Classic and Competition Car 63 December 2015

December 2015
Issue 63
Classic Motor Show, NEC
Walter Hayes Trophy
Neil Howard Stages
VSCC Cotswold Trial
Simon Wright - Editor.
Contents
Janet Wright.
Simon has been photographing and
reporting on motor races for many
years. Served an engineering
apprenticeship many years ago. Big
fan of the Porsche 917
Page 3
News.
Page 9
Marks & Spencers, Longbridge opening.
Page 10
Walter Hayes Trophy, Silverstone.
Page 16
Regent Street Motor Show.
Page 21
Neil Howard Stages Rally.
Page 26
Classic Motor Show, NEC.
Page 36
Silverstone Auctions at the Classic Motor Show.
Pete is the man for Historic racing,
with an extensive archive of black and
white images covering the last few
decades of motorsport in Britain. Very
keen on BRM.
Lucy runs Jucy Rally Photography and
joins us to expand our rally coverage.
She loves anything to do with Subarus
and even tries her hand at a bit of
autotesting in her modified Nissan.
London to Brighton Run.
Page 42
Archive Photo of the month.
Page 43
Wales Rally GB.
Page 49
Enthusiasts of British Motor Vehicles, Coventry.
Page 54
VSCC Cotswold Trial
Classic and Competition Car is published by
simonwrightphotos.com High View Drive,
Kingswinford, West Midlands DY6 8HT
E-mail simonwright57@hotmail.com
Tel 07905 435973
Pete Austin.
Lucy Owen-Moczadlo.
Page 37
Check out our new updated WEB site at
www.classicandcompetitioncar.com regularly for
additional photo galleries, wall papers and other
additional content and join our Facebook Group
Classic and Competition Car.
Janet has been taking
photographs for many
years, and is also very
skilled in video. She
likes Aston Martins.
David Goose
Mick Herring.
Mick's first love is GT
racing, including Historic,
especially the Lola T70.
Has an extensive
knowledge of all things GT.
Syd Wall.
Syd runs Rally
Photography and covers
Rallying, Drag Racing
and all things American
Stuart Yates
David runs Motorsport-Imagery web
site with Stuart and covers GT,
Touring Cars and the odd Rally and
Classic car event
Stuart runs motorsportimagery web site with
David. Covers GT,
Touring Cars and
Classic car events
As well as this magazine, you
can follow us on Twitter
@classcompcar and join our
Facebook Group
Classic and Competition Car.
Front Cover. Porsche 917 at the Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham © Simon Wright 2015.
All content is copyright classicandcompetitioncar.com unless
otherwise stated. All photographs are copyright simon and Janet
Wright unless the original photographer is indicated, and cannot
be used for commercial purposes unless by prior approval of the
original copyright holder. We try to ensure accurate and truthful
reporting but if you spot an error, please contact us and will we
verify and correct accordingly. We do not organise any events
which are mentioned and we are not responsible if the event does
not take place or is cancelled. Please contact the event organiser
before making a long trip.
December 2015
To Subscribe for free and be notified when the
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check out our web site with additional photos
please click here
Page 2
Editorial.
Winter may be upon us, but the
mild weather makes it still
enjoyable to be out watching
motorsport in action. Rallying
and Trials don’t seem to stop
whatever the weather and the
VSCC even manage to do
Driving Tests in a windy
December. Classic and Vintage
car enthusiasts are a hardy
bunch and even over the
Christmas holiday period and on
New Years day, there will be
various local outside gatherings
and car meets up and down the
country, so to get over all the
rich Christmas food, get out and
meet fellow enthusiasts. Mallory
Park even has its annual Plum
Pudding Race meeting on
Boxing Day with a mixture of car
and motorbike action.
Bromyard Speed Festival.
News
A New event for 2016, the Bromyard Speed
Festival is a street motoring event which will be
held in the centre of Bromyard on Sunday 3rd
April 2016. The Festival is designed to celebrate
the motoring history from the surrounding area,
and the inaugural event will focus on Bromyard
as the birth place of the Morgan motor car.
The event takes advantage of the recent change
in the law, allowing motoring events to take place
on closed public roads. Participants will be able
to drive their vehicles round the course without
the vehicle having to be road legal. This will allow
single seater racing cars, sports racing cars and
GT cars to parade round the closed off roads,
while the public will be able to spectate from
behind special safety barriers. The event will
© Simon Wright
start around 10am on the Sunday and finish
about 4:30pm, with an hours break for lunch. The organisers aim to invite around 100 historic,
vintage and special interest cars to attend the street parade. The entry will be split in to groups of
around 10-12 vehicles which will drive around the course for a 15-20 minute period, with a leading
Pace car in front of the parade to determine the safe circuit speed.
The starting point for the circuit will be main Hop Pole Square in Bromyard. The event will be free
for the public to watch.
HSCC New Class structure for 70s Roadsports.
The Historic Sports Car Club (HSCC) have revised the class
structure for it’s successful 70s Road Sports Championship
for 2016. To encourage more cars to take part, especially
MGBs, the 1600cc-2000cc class has been split to 1600cc to
1800cc and 1801cc to 2000cc. The revised structure is over
3000cc, 2001 to 3000cc, Lotus 1600cc Twin Cam (Elan,
Europa and Seven), 1801cc to 2000cc, 1601cc to 1800cc,
up to 1600cc and Invitation class.
© Janet Wright
December 2015
© Simon Wright
Page 3
© Pete Austin
British Motor Museum.
The Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon in Warwickshire made a
big announcement at the Classic Motor Show at the NEC in
November. The centre will now be known as the British Motor
Museum and it will be the World’s largest collection of Historic
British Cars. The museum is currently closed for two months
whilst it undergoes a major transformation. It is due to re-open
on Saturday 13th February 2016, in time for half term holidays.
At the same time, the New Collections Centre will also be open
for guided tours, included in the admission price to the main
museum. The Collections centre will also house between 50
and 100 cars from the Jaguar Heritage collection. We will have
a feature on the new Collections Centre in our February issue.
When the museum re-opens to the public, it will operate
between 10am and 5pm daily. For more information see
www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk
The current building and layout are presently being re-developed
December 2015
© Simon Wright
Julie Tew & Stephen Laing unveiled the new name at the Classic Motor Show.
Page 4
The Bentayga First Edition
Bentley Motors have unveiled the new Bentayga to VIP customers in Los
Angeles during November. The exclusive limited edition of the most
powerful SUV in production will be limited to just 608 cars Worldwide and
creates an all new luxury SUV market. Bentley claim that the Bentayga is
the most powerful, most luxurious, most exclusive and fastest SUV in the
World. Each owner will receive one of three special edition Breitling
chronographs.
The unique design includes Union Jack badging, illuminated treadplates,
22” black painted and polished wheels and one of just ten exterior colours.
The interior features diamond within diamond quilting, bespoke ambient
lighting, Union Jack facia badging and detailing in metal, wood and leather
sets new standards in automotive design.
Bentley are producing 608 First Editions as this is the metric output of the
all new twin turbocharged 6 litre W12 engine - 608 PS or 600 BHP and
900 Nm or 663 ib. ft torque. This propels the car from 0-60 mph in just 4
seconds (0-100 km/h 4.1 seconds) and gives a top speed of 187 mph
(301 km/h)
December 2015
Page 5
© Simon Wright
Electric Aston Martin RapidE
During the recent state visit of the President of the People’s
Republic of China to the UK, Aston Martin unveiled a fully electric
concept of its Rapid S four door sports saloon outside Lancaster
House in London, the venue for a meeting between the President
and the Duke & Duchess of
Cambridge. Aston Martin and
ChinaEquity are going to
explore the concept’s production
potential. If successful, the new
luxury sports car would be built
in Gaydon and could be brought
to market in around two years.
The RapidE concept has been
developed in collaboration with
Williams Advanced Engineering at its facility at Grove,
Oxfordshire.
