First journey around the world in a car

ALLSORTS MOTOR
CLUB
Newsletter September 2015
NEXT MEETING – THURSDAY 27th
AUGUST at THE
ALRESFORD CRICKETERS.
DATES FOR THIS MONTH
Wednesday 12th August Annual Joint
Meeting with The New Forest
Austin Healey Club at The Potters
Heron, Ampfield from 7.30pm
Sunday 16th August
Breamore, Hampshire. Classic Car Show contact Gemini Classic Events
Thursday 27th August
Allsorts Meeting at The Alresford Cricketers, Alresford someone to volunteer
to organize October’s Evening Drive-out
Sat 29th Sun 30th August
Dunsfold Wings & Wheels 2015
CLUB OFFICERS.
The Allsorts Club officers for your information are as follows:Chairman
Geoff Wheeler 0792 5556710
Treasurer/Membership
Clive Hutton 01730 268702
Events Co-ordinator
Website
Paul/Sue Ramsden 01962 886656
Newsletter
John Hankin 01962 771297
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
The general email address for the club is [email protected] and our website is
www.allsortsmotorclub.org.uk where you will find allsorts of club info about what we do and how we do it and how
we have done on the various events organised by the club and others.
NEWSLETTER.
De Dion Rally - Sees France by Nic Canfor
I was really looking forward to this event for two reasons, it was in France and it was with my new (well newly
acquired) car. Likewise my wife was really not looking forward to it mainly because of the type of car, the lack of
hood, lack of windscreen, no heater……I could go on and on!!!
I hired a covered trailer From Blendworth Trailers for this event which was an Ifor Williams type box trailer (tip, these
are much cheaper to hire than a car transporter) and it worked very well being pulled by a Volvo though the fuel
consumption on the Volvo dropped from 46 to 26 mpg.
The event was based near Sees (North of Le Mans) in a
lovely and cheap hotel with lots of space for trailers. The
weather was hot and sunny, the food was great and it was
really nice to catch up with old friends in the bar.
Day One
This was a route of 50 miles along really quiet roads and
pretty countryside. The organiser had arranged a great
‘side of the road’ coffee stop. The bad news was that it
was up the top of a dirty great hill. Having only two gears
I made the right choice!! and chugged up at 5mph which
seemed to take forever. But we made it and we actually
had lots in reserve so we could have gone up something much steeper. Lunch was at the side of the road and en route
we stopped off at a cycle museum. Whereupon a huge De Dion car parked behind me. The smallest car (mine at 500cc
in front of the largest car V8 De Dion of about 6 litres). This was really a huge car and you can begin to see it if you
look at it compared to my (long and very suffering) wife.
My car went really well all day and I was feeling very
confident when we crested another big hill. The
engine needs to be manually oiled every hours. I
stopped and dutifully did the business. My confidence
rather went out the window when I wound the starting
handle to find that there was no compression
whatsoever. No way could I even start it. Oh God. My
first thought that it had insufficient oil and I had
ruined the rings on the hill. Staring at the engine I
happened to touch the nut that holds the Atmospheric Inlet Valve in place and realised it was really loose. Phew –
tightened it up and off we went. But what a co-incidence all that hard work up the hill and it was OK, I stop and the nut
is totally loose. Very Odd. But the nut is in place with Loctite 243 now, and that will sort it.
Day Two
On this day I was supposed to follow two ladies in a car the same as mine as their husbands had gone off to obtain and
fit a new bearing in another car – which they did successfully. My job was to start the ladies car on the starter and at
any time later in the day when they stopped. So I started their car, they shot off and I shot off (or rather did not) in hot
pursuit. My automatic clutch on first gear would not grip – even though it worked perfectly the day before. After
messing around for half an hour I found that once she had heated up, it would grip. But by this time I had lost too much
time so shot off after them in the Volvo. At the end of the day I was shown how to adjust the clutches which took 60
seconds without any tools – very annoying.
Day Three
It rained and rained and rained. Divorce loomed. The only saving grace were the waterproofs I bought my wife and the
roll of Tesco bin liners that I packed – just in case. They make very fashionable covers for your feet, pulled up and
knotted round your calf. Bound to catch on in Paris.
So without the roof, or the screen, or the…. It proved quite gutty. We stopped at a cider farm, which was dry, then got
back in the rain. Stopped at a restaurant to lunch, dry again and then out in the wet. But the good news was the car went
really well all day – not a problem. Brilliant. Sadly that was the last day of the rally.
I just can’t wait for the next rally in France where the roads are quite and things are cheap. As for her indoors she was
not quite so enthusiastic. I quote ‘I will do something like this once a year, if you are lucky, but don’t expect any more
than that’. So it will be off to the Teuf Teuf with the boys this year! She does not know what she will miss.
