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MAGAZINE OF THE CITROËN SPECIALS CLUB

January - February 2012 Issue 140

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A slightly misleading title, but as the first series Renault 5 mechanical parts can trace their direct ancestry back to the 4CV via the Dauphine and Renault 4 I thought I’d use a bit of artistic li-cence. There have been two main 3- wheeler kits in the recent past using the longi-tudinally-mounted Renault 4-cylinder water cooled engine, as found in the R5, sizes ranging from the lowly

845cc to the hot 1300 Gordini and they are the Hudson Free (Kindred) Spirit and the DRK. The DRK Roadster This is a stylish traditional roadster trike that first appeared in 1987 based on the Renault 4 but soon the R5 op-tion was available.

I suppose it’s hard to class the DRK as a true kit car as most of the 59 pro-duced were completed at the construc-tor’s workshop in Ellesmere Port using owner supplied donor parts. The body consisted of a stout hardwood frame sheathed in ply, then covered in thin aluminium which was also used for the bonnet, nose and side panels. Ren-ault 5 torsion bar mounted front sus-pensionsteering was fitted to the steel ladder chassis with a single arm sus-

pended by a coil-over shocker unit at the rear. Most DRK seem to be finished in a very civilised manner with full screens and hoods which have very novel roll up doors.

Chris Tilney

4CV - The other French Donor Engine

Keith Bush in his DRK at the Bat and Ball

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Geoff Ticehurst

118 Old Roman Bank Terrington St Clement King’s Lynn, Norfolk

PE34 4JP Tel: 01553 829142 Email: editor@citroenspecialsclub.org

MAILING Richard and Barbara Goodman

Email: ragbag3948@yahoo.co.uk

Printed in England by: Midland Printers

Copy for March/April

needed by 5th February

The next Flat Out will be issued around the

1st March 2012 .

Please send articles by e-mail or typed to the Editor

Neither the Editor nor the officers of the Citroen Specials Club are necessarily in agreement with opinions expressed in this magazine. Such opinions are entirely the views of the author and imply no recommendation by the Citroen Specials Club.

All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealings as permitted under the terms of the Copyright Design and Patents Act of 1988, no part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the written permission of the Citroen Specials Club

4 Area Reps 6 Chairman’s Notes 7 Membership Secretary 8 Editorial 9 General Secretary 10 Scotland Frozen North 11 Down South 12 North Wales and West Midland 14 Cotswold Chat 15 North Thames Gas 16 Not so Wild West 17 Eastern Angles 18 East Coasters 19 North West Notes 20 Air Fuelled Car 22 AGM 25 Summer Camp 2012 27 Car Tyres - A History 30 To Russia 33 Don’t Sign The Petition 34 The Buckland 35 The Exo Skeleton 36 The Tri-Hawk 37 Side Car Ventures 38 Poland 42 Mailbag 44 For Sale

Editor

Copyright

www.citroenspecialsclub.org

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Officers

Chairman: Steve Parrish 16 Ivor Close, Holbury, Southampton, Hants 023 8089 2071 SO45 2NY email: stevejan@talktalk.net Secretary: Dr John Fowler Rivendell” Shortsill Lane Flaxby 01423 867410 Knaresborough, N Yorks HG5 0RT e-mail john.fowler67@talktalk.net Treasurer: Alan Peacock Verazze, 61 Windmill Avenue, St Albans, Herts 01727 862971 AL4 9SJ e-mail:threewheeling@sky.com Membership Carole Chitty 8 Forest End, Fleet, Hampshire, Secretary: 01252 620 128 GU52 7XE e-mail: admin@citroenspecialsclub.org

Area Representatives

North Thames: Vic Braybrook 11 Meade Road, Billericay, Essex 01277 622 331 CM11 1DE