Autosport International The Racing Car Show
Something to look forward to after
Christmas is the annual Autosport
International - The Racing Car
© Simon Wright
Show, featuring the Live action
arena. The first major show of the
new year, it runs between 14th and
17th January 2016 at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC)
near Birmingham, England. The 14th and 15th are Trade days,
while the public can attend over the weekend. For further
information or to book advance tickets, visit their web site
www.autosportinternational.com
C
© Janet Wright
Classic and Competition Car Facebook Group
We now have a Facebook Group - Classic and Competition Car - where you can join and
keep up to date with additional Photographs, postings, and extra event photo galleries.
Please feel free to add personal postings and your own photos.
December 2015
Page 6
New VW Beetle Dune.
Announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Volkswagen
presented the new Beetle Dune in both coupe and convertible
format. Reminiscent of the legendary Baja California dune
buggies, the new Dune is available in new colours and an eye
catching design, plus 18 inch wheels and a higher ride height. It
can be ordered from German Volkswagen partners, where
prices start at €23,625 euros for the coupe and €27,800 euros
for the cabriolet.
The powerful character of the new model is emphasised by the
large central air inlet with a silver frame, plus black side trim
strips - Stylised “Beetle Running boards”. The ground clearance
is increased by 10 millimetres to accentuate its all-terrain
properties. At the rear is a new large spoiler with a gloss black
top surface, a new rear bumper with silver diffuser and new rear
LED lights, The car will be available in a range of nine different
colours. There will be the option of three turbocharged petrol
engines or two turbo diesels
Shelsley Walsh events 2016
The Hill climb meeting dates for Shelsley Walsh in
2016 are as follows:
Speed in to Spring
30th April-1st May 2016.
Best of British
4th-5th June 2016.
Reg Phillips Trophy Meeting
2nd July 2016
Vintage and Post Vintage thoroughbreds 3rd July 2016
Classic Nostalgia
16th-17th July 2016.
Championship Challenge 20th-21st August 2016.
Autumn Speed Finale
17th-18th September 2016
For more information see their web site at
www.shelsley-walsh.co.uk
Correction from Last Month.
© Janet Wright
The initial copy of the November issue incorrectly referred to the Eastern Bloc cars at Coventry as a SALT event. This was incorrect. The event
was Red Oktober and it had been organised by the Wartberg Trabant IFA Club UK. The error was corrected and a new version was immediately
published. If your iisue does not refer to Red Oktober, you can download the correct issue from our Previous issues page on the website. site.
December 2015
Page 7
Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari at Donington Museum.
Ex-Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 312T5 now headlines a new line up of F1
cars at Donington Park Grand Prix Collection. The car is from the
1980 season, which was a difficult season for Ferrari, but confirmed
that Gilles was one of the most spectacular drivers in Formula 1 as he
demonstrated his ‘never say die’ attitude. Entry to the Donington Park
Grand Prix Collection,
incorporating the Wheatcroft
Military Collection is available
throughout the year, with
admission for adults costing £10
and £4 for children aged 16 and
under. Opening hours are from
10am-5pm with last admissions
at 4pm. For more information
visit www.donington-park.co.uk.
New Range Rover Evoque Convertible.
One of the stars of the new James Bond films, Naomie Harris
(Miss Moneypenny) introduced the new Range Rover Evoque
convertible in an exclusive Santa Monica beachside photo shoot
by acclaimed fashion photographer Ben Watts, ahead of its
official world debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show. This is the
companies’ first ever luxury compact convertible SUV. The car
features a sophisticated folding roof to create a versatile, all
season convertible SUV. The vehicle combines luxury with an
elegant four seater convertible design with unrivalled capability
both on and off road. More than 450,000 Range Rover Evoques
have been produced since its introduction in 2011, making it the
fastest selling Land Rover of all time. The Evoque has also won
more than 165 International awards since its launch. The Range
Rover Evoque convertible will go on sale from Spring 2016 with
prices starting at £47,500 On The Road (OTR) based on the TD4
HSE Dynamic. For more information see www.landrover.com
December 2015
Fashion credits
Mint dress Self portrait, earrings Melissa Kaye earrings and ring, vitamin A hat
Pink Bathing suit by Peixoto. Jacket by Atea Oceanie, earrings and rings by Vita Fede and Graziela.
Page 8
opening day, a
group of Mini
enthusiasts
were invited to
display a few
cars on the car
park outside
Marks and
Spencer. The
Austin Mini
originally was
manufactured © Janet Wright
at Longbridge
from 1959 and there were several good examples of this much
loved British icon on display. The cars drew quite a bit of
attention from the early shoppers to the new store, and
someone even managed to sneak one of the new BMW Mini
saloons in to the line up - unless it was an early shopper who
spotted a parking space!
© Simon Wright
Marks and Spencer at Longbridge.
4th November 2015.
By Simon & Janet Wright.
The redevelopment of the former site of
the British Leyland (Austin) factory at
Longbridge continues with the opening of
the largest Marks and Spencer store in the
West Midlands. The expanding shopping
centre, off Longbridge Lane, already had a
large Sainsbury’s supermarket, a hotel and
several smaller stores open. The new
Marks and Spencer store now expands the
shopping centre and increases the car
parking.
With a ‘nod’ to the history of the site, on the
© Simon Wright
December 2015
© Simon Wright
Page 9
Walter Hayes Trophy, Silverstone.
31st October - 1st November 2015. By Simon Wright and
Pete Austin with additional photos by Janet Wright.
© Pete Austin
December 2015
Walter Hayes Trophy Grand Final
Page 10
© Simon Wright
Michael Moyers Spectrum 011C leads James Raven Ray GR11 and Rob Barrable Ray GR10 on his way to winning Heat 1
The high-light of the Historic Formula Ford season is the
Walter Hayes Trophy meeting held on the Silverstone National
circuit at the beginning of November. The large entry was
divided in to six heats which took place on the Saturday along
with a HSCC Historic Formula Ford 2000 race and a HSCC
Closed wheel race. After morning qualifying, the first eight lap
heat took place before the lunch break and gave Michael
Moyers in a Spectrum 011C a close win of 0.190 of a second
ahead of James Raven in a Ray GR11. After lunch, the
Spectrum dominance continued with Stephen Daly winning
heat two in a Spectrum FF1600 ahead of Ben Norton in
another Spectrum 010B. Heat three saw three times Walter
© Simon Wright
Hayes winner Joey Foster only finish a close 2nd in his Ray
GR08 behind Josh Fisher in a Van Diemen RF99.
American Peter Dempsey in a Ray GR08/09 was making an
attempt for his fourth Walter Hayes victory but he was beaten in
Heat Four by Kevin O’Hara driving a Van Diemen RF01.
Wayne Boyd driving a Van Diemen MS13K had won the
previous weeks Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch and
continued his winning ways by winning Heat five by just 0.082 of
a second from American Michai Stephens in a Ray GR13.
The final heat was won by Jonny McMullan in a Van Diemen
LA10 ahead of Oliver White in another Van Diemen JL015K.
The other support race on Saturday was the HSCC 50Km
Closed wheel Scratch Race. There was a great mix of sports
© Pete Austin
Eric Moulinet Van Diemen RF90 had a quick spin in practice at Becketts
December 2015
WHT Historic Final Matthew Cowley Reynard RF88 leads Nigel Thompson Van Diemen RF88
Page 11
© Simon Wright
Iain McBay Davrian Mk8 leads Myles Castaldini Davrian Mk8 and David Hall Ford Lotus Cortina
cars and saloons with Michael Schryver on Pole position in his
black Chevron B6 while at the rear, over 18 seconds a lap
slower, were a pair of German 2 stroke cars, Tim Bishop in a
DKW F12 and Michael Ryman in a DKW 3-6. Although not the
© Janet Wright
fastest cars,
they were
some of the
more
spectacular,
with both cars
lifting front and
rear wheels as
Winner Will Schryver Chevron B6 in the HSCC 50Km Closed Wheel they rounded
Luffied. The race was a walk in the park for Will Schryver who
lapped the entire field in the 20 lap race. Myles Castaldini
finished 2nd driving a Davrian Mk8, winning the Invitation Class.
