VSCC's great winter adventures

The great winter adventure, The Measham Night Rally, took place in the nocturnal hours of January 10/11, the start reverting to the Long Mynd as it used to do many years ago. The MCC Exeter Trial used the same weekend for its traditional fixture, which may be why the Measham entries were down this time. However, the cars were of the usual wide variety and Elizabeth Fynn in a Chummy A7, navigated by a VSCC staff-member, proved that it is not absolutely necessary to drive

heavy vintage metal to gain a Second Class Award. The first driving-test meeting of 1998 took place at Brooklands on January 14 and was an obvious attraction to the public, judging by the fact that the Paddock car park was full. The section for noncompeting VSCC members in shameful motors was also almost full when we arrived in our still-reliable 90,000 mile Ford Sierra 4WD. The Paddock proper was filled likewise, but with the correct motor cars, a splendid display which a

Vauxhall Hurlingham had dared to join. The 12 tests were varied and difficult, and the famous 1909 Test Hill was used for one of them, although in this nanny age a restart was deemed too dangerous in case a car should rush backwards out of control down the slope, which never troubled the JCC in pre-war days, either for restarts or downhill braketest capers. Indeed, even in cautious 1998, Stanton, the driver of the tiny Benjamin, after a gallant try but failure on the 1-in-5 section, made a quick and faultless reverse down again so why the fuss? M Potherat from France, here to promote his excellent Montlhery event for pre-war cars only, using the bankings, the presence of which is now so sparse at Weybridge, was among those who cheered the Benjamin’s brave attempt. The Museum was doing a good trade, the Duesenberg one of its main exhibits, with a life-size facsimile of its late owner beside it and a Tussauds-like dummy in its cockpit, wearing a black helmet, (so which driver does this depict?)