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Alternatives to going out in the Frog!
'Chuff' Harriet
Sunday 21st
September 09:15, I've reached a farm somewhere near Hinton Ampner, and am
polishing the brassware on The Mac. This is an 8HP Maclaren general-purpose
traction engine called The Favourite, and we're off to The Hinton Arms for a
show.
When I went two
years ago it was my first time steering, and I had plenty of Jaguars to aim at
as I went into the car park, this time we didn't! There were, however other
classics to fill the bill!
This year we stopped
for water at the bottom of the field, and then went and did a neat piece of
reversing (if I say so myself!) into a shady spot next to a Healey. There were
all sorts of classics, cars, trucks, tractors - oh and two Frogeyes! We then
had the polishing to do; cleaning the paintwork and keeping the engine alight
for the return journey.
This show is a small
one, very informal and good fun. You turn up, have a look/drink/meal and then
leave when you want. If you are lucky, you might win a plate - and yes we did!
Winner of the Commercials category, great stuff! All this before commencing our
epic 8 mile journey to Twyford taking an hour and a half and causing havoc with
the traffic flow in the area ... I counted twenty cars at one point, and only
stopped there because they went back round the corner! The unfortunate thing
about steam is that you don't want to stop on a hill, so to anyone who was
caught behind us we apologise but it was such a lovely afternoon!
And what's this to
do with spritely things? Well, I would never had got involved with the Mac if
it hadn't been for meeting Pete after Terry started the Hampshire chapter, so
thanks guys!
We were delighted
when a neighbour asked if we could take her daughter to her Prom Night to
celebrate leaving primary school. Luckily the evening was dry and warm, we
could go with the top down and Poppy could wave to all her friends as we queued
to get in along with stretched limos and other assorted vehicles. It was great
fun to be part of the celebrations.
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We have a
quantity of these genuine Dealer key fobs for sale - at £3 each (for club
funds). (£5 upwards on Ebay!).
If you would like to purchase any, please either
contact us, or see Terry
or Harriet at a meeting.
If you need
them sending, postage would be extra! |
 Or
Little
John ponders "which bit shall I cut of first"
From Terry (Age 53 you know!)
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| Friday 19th
September 2008 , Vic and John of the Hampshire chapter of the Midget and Sprite
club visited the Goodwood revival.
We had a fine
drive down, the 30 or so miles from our home in Holybourne, and parked up in
the pre '66 parking area. Overhead were flying a Spitfire and a Mustang, and
very soon the track was alive with the sounds of cars and motorcycles of a
bygone era, and what fantastic sounds they were!
So much to
see,racing practice,paddock area and pits, stalls, flying displays and much
more, next year will have to be more than one day. We left at about 6.30pm and
had a lovely journey home through the Sussex countryside with the setting sun.
Importantly the Sprite behaved itself , and here's looking forward to next
year. |
Damage caused to Alf's
Sprite on a recent 10 day tour of Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Wales.
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| Bust
half shaft |
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| Somewhere
in the Diff. |
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| One
slightly bent half shaft. (Picture shows half shaft up against a straight
edge) |
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Being a Midget owner I pay subs. to the MG Owners Club as well as the
Midget & Sprite Club. As soon as I spotted in MGOC's magazine notification
of a track day at Goodwood in February, I started asking myself - (a) could my
car do it? and (b) would it teach me anything? I fairly quickly concluded that
(a) it would be fun and a challenge to find out and (b) it could teach my 18
year-old son (Tim) what track driving is like for real as well as how to drive
a car that doesn't roll in bends (like a 20 year old Peugeot 205 "Look").
So, to cut a long story short,
Valentine's Day 2009 found me driving the "love of my life" (it's alright, my
wife won't read this!!!) across Hampshire to Sussex and possibly to its
ultimate demise….? Only a few days after "the worst snow in 20 years" the
weather was perfect - at least with the roof up (it was quite cool).
After initial signing in, there was
a parade lap - 3 laps long, so Tim drove those in a leisurely procession. After
that came a formal safety briefing - the main points being not to race and not
to overtake until the driver in front has "let you" pass, and to make sure that
towing eyes were fitted (there were 2 in my car's boot, but of no use there in
a hurry), so the only job was to fit one - just in case!
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| Waiting for the noise test - spot the Merc SL! |
As a relative novice on the road, a total novice on the track, and driving a
strange car, I insisted that Tim should be shown what to do by an instructor.
At the first session instructors were in short supply, so we decided I should
take my turn first. The last time I drove round Goodwood was probably 20 years
earlier, but that was fine and I got round without doing anything silly, I
thought.
So for the nest session,
I waited in and above the pit lane with camera ready while my car was totally
outside my control - but again, all went well; I probably should have been
somewhere else to get a good action photo though! |
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The next
session had Tim driving again, with me in the passenger seat; and I was quickly
trying to shout SLOW DOWN or BRAKE NOW or BRAKE HARDER".
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| Queueing for the pit lane |
But
actually Tim was doing exactly what the instructor had shown him and he was
really working the car to get round the lap as fast as it could - never that
quick of course - I deliberately modified my car more for economy than speed.
It was only overtaken - it did no over-taking on the track, but there were a
number of race tuned Midgets and Bs, V8s, MGFs, and even one V12 Mercedes SL
(not sure how this was allowed, I thought it was MGs
only!).
Generally, a very useful
experience for my son, but also for me and the car; I have no intention to make
this car a true racer, but I do want to make it as capable as I can for road
use - at sensible cost; track driving is a good way to test and prove that aim,
and I would like to be there again in a year's time, with one or two planned
improvements in place!
Mike
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| Please
notify of any discrepancies or additional venues and
information |
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