Category: Feature

Technical Trauma

Driving a Volkswagen Beetle does induce a certain amount of complacency, they may be rather strange contraptions but they are just about as reliable as a trials car can be, especially if you leave as much as possible as Herr Volkswagen, well Dr Porsche actually, intended. When you do see a Beetle retiring it’s normally the mucked about bit that’s bust. Well, at least that’s what I thought until this year’s Cotswold Clouds!

Years of bouncing around the nations trials hills with the weight of those spare wheels on the back bumper creased the body over the rear wings
Straightening out the dents is a regular task
hings got rather ground away on the way home!
The handbrake operating arm should pivot in that hole!

I have had the Beetle since 1990, which I guess is longer than most marriages last these days, and have done between six and eight trials a year since. I can’t say that it’s exactly as I bought it as it’s on its 3rd engine and about the fourth of fifth gearbox. There are a few original bits, like the top half of the body, the steering wheel and the back brakes, which I shall return to later.

During all that time have always driven it home, even on the two occasions that I have retired. The first occasion I had any real trouble on an event was my second Exeter, which I think was in 1993. Brother in law Simon was passengering, it was the first event he had done where we were staying over and he was particularly looking forward to an evening with the lads out of site of “she who must be obeyed”. At that time, the car still had the engine it came with, a well-worn and completely standard 1600 twin port. We were running along with Fred Gregory in the days when he had his Skoda. I can’t recollect how we were doing, but we were certainly enjoying ourselves when we hit problems on Stretes. The car seemed to be going pretty well, but the engine was starting to sound a bit fruity.

On the road down to Honiton we realised something was wrong as it was making a horrible noise. We stopped but couldn’t find anything wrong. We had a good look at all the machinery in the car park at Exeter Services but could find nothing amiss. The exhaust was in one piece, the timing was OK, we even took the valve covers off and checked the tappets. We found one at 22 thou instead of six, closed it up a bit, and pressed on. The long dual carriageway stretch down to Tillerton revealed that something was very wrong. I was all for retiring but the disappointed look on Simon’s face when I mentioned it made me press on. We finished by driving on a very light throttle on the road and only opening it up on the hills, to the accompaniment of the most horrible noise.

We had a great evening and limped home the next day to more and more noise, and less and less power. I had already decided to fit a new engine that was waiting in Murray MacDonald’s lock-up, but was still interested to know what was wrong. It turned out that one of the studs securing the exhaust to the head had sheered and the exhaust gasket had blown completely away!

It wasn’t that much later that I had my first trials retirement since I broke the diff on my Mini at a PCT in the early seventies. It was on the Edinburgh that finished so late, I think it was the first Laurie Knight event. I had spent some time prettying the car up before the event, even painting the wheels, and it looked very nice. Everything was fine on the run up to Derbyshire but on the descent down to Putwell I heard a distinct knocking from the rear on the over run. A ra-a-tat-tat, just like a CV joint on its way out in my Mini days. There was a big queue for Putwell and I slipped underneath to peer intelligently at the drive-shafts, nothing appeared amiss so we pressed on. The noise got worse and worse as the day went on and the trial got later and later. It was gone six in the evening when we came down the exit road from Haggside, the weather wasn’t very good and we had a couple of sections to go, including Litton Slack. The noise was really loud now, we had failed a couple of sections, so there was going to be no medal and we retired rather than risk being stuck with a broken drive shaft at he bottom of Litton late at night.

In those days, the Edinburgh finished at The Haddon Hall. We were staying there and got in for dinner at about eight, quite late but not as bad as the last competitor, David Alderson, who arrived just before midnight!

The following morning we thought about calling the RAC, but decided to try and limp home under out own steam. I was convinced one of the UJ’s had gone and was already planning a quick change as soon as I got home, for we were entered in The Ebworth Chase the following Saturday. We made it back to Bedfordshire to the sound of really loud knocking as soon as the car was off load. The Beetle was promptly up on the axle stands to change the drive shafts. Damn, forgot to undo the wheel nuts, not much hope but lets see if they will come off with the wheels in the air. Oh dear, all the wheel nuts are loose!

What had happened of course is I has painted the wheels with Hammerite, did the nuts up over the paint and they slackened off after a hundred miles or so. A hard lesson.

The only other time I have retired the Beetle was at a Brickhill PCT. If memory serves me, right this was the first event after the big changes in Falcon when all the disgruntled “SODS” joined us. Anyway, Mike Furse was Clerk of the Course and he had a special test, which involved driving forward down hill, stopping and reversing back up. I had the family in the car and wanted to put on a show. We went flying down, I dipped the clutch, slammed it in reverse and it immediately jumped out of gear. Nothing would persuade it to stay in reverse and as something had clearly broken inside, I decided to call it a day. We stayed to take some pictures and drove gingerly home. I hadn’t had this box very long, it was a 1300 with a low ratio and I had recently had it rebuilt because it wouldn’t stay in reverse! Anyway, I had apparently bent some selector fork or other. Rather than repair it I got another box part exchange, but I never took the old one back and it’s still in my garage as a spare at the cost of a lost deposit.

Apart from punctures, I then had a long trouble free period while out on events. Not that there was no work on the car. Another new engine came along, again curtsy of Murray MacDonald. This was a 1300, putting the beetle in class four, escaping many of the dreaded re-starts that organisers had introduced to subdue the performance of the type 4 monsters. I had fitted yet another gearbox, not because there was anything the matter with the other one, but I wanted an ultra low final drive and a 4-planet diff. Then of course there was the endless work on the body, doing battle with the tin worm and straightening out the inevitable dents. Things became a bit more serious when the body started to crease at the back over the wheel arches, necessitating a lot of work to pull it out and brace it to keep it in place as best I could. The bracing bars ran under the engine so I could no longer use the Trekker “bootscraper” skid plate that was bolted direct to the crankcase. A large sheet of upturned chequer plate replaced this. All this reduced the ground clearance so I had to raise the suspension even more to compensate. I had to grind a bit off the bottom of the spring plate’s to give some suspension movement which means the CV joints bind upon full droop!

All of this of course took place in the garage rather than on the road. All the more surprising then when we had a very strange problem on the 2000 Allen Trial. It started on a road section quite early in the event. There was a funny pulling feeling at the back, as if one of the brakes had come on. It only lasted a second. I tried all the brakes, everything seemed OK and we pressed on. A little later, after Guys Hill, it happened again, in a more pronounced fashion. This time I thought we had a puncture so we stopped and hopped out but there didn’t appear to be a problem. The truth came after Burledge. We had an honourable attempt at the hill but bellied out when we ran out of ground clearance at the top. We were about to reverse down but we were only a few yards from the summit so a Land Rover backed down to haul us out. I hauled on the handbrake to stop us rolling back and it just kept coming!

