SEPTEMBER 2015

The newsletter of the Letchworth Garden City Classic & Vintage Car ClubThe newsletter of the Letchworth Garden City Classic & Vintage Car Club

SPARKPLUG

THE CHAIRMAN’S BIT Welcome to the summer edition of your Sparkplug.

We have enjoyed two mid-month meets at TheCricketers, Weston where we have been warmlywelcomed. We will be visiting The Cock at Broom on21st September for our next and last mid-month meetfor this year and I hope that you will be able to join usthere.

Something to watch in the future is that the G7 Summitin Germany has agreed that by the end of this centurythe production of petroleum fuels will be phased out.The Historic Vehicle Movement has great capacity toadapt to this, said Sir Greg Knight, and not to lose sleepover this. We do have over 80 years to think of analternative!

Stuart Saunders

BMW - née AustinLate but welcome contributions saved this edition from becoming Austin 7 dominated but I decided nonetheless to include these stunning BMW/Dixi

Sports that were seen at the National Austin 7 rally at Beaulieu in July.

In 1927, Automobilwerk Eisenach, which began making Wartburg cars in 1904, signed a licencing agreement with Austin to build variants of the hugely

popular Austin 7 under the brand name of ‘Dixi’. However in 1928 BMW bought out Eisenach and with it the rights to build the Dixi cars. So it was that

the first cars to carry the BMW badge were actually Austin 7s under the skin. A fact that never ceases to amuse me whenever I am passed by a Beemer;

my thoughts being: ‘You wouldn’t be here but for this little A7!’

On the right is another example, a BMW DA3 Wartburg.

Vincent Motor CyclesDerek Lloyd wrote regularly for the club magazine and in this series

we revisit some of his articles. This one is from 1997.

In mid January I attended a meeting of the Stevenage Society for Local

History to listen to a talk by Bob Culver on the history of Vincent bikes

and the Vincent Company.

The Company was founded in 1928 and was located alongside Alleynes

School in the Old Town of Stevenage.

In fact the full address was : The Vincent 'HRD' Co. Ltd.,The Great North

Road,Stevenage. Cables : 'Velocity', Stevenage. Tel. Stevenage 206.

The letters HRD were the initials of one Howard Raymond Davies who

made motor bikes in Wolverhampton during the period 1924 to 1928. He

had been successful in winning a TT race on one of his own bikes in

1925, so the Company had a good pedigree. HRD bikes were upmarket

and expensive, but the TT success generated sales. In all about 800

were made before the Company folded at the beginning of 1928. The

assets were purchased in early 1928 by Ernie Humphries.

During this period of time, Vincent was studying engineering at

Cambridge University and had designed a rear frame springing system

for motor bikes. He had established patents on the design in 1926 while

still at Cambridge and had also made his first motor bike which

incorporated the idea. At that time very few bikes had any rear

suspension so Vincent was already ahead of his time in this regard. Two

more prototypes followed.

Before full production could be contemplated, Vincent decided he needed

to buy a name which had some goodwill attached to it, so he bought the

defunct HRD name from Ernie Humphries.

On the 28th of July 1928 Vincent set up in business alongside Alleynes

school. His bikes were aimed at the upper end of the market, being some

40 to 50% more expensive than the average machine of the time. In the

early days there were 12 employees and they made good use of certain

machine parts inherited from HRD, although many parts were bought in,

an example being brake hubs from Royal Enfield. The site at Alleynes

also sold petrol and other makes of bike from a showroom which

overlooked North Road and is now bricked up. Servicing and tuning

facilities were also available. Vincent himself lived with an aunt in the

white-faced house at the side of Alleynes school, overlooking the Bowling

Green.

The Company was financed by two people - the first being Vincent's

father who had made considerable money as a beef farmer in Argentina.

Vincent senior decided that his son needed some management expertise

to guide the Company forward and asked a friend, Frank Walker, to be

Managing Director. The second source of finance was from a Frank Clark

who was a director of tobacco firm BAT. He put his son Bill Clark in as a

Director of the Company.

High class product catalogues were produced in 1929 and the model

range included 500cc and 350cc two-port machines. The 500cc machine

was capable of over 100 mph in 1929 which was exceptional when a lot

of cars of the day found it hard to reach 60 mph. A 600cc machine was

produced for use with a sidecar. Available colours were blue, green and

red as well as the more normal black.

The bikes were well made and in 1929 a Mr. J. Gill attempted a round the

world trip on one of the 600cc machines using Shell oil and fuel. When he

got to Australia he met one Phil Irving who was to figure prominently in

the history of Vincent motor bikes. Irving returned to the UK with Gill via

North America to Liverpool. He was an engineer of inventive bent and

travelled to Stevenage to join Vincent. The round the world trip was

deemed to have been a success, the bike having completed the trip with

only two break-downs on the way.

