VSCC Light-Car-Section Welsh Weekend (April 9th/10th)

Fine weather graced the driving tests at Llanwrtyd Wells, light-hearted frolics which included a row for the more intrepid drivers on the Abermant Lake Hotel’s water, after which followed the annual dinner, prize-giving and a very amusing talk by Peter Hull. The entry consisted of 41 cars, some with “duplicate” drivers (daughters competing against dads for example), of which 19 were Austin 7s. But there were other interesting runners, a Benz Ideal making an unofficial foray and all three rival French light-cars, in the forms of Carlisle’s immaculate 9/15 Renault, Erskine’s 5c.v. Citroën and Janette Horton’s 7/12 Peugeot with quadrant gearchange and beaded-edge tyres that fooled me into thinking they were straight-sided balloons, being in action, while among familiar Edwardians Knight’s 1914 Clegg-Darracq represented a covetable touring-car, even if a universal-joint had to be rebuilt en route.

Rain on the Sunday made most of the trials sections stoppers at the start-lines, but at hill 4 on Lady Venables-Llewellyn’s estate, Barry Clarke’s 1913 Singer Ten got up to marker-5 and Jane Arnold-Forster (Austin 7), Nan McEwen (Riley 9), Tony Jones (Austin 7), Branislav Sudjic (Salmson), Annabel Jones (Austin 7), Roger Reed (Austin 7) and Dr. Grey (Austin 7) to marker-4, after which the Salmson discarded its transmission. The overall winner again proved to be Keith Hill, in his Wolverhampton made AJS. — W.B.