Mick Luck
was third in
the powerful
6 litre
Chevrolet
Camaro.
© Simon Wright
Walter Hayes
Trophy – Day 2
by Pete Austin.
Mike Luck Chevrolet Camaro finish 3rd in HSCC 50Km Closed wheel
Almost
spring like conditions greeted everybody for day two which
started with the Progression Race. Roger Orgee in his Van
Diemen stormed through the field to win the Progression race
and repeated the feat in the Last Chance Race later in the
morning despite a red flag following a coming together
between Jennifer Mullan and Steve Barlow at Brooklands.
After lunch it was time for the first of the semi-finals. Graham
© Pete Austin
© Janet Wright
Progression Race - Roger Orgee Van Diemen RF00 leads Jayde Kruger Van Diemen RF92
Tim Bishop DKW F12 battled Michael Ryman DKW 3-6 for last place.
December 2015
Page 12
© Pete Austin
O’Hara at Becketts.
What was turning out to be an exciting final was rather spoilt
when an incident at Brooklands in the middle of the race took
out several contenders. Scot Graham Carroll (Van Diemen)
© Pete Austin
WHT Grand Final - Winner Graham Carroll - Van Diemen JL13
WHT Semi Final 2 Peter Dempsey Ray GR08-09 leads Kevin O'Hara Van Diemen RF01
Carroll came through to win this one after a fraught battle
behind involving Craig Fisher, Wayne Boyd and Jonny McMullan.
Previous multiple trophy winner Joey Foster came in 6th after
being tagged at Luffield. The second semi saw a narrow victory
© Pete Austin
for Stephen Daly from
Michael Moyers.
Another multi winner,
Peter Dempsey,
finished 4th behind
James Raven after
they were both forced
to run wide after
Dempsey had a coming
together with Kevin
December 2015
Graham Carroll WHT winner
came through as the well deserved winner from Peter Dempsey,
Oliver White and Scott Andrews. Much to his annoyance Peter
Dempsey was subsequently excluded from the results for not
using a HANS style head restraint moving everybody behind up
© Pete Austin
one place.
In the
Historic and
Classic Final
Matthew
Cowley
(Reynard)
scored a
narrow win
from Nigel
Thompson
Geoff Friswell Trophy - Rob Manson - Mallock Mk21
Page 13
© Simon Wright
Benn Simms Reynard SF77 leads Callum Grant and Andrew Park
© Pete Austin
Allcomers Closed Wheel - Joey Foster - Ginetta LMP3
in his Van Diemen.
The first support race was the Geoff Friswell Trophy for
clubmans cars with Rob Manson (Mallock) running out the
winner following the retirement of Ray Mallock in his similar car.
Mark Dwyer (March 742) took the honours in the Open Wheel
race from Neil Hunt having a run in a brand new Tatuus MSV
F4-016 (next years’ Formula 4 car). The closed Wheel Allcomers
race was taken by Tim Gray in his Spire GT3. Joey Foster proved
his versatility by coming in 4th in the spectacular Ginetta LMP3
car run, like the Tatuus, by Lanan Racing.
© Pete Austin
Allcomers Open Wheel - Mark Dwyer - March 742
December 2015
Supporting the Formula Ford races on Saturday was the final
round of the HSCC Historic Formula Ford 2000 Championship
which was still to be decided between Tom Smith and Andrew
Park. It was Benn Simms who grabbed pole position in his
Reynard SF77 ahead of Callum Grant in a Delta T78. Park
qualified fourth in his Reynard SF81 while Smith was sixth in his
Royale RP27. Simms dominated the race but was trailed all the
way by Grant who only lost out on the last lap to Park who
snatched 2nd and was only 0.315 of a second behind Simms at
the finish line. Smith had worked his way to 4th but was over 9
seconds behind the winner. However, Smith took fastest lap
which was worth another point and that gave him the
championship. At the end of the season Smith had scored 224
points and Park had 223 points while Callum Grant maintained
his 3rd place in the championship.
© Janet Wright
Fastest lap sealed the Championship for Tom Smith Royale RP27
Page 14
© Simon Wright
© Pete Austin
Allcomers Open Wheel - Neil Hunt - Tatuus MSV F4-016
Conor Murphy Van Diemen RF83 leads Nigel Dolan Van
Diemen JL012K in Heat 2
© Simon Wright
Alan Davenport Mallock Mk 18 leads Nik Spencer MG B GT in the HSCC 50Kms Closed wheel race
© Simon Wright
Ivor Mairs Reynard 84FF battled with Andrew Kludge Van
Dieman RF89
December 2015
© Simon Wright
Mike Gardiner Ford Falcon class winning 5th in HSCC Closed
wheel scratch race
© Janet Wright
Matthew Cowley Reynard RF88 and Jayde Kruger Van
Diemen RF92 had a coming together in Heat 2
© Janet Wright
Scott Andrews Spectrum 011C finished 5th in Heat 6
© Pete Austin
Allcomers Closed Wheel - Tim Gray -Spire GT3
Page 15
Regent Street Motor Show 31st October 2015.
By Mick Herring.
London's Regent Street
once again played host
to the free "Automotive
Mile of Style" between
Piccadilly and Oxford
Circus, displaying more
than 200 vehicles. Some
were as old as the
automotive industry
alongside the latest
innovations to reduce our
overall effect on the
environment and, in
particular on large cities
like London. In unusually
© Mick Herring
December 2015
warm weather,
hundreds of
thousands of
enthusiasts,
shoppers, local
London residents and
even rugby fans from
the nearby World Cup
fanzone at Trafalgar
Square enjoyed
looking at the eye
catching machinery.
The EFG Concours
d'Elegance featured
© Mick Herring
nearly one hundred
1904 De Dion Bouton drinks dispenser
pre-1905 vehicles ahead of their participation in the London to
Brighton Veteran Car Run, the award won by a 1901 De Dion
Bouton Vis- a-Vis owned by Mr & Mrs Gigi Baulino. The car had
© Mick Herring
been stored in Italy for
nearly a century before
being
brought to
the UK.
The most
amusing
anecdote
concerns
a 1904 De
Dion
Bouton
No. 303,
reputedly
TFL Oldest Bus
moved by
its owner into his living room for safe wartime
storage and enjoyed his pre-dinner aperitif in the
1901 De Dion Bouton still owned by the same family
Page 16
© Mick Herring
Toyota Mirai Hydrogen powered
© Mick Herring
driver's seat, using the car's horn to summon his butler.
TFL's oldest bus was present too.
Transport for London and Go Ultra Low, together with
manufacturers, showcased their latest concepts and vehicles
aimed at the Ultra-Low to Zero emissions sector.
Toyota displayed their hydrogen powered Mirai with 100%
electric cars like
© Mick Herring
BMW's i3 and its rear
hinged back doors,
Nissan's Leaf plus
Renault's Zoe and
the tandem-seated
Twizy at opposite
ends of the genre.
Also, don't forget that
the Race of
Champions has
returned to the UK,
BMW i3 Electric
December 2015
Continued Page 19
Caterham 6 Hour Build By Mick Herring.
Caterham's 7, the venerable car enjoying the longest period of
continuous production in history, came to London's Regent Street
as piles and boxes of parts with four of Caterham's most
experienced engineers.
Working methodically, in public, they aimed to build the car up
and drive it away inside the six hours before the show ended in
order to showcase the car's ease of build in front of the large
crowd.
They did their
sums correctly
and what they
would expect
their average
customer to
complete in
about 80 - 100
hours was
duly
completed in
the day.
