Club affairs, April 1952

The AC Owners’ Club will hold its East Anglia Rally Round, open to members of any British motor club recognised by the RAC, and to one-make clubs and registers, on April 19th/20th.

This is to be a new type of event, recognised by the RAC as is Touring Assembly, for which competition licences, etc, will not be required. It is intended as a quite normal, if rather hard pressed weekend for an ordinary touring or business motorist in his ordinary car. He is free to select his own route, find his own way and set his own speed, yet his skill at this will be both tested and rewarded.

The organisers hope that this event, which calls for no forced speeds (neither fast, nor slow) and excludes specialist regularity or clock-watching sections, will appeal to club motorists of all types. Prize money totals £30 and the event centres around Great Yarmouth.

Details from TC Sanders, The Little Cottage, Chertsey Road, Shepperton, Middlesex.

A North-Western Centre of the 750 Club has been formed and is in successful operation. The Secretary is R Pilgrim, 17 Marland Avenue, Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire. Local Austin Seven enthusiasts are invited to contact him.

A Renault Owners’ Club has been formed. Although primarily for owners of the rear-engined models, all owners of Renault cars are eligible for membership. Owners are cordially invited to write to NU Atkinson, 7 Belle Vue, Hill Rise, Greenford, Middlesex, for details.

A DKW. Owners’ Club has been formed recently to enable owners to meet each other and exchange news, views and general information on these interesting cars. Three meetings have already been held, with encouraging attendances, and its joint meeting with the Fiat 500 Club will be held on April 27th. All DKW owners interested are asked to contact the joint secretaries for further details. (Northern readers will be pleased to know that the Cheshire and District Branch has been formed and held its first meeting on January 27th.) D Middleton, tel : Reliance 3811, after 6.30 pm ; S Williams, 35 Stanley Avenue, Beckenham, Tel; Beckenham 6241 ; A Barritt, Orchardside. Elton, near Chester.

The AGM of the 750 MC was held at Stonebridge Park on March 3rd. The Secretary, Ken Bickle, was able to report most satisfactory progress during the preceding twelve months. The membership continued to rise steadily and now stood at 536. In status, too, the club had progressed, largely on account of the ambitious Six Hours Handicap Relay Race.

The balance sheet, together with the treasurer’s report, had been circulated to all members with the March 750 Bulletin. Thanks largely to the Six Hours’ event and to two very successful dances, the cash balance stood at close on £200, with virtually no outstanding liabilities. The annual subscription could remain at the very modest figure of 10s. The Secretary went on to announce that to further the club’s policy of catering for the impecunious, a sub-section would be formed among the associate membership for those with Ford Eight and Ten-engined cars, with space in the Bulletin to cover their interests, and with special classes in club events. [Rather a drastic departure this from the 750 Club as originally conceived, when it was to seek rivals to the Austin Seven, which formed the bulk of its membership, only from cars of, at most, up to 850 cc. The title 750 Club, which I fought for at the time, is rendered rather droll and should be reconstituted as the 1,172 Club—more like a night-club title than evert. —Ed]

The club officials for the forthcoming season will be : Chairman, Holland Birkett ; Captain, Rob Yeats ; Secretary, Ken Bickle ; Treasurer, Ken Welfare ; Committee, AW Butler, AW Cannon, ACB Chapman, T Lush, JS Moon and I West.

After the conclusion of the AGM, the Austin film “Round the World in 21 Days” was shown. [This, too, was placing emphasis on considerably more than three-quarters of a litre, especially if you include the aeroplane.—Ed.]