We stopped and had a good think. Clearly something had broken but it was out of site inside the drum and at a couple of hundred ft-lbs of torque I couldn’t take it off to have a look inside. We knew there weren’t any horrid reverse back down hills ahead so we pressed on with the handbrake working only on one wheel. The footbrake seemed to work OK and all seemed well apart from the occasional horrible graunching noise from the back when whatever it was got stuck between the linings and the drum!

We finished the event and drove carefully home. When I took the brakes apart, the following weekend I saw that the clip holding the handbrake arm pivot pin had fallen out, as had the pin itself. With the arm detached from the shoe, the handbrake didn’t work although the hydraulic footbrake did. The offending components were still inside the drum, but in a bit of a mess, as were the lining and the drum itself. A quick telephone discussion with Murray MacDonald explained the problem. I had always thought the clip securing the pin was just pushed on and held in place by its springiness, although it never appeared to have very much spring! Not surprising really, as you are supposed to clinch the clip shut and it’s made out of a nice soft material to help you!

I suppose I had been lucky really, as I had been driving around with those clips holding on with a wing and a prayer for the last ten years and although I have religiously stripped and cleaned the brakes every summer I had only ever pushed the clips back on!

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

The Trials Career of Arthur Mallock

Even if Arthur’s name is not immediately familiar all Motor-Sport fans will know about the cars he and his family have created.. The modern Nissans and Vauxhall’s are well known to today’s younger generation. Those of us a little older fondly recall those front-engined U2 sports racers that even found their way into Formula Ford. But how many of you knew that Arthur Mallock had a profound influence on today’s trials cars.

EGP 171 was the first car Arthur built. Nicknamed “Bren” it was based on an Austin Seven van but incorporated a great many innovative idea’s, including the independent front suspension which is working so well in this 1946 picture.
Arthur made his competition debut on two wheels, riding his BSA in a trial at Berkhamstead in 1936
After the war he did most of his trialling in the north as he was in the forces based at Catterick Camp. Later he did a few trials in his road car where he perused his idea’s of weight distribution!

The Mallock family have had a tremendous impact on UK Motorsport over the last fifty or so years. Ray Mallock’s RML company prepared the championship winning Nissans for the British Touring Car championship, were responsible for the development of the Astra Formula 2 rally kit car for Opel, and run the works Astra’s for Vauxhall in the British Rally Championship.

Earlier in the companies life it worked in a consultancy role for Aston Martin and took responsibility for the entire design, manufacture, and race management of another long-distance sports racing car, the Group C2 Ecurie Ecosse Ford. In 1985, this was placed second in the World Championship for Teams, and in 1986, with factory support from Austin Rover, RML won the World title. 

Next was an Aston Martin Cl design, with carbon-composite chassis and bodywork, but when the marque withdrew suddenly from racing on the brink of the 1990 season, RML was enrolled by Nissan to develop and run its R90C Le-Mans car. It was a potential race winning programme as the team battled with the front runners, including the eventual TWR/Jaguar victor, for over 16 hours, leading for 5 hours and setting a new lap record.

Before RML Ray and his brother, Richard worked with their father Arthur, designing and building the all-conquering clubmans formula Mallock U2 racing cars. From a personal point of view, this was my only point of contact with the Mallock family. Peter “Mad Dog” Smith and I looked at buying a U2 with a 1 litre A series engine in it and wrote to the Mallock’s asking for information. Arthur wrote back to say he couldn’t read my writing and that was that!

But its trials not racing cars that this piece is about, for Arthur Mallock was one of the men who laid the foundations for today’s successful lightweight, highly manoeuvrable, class eight machines. By the 1930’s, trials had very much taken the shape we know today, with the competitive part of the event being decided on non-stop observed sections. The early part of the decade was dominated by modified “off the shelf” sports cars. The MG, Singer and Austin marque’s were very much to the fore, with several works teams and a host of enthusiastic private owners. By 1936, the heavy brigade had arrived in the form of the original Allard special, which had been developed, from an ex-TT Ford.

The immediate post war years were dominated by the Ford V8 special’s, big robust machines fitted with the ubiquitous 30 hp 3.6 litre Ford V8, which provided plenty of power and torque in standard tune. These were generally installed in specially built chassis, with standard Ford axles and rudimentary bodywork. There were variations of this “big car” theme and some are still around today in the form of Roger Ugalde’s wonderful Allard and Mike Furse’s Mercury Special. The big V8’s started to sweep all before them, but they soon had challengers, for there were some who believed that a light, manoeuvrable car could beat brute power. There were several exponents of this theme. Cornishman Ashley Cleeve in his famous Morris special, Ken Wharton with his Ford 10 engine mounted in an Austin Seven chassis, a much imitated theme, and Arthur Mallock with his Austin Seven based specials.

Arthur was born in 1918, just as the Great War finished. He purchased his first car, an Austin Seven, at the tender age of 17 and set off on a 200-mile journey to spectate at Fingle on the 1935 Exeter Trial. His trials debut was on two wheels, rather than four, riding a BSA in the 1936 Berkhamstead schoolboys trial. By 1939 Arthur was in the army and constructing his first “trials special” Arthur was always a chassis and in particular a suspension man. He eschewed the fashion for brute power, in the form of the dominant Ford V8’s. Independent front suspension, a lightweight body and chassis and manoeuvrability were his themes. He based his lightweight special on a 1932 Austin Seven van, which he got running just before the Second World War. Unfortunately, Arthur only managed a couple of speed events before the conflict bought motor sport to an end for many years.

While serving in the forces, Arthur managed to find the time to develop his Austin Seven special into quite a respectable machine. EGP 171 was nicknamed “Bren”, after the gun. “Bren” had independent front suspension and skinny motorcycle tyres, designed to dig through the mud to the solid stuff in search of grip. Arthur’s theories were proved right on Burledge in the Bristol Clubs Full Moon Trial in January 1946. The hill is still used today on The Allen Trial and can be pretty tricky. The bottom part is in a tree lined gully with a reasonable solid base which is OK in the dry but can get pretty slimy when mud is washed down the hill in the rain. You go round a right hander, then it’s straight up a muddy rutted track.