© Mick Herring
Page 17
© Mick Herring
Ferrari 250 GT 'Breadvan'
at the former London Olympic Stadium on November 20th/21st
and to promote the event there was a display of a Radical SR3
RSX and an Ariel Atom Cup cars, the event drawing drivers from
every discipline including F1,
MotoGP, WRC, Indy Cars,
Touring cars and Le Mans.
Star of the show for me
though was the fabulous
Ferrari 250 GT "Breadvan",
the history behind 2819 GT's
construction is pure legend
and displayed on the
Silverstone Classic stand for
the huge crowd to see.
There was also the Spectators
Special Award, voted for online, that went to the 1903
© Mick Herring
Mors of Mr Benard Holmes.
Renault Twizy 100% electric
December 2015
Henry Ford's 1901 Isotta Fraschini By Mick Herring
Making its debut at the Regent Street
Motor Show, the EFG Concours
d'Elegance and the London to Brighton
Veteran Car Run was Henry Ford's
1901 Isotta Fraschini, chassis number
one.
In 1930 the Italian dictator Mussolini wished to persuade Henry Ford
to expand his European factories to include one in Italy.
As an inducement to Ford, he prevailed upon the Isotta Fraschini
company to gift their first car, from their collection, to Ford.
It formed part of the Ford museum in Dearborn for a couple of years
before being put into storage until its sale in the 1980s.
The car was never bodied and devoid of seats, as Isotta were
dissatisfied with their efforts at construction and returned to importing
Renaults until a more concerted production effort began again in
1904. However, strong lobbying to the Italian government by the head
of Fiat ensured that the competition did not come to Italy and build
factory to compete with Fiat.
© Mick Herring
Page 18
© Mick Herring
1898 Bergmann,
described as a find of
the century
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
1898 Benz single cylinder
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
1898 Henriod. Swiss
built and totally original 1904 Norfolk, only 13 built
1898 Benz single cylinder
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
1902 Bolide with gentlemen
December 2015
One year apart 1903 and 04 Vauxhalls, Vauxhall owned
Period style
Page 19
© Mick Herring
James Bond Aston Martin DB10 By Mick Herring
Maintaining an iconic association that first began fifty years ago,
Aston Martin displayed one of the Aston Martin DB10 models that
were built by them for the latest James Bond film epic "Spectre".
The film, the 24th in the series and premiered just a few days
before in London, features this car and Jaguar's C-X75 as its two
main vehicles.
© Mick Herring
December 2015
Ten examples of the
silver Aston, with
engines supplied by
Mercedes AMG,
were built at Gaydon
specifically for the
film and will not be
offered for sale.
Interestingly the front
bonnet appears to be
a one piece
moulding, something
of a departure for the
company.
© Mick Herring
Compounding that
James Bond has lost little of his appeal over the years to all
generations, the DB10 drew a huge crowd throughout the day.
© Mick Herring
Page 20
© Lucy Owen-Moczadlo
Neil Howard Stages 7th November 2015. Oulton Park
Photographs by Lucy Owen Moczadlo Jucy Rally Photography
and David Goose - Motorsport Imagery
December 2015
Stephen Simpson and Patrick Walsh splash their way to victory in their Subaru Impreza WRC
Page 21
© Motorsport-imagery
Returning for a fourth time to
Oulton Park, the Neil
Howard Stage Rally was the
opening round for the new
Motorsport News Rally
Championship, a new eight
round series. The single
venue rally incorporated a
series of stages utilising both
the venue’s rally course and
various parts of the famous
racing circuit and including a
water splash. Each stage
was run in both directions to
increase the stage mileage
without delaying the rally too
much while amendments
were made to the track
layout.
The large entry had attracted
Stuart Gilks/Mike Boyns Talbot Sunbeam
a wide variety of competing
teams and cars ranging from state of the art WRC cars right
through to the humble (and fast) historic Mini Cooper S.
After a wet start to the day, it was Steve Simpson and Patrick
Walsh who took the overall win in a Subaru Impreza WRC by
just eleven seconds after 9 tough stages. They beat Kevin
Procter and Derrick Fawcett in their similar Subaru Impreza
WRC. Procter had been faster over the first four stages and
had built up a lead of over 34 seconds. On stage 5 he lost 26
seconds to Simpson who then chipped away at the lead bit by
bit until on the penultimate stage Simpson took the lead and
extended it on the last stage for his victory. Third overall went to
Adrian Spencer and Mark Hewitt in yet another Subaru
Impreza, giving Subaru a clean sweep of the podium positions.
© Motorsport-imagery
© Lucy Owen-Moczadlo
Ian Hucklebridge/Gary Johnson Ford Escort Mk2 finished 21st in car 21
Subaru may rule the roost now, but the Ford Escort in all guises
is still one of the most popular rally cars in the World, and there
were quite a few in this rally. The highest placed Ford Escort
was the Class D1 winning Mk 2 driven by Paul and Jessica
Swift who were 5th overall, just behind all the current WRC
3rd overall Kevin Procter/Derrick Fawcett Subaru Impreza
December 2015
Page 22
© Motorsport-imagery
© Lucy Owen-Moczadlo
Paul Swift / Jessica Swift Ford Escort Mk2 won Class D1
© Lucy Owen-Moczadlo
Alan Kitson/Ronald Aspinwall Sunbeam Imp Sport 3rd in Class A
© Motorsport-imagery
1st Class B Ryan Burns/Steve Hallmark Vauxhall Corsa
© Motorsport-imagery
The sole MG Metro 6R4 of Peter Smith and Alan Walker ploughs through the watersplash
to finish 8th in class and 13th overall
December 2015
Vince Sillett/Terry Luckings Ford Escort Mk2 5th in Class C
Page 23
© Lucy Owen-Moczadlo
© Motorsport-imagery
Ben Moore/Jordan Joines Vauxhall Astra VXR Kit car finished 42nd overall
cars. Class C was also won by a Ford Escort Mk2 driven by
Martin Hodgeson and Tony Jones. The modern Ford rally cars
are equally successful with Class D2 being won by Graham
Coffey and Victoria Myers in a Ford Fiesta WRC.
Class A provided an easy win for Joe Cunningham and Marc
Fowler in a Vauxhall Corsa and Class B was another Corsa win
driven by Ryan Burns and Steve Hallmark.
One or two crews had an eventful rally. The Talbot Sunbeam
© Lucy Owen-Moczadlo
1st Class D2 Graham Coffey/Victoria Myers Ford Fiesta WRC
December 2015
Mike English leaps his Ford Escort RS Mk2 at the watersplash
Lotus of Cathy Stewart and Colin Stephens went off and crashed
early on in the rally, but they knocked it back in to shape and
came back out to entertain the crowds. Neil Simpson and Elliott
Edmondson made their debut in the Skoda Fabia RS but
unfortunately retired after a stone went through the radiator.
© Lucy Owen-Moczadlo
The Talbot Lotus Sunbeam of Cathy Stewart showing signs of body damage after a crash
Page 24
© Lucy Owen-Moczadlo
© Lucy Owen-Moczadlo
Kevin Procter/Derrick Fawcett 2nd overall in their Subaru Impreza WRC
© Motorsport-imagery
David Davies/Rich Jones BMW Compact M3 finished 7th in Class D1
© Lucy Owen-Moczadlo
Neil Simpson had to retire the Skoda due to a holed radiator
© Lucy Owen-Moczadlo
1st Class C Martin Hodgson/
Tony Jones Ford Escort Mk 2
December 2015
1st Class A Joe Cunningham/Marc Fowler Vauxhall
Corsa
© Motorsport-imagery
Wes Jacklin/Gareth Edwards Ford
Puma S1400 showing battle damage
Page 25
The Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show,
NEC 13th-15th November 2015. By Simon & Janet Wright with
addititonal photos by Pete Austin and Mick Herring.
