Vintage and Classic Vehicle Festival, Stony Stratford, New Years Day. By Simon & Janet Wright.

Transcription

1 Vintage and Classic Vehicle Festival, Stony Stratford, New Years Day. By Simon & Janet Wright Dodge Challenger - Sam Posey Trans Am racing replica February 2017 Page 11

2 Pre-war Lagonda Wet weather could not dampen the enthusiasm of the vintage and classic car owners from displaying their cars at the first show of the new year. Stony Stratford, near Milton Keynes in the heart of England, held its annual New Years Day Vintage and Classic car show despite continual rain all throughout the morning. Whilst the turnout of vehicles, and spectators, was down on previous years, there was still an amazing turnout of vehicles, to start the new year in style. The Market Square was still fairly full of pre war vintage cars and motorcycles, with some impressive vehicles on display. Amoung the more usual Ford Model A saloons and little Austin 7s were various vintage treasures. One that caught the eye was just to prove Henry Ford wrong, a 1926 Ford Model T Tudor saloon in bright red paintwork - so much for any colour as long as it s black! Bearing in mind the wet weather, the pre-war car park was like a rainbow, with many different coloured cars spread across the area. There was a pre-war Dodge 6 saloon from America in blue with a deep red side panel parked just in front of a grey Lagonda convertible with a very long bonnet. A bright red Wolseley Hornet sportscar from the 1930s stood out from the crowd as did a two tone green MG SA saloon, again from 1953 Ford Prefect the 1930s. A two tone blue Delage saloon showed the diversity of the vehicles which had made the trip to Stony Stratford. There was also a selection of vintage and classic motorcycles on the edge of the market square. Rounding the corner in to the High street through the town, which had been closed to traffic for the day, there was the most impressive line up of class vehicles, starting with a Heinkel Trojan Pre-war Wolseley Hornet February 2017 Page 12

3 1938 MG SA saloon Rolls Royce bubble car from the early 1960s. They were built under license by Trojan cars Ltd in the UK from 1960 until This three wheeled, one door microcar was powered by a 198cc single cylinder, 4 stroke Heinkel engine, producing around 10 hp and fitted to a four speed gearbox, which included reverse gear. The bubble car was parked just behind a 1970 Jaguar XJ saloon, which must have been at least 3 times as long as the bubble car. There were several vans and light trucks in the line up, including two Volkswagen Camper vans and a 1950s Chevrolet pickup truck, plus a very tidy yellow Land Rover brakedown truck. Several Rally cars also made the trip, with a Mk 1 and Mk 2 Ford Escort, an MG B GT and a more suprising orange Saab 96, which although it carried Lombard RAC Rally 1974 number panels, was actually a 1977 car. American cars are always popular, and beside the more usual Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro, there were several exciting cars. You don t see many Edsel Ranger 2 door sedans on the road in the UK and the 1959 model parked at the end of the High Street looked splendid in its sky bleu and white colour scheme. Even more spectacular was the lime green Dodge Challenger on the other side of the road. This was a replica of the Sam Posey 1970 Trans Am American racing saloon. The original was fitted with a 305 cubic inch V8 engine which took him to three 3rd place finishes in the 1970 season. Moving away from the high street and to 1937 Delahaye February 2017 Page 13

4 the car park behind the shops to another display of classic cars. Vauxhall, from nearby Luton, were well represented with a pristine 1954 Vauxhall Velox EIPV, a 1962 Vauxhall Cresta, and a 1972 Vauxhall Viva all parked together and reprsenting 3 decades of popular Vauxhall motoring. A little further around were a pair of 1978 Vauhall Chevette HS with the 16 valve 2.3 litre slant 4 engine, 5 speed close ratio gearbox, uprated brakes and suspension and a full front air dam. Another pair of vehicles which gave a nice contrast of how designs have changed over the years were a litre Chevrolet 210 hot rod parked next to a litre Honda NSX sportscar. Both would have been high performance vehicles in their day, but the aerodynamic Honda is probably only half the height of the much more traditionally shaped Chevrolet. Representing the former Rootes Group were a Sunbeam Rapier and a Humber Sceptre, while some American cars had slipped in 1978 Vauxhall Chevette HS Rover 90 and Jaguar the back car park, a Pontiac Trans Am in black with a gold firebird on the bonnet, a Dodge Dart Singer, a highly modified hot rod 1957 Chevrolet Belair and a white Cadillac De Ville. There were a few rare cars on display as well. One of the most local was a 1957 Berkeley Sports. Built in Biggleswade in Bedfordshire between 1956 and 1960, the Berkeley Sports was a collaboration between designer Lawrence Bond and the Berkeley Coachworks factory owned by Charles Painter. The GRP bodied 1953 Chevrolet 210 and 1991 Honda NSX Heinkel Trojan Bubble car February 2017 Page 14

5 car was powered by a 492cc transverse two stroke three cylinder, air cooled engine producing 30 bhp, which gave the light weight sports car a top speed of 80 mph. This particular model, the SE 492 was built between 1957 and 1959 when the company went bankrupt. Only 666 were built. A much larger rare car also at Stony was a Gordon Keeble. Only 100 of these Grand Tourers were produced between 1964 and They were powered by a 5.7 litre Chevrolet V8 engine which gave 300 bhp. For such a powerful GT car, the company badge was a Tortoise. It is said that during the first photo shoot of the car, a pet tortoise wandered in to Edsel Ranger 2 door sedan the frame of the shot. Because of the irony, the slowness of the tortoise, the animal was chosen as the emblem for the model. Most other manufacturers were represented, including Alfa Romeo, Datsun, Triumph, Jaguar, Rover, MG, Morgan, Trabant, Austin, Porsche, and even Dodge with a brand new Viper and BMW with their i8 Electric hybrid supercar. While the turnout was smaller than last year, it was still a tremendous number of vehicles that were on display despite the 1960 Berkeley Sports rain, and all praise to the owners who are happy to still run their classic and vintage pride and joys no matter what the weather, and to the enthusiasts that came out to support them. Gordon Keeble Grand Tourer Datsun 1200 GX February 2017 Page 15

6 1921 GN Saab 96 Volkswagen Varient 1953 Special bodied Lotus Mk VI Classic Motorcycles display Vauxhall Velox Pontiac Trans Am 1933 Talbot Austin Cooper S February 2017 Page 16