Club News, February 1935

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Sutton Cold(leld and N. Birmingham A.C.

A very satisfactory state of affairs was reported at the annual general meeting, held at the Imperial Hotel, Birmingham, on December 19th. Both financially, and from the number of entries in the Club’s Trials, 1934, was an exceedingly good year. Expenses were up a little, due mostly to the dividing of the Colmore trials into two distinct events for cars and motor cycles respectively. The actual increase in trials’ entries was no less than 46 per cent., which is particularly good when it is remembered that the new rules of 1934 confined several events to Sunbac members only.

A not inconsiderable item of the agenda was the election of officers for 1935, and it is not surprising that the only change from last year was the addition of a new committee member in Mr. Peter Suckling. The remaining officers are as follow : President, H. J. Man zoni ; Hon. Secretary, A. E. Sumner ; Trials Adviser, T. Gibson; Car Captain, J. 0. Orford ; Motor Cycle Captain, L. C. Holdsworth ; General Secretary, J. D. Woodhouse, 10, Warwick Chambers, Corporation Street, Birmingham.

Gipsy M.C.C.

The annual general meeting was held last month at the showrooms of the Service Co., Holborn, London, when the following officers were elected for 1935: President, Prof. A. M. Low ; Chairman, J. H. Matterson ; Vice-Presidents, G. Harvey, F. H. Douglass ; Captain, W. F. Lyon ; Vice-Captain, H. Overton ; Social Sec., and Treasurer, W. Kilbourne; Secretary, H. Ireland ; Auditors, C. Friston, A. 0. Adams ; Committee : A. 0. Adams, H. A. Reid, G. Maxwell,

L. Westbrook, F. P. Ayers, A. G. Buckoke, J. Pluthero, W. G. Sanders.

The S.S. Car Club.

The S.S. Car Club has progressed rapidly since its inception a little time ago. The membership list has now swelled to more than one hundred, and the club is affiliated to the Royal Automobile Club.

Any S.S. owner who would like to join should get in touch with the Secretary, G. Moxon Cook, 12, Queen’s Court, South Croydon, who will be pleased to forward all particulars.’

Austin Owner’s Club.

The two experimental branches of the Austin Owners’ Club, the formation of which was noted in these columns, have now completed the first year of their operations. The position has now been reviewed, and the Austin Company have decided, if the size of the membership warrants it, to appoint a full-time organising secretary to assist in running the minor branches and to oversee the main club. In order to

popularise the club it is proposed to reduce the membership from one guinea, to half a guinea, or 12s. 6d.—the only extra being 4s. 6d. for a car badge.

Those interested should get in touch with the Publicity Bureau, Austin Motor Co., Ltd., Longbridge, Birmingham.

Lagonda Car Club.

An excellent day’s sport was enjoyed in December, on the occasion of the Scrounge Hunt. Starting from Olympia at 10.45 a.m., the competitors were faced with the task of collecting 20 items en route, to the Deepdene Hotel, Dorking. The result of this amusing competition was that Mr. G. Follett was first with 18 items, and Messrs. C. F. H. Corbin, A. D. Jaffe, P. L. Real and Miss HowardStrapp, were equally second with seventeen. Mr. C. H. Mann and Mrs. Lind-Walker had sixteen items each, and Mr. R. F. Pritchard fifteen. The first prize was a club Tankard, and the second a Club Plaque. After an excellent lunch, an interesting programme of slow-running and acceleration events was run off, by kind permission of Mr. G. de Bray, Managing Director of Murray’s Club (who own Deepdene Hotel). The course was on a gradient, with two hairpin bends, so that driving skill was given plenty of scope. The results of the two competitions were as follows : both being on handicap :

SLOW RUNNING.

