issue3

The Nottingham Classic Tour
Nottingham
Classic eNews
Volume 2 issue 3
this newsletter is only
available electronically
March 11th 2008
Www.nottinghamclassic.co.uk
[email protected]
NOTTINGHAM CLASSIC TOUR - flying high for
2008
Dates for your
Diary :
Plans continue, but I can confirm that the finish venue , Newark Air
Museum will be special, we shall be enjoying a Hog Roast ( vegetarian
options available) and we shall have our own marquee within the museum
grounds for our socialising at the end. But the icing on the cake will be a
flypast by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the Lancaster Bomber ,
City of Lincoln. I had a letter from the RAF confirming that they have been
‘tasked’ to organise a flypast, so only the weather can prevent it happening.
Don't forget also that there will be special awards for participants wearing
a full set of year bars—that’s eight in all as we didn’t have them back in
1990. The entry list is open and well into double figures. You can
download an entry form from
the website and pay for your
e nt r y
se cu re l y
o n l i ne
www.nottinghamclassic.co.uk.
You may of course still use the
Royal Mail to safely deliver your
entry.
NATIONAL ‘DRIVE
IT’ DAY April 20th
2008, half day
run Wollaton
Park.
Pre-War Austin 7
Club - Half Day
Run Wollaton
Park
31st May 2008
Heritage School
Tour of the Peak
15th June 2008
The 10th
Nottingham
Classic Tour
Newstead Abbey will be one of
the stopping points and the rest
of the route is still to be
confirmed. Breakfast will be
provided at the Wollaton Hall
start .
Smiling start, 2007 Nottingham Classic
Tour
10th August 2008
Sherwood 42
21st September
2008
This is our tenth event and we
aim to make it memorable.
JT
Contact 01773
785927
Entry forms
available soon,
keep an eye on the
website
NORWICH UNION CLASSIC IS BACK IN TOWN
After several years lay off the Norwich Union Classic Car Run is back in Nottingham.
The organisers have asked me to co-ordinate the route from Nottingham to
Silverstone on October 12th. The start venue is still to be confirmed and the route
will visit two or three stops on the way to Silverstone so if you are planning to
enter this years event, make sure you are entered on the Nottingham start, you
know that the members of Carlton & District Motor Club will look after you and
ensure all of your classic needs are met. Given our experience of running Nottingham as a Classic venue, chances are this will be one of the best starts the event
The Nottingham Classic
has ever had. More details to follow.
Tour is supported by
Millers Oils Ltd
Important news about the sport relief mile inside
Www.millersoils.co.uk
NOTTINGHAM CLASSIC FACTOIDS
.Unbeknown to us when we planned the assault on the 2007 London to
Brighton Veteran Car Run in the CELER, the 2007 event was the fortieth
anniversary of the cars first entry in 1967. It was entered by Mr Oliver Gray
of Exeter after he bought the car and restored it from one of it’s earliest
owners. Later that month the car came to Nottingham and was displayed at
a motorshow held at the premises of Trumans Garage.
Full entry for the Heritag e Community
School Tour of the Peak.
Tony Parkes & Noel Sabin, organisers of this
ever popular event , report that the entry is
now full and a place on the reserve list is the
only option if you want a run. Just like the
old road rally days. Nostalgia in a different
way !
BAD NEWS , GOOD NEWS!
the offside front mudguard flexing six inches front to
back on tickover.
Barry Hodson has carried out a further detailed
inspection of the car and found that the original engine
mounts are running out of line with the transmission
mounts. This is revealed best at the clutch where it is
possible to see an offset of around 3 mm.
We recommended that the Council spend a little more
cash to have the alignment re engineered which will
improve further the reliability of the motor and prolong
it’s serviceable life . We suspect that this alignment
issue has been the cause of failures in the past. But
when added to the engineering already carried out by
Barry will prevent such failures in future, so to
sacrifice the Sport Relief Mile for this engineering work
was really no contest. It will off the road for around five
weeks but should be well run in by ’ Drive It Day’.
The bad news is we have had to retire the Celer from
the Sport Relief Mile on 16th March without turning
a wheel ! The good news is the reason why this decision was made. Recently, Brian, Andy and I met with
Officers of Nottingham City Council to discuss the
post London to Brighton report on the state of the
Celer. We have already commented on how happy we
were at the outcome of he restoration and the total
reliability we had on the event, so much so that not a
drop of fluid leaked and the car was capable of running the 63 miles straight back to London apart from
that is, the acetylene required for the lights! The only
concern was the serious vibrations at low revs which The National ‘Drive Day’ on April 20th will see Carlton
& District Motor Club provide it’s first organised
did see one or two bolts flying off the structure and
offering as our contribution to this worthwhile effort.