South East: Vacant South Vacant South West: Ron Bishop 2 Beresford Gardens, Landsdown 01225 335777 Lane, Weston Bath, Avon BA1 4NX Cotswolds: Gordon & Allyson Burch 6 The Barracks, Parkend, Lydney 01594 562844 Glos. GL15 4HR E-mail badgerburch@tiscali.co.uk South Wales: Vacant 90 Heol Bardd, Bridgend, Contact: Rob Raikes Mid-Glamorgan CF31 4TD 01656 668 683 email: owlin.kats@virgin.net North East: Vacant East Midlands: Jim & Joy Barry 164 Polwell Lane, Barton (Midshires 01536 724 512 Seagrave, Kettering, Northants (Sub Group) NN15 6UB North West: Malcolm Hopwood 67 Station Road, 01253 854363 Thornton Cleveleys Lancs. FY5 5HZ ` Scotland: Jennie White Whitelaw Cottage, 01387 370 291 Carlesgill, Westerkirk Langholm, Dumfrieshire DG13 0NZ North Wales & Philip Costin-Kelly 42, Timbertree Road, Cradley Heath West Midlands: 01384 567804 West Midlands, B64 7LE.

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Northern Raymond Lloyd 19 Monaville Avenue, Lisburn, Co. Antrim, Ireland: 02892 587156 Northern Ireland BT28 2DF East Anglia: Dennis Page The Buntings, Ringsfield Corner, Weston, 01502 713498 Beccles, Suffolk. NR34 8LA East Midlands David field Warren House, 24 Cherry Tree Lane, (East Coast 01522 753372 Nettleham, Lincoln, Sub Group): Lincs. LN2 2PR North Wales: Contact Bob Lloyd The Oaks, Preston Gubbles Road, 01939 290216 Bomere Heath, Nr. Shrewsbury Shropshire SY4 3LU

Contacts

Area Representatives cont.

Falcon Contact: Joyce Taylor Ridge Cottage, Glevering Hill, 01728 746 155 Wickham Market, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP13 0DG Specials Contact: Derek Smith 4 Shernbourne Drive, Windsor 01753 868537 Berks SL4 4AE Pembleton Contact: Dave Parr Oaktree Cottage, High St, Inkberrow 01386 793042 Worcs WR7 4DY.

Advisers and Sales Technical Adviser Dicky Dawes 55 Pedlars Grove, Frome, 01373 461589 Somerset BA11 2SK e-mail: Dickyandpat@hotmail.co.uk Regalia Sales: Lynda Kiley 14 Spender Close, Exmouth, S Devon 01395 263163 EX8 4LP Handbook Technical info: Jim Barry 164 Polwell Lane, Barton Seagrave 01536 724512 Kettering Northants NN15 6UB

Cover Photo

Photo of Scottish Piper taken by Judy Rigby during the Heart of Scotland Weekend

2011

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Chairman’s Ramblings Hi all By the time you read this Christmas and New Year will be just a memory, hope-fully good ones, with you all getting those extra bits for the specials, not just after- shave and gardening books. At the moment (early Dec) down in the soft southern under-belly of England the weather is still fine enough to get out and about and the car is being used more now than the summer, with planned trips out Boxing day on the cards to support our local car club’s charity get together, a very enjoyable gathering that gets larger every year. It’s a great way to blow out the Christmas day tele. The AGM is fast approaching! If you haven’t put it in your Diary, the 1st of April in Llandudno is the place to be. Further details are in Flat Out. Contact the Gen-eral Secretary John Fowler for availability of rooms but it is getting to the point that there may not be much room at the Inn, as they say. If you wish to stay for a fun filled weekend, contact John. All mem-bers are very welcome and are encour-aged to attend the AGM on the Sunday, so even if it’s only for the day please come along. As I have said, and others before me, we do need new blood to step up and join the committee to help with the running of the club. It is not such a big job as you may think, with 3 committee meetings a year. We really do need Area Reps as these are positions that keep the club members in contact with each other. Briefly the Area rep’s job entails contact-ing new joining members, maybe intro-ducing them to other local members and to help with builds, problems etc, writing a short area report for Flat Out bi-monthly, being a contact for shows, get togethers, trips out, and regular monthly meetings, maybe not organising everything but

