Club News, November 1985

A social visit to the National Motorcycle Museum is to be organised by the Lea-Francis OC on November 9th. The Museum is at Sicken Hill, Solihull, near the NEC, and there is of course a Lea-Francis in the collection. Entry is £2.50 for adults, £1.75 for under 12s. Also in the LeaFlet, the monthly magazine, are dates for next year including the 24th Annual Driving Tests and Concours at Stanford Hall on June 1st. The club can be contacted through W. G. Adams, Karibu, Oxhill Warwickshire.

Having recently had an anguished letter from the owner of a cherished but obsolete car whose insurers had refused to make any allowance for its exceptional condition, we were interested to see that a member of the Triumph Sports Six Club had successfully used the Club’s published guide to values of the appropriate Triumphs to come to an agreement with his insurance assessor. Other clubs might do well to consider compiling such a guide, providing of course that it were genuinely realistic.

Porsche Club GB’s fat and glossy Porsche Post quarterly lists a number of forthcoming events: on November 2nd there is a repeat of the very successful Driving Instruction day to be held at Cadvvell Park, an enterprising project involving several qualified racing instructors. On November 16th is the 1985 Presentation Dinner Dance, when awards in the Production race series will be presented. This will be held in the Pavilion at the Bell, Aston Clinton, near Aylesbury; contact Gina Carr, Cornlea, Moat Lane, Prestwood, nr Great Missenden, Bucks. After this there will be a final Club race at Brands on December 1st.

Morgan Miscellany is always full of interest — this month there is an article on the etiquette of waving at other cars. I did not know the rules were so complicated, but it seems that Alfas are not worth waving to — “they never, ever, wave back.” Well, I refute this. I wave at Morgans and vintage sports cars (if my sun-roof is open), and at all pre-65 Alfas. Incidentally, the article came originally from the wonderfully-titled “The Inestimable Blurb“, magazine of the Morgan Owners Group of Canada!

Britten Bows Out

John Britten, whose idiosyncratic advertisements have entertained Motor Sport readers for nearly 20 years, has sold up his garage business in Arkley to concentrate on his Techno camera stores and Morse computer centres.

The Arkley garage has been taken over by TVR Engineering, Libra Motive of Hampstead has taken on Britten’s Morgan agency and the rights to the Arkley SS “Spridget” conversion have been taken over by Peter May Engineering of 92 Windmill Hill, Halesowen, Worcs.

John will continue to have an interest in motor racing as Richard Lloyd’s partner with the Palmer / Hobbs Porsche 956.

Mille Miglia 1986

This successful “regularity re-run” will be held over the first four days in May next year, the route covering most of the famous sections between Brescia and Rome. Entries close on December 31st, and details are available from the Organising Committee, Musical Watch Veteran Car Club, Via Somalia 8/A, 25100 Brescia, Italy.

Congratulations

Andy Rouse has scored a hat-trick of outright wins in the RAC British Saloon Car Championship. What makes his achievement even more remarkable is that he has done so in three different types of car (Alfa Romeo GTV6, Rover Vitesse and Ford Sierra XR4Ti) and was personally rev possible for the preparation and development of all three. Rouse also won the title outright in 1975 driving a Triumph Dolomite and took clan wins in 1973 (Escort) and 1974 (Dolomite).

Racing Car Show

The BRSCC is reviving the Racing Cat Show in its original format. It will run from Thursday, January 9th to Sunday, January 12th, 1986 at the Alexandra Palace Pavilion.

Kit Cars

The Marcos Mantula is the first kit car u be granted a Certificate of Conformity under, the SMMT’s Specialist Car Manufacturers’ Group’s voluntary code of practice. The Caterham Seven, Midas and JBA Falcon have also been passed, subject to minor modifications which the makers already have in hand and a number of others are undergoing their final tests.