A WHEEL ON EACH CORNER

 

 

Old AYP was our family car from 1953-57. A Pre-Series Morris Ten-Four of 1934, it was already nearly twenty years old when dad got hold of it despite which it served us well for many seaside trips and holidays. I thought this might be Coronation day 1953 hence the Union Flag, The old girl certainly ran a family taxi service that day to and from our home as we were the only ones with a television, but I think it rained then and the weather looks altogether better here so cannot recall the occasion. Grandpa is in the front and Grandmother in the back with my mum so quite where my younger sister and I fitted in on this particular trip in I'm not sure! Being probably only about nine or ten years old at the time, I confess that I didn't actually take this photo.

 

I've always liked old cars but despite promising myself that I'd buy one one day I never did (you guessed it - the bus was quite enough thanks). I contented myself for years going to countless rallies up an down the country and found them paraded in large numbers alongside traction engines, commercials and my preferred buses. I still seek them out occasionally today though and have to say that it comes as something of a shock to see what were the latest and best models in my younger days being paraded as present day classics. I started snapping them at gatherings in the early 1960's so some of the views that will eventually be on show here will be quite historic in themselves. I wonder just how many of the subjects have not survived. Its inevitable I suppose that this will be the case for some, and others will be different colours if they have. Some will perhaps have been exported and, sadly many will have lost their original registrations. I find this particularly annoying because it often means that the genuine number has been sold off for a high price to someone who coveted his own initials for his modern car. What can the original owners be thinking of when they destroy the identity and authenticity of their classic at the stroke of a pen? You can even catch out the makers of otherwise meticulously researched TV dramas who use these re-registered vehicles for their productions and you see, for example, numbers before letters registered pre-war cars on film set streets. Examples I have noted are Campion, Miss Marple, Poirot, and Foyles War.

 

 

Coming somewhat more up to date, so not (by a long way) the oldest classic that you'll be seeing on this page - The Austin Vanden Plas Princess of about 1971. The various badge-engineered versions of the BMC/BLMC 1100/1300  were always a personal favourites of mine amongst later post-war offerings at rallies. I learned to drive on one!  Photo taken over twenty-five  years ago. At this time it was probably still in everyday use so is probably not still around today.

 

 

Nash Metropolitan, basically, I believe, an Austin A40

 

HERE'S A SELECTION FROM A 1992 VAUXHALL MEET AT

BILLING AQUADROME IN NORTHAMPTON

 

My dad always hankered after a Vauxhall Victor in the late 1950s (like picture 10) but by the time he finally got one in 1963 the new model  (picture 2) had arrived on the scene. Like its predecessor, and a few other Vauxhalls and other cars of the period, it was still a perambulating rustbucket however and BMF313A was bristling with corrosion and not fit for much by 1969. Owners of these cars today deserve a lot of praise for managing to keep them on the road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

......and here's a couple  of other Vauxhall shots, from  recent local steam fairs at Hollowell and Holcot ....

........

 

This one illustrates well the point I make about registrations - Its probably 1950s though the car is 1930s but at least its letters before numbers!

 

AUSTIN & MORRIS SELECTION

 

A variety of Austin and Morris preserved classics from different eras seen in (2008) at special events at the East Anglia Transport Museum at Carlton Colville Lowestoft and at the Northampton & Lamport Railway at Chapel Brampton Northampton

 

CARLTON COLVILLE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPEL BRAMPTON

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE RAC THOUSAND MILES TRIAL

 

 

In 1970 it was the anniversary of this famous and important endurance test for motors organised by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC). I believe the original event took place in 1900 so this would have been the seventieth anniversary commemoration. I have the brochure somewhere but could not locate it to help me with these words so cannot remember what the starting point or the actual date was. There had apparently been similar events in 1950 and 1960.

 

It took place on a Sunday ending in the City of London. I heard about it and went along without knowing its exact location. On enquiring at a city police station I found that they were in ignorance of the whole thing but they thanked me for telling them! Eventually I found the arrivals area to be at London Wall, a wide dual carriageway that (being a Sunday) was quite deserted of other traffic. What follows is my record of the great variety of amazing veterans arriving. Many of the entrants were of foreign manufacture and there was a sizeable entry of overseas based cars too.

 

 

 

 

Star 1914

 

 

Fiat 1913 (Italy)

 

 

FN  1909 (Belgium)

 

 

Rover 1907

 

 

Belsize 1907

 

 

Adler 1909 (Germany)

 

 

Panhard-Levassor 1903 (France)

 

 

Rolls Royce 1913

 

 

Model 'T' Ford (Tin Lizzie)

 

 

Alldays 19??

 

 

  Panhard-Levassor   19?? (France)

 

 

??????

 

 

Mercedes 1902 (Germany)

 

 

Talbot 1906

 

 

Dennis 8hp 1902

 

 

Alldays & Onions 1909

 

 

Renault 1910 (France)

 

 

Motobloc 1912 (France)

 

 

Sunbeam 1914

 

 

Sunbeam 1913

 

 

Thomas Flyer 1908 (USA)

 

 

Rover 1913

 

 

 

Renault 1910 (France)

 

 

Austin ???

 

LOTS MORE CAR PIX 

TO COME INCLUDING THE VCC BRIGHTON EVENT, A MAJOR VCC GATHERING AT CRYSTAL PALACE C.1972 A BIG BENTLEY MEET, AMERICAN CARS, AND GENERAL RALLY SHOTS FROM JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE - PLEASE KEEP LOOKING

 

BENTLEY GATHERING (parargaph under development)

 

Also in aroud 1970, I can't remember exactly when, I happened along to Kensington Gardens, more or less opposite the Albert Hall to find the early stages of a gathering of the great and good of the classic automobile world in the shape of a sizeable assembly of Bentleys, almost certainly I would think, organised by the Bentley Drivers Club. I'm sure it was not an advertised public event and no information was provided ( I would think that the participants knew all that they needed to know about Bentleys) but, of course, they could not prevent the public taking a look which I did and I captured these views. I am short of much technical and other information to individually caption all the views but hope to complete this aspect soon. Thanks are due to Robert McLellan's USA website www.VintageBentleys.org for the details of some of the earlier vehicles shown below.

 

Serious money here, even then. Many will no doubt be different colours, have different owners and some are probably no longer on these shores, but you don't often see such a comprehensive one marque display nowadays so enjoy the spectacle even if it can only be one-dimensional.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YR 1978: 6.5ltr Mulliner bodied convertible saloon 1926. This one is now thought to be in the Netherlands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gurney Nutting bodied Coupe - 1930

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recorded now as having a massive 8ltr engine, this is a Mulliner bodied Saloon of 1932

 

 

Shown here, another 8ltr powered monster (1931) with a super attractive saloon body by Freestone & Webb. It apparently now has a replica racing body and as such, whenever this was done, was immediately more valuable for it I suppose.  As a non-Bentley enthusiast I cannot but be unhappy to hear of actions like this. Anyway I hope that the original body was saved and transferred and not just smashed up!

 

 

Coupe (1930) with Gurney Nutting bodywork

 

 

 

A 3ltr saloon of 1924 - body maker unknown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.5ltr powered saloon (1929) with coachwork by Harrison

 

 

 

Apparently from Jersey Channel Islands

 

 

3ltr Saloon (1931) - Gurney Nutting built the body

 

 

3ltr Racer (1925) with bodywork by Jarvis