Up and down the country , owners of classic cars are
being encouraged to just get in them and drive,
whether on an organised event or not. Our free half day
tour from Wollaton Park into Derbyshire, will not only
give us the opportunity to dust off the cobwebs for the
season ahead but will give us the opportunity to drive
once more in a group on an organised route to a nice
venue, Denby Pottery. We have been before but since
our last full run to Denby, they have opened more
retail space that offers their Pottery and Dartington
Crystal
products in atmospheric surroundings. So
far the entry is very encouraging, so come and join us
for next to nowt! The event is free to enter but we shall
be asking for a contribution of £3 per car at the start
just to cover photocopying costs and the cost of the
permit.
National Drive it
day, Sunday 20th
April 2008. Start
& Finish Wollaton
Park.
Entry form is
available from
the website.
After a year of nagging, at last an article
from Brian!
I am that fed up of reading John’s fantastic articles
and of his constant nagging to write one of my own,
I’ve finally succumbed to the pressure, so this is the
story behind my recent find and purchase of a
Triumph TR4. It may drag on so it is in two parts,
so here goes, act 1 scene 1......................
Most Friday evenings, along with a group of friends,
I go to a nice pub for a cavery meal, now, you know
this thing about us smokers can’t have you
non-smokers near us when we have a fag? Well
that’s ‘cos you haven’t paid anything towards them,
nothing to do with health but we normal people
have to have special rooms where we can indulge
our nicotine cravings in peace. Anyhow, off I go to
the special room and there in the corner sat with a
pint and a fag is what I can only describe as a
tramp—I did say normal people use the special room
didn’t I ?
As I am halfway down my fag, the tramp gets up and
shuffles toward the door to go for another pint. I see
this same thing for weeks apart from the odd Friday
when we go somewhere different. A couple of months
passed and curiosity got the better of me and I ask one
of the friendly waitresses ‘who the hell is that guy?’
‘That’s Woodyard Dave’ came the reply ‘he is one of the
richest men in ...............’ (place name omitted for legal
reasons).
OK, Woodyard Dave, sounds like a mass murderer to
me, a bit like Chainsaw Bill perhaps. Maybe he is the
richest guy in .................. Because he doesn't buy
clothes? ‘ no, honest he owns the Wood Yard, he’s
loaded!!’ Yeah so is my gun. I try the same question on
her every week and I always get the same story. So the
tramp is now known to my group of friends as
Woodyard Dave. Me being me, I now want to to talk to
him, why? Because I just like talking to people, ok he
is loaded and he could be my tramp mate but I have a
tall mate and a fat mate, why not a tramp mate ?
So now we are three months into seeing Woodyard
Dave and I tell the group that I am going to the special
room to talk to Woodyard Dave, they reckon I can’t
just go up to him and say hello Woodyard Dave, he
might be called something else for a start. So I break
the ice with a good line, ‘got a light mate?’ Woodyard
Dave just gives me a couple of grunts and passes his
fag lighter. Oh my God, Woodyard Dave doesn’t talk!
My one and only tramp mate is a mute!!! I finish my
fag and report back to the group, Woodyard Dave can’t
talk. Howls of laughter, this could be better as a film
rather than an article.
Right, lets push on, I try again the following week
bearing in mind we are now getting on for 4 months
and this time I use the line ’ it’s not very warm tonight’
Reply—cough, cough, cough , good grief my tramp
mate is about to die!! But after 10 minutes of coughing he said ‘and its (cough,cough, cough) going to get
colder next week’. I run back to the group, he talks! He
talks! I am happy now that I have my new tramp
friend. But my dining friends come out with all the
jokes.
....................cont’d
Woodyard Dave?
Now just before you start thinking how nasty I am,
please believe me, it will help you understand this
tale of aTR4. So, there’ s me and this tramp having
a fag. His face is covered with a beard, he is wearing
a woolly hat, some form of anorak and a pair of
jeans with the crotch down to the knee and a pair of
black work boots that share one old lace.
