V-E-V Odds & Ends, January 1985

A business in Scarborough is to be sold by auction, when a collection of vintage spares, including gasket sets, pistons, instruments, magnetos, beaded-edge tyres, etc will be disposed of, and also a dismantled 1922 Calthorpe tourer. Chris Draper tells us that he has managed to trace 20 out of the 40 twin-plug racing San Sebastian Salmsons built and this has encouraged him to produce new cylinder heads for these cars, should anyone outside the Salmson Register require one. He would also like to know if the eight-push-rod Salmson, Reg No UO 7361, that he owned for a time in the mid-1960s, has survived, and its present whereabouts if it has. The 750MC points out that its first Secretary was Phil Hunter not Bill Butler, as we said recently. It was Esso Ethyl petrol I used in the HRG we road-tested before the war, not “Ethy” as was wrongly published,, last month, and in my article on the VSCC Pomeroy Trophy contest it should have been stated that between 1952 and 1984 this interesting contest was cancelled twice, not three times, due to snow over Silverstone in 1952 and because of petrol rationing in 1957, but not for this cause in 1973, otherwise Michael Bowler could not have won the Trophy that year with his Frazer Nash, as he most definitely did. A reader has sent us a copy of an advertisement which appeared in the Dorset County Chronicle in July 1905, for the “entirely British-made Channon car, designed and built by E. Channon and Sons, of 6 High East-Street, Dorchester, with works and garage in Crescent Street, Weymouth. Although we know of this make, it is interesting that it is advertised as having a 10 hp balanced two-cylinder engine, three-speed, direct-top gearbox, 32 in Michelin tyres, side-entrance body and “two searchlights of great power”, the price of this used model being 260 gns, while two steam-cars were offered respectively at £35 and £50. — W.B.