making your area one that includes as many members as possible to keep the Club active. At the AGM all posts on the the commit-tee are up for re-election including mine, the Chairman, I have done 4 years now in the post and that is the maximum al-lowed under the club Rules. I am not al-lowed to stand again (Hooray do we hear from the back?) and we will need to find a new Chairman or “Chair” ( to be politically correct). If you or any member you know may like to take on the challenge please contact John Fowler with their name (ask them first). You all should have had your up-dated or new membership books by now. I would like to thank Carole Chitty for all the hard work she has put into the membership book over the last year and more. Also thanks to the Lickers and Stickers for their efforts on the posting side, Richard and Barbara Goodman. From all the club members, well done to you all. Finally here are two quotations attributed to Henry Seagrave, the pre-war racing ace "If you are always going faster than the other cars no one can run into you from behind" and "Always cross intersec-tions at top speed, in order to minimise time spent in the danger areas" Could this philosophy have contributed to his death at the age of 34 years? I may be trying both this year, so watch out for a flying chicken hat, at an intersec-tion near you. Hope to see you all at the AGM Keep on revving.

Steve

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Membership Secretary’s Report Peter is recovering from his hernia repair and my hip problem is still on-going as I am having MRI scans to find out what is causing the degen-eration. I am on the list to have a hip replacement in the late spring. The handbook membership listings have gone out but I believe some members did not get one. If you have been missed please contact me as soon as possible. Please check your details in each of the list-ings and let me know if there are any corrections or amendments. Things have quietened down now for the winter season, which has helped me a lot to get this finally sorted and printed. I would like to thank my family for descending on me one Thursday to get off all the envelopes that did not need binders. Sister Wendy, Daughter Karen, Grandchil-dren, Lauren and Ben and of course,

Peter. Chaos, what’s chaos? Tha t was ! ! ! ! Chairman Steve and Janet came over and took away most of the binders to fill and send out, so that saved us a lot of hassle as Peter and I could not lift anything. At the end of the season we are again looking very healthy, as we have had 403 renewals, 1 re-joiner and 30 new members. We already have 3 new members and 1 re-joining members signed up for Janu-ary. Hoping you all had a Merry Christ-mas and may you have a Happy New Year.

Carole (and Peter)

A Little Club History Trevor Richens, who contacted prospective members listed in the Falcon or Lomax Registers, organised the first meetings of the Club and kept everyone up-to-date with a newsletter during the first years, 1988-1990, was made Member 001 and was elected as our first Chairman at the very first AGM,

Members with Honorary Membership for services to the Club are:

Trevor Ritchens - First Chairman and Editor. Derek Smith - Co-Founder and First Secretary. Tom Lucas - Past Editor. Terry Pearson and Ken Edwards - Past Chairmen Carole Chitty - Membership Secretary Peter Chitty - Past Treasurer

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Editorial Welcome to the New Year. What surprises will there be in the next 12 months. I don’t suppose VAT will come down to 10% and I don’t reckon petrol will sell for less than £1 per litre. I do know that the ethanol levels in our fuel will increase which may, or may not, cause us problems. No doubt you have read alarmist reports, even I’ve had a word or two on the matter. Don’t worry, just sit down in the summer sun-shine and let your fuel system rot. When your pride and joy leaks all over the place - that’s when you need to worry. Will it happen? The ethanol will but your fuel will not necessarily leak and disappear. Your pump may not stop pumping. What to do if it does, you’ll only be one amongst a few thou-sand others with the same problem. That’s the time to worry. I’m sure someone will come up with a solution. Won’t they? Don’t sell your car, just inspect it more often and if you do have a problem, fit a modern electric pump and silicon hoses. But more impor-tantly keep all the components wet by driving more frequently. Last year we had a robin on the front cover, this year we have a Scottish piper. You may ask why. Well firstly I’ve run out of portrait Kitcar pictures and secondly I’m advertising the High-land Fling or Summer Gathering, whichever you want to call it. What with the piper and the name you may guess that it takes place in Scotland, the land of rain and mud, but where in 2012 the sun will shine everyday and we will return home from the Camp a beautiful bronze tan. Booking forms are on the centre page. There are two reports in this issue