The Classic Motor Show at the National Exhibition Centre, near
Birmingham, continues to grow and expand. For this years
event, the organisers tranferred the show to the five original halls
at the NEC, as they are much larger than the newer halls that
have
been
used in
previous
years.
This
year,
over the
three
days of
the
show,
almost 69,000 visitors attended, nearly 4,000
more than last year. There was plenty for them to
see, with around 2,500 classic cars and bikes on
show, many arranged on car club stands.
The theme for this years show was “She’s a
Beauty” and the shows major sponsor, Lancaster
Insurance staged their own “Miss World” beauty
pageant on its stand. They had six cars from
various countries, plus a beautiful young lady
representing the country. Members of the public
were asked to vote for one of the six cars and on
Sunday afternoon, the winner was announced.
Television star Mike Brewer from the TV show
Wheeler Dealer presented the award to Miss
© Janet Wright
Great Britain and the winning car, an unusual
Gordon Keeble, built in Great Britain.
The other major award presented at the show was the
Meguiar’s Club Showcase. This was the 10th anniversary of this
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
Award winning Gordon Keeble
December 2015
‘Miss France’ and ‘Miss Sweden’ with a Delorean
Page 26
award, where Meguiar’s display all the best in show cars from
the various classic car shows they support during the year. To
decide the Best of the Best from the award winners was a hard
task, with cars such as a 1974 Triumph TR6 (Winner 2015
Concours d’Elegance ‘Master Class’) up against a 1999
Mercedes-Benz C180 Elegance (Masterclass Winner 2015), a
1995 Mazda MX-5 1.8is (Winner Best in Show 2015 MX-5
Owners Club), a 1976 Australian Mini Clubman S (MiniWorld Car
of the year 2015), a 1972 South African Ford Capri V8 Perana
(Winner - Best Mk1 Capri Club International) and even a 1958
Volkswagen Beetle (Best in Show - VolksWorld Show 2015) plus
several other outstanding winners. After much deliberation, the
overall award went to Alexander Louden from County Antrim for
his immaculate 1939 MG TB (Masterclass Winner 2015
Ballymena Car Fest)
© Simon Wright
Pride of Ownership winner 1926 Packard 420 of Steve Mills
© Pete Austin
A new feature for this years show was to allow individuals to
show their classic cars and take part in the Pride of Ownership
award without having to belong to a car club. This was won by
Steve Mills from Long Eaton with his stunning 1926 Packard
420. He beat Richard Water’s 1962 Austin A40 Farina and
Malcolm Dudley’s 1957 Meadow Frisky.
Away from the
competitions, there
was plenty to see,
with cars covering
more than a century
of motoring on display.
All the World’s major
manufacturers were
represented, plus
many minor players
who may have only
© Simon Wright
Meguiar winning MG TB
December 2015
Ferrari Owners lineup
Page 27
© Simon Wright
New Rolls Royce Wraith
built a handful of
cars before
disappearing from
the market place.
In Hall 1 there
was a fantastic
line up of Red
Ferrari supercars,
all from the
modern era,
including a Ferrari
F40, F50, Enzo
and La Ferrari.
Maserati had
more historical
cars on their display, while
Rolls Royce had the brand
new Wraith on its Owners
Club stand along with
many classic Rolls Royce
saloons.
Classic motor racing was
well represented with large
stands from the Vintage
Sports Car Club (VSCC),
the Historic Sports Car
Club (HSCC), the Bugatti
Owners Club who run
Prescott hill climb course
and the Midland
Automobile Club (MAC)
who run Shelsley Walsh,
the worlds oldest hill climb
course still in use. There
were other race cars
December 2015
© Pete Austin
scattered all through the
show. Vintage Race Car
magazine had three superb
sports racing cars on their
stand, a Porsche 917
representing the Le Mans
winning car from 1970, a
GTP BMW prototype and
an IMSA Toyota prototype.
On Friday they also had
1970 Le Mans winner
Richard Attwood on their
stand with the Porsche 917,
on Saturday they had John
Watson who had driven the
BMW and Sunday Ross
Brawn was signing
autographs.
In one of the other halls
there was also a special
tribute to Graham Hill with
some of his old cars.
Le Mans winner Richard Attwood (Right)
There were so many cars that they even used an annex to Hall 1
which contained mainly classic American cars, with plenty of
fins and chrome on display. Many of the American car clubs also
use the show to choose their cars of the year, with show winners
from other shows during the year displaying their cars on club
stands.
© Janet Wright
MAC Club stand
© Simon Wright
Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
Page 28
© Simon Wright
Sir Stirling Moss.
By Mick Herring.
On the Saturday of the show, Sir
Stirling Moss was surrounded
everywhere he went and using a
different set of wheels, in the
shape of an electric scooter, to
ease his path. He had a busy
schedule, visiting various stands
during the day, signing
autographs on the Lancaster
Insurance stand as well as
being interviewed on the stage
in Hall 5 by Mike Brewer from
TV’s Wheeler Dealers.
© Mick Herring
Special Jensen wins Car of the Show award.
A unique Jensen P66 prototype won the prestigious Car of the
Show award on the Friday of the Classic Motor Show. The car
was first thought of in 1965, possibly to fill a gap in the market
after production of Austin Healey ceased. Only two were built, a
convertible and the Coupe shown here. Powered by a Chrysler
383 V8 engine and Chrysler 833 manual transmission and a
Hurst shifter. It was built during the winter of 1965/66 and driven
on trade plates for the first year. It was finally registered in
January 1967. The P66 was the last design of Eric Neale, the
Jensen in-house designer. The company was taken over by the
Norcros Group, who had their own designer - Kevin Beattie. He
farmed out the next design to Italy for the Jensen Interceptor.
The Jensen brothers wanted to produce the P66, but Norcros
didn’t, so on his last day at work Alan Jensen ordered both of the
prototypes be destroyed. The convertible was destroyed, but the
coupe was out at the time and survives as a reminder of what
might have been.
December 2015
Best Small stand went to the 1100 Club that included a
mannequin of Basil Fawlty armed with a branch ready to thrash
his red Austin 1100 Estate “to within an inch of its life”.
© Simon Wright
Page 29
© Pete Austin
products but was noticed at a London exhibition by a sales
executive from Selfridges and they engaged her to model their
exclusive range of expensive clothing. While working at
Selfridges she became “Miss Gloria” and travelled all across
Europe where she became one of the most photographed
women in the World. She obviously caught the eye of the
Directors at Triumph. There are many historic photos of her
doing promotional work for the company at launches and shows
and she even welcomed back the works rally team after their
success at the 1935 Monte Carlo Rally.
The Triumph Gloria range lasted from 1933 to 1937 and covered
a range of designs from luxurious six cylinder saloons to small
two seater sports models.
Miss Gloria
The Pre-1940 Triumph Motor Club really followed the theme of
the show “She’s a beauty” with a ‘Miss Gloria’ on the stand to
compliment the Triumph Gloria car on display.
The name Gloria had been used by Triumph in the early days of
the 20th century when the firm made bicycles, and then
motorcycles and sidecars. However, the name became more
significant in 1933 when the company launched the Triumph
Gloria range of sporting cars. There has been much speculation
that the car was named after the fashion icon and Selfridge
model of the time “Miss Gloria”. Throughout the launch and
marketing over the first two years her support and involvement
with the company was very visible. She was born in Delph, to the
north of Oldham as May Kenworthy, she began her working life
as a winder in the local mill. But her beauty and elegance were
remarkable even at a young age and she joined a mannequin
training school in Manchester. She initially promoted household
December 2015
© Simon Wright
With thanks to the Pre-1940 Triumph Motor Club for supplying the historical
information and “Miss Gloria”, Paula Cornwell who also does interactive
talks based on the writing of the Hon. Mrs Victor Bruce for Aspiring Lady
Motorists of the 1920s for more information please email her at
curlypaula@hotmail.co.uk
Page 30
© Simon Wright
The best Large stand
award went to the
Mercedes-Benz Club
which had a wonderful
collection of historic cars
on display, and the club
allowed people to walk on
to their stand to get close
to the wonderful cars which
included a 1932 290
Tourer, registered new in
Tanzania. For a small
donation to charity it was
also possible to sit in a
1956 Mercedes Benz 300
SL Gullwing, which at the
time was the fastest
production car in the World
at 146 mph and the first to
have fuel injection fitted.