1. W. A. Fitzgerald, 1 m. 4us.

2. S. B. Peck (Rapide), ltn. 39s.

3. L. P. Real (Rapier), lm. 34s.

4. Mrs. Lind-Walker (3-litre), Im. 33.2s. 5, A. D. Jaff4 (Blown 2-litre), 1w. 24.2s.

6. R. F. Pritchard (Blown 2-litre), lin. 22.4s.

7. M. H. Selby, lin. 17.4s.

8. W. A. L. Cook, ltn. 14.6s.

9. J. Seiger (3-litre), lin. 13.4s.

10. C. H. Mann (2-litre), lin. 4s.

ACCELERATION.

I. L. P. Real (Rapier), 25.8s.

2. A. D. Jaffe (2-litre Blown), 26s.

3. W. A. L. Cook (3-litre Sports), 26.2s.

4. W. A. Fitzgerald (4Hitre), 26,4s.

5. ” A.P.H. 457 “(3-litre Sports), 26.6s.

6. “‘V.V. 7689” (2-litre), 28.4s.

7 R. F. Pritchard (2-litre Blown) and ‘• B.P.D.232 ” (16/80), 29s.

8. J. Seiger (3-litre), and Mrs. Lind-Walker (3-litre), 30.4s.

The Club wishes to point out that none of the events they have held so far, while being very sporting, have contained the slightest risk of damaging or scratching a good car.

C.U.A.C.

An interesting three-cornered contest has been arranged by the Club to take place on February 16th. The two other Club-competitors will be the Women’s Automobile and Sports Association and the Oxford University Motor Driver’s Club. There will be a stipulated number of entries from each club, and the result will be based on the best aggregate. A trophy for the winning club, and two cups

for the best class performances have been donated.

Appropriately enough the Trial was called the ” Jack and Jill.” The course will be in West Surrey, on the borders of Hampshire.

West Hants Club.

The universally wet weather came to the assistance of the West Hants Club in rendering their Simons Trophy Trial a really difficult affair. So bad was the weather immediately before the Trial, indeed, that the organisers had to omit at the last moment two water splashes which had swelled into deep floods.

Dorset mud under these conditions takes a lot to cope with, and it is small wonder that some of the six observed hills proved almost unclimbable. The route was 92 miles in length, and the two first hills, Black Hill and Woolcombe, gave people plenty of confidence. But then came Simonds Yat, and with it the downfall of most hopes of a premier award. In the circumstances every praise is due to the successful ones, namely : Messrs. Wagner, Wood, Bond and Flower, all at the wheel of those amazing Morris Minors, which seem undeterred by the most fearsome gradients, and Harrocks with an M.G. Midget.

A restart test followed on Pitcombe, but was easy enough for the majority. The same could not be said for Atkin’s Alley, where only G. Porter, Driver and Harrocks, all on Midgets, managed to climb unassisted.

Apart from Harrocks (M.G.) who won the Simon’s Trophy, the best individual performances were those of Dare’s Vauxhall saloon as a type, Greenleaf (Morris Minor), in the restart, and Peters (M.G.), in the braking test.

Light Car Club.

This year the Relay Race, always a popular event, will take place a little earlier, on June 22nd to be exact. We are informed that, owing to the heavy expenses involved in the organisation, it has been found necessary to raise the entry fees. The new scale of fees is as follows : For L.C.C. members, 9 and 12 guineas for early and late entries of a team of three cars ; for non-members, 15 and 21 guineas.

Scottish Sporting Car Club.

The Club’s fixture list for the forthcoming season is now to hand, and the fortunate members have a most enjoyable series of events ahead of them. Here is the list to date : February 16th, HalfDay Trial ; March 30th, Half-Day Trial ; April 20th, Highland Two-Day Trial ; June 29th, 24-hour Main-Road Trial ; July 6th, Speed Event ; September 21st, Autumn Half-Day Trial ; October 26th, Anniversary Run.

M.G. Chiltern Trial.

The enthusiasm of M.G. owners can be judged by the fact that there were 57 starters out of an entry of 66, in the Third Chiltern Trial organised by the M.G. Car Club. The start was at the “Lambert Arms,” and competitors arrived from all parts of Britain for the event.