It had been very, very cold for over a week, but the thaw set in just before the trial. Mud was washed down the hill and grip was very hard to find. Mallock’s little Austin, with it’s LMB Independent front suspension, locked diff and skinny motorcycle tyres, was one of only two cars to clean the hill. Arthur got a first class award on the event and would have won overall if the gear lever hadn’t broken! Further success followed during the season but Arthur was increasingly of the opinion he needed more power and less weight and decided to build a new car he could use for speed events as well as trials. 

WJ 1515, sometimes known as “Bombsk” was also based on an Austin Seven chassis and the car included all the best ideas from “Bren” plus some new ones, including a blower for the 750cc motor, 19 inch wheels and a big weight reduction. The car took about a year to build, it would have taken longer but basic petrol rationing was about to be suspended, prompting a rash of events to compete in. Arthur’s new car was a runner by now and he took part in it with it straight away, before it even had a body. He caused a storm by driving it in chassis form, winning the” Northern Experts”

While he enjoyed a lot of success with “Bren” Arthur felt he could do better and built WJ 1515. This was a much lighter car that was originally intended to be a used for both trials and speed events. As time went on it became a dedicated racer and was eventually broken up to provide parts for the U2 Mk 1.

Arthur didn’t want to miss out on his Motorsport completely while building his new car. Bren had been sold so he competed in the Ford Eight family car. It was souped it up a bit for trials. The puny “eight” motor was thrown out and in went a “ten”. A couple of hundredweight of ballast was bolted across the back bumper to increase the grip and the doors to were removed to lighten the front. Eligibility was a problem even in those days!

Gradually Arthur competed in more and more speed events and fewer and fewer trials. By the time, the 50’s came along WJ 1515 was a dedicated racer, taking part in 1172 Formula races. Arthur developed and raced WJ 1515 for several more years until the winter of 1957, when he designed and built the U2 Mk 1 from scratch, cannibalising WJ 1515 for many parts in the process and the famous old car was no more.

Arthur and his family went on to design and build a whole series of Mallock U2 racing cars, Arthur remaining true to his creed by believing the secret was in the suspension. He did return to trials briefly in 1962/63, competing in the 750 MC’s championship in a newly constructed Austin Seven base special and finished runner-up. But apart from that he dedicated the rest of his life to his racing cars.

WJ 1515 had a rather brief career in trials as Arthur competed in more and more speed events and it became a dedicated racer. Arthur raced the car until the winter of 1957/58. By this time it had a Ford motor and was cannibalised to provided engine, gearbox and suspension components for the original Mallock U2 Mk 1. You can see Arthur’s ingenious Independent Front Suspension in this picture.
Arthur’s trials career is over-shadowed by his success designing his Mallock U2 racing cars. During his life-time they were always front engined, like this Mk 29 pictured in 1996. After his death son Richard started to produce rear-engined Mallock’s and production is now incorporated in Ray Mallock’s RML company.

You can learn a lot more about Arthur Mallock in Paul Lawrence’s book “The Lone Furrow”, published by TFM, ISBN 0 9530052 0 8

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

Rhona’s Buckler

One of the really nice things about Classic Trial’s is the variety of machinery and crews taking part. Every event seems to bring out something or somebody new and the March Hare was no exception with Rhona Boswell making her début in the family Buckler Mk 6. The story of both car and driver are fascinating.

Rhona Boswell in action in her Buckler Mk 6 on Falcon Motor Clubs millennium March Hare Trial.

Rhona’s Buckler was re-built from a wreck by her husband Peter, who joined the MCC in 1992. Peter made a new body himself, using the nose cone from Stan Hibbert’s Mk 53. Peter used the car quite a lot on MCC events but Rhona never passengered him. Sadly Peter had a heart attack while he was at work a few years ago and died.

Rhona decided to keep the car and to keep it on the hills where it belonged. This was in the tradition of the cars history as it was used to hard work and had received a trophy for “most used car” at shows. It needed a lot of work but this wasn’t a problem as her daughters partners, Gary Booth and Steve Maskell are both pretty keen and it was Gary who drove the Mk 6 on the 1999 March Hare. This year Rhona decided to drive herself and enjoyed herself, despite a bit of clutch trouble. Lets hope she repeats the experience.

Some other Bucklers

There are quite a few Bucklers in the MCC. Mike Furse has one (or is it more?) and so does Exeter organiser Ken Green who owns a Mk 5 and also runs the Buckler register. You may have seen this car on this years Clee when it was driven by Dave Lucas.

Stan Hibberd is another enthusiast. Stan bough his car back in the early 60’s, used it mainly for autocross and has owned it ever since. He used to race it back then and it made it’s re-acquaintance with a race-track when Stan drove it in a most spirited fashion in a lunchtime demonstration at last years MCC Silverstone bike meeting. Not bad for a guy who had recently recovered from a heart operation!

MCC General Secretary Mike Furse driving his Buckler Mk 5
Derek Buckler generally supplied his cars without any bodywork, thus avoiding the owners paying any purchase tax.

Bucklers

The Buckler was one of the first commercially available “specials” or “kit cars”. Derek Buckler started by making a car for himself in his well-equipped engineering shop back in 1947. DDP 201 had a tubular construction, space frame chassis and a Ford 10 engine.

Derek used his car with some success in club motorsport of the day and decided to go into production with the design. He had referred to his own car as the “Buckler Colonial”, but he started production with the Buckler Mk V! Derek’s expertise was in building the frame or chassis. Constructed from 40 ton/sq. in tensile CDS alloy steel tube these frames weighed in at 60 to 75 lbs., depending on the model, and being extremely rigid did not require the panelling to help stiffen up the chassis. In consequence, most Bucklers are very light, some weighing little over nine hundredweight. Derek’s idea was to sell the Mk 5 as a general-purpose two seater competition car, that you could use for anything, from 1172 formula racing to trials.

The first production Mk 5 was ERD 96, purchased for speed events by Mike Parrott. Mike bought from Buckler without the body, which was made from aluminium by the man next door! Derek generally sold his cars without a body, thus avoiding paying the 30% purchase tax of the day. The guy next door built bodies for a lot of the cars but owners were free to go where they wished which is why many Bucklers look so different.

Derek went on to build about 500 Bucklers in his Reading factory before ill health forced him to sell-up in 1962. The new owners only built a couple more cars before they closed the business. The number of cars that still survive are testimony to the strength and success of the original design. The great variety of specifications is due to the sheer number of options that were available, most of which were produced in-house. I.F.S conversions, special springs and wheels, alternative diff and box ratio’s and many stages of engine tuning were just for starters. Clearly an enthusiasts dream.

