Miscellany, February 1998

The Vintage MCC has already issued its full fixture list for 1998, which runs to 12 pages. The Secretary is Mrs Davy, Allen House, Wetmore Road, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire DE14 1TR. Its next fixture is the Sherborne Winter Run on January 18.

WB, who recently wrote of some of the odd cars he has owned, has heard from the builder, H R Lansdown, of the LG8 which he had for a few days around 1940/41. WB disposed of it as it looked more like an MG J2 than his vintage Gwynne Eight. The Reg No was then BMG 276, later changed to ME 9043. A normal Gwynne 8 engine had been substituted for the tuned one with its raised compression ratio, Morris Cowley rods, enlarged ports and sump, three-branch exhaust system, etc. It had a slab-tank two-seater body and apparently Morris Cowley front brakes, although WB thought the axle was Rover, and wheels from a Standard 8 or 9 on Gwynne 8 wheel studs. This reminds WB that later in the war he found his Gwynne 8 coupe in Esher, bought very cheaply, and that the builder’s mother insisted he took away a can full of precious petrol…

A Peugeot 174’s engine has turned up in Sydney; the owner hopes to restore it after, presumably, finding a chassis for it. These Type 174 Peugeots had a fine competition career in sportscar contests from 1922 to 1930, including running in European races. The 3.8-litre sleeve-valve power-unit in Australia is No26, and apparently only 200 were produced, from 1922 to 1927. Our correspondent asks whether any still exist in Britain or Europe?

Eric Dymock has been awarded the Montagu of Beaulieu Trophy for his book Saab Half a Century of Achievement, which Motor Sport reviewed in its December issue.

The VSCC Bulletin, now sponsored by Haymarket Publishing, has blossomed out into a colour front cover.

The VSCC has already opened its 1998 season with the annual Measham Night Rally; its next fixture will be the New Year Driving Tests at Brooklands on January 24.

To mark his Penrite Oils Lifetime Achievement award, WB was recently presented with a print of the 1932 British Empire Trophy, showing Eyston’s Panhard and Birkin’s single-seater Bentley on Brooklands banking.