Cars in the Park, Alexandra Park, Pietermaritzburg, 19 May 2013 By Jack Clough and Theo Alberda

Transcription

1 Cars in the Park, Alexandra Park, Pietermaritzburg, 19 May 2013 By Jack Clough and Theo Alberda Cars in the Park in Pietermaritzburg is an event that many classic vehicle enthusiasts look forward to. Ahead of the day the long term forecast predicted rain. But, as the day drew nearer a beautiful warm autumn day was promised. It was indeed a beautiful day ideal for the event! Last year some were of the opinion that entrance into the park was made rather difficult for the participants. We never experienced any problems however and this year the organisers made every effort to ensure there were no glitches. Everything went well and the whole event ran like clockwork. Our compliments to the Vintage Sports Car Club (VSCC) and its many smiling and very helpful marshals. As in the past our club, The Jaguar Drivers Club of Natal, joined with the midland folk in a lovely shaded spot at the top part of the park. The Jaguars were joined by the Rolls Royce/Bentley cars and a handful of other exotics. Our club was well represented but it was Peter Micklewright who excelled, yet again, arriving in three beautifully restored Jaguars and his priceless 1929 Peerless. The midlands team laid on coffee and tea with biscuits and muffins. A very nice gesture appreciated by all. By the time we arrived at 08:00 Robin Phipson and company had things very nicely organised and we simply had to slot our cars into the spaces allocated. Well done to the Midlands folks! Dispersed amongst the Jaguars were the Rolls/Bentleys and in this case a new Jaguar XF 1

2 A line up of MK 1 and Mk 2s. Robins engine bay got many admiring glances through the day. One German lady remarked that she would eat her breakfast of it and that put things into perspective. Peter M s C Type replica, MK and XK 140 were greatly admired. 2

3 The C Type engine bay. The triple side draft Webers look most impressive! Chris Swales nice XJS adding to the varied line-up. And our clubs E - Types were well represented 3

4 Theo s 4.2 litre series 1 FHC with the Eric Moore s beautiful 3.8 litre roadster behind. Alan Crooks 4.2 litre roadster with detachable hard top. 4

5 Dave Crooks 4.2 litre series 1 FHC. Jack and Lyne Clough trying out Mervin Thompson s XK 8. Watch it Mervin Jack has been eyeing your car for some time now! 5

6 And the others A row of Bentley and Rolls. Someone remarked that Jaguar, Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars along with Aston Martin fit well together as they are fine English motor cars. This prompted our chairman to take along his AC Greyhound as AC s, after all, are the Savil Row of motoring! 6

7 Yes, there was a great variety of beautiful cars on display in the area allocated to us but, the bell of the ball was undoubtedly a car that was not even British. It was the most beautiful 1929 Peerless belonging to Peter Micklewright. The side valve engine never missed a beat on the journey to Pietermaritzburg and back to Durban. Peter, Vanessa and company enjoying lunch all from the useful rear tail board on the Peerless 7

8 And what s next? We will be arranging our annual AGM for late in June or early July. And those who monitor our web site will know the Scottburgh car show is coming up in July. Our clubs patron Peter Fielding in the main organiser for this event and this year Jaguar is the favoured marque. With this in mind he Xis anticipated a strong support from our club and is planning a drive by a variety of Jaguars spanning many years. More will follow on this soon. Please give him your support. The author s comments. The many and varied cars on display at Cars in the Park got us thinking. The words I am going to restore it and it s not for sale normally only come from a person who does not realise just what that this involves. The parts costs, the labour, finding a competent artisan, trimmer or panel beater/spray-painter nowadays is neither easy nor cheap! Also, the time factor!! These projects often take far longer than anticipated and when you finish it what will you do with it? There are other factors like I don t drive after dark now, the high cost of fuel nowadays borne out by the fact that events held in other provinces are no longer as well supported. At the Knysna car show only the Alfa club was well represented with 3 cars from KZN! But, what about the many kit cars that are now available? When Kit cars parade as the original they are not replicas (see definition of replica) they are just copies with no real right to use the badges of the original manufacturer. We don t say that there should not be copies (replicas!) but the originals suffers from this as, in truth, other than looking similar the kit cars bear no resemblance to the original! If you have a 1938 SS100 an HWM or the like and modern running gear is employed such as XJ6 suspension/motor and gearbox it is an injustice to the original in our opinion! Jack as an AC owner of various models since 1963 and, apparently, the only AC owners club (UK) member in SA I would hate to see a copy with an AC badge on it! Interestingly, there are less than 15 genuine ACs in SA! That said we admire many enthusiasts creations and appreciate the cost in time and effort they have spent on these. Well done! But, should they carry the badge of the original manufacturer? We think not! 8