Two circuits of a 26-mile course had to be covered, and each ” lap ” contained three observed hills and two special tests. In spite of some frost on parts of the course, the morning circuit was chiefly remarkable for the failures on Crowell and Pyrton, and the ” bursting ” of the timekeeper’s watch on the to-and-fro test. Maiden’s Grove was easy for everyone, but Crowell stopped ten people and Pyrton thirteen. The second of the Special tests consisted of a downhill run between ” Belisha Beacons,” and the fastest man was J. H. Summerfield with his black supercharged ” P ” type Midget in 27 secs.

On the second lap it was obvious that drivers had profited by their experiences on Crowell in the morning. Only five people failed to climb its slippery length, although rain made conditions actually inferior to those of the morning run. Pyrton, on the other hand, had become badly cut up and foiled no fewer than 21 cars. Proceedings were somewhat complicated in the afternoon by the presence of a motor-cycle trial on the same hill. For the rest, the time-keeper’s watch had yielded to treatment, so the to-and

fro times were duly recorded ; N. H. Scott (N-type Magnette), being the fastest in 22 secs. The ” Belisha Beacon ” test was performed most rapidly by W. F. Taylor, on a “J2,” with a time of 27.8 secs. The premier award in the trial was a beautifully made gold-plated banana, awarded by the Central Motor Institute. The winner of this valuable fruit was

G. A. Hutcheson, who made the best performance of the day on a Magna L-type. Here are the provisional results :The C.M.I. Banana Challenge Trophy (for the best performance of the day) : G. A. Hutcheson (L type Magna). Premier Awards : M. H. Scott (N. Magnette),

H. Williams (32 Midget), W. F. Taylor (j2 Midget), H. K. Crawford (N. Magnette), R. T. Wheatley (P. Midget), J. Shewell-Coopet (J2 Midget), H. Maddrell (P. Midget). Team Award : Midland Centre ” B ” team, comprising H. K. Crawford (N. Magnctte), C. A. N. May and W. H. Haden (both P. Midgets).

Revised Results.

A number of protests were lodged after the Percy Butler Trial, held by the Liverpool Motor Club on December 2nd. These have now received careful consideration by the Committpe, and the results have been amended accordingly :Percy Butler Challenge Shield : A. C. Kelly ; Mead Martin Challenge Cup : S. Smith ; Ledsome Challenge Cup : J. P. Smith ; Burns Challenge Cup : C. R. Pond.

Vintage Cars on Trial.

A very enjoyable trial was held by the Vintage Sports-Car Club, on Sunday, January 20th. There were 27 entries, and 25 cars actually came to the line. A sporting course in the Chilterns was covered, and dry conditions made the hills easy—with the exception of the notorious Crowell. One failure was reported from Widmere, and Foxlee was the sole casualty on Maiden’s Grove, through missing his gear at the vital moment. Three people retired en route, and the following awards were made :

Premier Awards : Powell (Am ilcar), Green (Riley), Nicholson (M.G.), Glutton (Frazer Nash), Shaw (Austin 7).

Second Class Awards : Allaron (Bentley), Carson (Vauxhall), Nicholson (Austin 7), Bowler (Bentley), Kirkman (Alvis), Clarke (Frazer Nash), Fairman (Alvis), Jaggard (Rover), Brooker (Morris).

The Club is open to all owners of “Vintage Sports Cars” and prospective members can obtain full particulars from the Hon. Secretary, C. P. L. Nicholson, 7, Abercorn Mews, London, N.W. 8.

Standard Car Owners Club.

Recent meetings of the Club in London and Birmingham have resulted in the appointment of officials for the two centres, Midland and London and SouthEast. The respective committees are as follow : Midland Centre, B. F. Mason (Chairman), Mrs. S. H. Richards (secretary), V. Curtis, W. P. Rhodes and E Claridge ; London and S.-E. Centre, C. C. W. Burridge (secretary), Mrs. Oxenford, and Messrs. Edwards, Brisley, Whale and Cox.