Rally on July 7th. Its magazine, Spring edition, carried an advertisement reminding us that the RAF used Trojan two-stroke trucks, then priced from £135, and had placed many repeat orders for them, an article about a Trojan Wayfarer bought from a breaker for £14 when it was only a couple of years old, and details of the Trojan camp beds, priced from 21/- (105p) before the war. A derelict Humber 14/40, registered as an agricultural vehicle, is being restored by a Humber Register member and fitted with a two-seater body off a similar Humber. In the International Year of the Child the UNICEF is holding what sounds like an ambitious rally in the grounds of Milton House, near Salisbury, on July 1st, which will have veteran and vintage cars present. So if you want to support a good cause and see some interesting vehicles, note the date. There will be plaques for drivers who attend – entry forms from Lady Lewando, UK Committee for UNICEF, 46-48 Osnaburg Street, London NW1 3PC. An ABC motorcycle has come to light in Herefordshire and another is reported from Holland, where one family has owned it since it was new. In Lincolnshire an ABC Scootamota is being restored and two WW1 ABC auxiliary engines, of the kind used to pump water from the trenches, one of 250 c.c. and the other a 500 c.c. unit with Lyons & Wrench generator, are being rebuilt in Surrey – this from the Bean CC magazine. Re-reading Woudenberg, an intriguing snippet emerges. It seems that at the time when the Ford V8 was a new car it was estimated that there were some 7,000,000 Fords on the roads, and of these nearly 6o% were Model-Ts, although the famous “Tin Lizzie” model had not been made for more than five years. The demand for spares for these aged planetary-transmission Fords was then still enormous and as late as 1932 the factory is said to have supplied 135 brand-new Model-T engines. However, good as the Model-T was, with the advent of the Model-A Ford, and its precision production methods, Ford was able, apparently, to cut its spare-parts stock by 50%.

An unusual flat-twin ABC car which someone converted to water cooling and fitted with a lowbuilt sports two-seater body many years ago has surfaced and was offered for sale recently. In the last issue before the regretted demise of the London-published Prince Marshall/Nick Baldwin Old Motor, reference was made therein to the remarkable building on its five-acre site at Barlby Road, North Kensington, from which the first of Lord Shrewsbury’s Talbots emerged in 1904 and where the Roesch Talbots were made between the wars. It was stated that although this “perfectly-preserved and almost completely unaltered Edwardian building” was known to the GLC’s Historic Buildings Division, it is not protected as a Listed Building because this depends on architectural importance, not historical significance. It was suggested that those concerned might like to write to Mr. J. W. George, Room 605c, GLC, County Hall, Waterloo, London, SE1, suggesting that this early motor factory be preserved. No doubt members of the STD Register will be anxious to take some action. Incidentally, the STD Register’s annual Wolverhampton Week-End is on June 30th/July 1st and their Driving Tests at Sandhurst in Mid-September. Vintage and p.v.t. cars, to a rather original dating scheme, and historic commercial vehicles, will take place in the 2nd Sandwell Parade, starting from Swan Pool Car Park, Sandwell, at about to a.m. on May 13th, going through Wednesbury, Tipton, Oldbury and Smethwick, to finish at Dartmouth Park, West Bromwich at about noon, for a static display and Concours d’Elegance. This event has the support of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. Entries have closed but you may care to spectate. A veteran 6 h.p. single-cylinder Imperial has been restored and should be seen in VCC runs this year. There is a great use of oldcar material these days for show-biz and advertising purposes, etc., so it is not surprising that it sometimes goes astray. A reader has, for example, pointed out to us that on the FameII Instruments’ calendar there is a fine colour picture of a 1912 Unic drophead coupe, the caption to which draws attention to “the brass fire-prevention canister to hand on the runningboard”. This is, of course, an acetylene generator! Singer National Day is at Knebworth House, Knebworth, Hens on May 27th and the Riley Register has its 25th Anniversary Rally in Coventry over the weekend of June 30th/July 1st.