As a technical footnote. The car, called Little Dolly, is a 1901 De Dion Bouton model Vis a Vis. 500cc water-cooled,
single engine with an Atmospheric Inlet Valve. A two speed gearbox with automatic clutches oh and it has tiller
steering. Total loss electrics and total loss oil and a top speed of about 25 mph – if you are brave!
(I am looking forward to the coming together of two of the fastest, sleekest, 1901, 4 1/2hp, 498cc Vis-à-vis cars at Teuf
– Teuf where no doubt a slight competition may occur between Allsorts members on the roads of France.
I suspect my Adler should be quicker on the flat but Nic’s De Dion will be quicker up the hills as it can maintain better
momentum as it has a flywheel!) – Ed.
ALLSORTS SEPTEMBER WEEKEND AWAY 11th – 14th SEPTEMBER
There are now only three rooms available at The Fox at Ansty. The cost per room is £70 per room per night, 11th,
12th and l3th September including Full English Breakfast Telephone: 01258 880328 Please book, mentioning Allsorts Motor Club as soon as possible preferably this week please.
Proposed Itinerary – Paul & Sue will be checking out the routes next week.
Friday 11th September- Optional lunchtime meeting on the journey down to the Fox at Ansty at the Langton Arms,
Tarrant Hinton. After lunch members could take a route through the Tarrants to the Fox
Saturday 12th September - Leaving the Fox we suggest a route via Milton Abbas, Winterborne Whitechurch,
Milborne St Andrew for coffee at the Tolpuddle Museum. After coffee visit Moreton
Church and T E Lawrence’s grave. We hope to find the memorial at the site of his
motorbike accident. Journey on via East Knighton for Lunch at the Weld Arms and optional
visit to Lulworth Cove. Return via Wool.
Sunday 13th September - Leaving the Fox via Piddletrenthide to visit Hardy’s Cottage for coffee. Visit Cloud’s Hill
before visiting Bovington Tank Museum for an option lunch stop. After lunch a drive to
Tyneham Village is suggested before returning to The Fox via Stokeford, Cloud’s Hill,
Tolpuddle, and Milborne St Andrew.
Monday 14th September - Possible coffee stop at the Royal Signals Museum on the homeward journey.
If you want to join in on the above itinerary Paul and Sue expect the party to be leaving the Fox at Ansty at approx
10am each morning. It should take about 1.5 hours (64 miles) drive from Alresford in “proper” car t get there if the
traffic is kind!
For those members travelling down for the day over the weekend are welcome to join us or for a shorter itinery Moreton Church, Cloud’s Hill and Bovington Tank Museum are all within easy reach.
RIPPING YARNS! Courtesy of The Bonhams London To Brighton Newsletter
There’s a great narrative behind all the pre-1905 vehicles entering the annual Bonhams London to Brighton
Veteran Car Run
Each and every one of the 450 remarkable vehicles that enter the annual Bonhams London to Brighton Veteran Car Run has its own extraordinary tale to tell. Some of these venerable machines dating back to the dawn
of motoring have been passed down through generations, continuing long-running family traditions; others
have been rescued from automotive graveyards all around the globe and restored especially to follow the
iconic trail from central London to the Sussex coast.
The family tradition is being firmly upheld by the 1901 De Dion Bouton owned by James Gresham which
was purchased from new by his grandfather. A slightly more ‘modern’ De Dion Bouton dating back to 1903
has faithfully transported no fewer than four generations of the Clough family from Hyde Park to Madeira
Drive. It seems the Run is in the Clough blood as the latest in the lineage, Xavier, completed his first Run
when aged just six-weeks-old!
Not all pre-1905 cars have been quite so treasured but somehow they have stood the test of time having received attention in more recent times. One example is the 1902 Delahaye entered into this
year’s Run by Dr. Dan Suskin. This was found
derelict under a pile of apple boxes in rural Normandy and, though still in its original ownership,
had been unused for nearly 80 years. Ivan Odds’
stylish 1903 Clement is another example of a car
that previously suffered some neglect having
come to light as little more than a pile of bits on
the Isle of Wight. Martin Tacon’s 1903 Humber
trike was discovered languishing in a Norfolk
chicken farm by his father, before being meticulously restored in time for its first Run back in
1951. Then there is the 1903 Peugeot owned by
Dr. Ken Butcher which was chanced upon in an
even more unlikely hideaway – the smart two-seater had been dismantled, put into packaging cases and
stored under the dusty floorboards of a London house. These cars are now regular sights on the world’s
longest-running motoring event and will take their place at the start in Hyde Park on 1 November.
Incredibly, at least two of the veterans embarking on this year’s extraordinary 60-mile spectacle to Brighton
were among the first plucky participants partaking in the inaugural revival which took place back in 1927. It
was then that 37 vehicles set off on the hallowed route from London to Brighton to commemorate the very
first Emancipation Run that had famously taken place on a wet Saturday on the 14 November in 1896. That
original journey – still followed to this very day – had been in celebration of the passing of new laws raising
the speed limit to 14mph and removing the need for an escort carrying a red flag to walk 60 yards in front of
any powered locomotive.
