A lively night out last night, trying out the new goggles. (Ex. French Airforce, unissued WW2, bought on ebay) I phoned my pal Duncan who needed reminding of what motoring is all about, having just bought a new Audi A6. We went out to the pub at Ashby Folville, which every second Tuesday of the summer months sort of hosts a Classic Car/Bike event. It is delightfully unorganised. Not a high viz jacket or Copper to be seen and a £1 coin allows you to park on the village green. A good turnout last night as it was a mild evening. It is so quintessentially English and allows those of us in the autumn of our lives to dress up in a way we only can in the company of others of the same persuasion. There were Mods on Scooters, Hells Angels on Harley's and old Buffers in Vintage Cars, mixing with some pretty cool Dudes in 40’s and 50’s Buick’s and Chevrolets. Everybody stayed for a couple of hours, lamented on how they used to have one of those, but scrapped it in 1975, then went home. Reality was in another World.
11 comments:
Just brilliant. Wish I'd been there in my Hallaton Harrier.
Wow! What a great photo of the Bond - with the authentic (original?) blue haze of 16:1 2 stroke mix! Although the driver has the full-on sports version, he does lack the charisma that comes with wearing WW2 French aviator goggles....and having to open the bonnet and step into the engine bay to kick-start the thing isn't a bird-magnet either!
He had upgraded from the original 197cc Villiers to the meaty 250!! Hang on to your handbag Mother.
Just brilliant. Especially the shot of you and Mr Green hurtling along at 25mph towards your date with destiny, and micro-cars.
Which reminds me. A million years ago I was a trainee guard for an organisation known as British Rail, of which we no longer hear. A fellow trainee had a Berkeley with a 325 Villiers engine and attendant clouds of blue smoke. He was an enterprising young man, having had a lucrative window-cleaning round in Derby that he serviced with a Hillman Husky/Imp van (though no Napier W12 engine, sadly). Nothing unusual in this you may think. However, there was the tiny, insignificant technicality of him being only just sixteen when he started this enterprise. Cleaned windows and motored throughout. Never got caught. What a star.
The thing is - what on earth posessed the pasenger to get into the truck with that driver - little more than a swift visual assessment of the situation would have most normal people politely decling the lift - "that's very sweet of you YOU SCARY LOOKING HALFWIT I think I could do with the walk.
Wish we had something like that down here. The nearest we get to it is the Six Bells Chiddingly. All sorts of stuff turns up most sundays, although mainly 'bikes there's a great mix of people. We also get nutters with aircraft engines on trailers who start them up in the car park. But the Bond - what a device - sadly I am old enough to remember when people actually bought them in a non-ironic sense to transport their families! How did they get anywhere? I felt quite superior whizzing past them in my dad's patched-up Slough-built prewar Citroen, even with the knowledge that it was bound to shed a rear wheel before the day was out.
Jon. Never mind the Slough-built Citroens (am I right in thinking they had a rather naff chrome bonnet flash?). I want to know more about aero-engines strapped to trailers and belching fire. Where? When? Is it dangerous? If not, can it be, please?
Fred. It depends on your definition of dangerous. If you count safety regulations as being a piece of sagging tape half heartedly draped between two sticks to prevent any innocent walking into a heavily chopped propeller, then it's very safe! I will indeed try and let you know when the next exposition is. Last time there was an Alvis Leonides engine, a rather fine Merlin derivitive (is it the Meteor?) that they put in tanks, someone with a pulse jet (home made and extremely noisy) and sundry other exotica. In the scheme of such things this is a random event with nil organisation, which is of course what makes it so attractive.
You're right, the Slough built Light fifteen has appendages and additions designed to de-Frechify it and thus make it more acceptable to English taste - leather seats, wooden dash and a bit of extra chrome - personally I prefer the pressed steel, cloth upholstery basic look.
Fantastic! That'll be a great day out. Have nothing more to say. I am in recovery. A Mr Combo came to stay and now nothing is quite what it was. More darkened rooms please.
I too had a Slough built Citroen. 1954, 2CV. Puny 375 cc engine and 'traffic clutch' (centrifugal). Lucas electrics throughout. I painted it Ford Aubergine, ran it until it broke in half, then scrapped it, selling the bonnet to a Dutchman in 1974. Hated it.
I had a late Slough Light 15 (with a proper boot lid), but cannot remember if it had a chrome flash or not. I definitely remember its shiny leather front bench seat and the umbrella handle gear-shift - brilliant for a young man trying to establish whether his evening squeeze was wearing tights or stockings. 2-litre engine, 3-speed box (I think), it had phenomenal and disconcerting understeer and, despite its length, a nasty habit of trying to switch ends on roundabouts. I loved it!
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