Only 1400 Gullwings were
ever made.
© Simon Wright
December 2015
The Marcos Owners Club
had the 1995 Le Mans 24
Hours Marco LM 600 on
their stand. The car was
driven by Francois Migault,
David Leslie and Chris
March, son of Marcos
founder Jem Marsh. The
car finished second to last
after suffering electrical
problems and two hours
stuck on the mulsanne
straight soon after the start
of the race.
© Simon Wright
Wolseley Mudlark.
Wolseley’s only 4x4.
One of the rarest vehicles
at the show was this
Wolseley Mudlark. Only 15
were manufactured and
only two have survived and
the other is in India.The car
was a personal project of
Lord Nuffield who wanted
to secure the post war
contract to replace the
WW2 American Jeep. The
Mudlark was the first
vehicle to use the Rolls
Royce B40 2838 cc 4
cylinder petrol engine
coupled to a 5 speed unidirectional gearbox with the
reverse transfer gears
housed within the rear axle,
giving 5 reverse gears.
© Janet Wright
Page 31
© Simon Wright
© Pete Austin
© Simon Wright
Her Majesty The
Queen’s 1961 Vauxhall
Cresta Friary Estate
© Simon Wright
1970 SRV
Styling Research Vehicle
Goldviva - 1964 Vauxhall Viva
The Vauxhall Stand
© Simon Wright
1930 Vauxhall
T Type Melton Golfer’s coupe
© Janet Wright
Vauxhall Vectra CDX
The Last Vauxhall car from Luton
Gerry Marshall’s 1975 Baby Bertha
December 2015
Page 32
© Mick Herring
The Majestic Motors stand had a customer's
barn find Triumph TR3 on display, in very much
"before" condition. He assured us that it was not
as bad as it looked and it was very interesting to
hear the sort of order that this restoration will be
done in to be certain that everything will fit
together properly on its completion. Judging by
his immaculate, nearly ready, hillclimb
"Clubmans" car it will be - By Mick Herring.
© Mick Herring
Minor Million By
Mick Herring.
Displayed on the
Morris Minor Owners
Club stand at the
Classic Motor Show
was one of just 350
official Morris Minor
1,000,000 (Millions)
built. The Minor was
the first British car to
sell one million units
and went on to sell
nearly 1.6 million
variants before
production ended in
1970. The actual
millionth rolled off the production line in December 1960 and this immaculate
example is given as 1961 example. Resplendent in its stunning, model defining,
Lilac paintwork but otherwise a basically standard Minor, it would have been
allocated to a Morris dealership to commemorate this milestone in production.
© Mick Herring
© Simon Wright
December 2015
The Post Vintage Humber Car
Club had an unusual car on
their stand next to an
immaculate standard Humber
Hawk. The Humbersaurus is a
1952 Humber Super Snipe Mk
III powered by a 7.8 litre Ford
V8 engine mated to a C6 3
speed automatic gearbox and
9” Ford back axle with a
Limited Slip Diff. The front
suspension is from a Jaguar
XJS with Spax Coil Overs. The
interior is from a 1977 Cadillac
and the radiator is original!
Page 33
© Simon Wright
VSCC Stand wins award.
The Vintage Sports Car Club had an interesting selection of cars
on the clubs stand for the Classic Motor Show. Pride of place
went to Duncan Pittaway’s 1911 Fiat S76 ‘The Beast of Turin’
which had large crowds around it over all three days.
The club was presented with the ‘Most Interesting Selection of
Cars’ award from Classic and Sports Car Magazine. As well as
the Fiat, to represent the various activities that the club
undertakes during the year, the stand included a 1927 Delage
DIS Tourer, a 1911 Talbot Model M Saloon, 1928 Hotchkiss
saloon, the unique 1928 Laffite Type D and Gizmo - a 1930
Austin 7 Ulster Trials car belonging to Club Director Tania Brown
© Pete Austin
Best Medium
Stand Prize went to
Renault Classic Car Club
group celebrating 50 years of the
R16. Those on display included a 1965
Renault R16 and a 1979 Renault R16 TX.
A beautifully detailed car and, particularly, the engine of a 40/50
Rolls Royce Silver Ghost looked huge and purposeful.
© Mick Herring
The live stage
proved popular
all weekend with
Mike Brewer,
Edd China, Fuzz
Townshend and
Ant Anstead
December 2015
Page 34
© Simon Wright
© Pete Austin
1962 BRM P57
1964 BRM P261
© Janet Wright
1973 Embassy Racing Shadow DN1-3A
© Pete Austin
© Simon Wright
December 2015
Graham Hill 1968 Championship winning Lotus Ford 49
Page 35
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
Silverstone Auctions NEC Classic Motor Show Sale.
Held within the Classic Motor Show, Silverstone Auctions held
their annual sale over the weekend, with an interesting selection
of vehicles. The vehicles ranged from a 1978 Austin Mini
Clubman Estate which sold for £8,804, through many sports
cars right up to a 1991 Jaguar XJ200 which sold for £315,000
© Pete Austin
1990 Bentley Mulsanne S
Sold £29,813
1981 Renault 5 Turbo 1
Sold £61,875
© Simon Wright
1974 Ford Capri RS3100
Sold £48,375
© Simon Wright
1962 Mercedes
Benz 190SL
Sold £95,625
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
Jaguar XJ200
Sold £315,000
© Janet Wright
1991 Ford Sieerrs
Cosworth R 5500
Sold for £90,0000
© Simon Wright
1969 Marcos GT3000
Sold £11,025
© Janet Wright
© Simon Wright
1988 KVA GT40 sold for £42,750
December 2015
1972 Citroen SM Maserati
Sold £51,188
1990 Porsche 911 (964) Carrera 4
Sold £43,875
1959 Fiat 500 Multipla
Unsold
Page 36
Historic Bonhams 119th London to Brighton Veteran
Car Run. Sunday 1st November 2015.
The annual pilgrimage of Veteran cars driving from London to
Brighton took place at the beginning of November with a foggy,
but unseasonably mild start at the capital. By the time the vehicles
had reached the promanade at Brighton, the sun had come out to
greet the weary travellers. More than 380 vehicles took the start at
Hyde Park to follow the 60 mile route south to a sunny Sussex
seafront, all built before 1905. This year the route took in the Mall,
past Buckingham Palace for only the third time in half a century.
1901 Locomobile steam car driven by Robert Adams
1904 Brennan driven by David Mellor
December 2015
They then went past Big Ben and over Westminster bridge. With
the early start, even taking in to account the mist in London, the
first cars arrived on Maderia Drive in Brighton by just after 10am
with a 1903 Berliet driven by John Bentley first over the line just
ahead of a 1904 Fiat of Dutchman Jan Bruijn.
Some of the celebrities taking part this year included DJ and new
Top Gear presenter Chris Evans, Pink Floyd drummer Nick
Mason, renowned Formula 1 team boss Ross Brawn and ex
Grand Prix driver and Le Mans winner Jochen Mass. Chris Evans,
Page 37
December 2015
1903 Clement driven by Tim Watson, Crawley
Page 38
Robert Brookes, Alex Jones, Ken Bruce, Natalie Lowe, Chris Evans
raised the speed limit to 14 mph and abolished the red flag.