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

Bossy and Jabs – A Stranger in the Camp

We had a stranger in the camp at the Gill Morrell memorial Trial, in the form of JAB’s, James Alexander’s Sporting Trials car. He had a familiar face in the passenger’s seat, none other than John Boswell, who is more commonly seen driving his Dutton Phaeton with great gusto. A brief chat with John wetted my appetite and I could feel an article coming on!

John Boswell hangs on tight while James Alexander assaults Brickhill’s bank in Jab’s

In my ignorance, I thought that JAB’s was short for John Boswell and that he had built the car. However, John soon put me right, saying that he was about as useful with a toolkit as a chocolate teapot! The car was actually built by John Benson in the mid-seventies when the BMC “A” series was the motor to have. James’ father Robin Alexander acquired JAB’s and had a real crack at the National title in the early eighties. It was Robin who got John into trials back in 1983 when he passengered Robin. They never won, but came very close, occupying the number two spot in both 1983 and 1984.

All this wetted John’s appetite and they reversed roles when John started to drive in Classic’s, that he felt suited his committed driving style. Robin continued with JAB’s for another season before swapping it for a Cannon, which he soon sold on, reinvesting in a Kincraft. This was to get little use as sadly Robin died of cancer in 1988 at the young age of 44.

JAB’s passed through a couple of hands, ending up in the care of Martin Halliday, the custodian of several fine old trials cars, including one of Colin Chapman’s early Lotus’. By now, James Alexander was anxious to re-acquire his father’s old car. John put him in touch with Martin and JAB’s was soon back in the Alexander family. They went to a Peterborough Motor Club event but James couldn’t compete, as he didn’t have a licence. So his first event was the Robin Alexander memorial trial, held in honour of his late father, down in Cornwall. He found it pretty tough going and decided he needed a bit more practice. A quick call to JP saw Robin and John out at our Brickhill event, getting the feel of the car under easier conditions than are found on the flyweight circuit.

The car has been developed considerably since Robin owned it. It’s still A series powered, but the iron block 1275 Midget motor has now been bored out a bit. Things have changed in the transmission department too and the cogs are now courtesy of a certain Mr Hewland. It still has rather old fashioned mechanical fiddle brakes but John reckons these are an advantage as you can actually “feel” if a wheel is spinning. James has joined the 750 MC so he can get entries to Sporting Trial events and John hopes to do a bit of passengering in the old car.

John Boswell enjoying an Autotest in his Midget
John is a fierce competitor in his local PCT’s seen at Brickhill in the Midget
John passengering David Anderson’s Troll
John in the Dutton

What about “Bossey” as he is known to some. Well, after Robin Alexander introduced him to Classics he competed quite regularly in his Midget, but got fed up with driving down to Cornwall and breaking the car on the first hill! After destroying thirteen diffs in a season he converted the back axle to take Ford components and then started breaking gearboxes! All this prompted John to acquire a Dellow from Jim Harvey. The only problem was it was in bits and it sat in a lock-up for several years before Steve Strutt bought it and John used money to buy his well known “wash and go” Dutton Phaeton.

John found this car very reliable and has had very few problems with it. It bought some success too, and John won the ACTC Crackington Trophy in 1990. It also achieved TV fame when the BBC used it as a camera car on the televised Lands End. John had to take things easy for a few years as he was having health problems with his heart. He was better in time to partner David Alderson in his assault on the ACTC Wheelspin series and they won the championship together in 1996. John then used both his Dutton and Midget in local PCT’s and Autotest’s but had an overwhelming desire to go Motor Racing. The only problem was that he needed to do it without spending a lot of money! Inspiration came one night in the pub during a chat with Mark Wilson from Milton Keynes Motor Club and they decided to get 2CV and take part in the Mondello 24 hour race, competing with such luminaries as TOCA’s Alan Gow and Marcos creator Jem Marsh.

They qualified 22nd and got up to 10th at the end of the first hour. Then the engine blew up. They had a spare but it took two hours to change it. After all that effort the team decided to drive for a finish, cutting back on the revs and short shifting to take care of the little 602cc motor. They succeeded, finishing in 22nd place, really enjoying themselves and vowing to return. John’s plans for the future include another crack at the Mondello 24 hours and competing in PCT’s with the Dutton, all with one objective, to have some fun!

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

The Jenkins Debate

One of the nice things about the Web version of Classical Gas is the e-mails I get from all sorts of people, many of whom I have never met. Sometimes there is quite a bit of debate on some of the things I have published, none so much as about a picture I included in an article about Jenkins Chapel back in October 1997.

To recap this was a brief piece about the hill which was used under the name “Jenkins Chapel” back in the 30 and resurrected by the MCC as “Corkscrew” in 1993. It’s a rough, narrow hill with two hairpins, followed by some nasty steps. I published a couple of pictures which I reproduce here. The one of Dudley Sterry was taken by our own Mike Furse a few years ago and is definitely Jenkins. I scanned the other one out of a book and this is the image that caused the controversy, and really set the letters pages of Classical gas on the Net going with some most enjoyable correspondence, with many famous “trials families” participating.

The picture that started the debate

It was ACTC rights of way officer Andrew Brown who first smelt a rat. Then Tony Branson raised his doubts too”I share Andrews doubts that the old picture of the MG is really this hill. I too have spent some time with Jonathan Toulmin pouring over old trials photos trying to recognise which sections they are. It’s amazing how much the landscape changes over the years, trees move and cottages sprout or lose chimneys.

After the 1993 Edinburgh Jonathan, Pat, Derek and I walked the section and I bemoaned the fact that class 3 didn’t get a shot at it. I have since gone up it twice in the Marlin and my propshaft tunnel has the scars to prove it. I attach some photos I took that day. The first shows the section from across the valley, The second the infamous first corner with Derek having a little trouble on the restart and the other two the rocky steps in the upper reaches.”

Dudley Sterry pictured rounding the hairpin in 1997 by Mike Furse
Tony Branson’s pictures capture both how steep the corner is and the beauty of the setting.

A few days later Andrew Brown came back to me after some considerable research. “I don’t where you got the original photograph from, but it is on Page 34 of Roger Thomas’ excellent ‘M.G. Trials Cars’ book where it is captioned as “Lewis Welch in Athos on the 1935 M.C.C. One Day Sporting Trial in Derbyshire at the upper part of Jenkins Chapel”. The registration is clearly shown as JB 4606 and the competition number as 57. JB 4606 was one of the three MG NEs (1287cc) which ran in the 1934 TT, were converted to trials cars for a short period in 1935 when they ran as ‘The Three Musketeers’ team, and were then re-converted to race cars for the 1935 TT. According to Roger Thomas they entered only four trials (Lands End, Edinburgh, Abingdon, and Rushmere) and the Welsh Rally. Donald Cowbourne’s book lists Welch in a 1287cc MG Magnette in both the Lands End (No.399) and the Edinburgh (No.57), and in a 1408cc Magnette in the MCC Sporting (No.89). So, unless there is some amazing coincidence, I think it’s a pretty fair assumption that the picture was taken on the 1935 Edinburgh.

