Vintage miscellany.–, January 1965

One of the team of three Ford V8s which ran in the 1934 Ulster T.T. was for sale in Ireland. Another of the team was acquired contemporarily by Sydney Allard. F. E. Ellis is building up another Bamford & Martin Aston Martin, using what is left of the HaIford Special chassis mated to that of the ex-Eystont/Strasbourg car, using a s.v. Aston Martin engine. He had a most interesting article, sorting out the fate of these cars, in the Autumn number of the A.M.O.C. Magazine. Reg. Tapley, as befits the Secretary of the Bean O.C., has acquired a Bean of his own, in the form of a 1922 11.9-h.p. 2-seater, but reports a very poor response from Bean and Swift owners to Club membership. A rather dolled-up 1926 3-litre Bentley, EO 2378, is being offered as a prize in the R.G.D. radio firm’s TV competition. We assume its B.D.C. badge doesn’t form part of the prize! Peter Moores has acquired a rare 10/30-h.p. 6-cylinder 1924 Talbot with dual-choke updraught Zenith carburetter and an engine surprisingly like that of the later 14/45 Talbot, and intends to restore it, and he is working on a replica of the Kay Petre-type single-seater racing Austin Seven, housing the actual engine, it appears, from her crashed 1937 car. A vintage Armstrong Siddeley 20 changed hands in Hampshire recently. D. G. Wilks has built a series of Brooklands outer-circuit racing-car models to 1/96th-scale, and has in hand a model of Brooklands Track, circa 1925, G. H. Denson has constructed slot-rating models of Hillman -Speed Model and 1908 G.P. Austin, and Model Cars is contemplating holding a slot-race for 1906-1914 G.P. car models at its Watford offices next Easter. A 1919 Daimler was rescued recently from a field near Stourbridge. A reader wonders if the 1914 Overland LL 5411, which his family bought new and disposed of in excellent condition in 1928, is still in existence? The makers of Basildon Bond writing paper seem to be treading on very thin ice with their advertisement in the Daily Express depicting an Austin Nippy, ALM 271, beside a modern Rolls-Royce, accompanied by a letter which concludes, “I realise he intended to go in that awful little car . . .”, judging, by the correspondence we have had from Austin Seven enthusiasts! A 1919/20 Type-MIA2 Unic 30-cwt, commercial vehicle is being restored in London. Talbot fanatic Anthony Blight has added GO 54 (the spare car) to his stable of 105 Team cars, the others being GO52 and GO 53. If only GO 51 had not been broken up! The 1964 Inter-Register Contest was won by the S.T.D. Register.