There was an American theme for this years run, and there
were a large number of American Cars taking part including the
1901 Isotta Frachini (See page 19).
All the celebrities made it to the finish line, though Ross Brawn
did require his engineering skills to keep the 1904 Wilson
Pilcher going in spite of a broken flywheel. A total of 342 cars
made it to the finish line by the 4:40pm deadline, and received
the coveted Finishers medal.
One of the most impressive finishers was the steam powered
1888 Truchulet driven by Daniel Ward, the oldest car on the
event and also believed to be one of the earliest vehicles to
have completed the journey.
A new feature to the event, introduced in 2013, is the regularity
section, where participants have to average a precise speed
between two control points. This years winner was Rodney
Fowler driving a 1900 Georges Richard.
One Show presenter Alex Jones and BBC Radio 2 DJ Ken
Bruce were all driving three classic coaches on the run to raise
£350,000 for Children in Need. Before the start Evans, Bruce
and Jones were joined by Natalie Lowe from Strictly Come
Dancing and Robert Bruce, Chairman of Bonhams for the
ceremonial
tearing up of
the Red Flag
which used to
be carried by a
man in front of
a motor
vehicle prior to
1896 when the
speed limit
was 4 mph.
The 1896
Highways act
1900 New Orleans driven by Douglas Pope in Sussex
December 2015
1888 Truchete driven by Daniel Ward
Page 39
1901 Teledo steam carriage driven by James Gregory
1904 Cadillac driven by Robin Morrison
1902 De Dion Bouton driven by Michael Sapsford
Fans en route to Brighton
Finish at Brighton seafront
December 2015
Steam car in Hyde Park
Page 40
1904 Humberette driven by James Morant
1903 De Dion Bouton crosses Westminster Bridge
December 2015
© 2015 RSMS and VCR Media Office, All rights reserved.
Brighton Pavilion
Page 41
Archive Photo of the month.
By Pete Austin
It hardly seems possible but it is now 40 years since Graham Hill together
with Tony Brise and four other team members lost their lives when Graham's
plane crashed near Elstree on the 29th November 1975 after a test at Paul
Ricard. This months photograph shows Graham seated in his Embassy Lola
T370 before the 1974 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch.
© Pete Austin
December 2015
Page 42
Wales Rally GB - Rally of Legends
12-15th November 2015.
Photos by David Goose - Motorsport-Imagery.
© Motorsport-imagery
December 2015
Local Hero Kris Meeke made it a podium finish with 2nd overall in his Citroen DS3 WRC
Page 43
© Motorsport-imagery
Triple World Champion Ogier took another win in his VW Polo R WRC
The final round of the FIA World Rally Championship took place
in the Welsh forests in the middle of November. The rally
consisted of 19 competitive stages including the famous Great
Orme stage at LLandudno and Myherin in the forests, plus
Dyfnant and a Rallyfest family © Motorsport-imagery
stage at Chirk Castle on the
Saturday.
Held late in the year, the event
always poses a challenge to
competitiors, but this year was
probably one of the most
challenging with heavy rain
and gale force winds, which
did cause the Great Orme
stage to be closed to
spectators for safety reasons.
Even so, the event was still a
December 2015
great success, with 160 teams taking part and more than
20,000 spectators watching the action.
Under such challenging conditions, it was triple World
Champion Sebastien Ogier from France and co-driver Julien
Ingrssia who led from the start in their Volkswagen Polo R
WRC, having to fight off an early challenge from his team mate
Jari-Matti Latvala in the sister VW Polo, which quickly faded on
only stage 2, Sweet lamb. This left local hero Kris Meeke to
take up the chase in his works Citroen DS3 WRC. They
maintained the gap on the leading Polo over the course of the
event, but Meeke needed to ensure that Citroen finished 2nd in
the championship and therefore did not want to risk taking
chances to overtake the flying Frenchman. At the end of the
rally, Meeke was only 26 seconds behind Ogier.
Third place went to another VW Polo, driven by Norwegian
driver Andreas Mikkelsen which also consolidated his 3rd
position in the Championship after nine top 3 finishes during
the season.
Behind the top three, there was a tremendous battle for 4th
place between Mads Ostberg, Elfyn Evans, Dani Sordo, Ott
Tanak, Hayden Paddon and Thierry Neuville in his Hyundai
Motorsport N i20 WRC.
The first to fall was
Neuville who first lost a
wheel in Myherin and then
later rolled in Dyfnant.
Next to falter was local
Welsh hero Evans who
suffered a puncture on
Hafren 2 and a hairpin stall
the next day, which started
a drive back which would
get him to 6th place by the
end in his Ford Fiesta RS
Dani Sordo managed to get to the finish in 4th place in his Hyundai N i20 WRC
Page 44
© Motorsport-imagery
Network Q WRGB National Rally.
Running in conjunction with the Wales Rally GB WRC event
was the Network Q WRGB National Rally. This had a capacity
89 car field of ‘clubman’ drivers competing on the same stages
as the stars of the World Rally Championship, under the same
gruelling conditions. If the tricky weather conditions were not
enough, there was a twist in the tail for this event as Jock
Armstrong and Paula Swinscoe who had lead for most of the
event retired on the very final stage of the rally. The TEG
Subaru Impreza ground to a halt just five corners from the end
of the stage with ball joint failure.
This handed victory to last years winners Mike Faulkner and
Pete Foy in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX by a huge margin of
© Motorsport-imagery
Welsh Hero Elfyn Evans had problems in his Ford Fiesta WRC
WRC. Paddon suffered hydraulic problems in his Hyundai but
would manage to get to the finish in 5th place. Ostberg had a
puncture on Dyfi 1 followed by a mistake through Dyfnant left
his Citroen DS3 beached in a ditch. He would recover to 7th at
the end. Tanak looked like he was going to finish in 4th overall,
but he suffered an accident on Sunday morning which resulted
in damage to the left rear of his Ford Fiesta RS WRC. This left
Dani Sordo in his Hyundai i20 WRC battling against gearbox
© Motorsport-imagery
problems to come
through and claim
4th place. Another
notable
performance came
from ex-Grand Prix
driver Robert
Kubica who
finished 9th in his
Ford Fiesta RS
WRC.
Jari-Matti Latvala early challenge faded in his VW Polo R WRC
December 2015
Faulkner/Foy were handed victory on the last stage
4 minutes and 43 seconds over David Howells and Robin
Hernaman in their Subaru Impreza. Third overall went to Wug
Utting and Bob Stokoe in another Subaru Impreza N12b. The
Historic class was initially lead by Simon Webster and Frank
Richer in a Ford Escort, who were the highest placed History
crew in 4th place overall, winning the Historic Class H3. But the
crowds favourite was Five Times British Rally Champion Jimmy
McRae at the wheel of a Vauxhall Firenza V8 with Pauline
Gullick. Unfortunately McRae had wiper failure on day two,
which slowed them considerably in the awful conditions. Then
Page 45
© Motorsport-imagery
December 2015
Five times British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae in his Vauxhall Firenza V8 retired on the last stage
Page 46
© Motorsport-imagery
© Motorsport-imagery
Class winners Kit & Tim Leigh in their Ford Fiesta R200
© Motorsport-imagery
Webster/Richer won the History class in their Ford Escort
on the final day, as he was chasing down Holmes for the class
victory, McRae retired on the final stage with suspension failure.
Holmes also retired on the final stage which left the class win to
Barry Jordan in his Hillman Avenger. Class B2 went to Kit and
Tim Leigh in their Ford Fiesta R200 while Class B1 was won by
Rory Jones and Tom Hughes driving an MG ZR.