But where is it? Cowbourne lists only four Observed Hills for the 1935 Edinburgh – Park Rash and Summer Lodge in the Yorkshire Dales, Wrynose Pass and Hard Knott Pass in the Lake District. I’m not familiar with any of these hills but have seen enough photographs of Park Rash and Summer Lodge to be pretty sure that it’s neither of them unless the photographer stood at a particularly unusual location. There’s a picture on Page 256 of the Cowbourne book of an AC in the 1935 Edinburgh at a location that looks remarkably like the Welch MG picture. So, does anyone recognise either of these pictures as somewhere on Wrynose or Hard Knott Passes? My money’s on Wrynose Pass, but I’m not really a betting man.”

Things were really hotting up now and Pat Toulmin kindly delved into the family archives. “Further to the debate about Jenkins Chapel, the photo of Lewis Welch is not on Jenkins Chapel. Indeed it is not even of the 1935 Sporting Trial – in Donald Cowbourne’s excellent and well researched trials book, Lewis Welch was number 89 on the Sporting Trial (see page 463). In the photo you publish, he was number 75 (I think Pat meant to say 57) and this is the number he ran on the 1935 Edinburgh Trial, 7th and 8th June. This had 4 sections only – Park Rash, Summer Lodge, Wrynose and Hard Knott. The latter two are in the Lake District and it seems likely that the photo is on one of these. See pages 190, 256 and 283)

Pat Toulmin sent me this picture of works MG driver Maurice Toulmin on the real Jenkins

I attach two photos that Maurice Toulmin stated are Jenkins Chapel. Both photos are by W J Brunell. The one of JB 7521 we took with us on the walk with Tony and Derek and we were able to confirm that it is Jenkins, the building is still there and the approach road was very characteristic and exactly the correct shape. This photo was used as the basis of the drawing on the cover of Roger Thomas’s excellent book on pre war MG Trials Cars, published in 1995. We have other photos of Maurice on Jenkins Chapel. PS -The section which we use today on the MCC Edinburgh Trial known as Calton was called Taddington Moor in the 1930s.”

Then Kevin Barnes e-mailed me “Just seen the Jenkins Chapel debate and thought I would try and help. I think that (99% sure) the picture may actually be of Wrynose Pass on the London-Edinburgh. I enclose a picture of my grandfather J.D.Barnes on this section. (wrynose.jpg) It’s not as good quality as the MG picture but after studying it at high zoom levels I believe that some of the people and features in the background are the same as in the MG picture. I have highlighted them on the MG . I will have a look at the competition numbers for that trial to see if I am right when I get time.

The caption of the original picture says “J.D.Barnes entering the second loop of the tricky Wrynose Pass Climb in the London-Edinburgh”. I think the MG by the way is on the first corner just before this picture was taken. Hope this sheds some light/debate on the picture.

It was Kevin Barnes who finally put the seal on the mystery. The picture on the right is of his grandfather, J. D. Barnes on Wyrose in the Lake district. By blowing up my original picture Kevin saw the same people in the background of both. Proving that the MG was not pictured on Jenkins after all.

Then a few days later Kevin came back after yet more research “Back again with some more detail on Wrynose and another picture of the hill. MCC Edinburgh Trial 1935 – 182 cars entered, Singer 1.5 litre J.D. Barnes No.47, M.G. Magnette L.A. Welch No.57. This picture (wryn2.jpg) is taken in 1936 MCC Edinburgh, the picture I sent to you before of ADU 263 was 1935. The caption reads “Two Loops” were used on Wrynose Pass, off the normal track. Here is L.E.C. Halls Singer on the second loop. I’m not sure if this is the same area of the hill as the MG and previous Singer picture but the picture would obviously have been taken from the opposite direction to this on the second corner we can see so I suppose it could be. Wrynose Pass is located in the Lakes near Lake Windermere. “The route led to Wrynose Pass, a narrow hill with, on its lower stretches, a fearsome drop on one side. Wrynose Pass was included for the first time last year (1935), and this year it was approached by a different road leading over Blea Tarn, where a little corckscrew climb, quite steep provided interest.

On Wrynose itself there were two points of difficulty in 1936. First there was a test of the now common to and fro variety, and then competitors were diverted off the track proper round two loops. The 1936 trial saw an incident with an MG skidding over the steep bank and roll down the hill. Luckily, only broken bones resulted. The trial then moved on up the road to Hard Knotts Pass. Hopefully that has solved the identification of the picture/hill. Anyone with anymore unsolved trials mysteries?”

Many thanks to Kevin, Pat, Andrew and Tony for solving this mystery. Just shows you can’t believe everything you read, especially in Classical Gas!

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

The Tucker-Peakes

Both Falcon and the MCC owe a lot to the Tucker-Peake family whose drive and energy has had a profound effect on both over the years. “Tucker” was perhaps the most prominent but he was not the only one. This article is a small appreciation.

H. W. Tuker-Peake

Like most organisations individuals heavily influence Motor Clubs and Falcon is no exception. In our case, and the MCC’s, one of our biggest influences has been the Tucker-Peake family who were the main stay of the club for many years

H. W. Tucker-Peake was born in Cornwall and christened Herbert, but was known as “Tucker” to most of us, or even “Tuck” if you were on very good terms. Tucker’s interest in Motorsport all started when he saw Lands End competitors passing by his Launceston home each Easter. When he left school, Tuck moved up to Hertfordshire as an apprentice at Sir Henry Birkin’s workshops at Welwyn. They prepared the famous 4.5 litre “blower” versions for the pre-war Bentley Le-Mans assaults. W.O. Bentley himself never approved of blowers. Believing that there was no substitute for litres W.O. left Sir Henry to finance the blower team by himself. He soon spent all his own money, then worked through his fathers before bankrupting him.