By the early 1930s the day to day running of the Company settled down

in the hands of Vincent and Irving - Vincent being the ideas man and

Irving the practical engineer. In 1932 the model range was refined as the

Second Generation and the number of models was reduced. At that time

an inclining sidecar was developed which was intended to go round

corners quicker. Although it was raced a couple of times the concept did

not catch on and was soon forgotten.

Nor was output restricted just to motor bikes - over a 2 year period in the

early 30ss some thirty or so 4cwt delivery vans were made.

Bicycles were also bought in and sold.

The Second Generation machines used bought-in Rudge and JAP

engines, but the prices, at £65, were still way above those of BSA or

Ariel. Petrol tanks and gear boxes were bought in and Marmit of

Letchworth did the painting and plating. Vincent later did his own painting,

opening a paint shop in 1933.

By the end of 1934 Vincent had started to make his own engines. This

came about through a link which Frank Clark, the Vincent MD, had with

Garretts of Suffolk who made traction engines. Garretts had gone bust

and Vincent acquired equipment and an engineer (Bill Ling) from the

defunct factory to help set up the engine making facilities.

Services now available at the Stevenage site also included engine tuning

for racing, cylinder grinding and BHP measurement. The first engines

built by Vincent were known as the Series A Range, being the Third

Generation of engines used since the Company was founded in 1928. In

1935 the 500cc Vee Comet Special was introduced which was capable

of 95 to 100 mph. The engine was doubled up to a 1000cc Vee twin

which could exceed 110 mph - very fast indeed for 1935. Three test bikes

were produced with these engines and proved capable of lapping

Brooklands at an average speed of 100 mph and one machine was timed

at 130 mph in Australia. This model was known as the Rapide and eighty

were sold in all at a price of £138 - again very expensive when compared

with alternatives such as the £100 Ford car. The Rapide was however

undoubtedly one of the most significant motor bikes in the world.

Vincent machines competed successfully in races and trials - several

riders were awarded gold stars at Brooklands for lapping the circuit at

over 100 mph.

By the time the second world war broke out in 1939, Vincents had

produced between 1,100 and 1,200 motor bikes - a very small number

indeed compared with the likes of BSA and Ariel. However, the bikes

were of good quality and had built up a faithful if small following.

To be continued...

This caption came from ‘Anon’. (Jo is David’s wife).

‘Not only have I left Jo at home but she's got the Tulip diagrams to getme home’

David Heaton and John Blackham at Pirton.

Seen at Stotfold classic car

show, these are beautiful

examples of 1950s American

exuberance and enthusiasm

for the new age of space

travel and flight. Above, a

Pontiac, below, a Cadillac.

Below: Spotted by John

Scott on hols in Italy - A rare

Autobianchi Bianchina

cabriolet from the 1960s.

499cc and 21hp meant you

could probably ‘guidare

come un pipistrello fuori

dall'inferno’... (See Meatloaf

for a translation)

Being a member of two clubs seems to mean that one is never short of

something to do! The AVSC, being full of retired Brits, arranges runs during

the week, usually on a Thursday. This involves meeting somewhere at an

hour when one should be taking coffee, and driving fairly sedately to a

place of interest, then having lunch. All highly civilised. Most of the

members have “modern” vehicles such as MGBs and even the latest TFs

so a chap turning up with a little, fairly well-worn Austin 7 causes some

head scratching. This is followed by some surprise at the turn of speed

which can be produced to keep station with the rest of the group on the run,

all of which tend to be of the follow-my-leader type.

On one of these affairs we visited the chateau at Chalus, where Richard

Coeur de Lion met his untimely end. There we had an entertaining guided

tour by a chap who claimed to know little English and who was being very

modest! His English far outstrips the standard of a lot of folks’ French. On

the run to Chalus I had been on my own in the Austin and we had surprised

not a few with our sprightly performance, although hills were proving a bit

of a nuisance. A fairly high geared three speed box and a newish engine is

not a recipe for success on the slopes. After the tour of the Chateau, as we

were setting out for lunch some twenty minutes away, a very tall gent

wandered over and asked if he could have a ride. He was in France on

holiday with another member, MGB mounted, and being a good VSCC man

fancied a trip in a proper motor(!). The trip to the restaurant proved to be

largely uphill which involved a lot of hard work in second gear and a careful

eye on the water temperature. Fortunately the chap in front of us cottoned

on to what was happening and waited at relevant junctions so that we did

not lose the way. This worked well until we reached a point about 100 yards

from the restaurant when he turned right instead of left. Fortunately we all

realised the error very quickly and made the lunch OK amid remarks like

‘We saw two big blokes sailing past – how did you both fit in that little car?’