© Motorsport-imagery
Hastings/McGuire Subaru Impreza won Class B4
© Motorsport-imagery
Jordan/Gratton-Smith were handed the class win on the last stage in their Hillman Avenger
December 2015
Mike Storrar/Andrew Jones British Leyland ADO 28, better known as the Marina
Page 47
© Motorsport-imagery
© Motorsport-imagery
Utting/Stokoe Subaru Impreza was 3rd on the National Rally
© Motorsport-imagery
Slowly Sideways displayed historic rally cars at the Chirk Castle Rallyfest stage including this Lada, the Ginetta (Lower
left) and the MG 6R4 (Below Right)
© Motorsport-imagery
Class winning Ford Fiesta ST Max of Utting/Ainsworth
© Motorsport-imagery
© Motorsport-imagery
December 2015
Howells/Hernaman Subaru Impreza 2nd overall on National
Rally
Page 48
Enthusiasts of British Motor Vehicles built
before 1985. Coventry Transport Museum.
© Simon Wright
7th November 2015.
By Simon & Janet Wright.
December 2015
1955 Ford Anglia with a 1172cc engine and modified 1959 Ford Anglia fitted with a 3.5 litre engine
Page 49
A very wet Saturday
morning greeted the
British Car Enthusiasts
who arrived at Coventry
Transport Museum to
proudly display their pre
1985 British Classic cars
in Millenium Place outside
the front of the museum.
The adverse weather
conditions had not put off
many owners, though the
majority of vehicles were
more modern with the
majority coming from
between the 1960s and
1985.
As usual at these local
meetings, there is often a
majority of cars on show
that were built locally in
the Midlands, as it was
© Simon Wright
classic was a fine example of a Vauxhall VX 4/90. This was a
sporting version of the Vauxhall Victor FD which was built
between 1967 and 1972, but the VX 4/90 was not introduced
until October 1968. The VX 4/90 replaced the normal bench
seat on previous Victor models with sporty bucket seats and
a more normal floor mounted gear stick connected to a four
speed manual gearbox with overdrive (Automatic was an
option). The car had a top speed of 97 mph with a 0-60mph
time of 13.2 seconds, which was reasonable for a heavy
sporty saloon (Kerbweight 2486 Ibs). When launched it cost
£1,203 8s 1d and a total of 14,277 were built.
It was nice to see that quite a few older classic car owners
had made the effort to bring their vehicles out in such poor
weather conditions. Next to the museum entrance was a fine
© Simon Wright
© Janet Wright
the heart of the
British motor
industry. However, it
was nice to see quite
a few classic Ford’s
on display, including
a Capri, Mk 1
Cortina, Escort, a
couple of Granada’s
and a nice example
of a Zephyr. Another
unusual modern
Ford Cortina Mk1
December 2015
Vauxhall VX 4/90
example of a 1952 black Triumph Renown ‘Razoredge’. In
the 1930’s car designs were becoming more rounded to aid
stream-lining and aerodynamics. A group of designers
decided to move toward sharper edge designs which
became known as Razoredge and Triumph produced several
models which fitted this category which included the 1800,
Page 50
Morris 8
© Simon Wright
Magenta Kit Car
© Simon Wright
Rover 16
© Simon Wright
Ford Zephyr
© Simon Wright
Vanden Plas Allegro
December 2015
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
Page 51
© Simon Wright
2000 and Renown.
There were only
around 2,000 of
the Renown built
between 1952 and
1954.
Another Coventry
based
manufacturer was
Alvis and there
were two quite
different examples
of Alvis cars on
Triumph Renown
display. The first
was a 1937 Alvis Silver Crest TF 6 Light which was a luxury
saloon powered by a 2.8 litre straight 6 engine which produced
around 91 bhp and gave a top speed of 83 mph.
The second Alvis was a 1964 Alvis TE21 3 litre saloon. The
straight six engine produced around 130 bhp which gave the
car a top speed of around 107 mph.
© Janet Wright
1937 Alvis Silver Crest TF6
December 2015
1964 Alvis TE21
© Simon Wright
The most unusual car on display was a 1981 Bristol 412 Zagato,
the only series production of a Zagato design by Bristol. This
sleek car is unusual because the bodywork was designed and
built in Italy, then shipped to Bristol where it was attached to the
Chassis in the Filton factory. The car was powered by a 5.9 litre
V8 Canadian Chrysler engine driving the rear wheels through a
Torqueflite automatic gearbox. The model was built between
© Simon Wright 1975 and
1993 and
came with
a Targa
top which
could be
removed
and
placed in
the boot.
Bristol 412 Zagato
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© Simon Wright
Triumph Dolomite Sprint
© Simon Wright
Ford Capri
© Simon Wright
Austin Metro
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
Rover and Jaguar differ in styling
December 2015
Ford Escort and Granada
Page 53
Vintage Sports Car Club Cotswold Trial
21st November 2015.
By Pete Austin with additional photos by Syd Wall.
© Syd Wall
Under a clear blue sky but with a bitter wind blowing the
Vintage Sports Car Club paid their annual visit to the Prescott
Hill Climb course and surrounding area for the Cotswold
Trial. Over 100 crews in cars ranging from numerous Austin
Sevens’ to the mighty Mercedes 60HP of Ben Collings and the
four and a half litre Bentley of Norman Lloyd tackled nine
hills in the surrounding area in the morning with the final
four sections being at Prescott itself in the afternoon.
Although the weather was cold and dry a number of the
December 2015
sections, particularly under the trees, proved to be quite
taxing as the day went on.
Overall winner was William McVicker (Austin 7 Chummy) who
took the Harold Powell Cup and a first in class for Short
Wheelbase Modified and Special Cars with Simon Price (Ford
Model A Special) taking the Inderwick Cup for best Vintage car
and a first in class in this category. Matt Johnson (Austin 7),
Emma Wall (Austin 7 Special), David Golightly (Model T Ford)
and Michael Pallett (Austin 7 Ulster) also took 1st class
Page 54
© Syd Wall
© Syd Wall
took the
honours in
the category
for Long
Wheelbase
Modified
and Special
cars. It was
good to see
VSCC past
president
Julian Ghosh
out in his
Vauxhall
Keith Hill Singer Junior Special
with former press officer Gillian Carr as one of his crew.
It was getting quite dark by the time the last crews finished
Ben Collings Mercedes 60HP
awards.
In the Novice Class, the Cotswold Cup and 1st in class was
awarded to Matt Price in his Austin 7 Ulster. 1st in class
awards for Short Wheelbase Standard Cars went to Russell
Hennessy (Morris
Bullnose) and
Mark Smith (MG
J2).
In the class for
Long Wheelbase
Standard cars
John Wiseman
led the field in
his Ford Model A
while Steve
White (Riley
Ford Special)
John Dobson - Ford Model A
© Pete Austin
© Pete Austin
December 2015
Julian Ghosh - Vauxhall Super G
Page 55
© Syd Wall
but the warmth of the Prescott Clubhouse beckoned.
Thanks to VSCC press officer James Taylor for his help
in covering this event.
Merlin Evans Austin 7 Ulster Special
© Pete Austin
Mark Smith - MG J2
© Pete Austin
© Syd Wall
December 2015
John Wiseman - Ford Model A
Norman Lloyd Bentley 3/4.5 litre
Page 56
© Syd Wall
© Pete Austin
Andrew Fox Austin 7 Special
Matt Price - Austin 7 Ulster
© Syd Wall
© Pete Austin
William McVicker - Austin 7 Chummy
December 2015
Mike Littlewood Ford `Model A
Page 57
© Pete Austin
© Syd Wall
Simon Price - Ford Model A Special
© Pete Austin
Emma Wall - Austin 7 Special
Jamie Brashaw Ford Model A
© Syd Wall
© Pete Austin
Michael Pallett - Austin 7 Ulster
Alexandra Milne-Taylor AJS 2 Seater Sports
© Pete Austin
Norman Lloyd - Bentley
© Syd Wall
© Pete Austin
© Syd Wall
Simon Price Ford Model A Special
December 2015
Matt Johnston - Austin 7
Richard Edmonds Chrysler B-70 Tourer
Page 58