All was not over because the dashing “Tim” attracted the attention of a rich spinster, The Hon Dorothy Padgett. With her funding the team was able to continue and achieved Le Mans fame in 1930 with it’s battle with Carraciola’s vast 7 litre Mercedes. Birkin’s searing pace broke the Mercedes, which retired, but it had taken too much out of the Blower Bentley which had to give up itself soon afterwards, leaving one of W.O.’s 6.5 litre factory cars to take the chequered flag in the hands of Wolf Barnato and Glen Kidson. Birkin tried to continue with his team but when Miss Padgett’s money was all gone, he had to call it a day and close his Welwyn workshop, leaving Tucker out of a job.

Tucker was not out of work for long. He got on his bike and cycled North to Stevenage, where he persuaded HRD motorcycles to take up his apprenticeship. It was through Vincent’s that Tucker started his competition career, courtesy of the legendary Aussie, Phil Irving. Irving was anxious to prove the superiority of the new radial valved Python engine, and entered an outfit in the 1932 Lands End. Irving drove himself with his newly signed up apprentice, Tucker in the chair. In those days the Lands End only had one start and Irving and Tucker had a short run down to Virginia Water to get away just after 10 in the evening. They started off well but during the night run the Python developed an intermittent miss-fire. They arrived at the Taunton breakfast control just after 4am and despite being frozen to the marrow decided to change the contacts in the magneto. An official spotted them and said they would be disqualified, as there was to be no work done on the machinery in controls. However, they carried on and the bike went much better.

They went up Doverhay, like a rocket, the Python motor pulling like a train. Beggars Roost was next, in those days one of the most feared hills, but they cleaned this as well. Things were going well and thoughts of the publicity accruing from winning a Gold medal went through Irving’s mind. They were in Cornwall now, Tucker was back home. They made a steep winding descent through Burlone Eglos, through a small ford to the foot of Hustyn. It didn’t look to bad, it was pretty steep but there was a hard stone surface and they had cleaned harder hills already. Irving and Tucker attacked the hill with gusto, the Python singing like a bird. Irving saw a rock step ahead, eased the throttle as the front wheel went over it and gunned the motor, which promptly cut dead. The spectators helped the crestfallen pair to the summit and they managed to re-start the engine, which never missed another beat all the way through the trial.

Tucker and Betty (right) trialled an Anglia after the Tucker-MG was retired. Here seen with Derek Fleming and Ron Warren (picture from the Derek Fleming collection)

From then on Tucker took every opportunity to take part in Motorsport, riding bikes in trails, speed trials and races whenever and wherever he could. Work-wise Tuck had moved on, to ERA at Bourne, home of the famous predecessors to the BRM. After the war, Tucker and brother John set up “Shelford and Crowe” a garage business in Stevenage High Street. By now Tucker had move to four wheels for his Motorsport, trialling a much modified MG Magnette before building The “Tucker-MG”. Tuck was very successful in the “Tucker” which won circuit races and speed events as well as trials.

By now Tucker and his wife Betty had two daughters, Maralyn and Susan who were not allowed to miss out on the fun. When they became to big, to be crushed in behind the seats Tuck converted the “Tucker” to a four seater! Later on Tuck built them their own trials car called “The Tucker Nipper Special” which I have written about recently. Maralyn was the driver and sister Sue the bouncer. Maralyn won two triples with this car before retiring to become an RAC timekeeper! Today she is actively involved with producing the MCC magazine. Susan took to circuit racing with Anglia’s and Escorts before taking in a season of continental racing with the Skoda works team. These days Susan lives in Launceston and is Secretary of the Lands End Trial.

JTP with “The Bean” at the top of Blue Hills. also in the picture are Alan Davies and Neil Bray and Don MacIver with Primrose.

Brother John was Tuckers business partner in their garage in Stevenage High Street. A quiet, thoughtful man, John was a superb trials driver and car builder. Before the war John was apprenticed to the Riley Company, starting his trials career on a 250cc Villiers engined James. He moved up the scale with the cessation of hostilities, trialling a 1000cc Vincent Rapide twin, successfully!

Moving to four wheels John built a succession of very special cars. The first was a real fly-weight, “The Scarlett Runner” made up of all sorts of bits and pieces with fiddle brakes on the rear wheels. In the early sixties John built “The Olympic” this was a Morris Minor shell with a big Ford Consul engine and running gear. It was probably John’s least successful Trials Iron but was great at the traffic light Grand Prix! Finally came the “Runner Bean” which he built with his son Adrian. It was basically a Ford Capri with a Pop body and would climb anything “The Bean” is still competing in trials in the hands of Tom and Clive Kalber and will still climb anything as they demonstrated on the Mini Classic. Adrian was an early editor of Triple and is currently campaigning a front wheel drive Peugeot in Classic Trials, following in the family tradition by taking the kids in the back!

Ron Warren, Alan Preston, John Tucker-Peake, Maralyn Knight and Derek and Betty Fleming (Derek Fleming collection)
The Runner Bean storming Crooked Mustard in the 70’s (picture Mike Furse)
Falcon’s successful 1972 Quiz Team – “Mad Dog” Smith, Michael Leete and Tucker about to set of for the Birmingham final. I can see at least four other T-P’s in this picture and who is that handsome lad just behind Tucker?
Susan and Maralyn with Tuckers Triple that they presented to Falcon for our Trials Trophy

Tucker was actively involved as an official and organiser for both the MCC and Falcon. He became an MCC committee member in 1954 and was involved with Falcon almost since it’s inception. He was the organiser of the Land s End for a very long time and Clerk of the Course at the Silverstone race meeting. He organised a great number of events for Falcon over the years, running the Guy Fawkes both as road trial and a PCT. Later he was the driving force behind the Knebworth Park autocross. Tucker was President of both clubs when he sadly passed away a few years ago. Always trying new things, and forever young at heart, Tucker was the inspiration for so many young Falcon members.

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

Nipper News

Maralyn and Susan Tucker-Peake in Nipper on Bluehills

I recently had a nice letter from Maralyn Knight with news about “The Tucker Nipper Special”. For the full storey about this famous old car you need to go back to the July ‘97 Classical Gas, but there’s space here for a quick resume.

Maralyn’s father was of course the late H. W. Tucker-Peake. Tucker and Betty campaigned their “Tucker-MG” for many years. The car evolving to create space for  Maralyn and Susan to ride in the back. In due course they wanted a trials car of their own so Tucker built “The Nipper”, based on the running gear and chassis from a Ford 5 cwt van. With sister Susan in the passenger seat Maralyn was very successful with her car and won two triples.      Maralyn explains that until recently she hadn’t heard anything about the Nipper since selling it to a lady called Rosemary Cond from Gloucestershire back in the late 60’s. She knew that Rosemary had done a few competitions with it but that was that. Before Tucker passed away he had heard that the famous old car was in a barn somewhere. Sadly his detective work was never completed as tragically he couldn’t speak properly after suffering a stroke.