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‘he will be putting you in his Will Bry!’ ‘bet he will
be coming round to yours for dinner now Bry!’ and
so on. The next week I go into the special room and
sit with my mate, instantly he says hi yah and I
reply hey up! And off we go, just a bit of small chat
tells me this guy is not what he appears to be, for a
start he speaks proper, not like what we do! No
coughing this week either, I ask his name and he
replies YOU’VE GOT IT, Dave!! Hi Dave I’m Brian ( if
this wasn’t a car story I would be getting a little
worried now! ......ed)
By the following week we are regular chat buddies, I
ask Dave, ‘do you call on your way home from work’
‘yes’ ‘where do you work?’ ‘The Wood Yard on .......
Lane, I own it, its been in my family for years’ I can’t
wait to rush back to my dining friends and confirm
the details. Andy (co organiser with the Herald) says
that everyone locally uses that woodyard, it has been
there for years.
No Dave!! I ask at the bar if Woodyard Dave has been
in? ‘no not tonight, he was in the other night’. Oh no!!
My new friend has left me, maybe he has met another
smoker in another Special Room? What about my TR?
...........to be continued
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Several more weeks passed and small talk with Dave
in the Special Room became a regular theme of
Friday nights at the carvery. Anyway, It’s the Friday
before the Norwich Union Classic and I mention to
Woodyard Dave that we are doing a classic car run
the next day and suddenly, this tale takes a turn for
the better. Dave remarks ‘I’ve got a classic car’ . You
could have knocked me down with a feather, I was
not expecting this. Instantly gathering my
composure, I asked him what type? Do you use it?
Its a TR4 1965 and it’s been in my garage for 10
years says Dave, I found a crack in the steering
wheel and took it off and never got round to doing it
but everything else is ok. I’m thinking, it must be a
wreck but I report back to the group and they think
he is winding me up.
I spend all week imagining this TR4, how much
would it be worth? I run past the wife ‘we don’t need
anymore cars!’ But we could could get rid of her
MGB GT and she could have the TR. I showed her a
photo of a TR and she didn’t say it was ugly so that
was a good start. I just need Woodyard Dave to a) let
me see it and b) persuade him that he wants to sell
it me, assuming it isn’t a basket case. For some
reason we miss the following Friday at the carvery ,
but we were back the following week.
...........
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I don’t know, we wait thirty years for an article
about Lancia Fulvias and then just like the
buses, two come along at once ! take it away
Mick Worrall.
JT
my time to live the dream. For two years, I was a
slave to it’s well being. It never let me down, never
cost me a penny in repairs and always turned heads
when I took it out. On the downside, I never drove it
if there was a hint of rain, I would never park it
where I couldn’t see it and I was forever listening for
expensive noises from the V8. Was it worth it? You
bet!!
Eventually, the time came to sell the Ferrari and
move to something different. I bought a Lancia
Stratos replica and spent 9 very enjoyable months
creating a group 4 ‘Olio Fiat’ replica. What an
animal, powered by a V6 Alfa Romeo 3 litre in the
back pumping out 230bhp and only weighing 840kg.
It’s fair to say that ever since I learned to drive, I’ve
been a petrol head. In my younger days, even
though money was usually tight, I always tried to be
involved with cars in some way. This led me to take
up rallying as a navigator for the first time way back
in 1972. Rallying has always been a passion of mine
and at the time I got involved, the cars that always
seemed to stand out were the ones from Italy.
Lancia always seemed to have the knack of producing winning cars but, on top of that, they were
always beautiful pieces of creative engineering. The
Fulvia, way ahead of it’s time with the V4 twin cam,
the iconic Stratos, probably one of the most
beautiful cars ever to hit the road and even now,
over thirty years later, still turning heads whenever
they appear in public. Then the Lancia 037, another
futuristic creation from the same team, pure genius.
During the late eighties and into the early nineties,
Marriage, family and starting my own business
meant that I had to ‘hang up’ my maps for an
indefinite period and as priorities changed, so did
my perception of modern rallying. Whilst I still enjoy
watching WRC, I’m afraid that dropping the original
RAC Rally format of four days of virtually non stop
action signalled the start of the demise in my
passion for the sport. The FIA in their wisdom
decided that it was better to shorten events and
repeat the same stages again and again. Then,
before we knew what was happening, every single
venue and forest event became dominated by 4
wheel drive, turbocharged super cars. Gone were
the screaming sideways Escorts, Sunbeams and
Mantas to be replaced by overcomplicated, popping
and banging, fire breathing road rockets. What was
I to do now? I was approaching 50 and the ‘mid life’
crisis. I didn't have deep pockets, ability or
inclination to attempt to get back into rallying so I
thought it was about time to follow my dream to
own an Italian classic car. What a dilemma I faced,
what to choose, a Maserati, Ferrari or De Tomaso?