One of these cars was Dick Sheppard’s 1901 Panhard et Levassor which successfully completed the so-called
1927 ‘Old Crocks Race'; this well-engineered French car had originally been built specifically for Chevalier
Rene de Knyff – he was a renowned racing driver of the age, as well as a director of the Panhard Company.
The light blue 7hp tonneau-bodied French creation was subsequently named ‘Le Papillon Bleu’ by the
daughter of its second owner, Leslie Bucknall and, later in its life, was the first car to be damaged in the Mersey Tunnel soon after its official opening by King George V in July 1934. The Panhard et Levassor has en-
joyed somewhat better fortune on the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run having now completed no fewer
than 57 of the 59 events it has started – a figure it will be looking to increase in November.
The 1898 Stephens, now entered by Chistopher Loder, is another of today’s regulars to have completed in
that very first recreation Run, driven by its designer Richard Stephens. Indeed, enhancing its claim to be one
of the very first British sportscars, the racy little 10hp dogcart won a Gold Medal from the Daily Sketch for
its performance back in 1927 and, nearly 90 years on, the Somerset-built speedster is still always among the
very first to reach Brighton.
Doughnut Run 2015 Charity Day
Thank you for entering our event that will be held on Sunday 27th September 2015 starting and finishing at
Worting Park House, Basingstoke. Registration is from 10.00 a.m. Confirmation will be sent to you along
with location details and we will put you on our mailing list for further details. Please complete the
following:Driver Name
Passenger Name(s)
Driver Address
Post Code
Phone Number
E Mail
Make & Model of Car
Year of Manufacture
Registration No
Member of Car Club please specify
How did you hear of this event?
Please return form electronically to [email protected] and make electronic payment to
Basingstoke MGOC , Sort Code 30 – 90 – 53, A/C No 47461968. It is imperative that if paying
electronically that you quote Reference Doughnut and your car registration number
Signed....................................... Dated............................
Please note – By completing this form you confirm that your car is taxed, insured and is totally road legal and that you will
abide by all relevant traffic laws during the event. In return BMGOC will not pass on, sell or share any of the details that
you have submitted above.
OR
Please complete this form and either return it with a cheque made out to Basingstoke MGOC for £20.00 per
car to:Nita Simpson
123 Winchester Road, Four Marks, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 5HY
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Wednesday 12th August
Annual Joint Meeting with The New
Forest Austin Healey Club at The Potters Heron,
Ampfield from 7.30pm
Sat 15th – Sun16th August
Singleton, Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, Vintage & Steam show.
10.30am - 5.00pm, Town Lane, Singleton, West Sussex PO18 0EU. Contact 01243 811348,
[email protected] or visit www.wealddown.co.uk/whats-on. On Sunday the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club
will be hosting their Portsmouth region annual event at the show.
Sunday 16th August
Breamore, Hampshire. Classic Car Show contact Gemini Classic Events
Thursday 27th August
Allsorts Meeting at The Alresford Cricketers, Alresford someone to volunteer
to organize October’s Evening Drive-out
Sat 29th Sun 30th August
Dunsfold Wings & Wheels 2015
2nd to 6th September
Great Dorset Steam Fair
Sat 5th – Sun 6th September
Beaulieu International Autojumble
Sunday 6th September
The Hinton Arms Annual Vintage Vehicle Meet
Sunday 6th September
Concorde Classics Car Show at the The Concorde Club, Stoneham Lane,
Eastleigh between 10am and 4pm. . This will be the shows 7th year and is one of
the best in the south. http://www.concordeclassics.co.uk/
Wednesday 9th September
Land Rover Series 1 Club new area, Hampshire meeting at 8pm, The Cricketers
Alresford. Contact [email protected] if you would like more information
Fri 11th – Mon 14th Sept
Allsorts Motor Club Weekend away in Dorset. Contact Paul & Sue Ramsden
11th to 13th September
Goodwood Revival Details www.goodwood.co.uk
Thursday 24th September
Allsorts Meeting at The Alresford Cricketers,
Sunday 27th September
Basingstoke MGOC Doughnut Run – contact Nita Simpson [email protected]
Sunday 4th October
Newbury 4 x 4 & Vintage Spares Day, Newbury showground biggest Land Rover
Autojumble in Europe plus Large vintage section, over 700 stalls! adm adults
£6.50,under 15's free. 10am until 3pm. www.4x4sparesday.co.uk
Thursday 29th October
Allsorts Meeting at The Alresford Cricketers
Sunday 1st November
The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run
Thursday 26th November
The Allsorts Motor Club 25th AGM at The Swan Hotel, Alresford
If you have some dates for the diary please let me know ([email protected]) and I will add them