However, quite by chance, a friend of Maralyn’s spotted an ad for a “Nipper” in a magazine and low and behold it was her old car. She got in touch with the person selling it and found it was Rosemary Cond’s old passenger. But by then the Nipper had already been sold. Maralyn traced the new owner to Barton le Clay, close to where it was born! The car was in remarkably good condition, considering it’s age, and the new owner was prepared to sell. But it would have taken a fair bit of time and money to restore it and Maralyn decided to let it go. She regrets that now, but that’s life! The latest news is that Nipper is under restoration by a gentleman in Lechlade in Gloucestershire. Maralyn is in touch with him and has provided him with some pictures of the car as it was originally built. She hopes it will soon be returned to its former and original glory, in particular that the new owner will do away with the Lotus 7 style nose and front wings that it acquired in later years.

What we need now is a “Classic Specials” class so cars like the Nipper and Primrose can be seen on the MCC hills again.

20 June 1999 – I received an interesting E-Mail from Simon Woodall the other week, this corrects some of the facts in my original piece.

  • I am not Margaret’s son, she is my Aunt. I am Victors son. This is an error Tucker made when compiling the details for the MCC book and seems to have passed into history.
  • Although Margaret was the first woman to win a Triple, it is only fair to reveal the whole truth behind this. Margaret and Maralyn both achieved their goals on the same trial but as Margaret had an earlier number she finished first and therefore it was she that took the honours of being the first woman to win a Triple.
  • Woolford Special Mk2 with which Margaret won her Triple. A typical special – A7 frame plus Ford 10 engine, but with the engine so far back in the frame that the prop shaft was only six inches long. It was the overwhelming success of this vehicle that caused the RAC to introduce the spark plug to front axle measurement and thus was the National Trials Formula born!.

Further news is that the gentleman in Letchlade has put the “Nipper” up for sale at £3,000. There is an ad in the July Practical Classics magazine.

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

Bellamy’s Brasilia Blues

This update on Alan Bellamy’s Brasilia was prompted by a family outing to Bug Jam at Santa Pod this summer. We were walking from our car to the track side when the junior member of the family announced “look there’s a Skoder Nash”. Ignorant boy, it wasn’t “a” Skoder Nash it was “the” Skeetle, don’t they teach them anything at school these days?

What we didn’t notice at first was the car behind, Alan’s rare Brasilia, looking very normal beside Dave’s creation and all the other wild rides nestling in the Bedfordshire countryside. It’s quite a few month’s since Alan finished the rebuild and all has not gone smoothly. The first event was the Lands End, when the Brasilia started to run roughly on the way to Popham. Alan stopped to tinker and the so and so absolutely refused to fire up again. Suspecting fuel starvation Alan squirted some jungle juice directly down its throat(s) and turned the motor over. It duly spat the fuel back out of the carbs and the wiring caught fire. The Brasilia was on the retired list before reaching the start!

Once the wiring was remedied the original problem had to be fixed and it was an interesting one. If the Brasilia was left overnight it would fire up and run OK for a while, then cough and die, defying all attempts to re-start. However, if it was left a while it started quite readily again. But would only run a short while before repeating the whole ghastly sequence. Finally Alan found the problem. Have you guessed? That’s right, there was a piece of paper in the brand spanking new petrol tank. It got sucked over the tank outlet, starving the engine of fuel. However, as the petrol pump stopped sucking the paper would eventually float away, allowing the motor to start again. Boy oh boy!

Anyway, the tank problem was all sorted out in time for the Manx Classic, so it was off on the Steam Packet to the Isle of Man. It started well, but half way through the event the engine started a terrible knock which Alan finally diagnosed as a small end on the way out. He retired and limped home, with Dave Nash in close attendance in case the Brasilia expired on the motorway. Surprisingly things didn’t get any worse, but the noise continued, and Alan prepared to rip the motor apart as soon as he got home. No sooner he taken the silencer off when it clanked and rattled as he put it down. You’ve guessed, the “small end” was a loose baffle. Nearly as bad as when I retired from the Edinburgh with loose wheel-nuts!

This was soon sorted and off went entries for the  Testing Trial and The Edinburgh. During the Testing Trial the gearbox started to lock up and Alan discovered that there is terrible play in the diff that needs investigating. Meanwhile the linkage to one of the carbs broke and couldn’t be mended on the spot. Alan set the tick-over up high on the offender and drove home using the other carb!

No time to fix the diff before the Edinburgh. But look out for Alan as he will be driving his familiar Type 3 Fastback. As my friend Rowland Derry used to say when things were not going so well “it’s good here in’it”.

Alan’s new tank came from a VW part’s outlet in Venezuela. This guy can supply practically any Brasilia part except the front wings. The phone bills not to much of a problem, as Alan uses E-Mail to contact him, at the cost of a local call. It’s just as well that Alan found him. Just imagine the reaction of your local VW dealership if you went in “got a tank for a Brasilia squire”.

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

XMY 238 An Early Kit Car?

Peter Mountains Morgan has an interesting history. It’s a rare example of a car sold as rolling chassis by the Malvern factory. It was bought by a gentleman called Bert Range for £350. He completed the build and went on to use it for Racing and Rallying.

Bert Range in XMY 238 at Silverstone in 1952

Bert range at the rest halt on the Coronation Rally. He is on the right with the flasks of coffee.

IN 1951 THE MORGAN COMPANY FOUND THEMSELVES IN TROUBLE WITH THEIR BODY BUILDERS and were not able to complete cars. Because they had all the supplies of chassis, engines, gearbox’s etc, they put an advertisement in the motoring press to the effect that if anyone had the facilities to complete a car they would supply the parts as a kit without any purchase tax.

Bert Range took up their offer and built his car at his business premises at Kings Cross in London where he ran a fleet of lorries. It took him about six months, working in the evenings, to make the bodywork and fit all the parts. He then had it professionally sprayed in British Racing Green with Black wings.

Originally it was supposed to be a two seater but as he had two small children Bert decided to forgo one of the two spare wheels and extend the body backwards so as to provide a reasonable seat for them. When his car was finished Bert took his car back to Malvern. The works were surprised he had made it into a four seater but were pleased at the quality of his work.