Doing events with CVAM (the French Club) is also great fun. These

generally revolve around a Fete at a village somewhere and include a run,

or Balade, in the morning followed by lunch which is free for the driver, and

sometimes the passenger too. One such was in June at a village called

Lesterps (pronounced Lay-tear) not too far from us where the CVAM had

booked several slots. As the run was announced I was approached by a

fairly ordinary looking chap who announced that he was the Maire of

Lesterps and could he accompany me on the run. I of course agreed,

manfully hiding a degree of concern that the run was somewhat longer than

I had anticipated and the contents of the fuel tank were not as high as they

might be. All went well until we reached a village called Montrol Senard

where a short refreshment stop was planned. The village is at the top of a

very steep hill. All would have been well if we had not had to stop and

attempt a restart! Sadly M. le Maire had to dismount before we could get

away again! Oh dear. Anyway he rejoined the car and after a glass or two

of wine we continued on our way, in amongst several fire trucks and other

retired emergency vehicles, the owners of which did what all of them do –

sounded sirens at any given opportunity! At a second refreshment stop the

fuel position was checked and found to be just about OK so after another

nourishing glass we arrived back for lunch. Sadly for the village the

heavens then opened and ruined the rest of the day, except of course,

lunch. This was a four-course meal in the best French tradition – starter,

roast pork and haricot beans as the main course, cheese and a fruit salad.

This was free for me as an entrant otherwise it would have cost the princely

sum of 12 Euros. In my case even the wine came free. As it came only in

bottles I had not bought any but a couple at the same table had surplus so

my glass was filled not once, but twice. Most hospitable I thought. To crown

Here are some photos from our recent trip to France. The UK Traction

Owners Club is invited by CTAB (Club Traction Avant de Bretagne) each

year to join their July rally which

finishes on 14th July. [Bastille

Day]

We crossed Portsmouth St Malo

and stayed on Mont St Michel

close to the rally start. We then

went to Pont L’Eveque in

company with almost 30 other

Tractions, half French, half

English and enjoyed 3 days of

driving round le Route de Cidre

(Calvados!).

Often a feature of car runs in France,the unscheduled en-masseturnaround

Beaucoup de Traction Avants

Cider with TractionsRoger Gullen

From the Continental CorrespondentTony Hodson

a good day I arrived home accompanied by loud ticking from the fuel pump

as the tank ran dry on my own doorstep.

At the last event I attended the assembly arrived at the village in question

to be greeted by a nice young lady waving a microphone. For reasons not

entirely clear she picked me to interview. At the time there was an awful lot

of noise as people were manoeuvring to park for the display, not to mention

my own exhaust beating in my left ear so whilst I knew she had asked a

question I had no idea what it was! I hoped she had asked me what the car

was so I explained it was a 1931 Austin 7 sports, at which she looked a bit

confused, and retired, leaving me thinking I had not answered the question

she had put. I saw her again later in the day and was reassured that I had

indeed said all the right things, it was just that she had not heard of an

Austin!

Tony’s green A7 Ulster at ‘The Assembly Le Dorat’

Rather fine Riley seen at Codicote in July

Some of the entrants at the Cromer Custom and Classic car show in August. The light

blue MGTC is the one that featured in Channel 4’s 2014 programme, ‘For the love of

cars’. The green open-top is a Jowett Jupiter. The black yank-tank is a Cadillac Coupe

de Ville, circa 1956.

Club Contacts.

Chairman: Stuart Saunders. 07929 568593

stu.smiler@yahoo.co.ukSecretary: Jim Bassett. 01462 459858

Treasurer: Diana Davis. 01462 674347

Membership: Peter Saunders. 01462 452096

Press & Publicity: Nick Salmon. 07831 805455

Picnic Committee Chairman: David Davis. 01462 674347

Events: Les Jaworski. 01438 369820

www.lgccvcc.co.uk

This magazine may be viewed and downloaded from the club website.Items for the magazine can be sent to nicksalmon@splinta.co.uk

Cromer Customs

Sunshine: The ‘Big Picnic’ inLetchworth in June. Photos from

Richard Mayes.

Doing it in style. The rear seat of an ArmstrongSiddley Whitley of the 1950s seen at Pirton RNLIcar show.

Seen on a recent 750MC evening at Codicote -

the racing Chevron and TVR of Adrian Owen

Right: Seen at Willington Dovecote evening.

Surely there has to be a humorous caption out

there somewhere...