I’ve always been a bit on the ambitious side so, with
the approval of my dear wife Christine, I became the
proud owner of a Ferrari 308 GTS. I suspect that we
all have a bit of Thomas Magnum in us and this
was
I had many happy track days with it, even making an
appearance on Sky TV with it but became aware if
the growing profile of historic rallying. Now that
sounds like my cup of tea.
It was clear that in some quarters, the replica Stratos
was frowned upon and not in keeping with tradition.
I have to say that, while I am no purist, I have to
agree . Classic cars are just that, old machines
lovingly restored or maintained for the pleasure of
driving. Nothing else for it then, if I wanted to follow
this direction, the Stratos had to go. This has now
given me a chance to go for something more
appropriate and I have now acquired a classic Lancia
Fulvia.
After searching for a tidy solid car that wasn’t
Concours, I came across a two owner car with 72 k
on the clock, having been restored by Omnicron in
The 10th Nottingham Classic Tour
Sunday 10th August 2008
Where is your Classic
Car article?
Write it now!
This means you!
Price was right and the pictures looked good, so off The History of Car making in Nottingham —update
we went to Brighton ( funny how the right car is
never on the doorstep) I was pleased to find it was
everything the owner had described and above all,
a perfect car for me to prepare a historic rally car.
(made in Nottingham)
Deal done, I drove home and it never missed a
beat. Within a week, the car had been
de– bumpered and off we went ( my navigator and
friend of many years Colin Poxson) to a Historic
Rally Car Register ‘ newcomers’ event where we
started to learn about regularity timing, the types
of time schedules and the controls used etc.
The Vapomobile
You have read my ramblings so far regarding this other
elusive Nottingham built vehicle and to date I have
managed to find, with the help of others, that it did exist
and was made by The Motor Construction Company of
Canal Street Nottingham. I have even established that one
of the Motor Construction Company employees, an
apprentice named Mr Thomas from Aspley also helped
assemble the Celers at the McGreggor cycle works in
Following on from that I put an entry in for the Aspley and in 1904 when the Motor Construction
Yorkshire 100 Historic Road Rally which was three Company failed, his apprenticeship was transferred to
weeks away. In that time, I planned to upgrade the Humber at Beeston.
seats, fit harnesses and a trip meter. That was A recent exchange of emails with Jeff Theobald of the
really all that was needed to get the car ready.
Steam Car Club of Great Britain as revealed an
illustration.
Believe it or not, with the help of my son Niki, a
paint sprayer at Nottingham Porsche and also a
petrol head, the transformation took just two
weeks . Now to get some mileage I am hoping to do
some of the classic car runs around Nottingham so
I hope to meet a few new people on my travels. I
am also planning to take it on the Historic Tour of
Laon in France at the end of May and I will be out
on the ‘drive it ‘ day at Wollaton (don’t forget the
Nottingham Classic ......ed). I Look forward to
seeing you soon so please come and say hello.
It would be a breach of trade descriptions if I attempted
to describe this vehicle as anything than what the
captions says because it is just not glamorous but from
the knowledge I have gained so far I would say that this
the 12hp version. Both 8hp and 10 hp models were made
but these could identified by having tiller steering. The
British Steam Car Club have very kindly put an appeal
out on their web site forum so hopefully some more
information will reveal itself. I would like to acknowledge
Jeff’s help and would recommend a visit to :
UPDATE
We have just returned from the Yorkshire 100,
brilliant event with superb route around tight
Yorkshire Lanes, we managed to bring the Fulvia
home in third place overall behind an E Type and a
Mini Cooper. Great social event, great bunch of
people, everyone laughing and joking at the finish.
Now isn’t that how sport should be?
MW
Nottingham Classic leisure wear is available to
buy on line at
www.nottinghamclassic .co.uk
WWW.STEAMCAR.NET
In the next issue of Nottingham Classic Enews
·
Report from Race Retro
·
Report from the Lotus Festival
·
First part of ‘in the footsteps of legends’
·
Updates on all that is happening
Plus part two of ‘Woodyard Dave’
The Nottingham Classic eNews and the Nottingham Classic Logo is copyright of and published by John Thornhill, 3 Meadow Close,
Eastwood, Nottingham .NG16 3DQ.