Bert was on the committee of the Cemian Motor Club at the time and was later to become it’s chairman. Cemian were one of the “Eight Clubs” who promoted racing at Silverstone. On 7 June 1952 they ran a race meeting using the reorganised Club Circuit of 1.608 miles. Two Morgan Plus 4’s were entered, Bert’s and A. R. Morton’s of the 750 Motor Club. In the one-hour high-speed trial for 1501-3000 cc cars Bert was one of only four cars to complete the required thirty-two laps (51.46 miles), the others being a supercharged Alfa Romeo, a 2.5 litre Riley and a similarly engined Healey. Bert finished his day by finishing fourth in a five lap handicap race.

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

Peter Mountain – Cars I Have Owned

This piece was conceived about a year ago, when I first saw Peter Mountain’s Morgan. I had often admired his well-prepared Skoda and knew he was re-building a Dellow, but when I saw that Morgan I just had to know more about car and driver.

Peter Mountain
Peter on Crackington in his Morgan in the 1990 Lands End
Peter Mountain splashing his way through the ford at the foot of Bareleg in his Skoda on the 1994 Edinburgh.

Peter’s first car was a 1937 Austin Ten, which he bought for the proverbial fifteen quid. It was a horrible thing, in terrible condition. Foot flat on the floor it would reach fifty but the reality was you actually daren’t drive it over forty, it was so un-stable! An Armstrong Siddeley Lanchester was next. It had a Wilson pre-selector gear box, the same as was used in the ERA’s. It had six cylinder’s and hydraulic tappets but like the Austin Ten it didn’t last very long and followed it to the local scrap yard. Then came a series of Escorts and an ex Evening Standard Minivan before the Morgan arrived.

Peter acquired XMY 238 in 1968, after seeing an ad in the Exchange and Mart. He was running around in the Minivan and had planed to use the Morgan as his regular road car. However, although the car looked nice it was quite evil. It had lived a hard life, everything was worn out, to the extent that Peter had to change the engine the next day. Once this was done Peter used it regularly for a year or two, driving it on the road and competing in trials and sprint’s, before acquiring a company car, whereupon XMY 238 disappeared into the garage for a quick two week chassis change! The old one had become rather rusty, a common fate for the early cars, as the steel used for the chassis was pretty appalling and they didn’t last very long. A brand spanking new frame was obtained from Malvern Link for the princely sum of £65. Just one small thing, the two weeks expanded rather, into an eleven year re-build!

As you can imagine, the car has had many alterations and modifications over the years. It now has cycle type front wings (acquired from the same source as Dudley Sterry’s), disc brakes, a modified TR4 engine, radial tyres,15 inch wheels and numerous chassis modifications. Some of these changes offend the purest members of the Morgan club, but they were quite normal modifications in the late sixties and early seventies, around the time that Plus Four production ceased. However, they do mean that this old car is quite fast on the road and is well able to hold it’s own in modern traffic.

Peter got into trials when he drove by Milk Hall Farm on the way home from a Veteran Car run a couple of years before. He saw something interesting was going on and went in to have a look. He got chatting to Mike Furse, who talked him into doing an MCC trial, and the rest is history! Peter used the Morgan in PCT’s, Classic’s and Sprints for several years, before and after the re-build. In the early 90’s he did all three of the MCC events one year. But the hill’s were getting rougher and he was concerned about the way the underside was getting knocked about. Peter particularly remembers the ruts on Waterloo. Smash, smash, smash. The cross member is still banana shaped after the experience! The problem is that the suspension movement is so limited.

The car is raised an inch and a half at the front and two inches at the back, but it has so much overhang at the back that the tail is still extremely vulnerable. The final straw came when the diff and the gearbox broke on Bamford. The diff wasn’t to much of a problem but the Morgan uses the same Moss gearbox as an XK120. Bits are very hard to find and are very expensive when  you do locate them. Peter managed to find another box but it had a high bottom gear that was not suitable for trials. This prompted him to decide that the Classic’s were now to rough for such an old lady and he bought a Skoda.

The Morgan still comes out for selected PCT’s and the occasional autotest when it is driven with great verve! Future plans for the car include hill climbs and Peter rather fancies the Manx Classic. However XMY 238 will need another engine, as the present one is now very tired .

Before we leave Morgans it’s interesting to hear that Peter was responsible for introducing Rob Wells, the well-known Morgan racer and London dealer, to trialling. They went to the same school so they go back a long way. Peter has team managed the Morgan team at some of the long distance relay races, including the 24 hour event at Snetterton which they won, only to be disqualified afterwards. Rob and Peter have shared quite a few motorsport experiences, including driving a Beetle on the Lands End. Then they shared a left hand drive Plus 4 for a couple of years. This was a Fiat engined car that they built up from a pile of bits.

There have been two Skoda’s. The first was an  Orange one, acquired in 1993 and used by James as a road car. It was then turned into a trials machine, but was totally gutless with it’s standard engine. They got hold of a rally prepared motor and de-tuned it a bit but the cam is still a bit hairy. Later the mechanical’s were moved into another shell that forms the basis of the current car. The gearbox has broken a couple of times but otherwise Peter reckons it’s pretty robust. Over the time he has had the Skoda he has developed the it considerably. He’s removed the anti-roll bar to give a bit more suspension movement at the front and there are some hush-hush tweaks at the swing axle end back end. Recently the car engine has been de-tuned even more in search of more torque. It’s fitted with a 40 DCOE Weber that now has quite small chokes to make it more tractable.

Peter has had his Dellow for about two years. He doesn’t know much about the history of this particular car. It’s a Mk 1 chassis, no 35, and was already fitted with a brand new 1600 Crossflow. Theoretically it was practically ready to run but Peter wasn’t happy with a lot of the workmanship and decided to give it a compete re-build. According to the MCC programs it was last trialled in 1986. It was also used in speed events, for the purpose of which it had the main cross tube cut out, so the engine could be set lower in the frame. So the first thing Peter did was to replace it, as the chassis was a bit flexible to say the least!

Peter has had his Dellow for about two years. He doesn’t know much about the history of this particular car. It’s a Mk 1 chassis, no 35, and was already fitted with a brand new 1600 Crossflow. Theoretically it was practically ready to run but Peter wasn’t happy with a lot of the workmanship and decided to give it a compete re-build. According to the MCC programs it was last trialled in 1986. It was also used in speed events, for the purpose of which it had the main cross tube cut out, so the engine could be set lower in the frame. So the first thing Peter did was to replace it, as the chassis was a bit flexible to say the least!

Full Chat – Peter autotesting XMY at a Falcon autotest at Upper Caldecote in the summer of 1998
Taking good care of the old car on the 1989 Testing Trial
Peter sprinting XMY 238 at Curborough in 1988

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media