which I am a bit sceptical about. One is about breathalysers in France and the other is the air en-gined car from Tata, India. The breathalyser in the France report says British drivers must carry…….etc, why just British. The air engine is a good concept for keeping city air clean but I can’t see how you can carry huge amounts of compressed air in such a small car. We shall see later on in the year. If it works can I fit the motor into my Lomax? For once in my life I managed to do someone a good turn a couple of weeks ago. (I hope it all turned out well). I was asked to insert an ad ask-ing for Lomax rocker covers and just by chance I happened to know someone who had surplus ones. I actually man-aged to broker a deal without any prob-lems arising. Unusual for me. We had four days in Scotland a couple of weeks ago so we could go to Scot-land Frozen North’s Christmas Party. Jennie was a bit under the weather and we offered to take Merlin and Chessy out for walks. Apart from the dogs run-ning us ragged we had hills to climb. Not a problem you say, but having lived in Norfolk for 25 years we had forgotten what hills are and what they do for you when you try to walk up ‘em. I tell you we ached for days. Remember the AGM at the end of March and we’ll see you there.

Geoff

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General Secretary Hi everyone, It seems rather weird wishing everyone a Happy Christmas and a super New Year right now in the wind and rain of 8th December , but copy deadlines and a 2-month Flat Out publication cycle means it's necessary - whenever and wherever you actually read this. How-ever from the depth of Winter please always remember the absolute bliss of driving a unique and home-constructed Citroen Special on quiet Country roads in lovely weather and especially while everyone else is at work! When looked at in that light things could be a lot worse couldn't they?? Anyway, I can report that as of today we have 47 CSC members, wives, hus-bands, spouses, partners and assorted others booked-in for the CSC AGM weekend in Llandudno at the end of March at the magnificent Regency Royal Hotel. That leaves about the same number of vacancies to once again "max-out", but the management will need to fill all their rooms if they can. Thus please get your booking in to me as soon as you can to guaran-tee a bed and room at what could very possibly prove to be UK's top Kit Car Event of 2012. To date I also have just one nomination as our next Chairman and notification that one Area Rep will be standing down at the AGM. Hence please also get those Committee Nominations to me soonest. I have mentioned before that filling any of these positions is a very enjoyable experience and it will definitely allow you to have a real im-pact on how this superb Club is run. It also goes without saying that it will

look good on your CV and impress po-tential employers - or even dare I say HM the Queen when annual Knight-hoods, Dameships and other Honours are being dished out. Therefore please now forget such utter trivia as the "Slow Motion Car Crash" of Euro Collapse or even the UK's massive Public Sector Borrowing Requirement - and get those CSC Committee nomina-tions in - THIS IS IMPORTANT!! Before closing I would just like to re-mind you all of the very valuable work the Federation of British Historic Vehi-cle Clubs (FBHVC) does on our behalf. This revolves around representing all Classic and Historic car and bike own-ers and clubs in regular discussions with Government on such important questions as changes to MOTs, DVLA Registration, daft but far-reaching Euro Directives, soaring Motor Taxes, extra Ethanol in Fuels; exceptions from road or bridge tolls, or the increased conges-tion and "Low Emission" Zones we are likely to see in the future. Further de-tails may be seen on the Federation's website www.fbhvc.co.uk which I rec-ommend you all check when you can. In short, the CSC now joins well over 500 other classic and kit car clubs in the most effective alliance we possibly can. Well that's all for now - please call or e-mail me any time (apart from between 2 and 6 each and every morning!) With best wishes and drive those won-derful creations carefully.

John

john.fowler67@talktalk.net

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Scotland Frozen North Well that’s the Christmas weekend done and dusted. Twenty nine of us met up at the Douglas on a wet and windy day - but no snow! Good Christmas lunch, with noise levels in the room only slightly abat-ing as each new course was begun. Great to see Val and Albert again and to wel-come new members Andy and Jacky Stephens to their first SFN Christmas. We were very lucky Santa Claus managed to find us yet again and everyone, including the manageress, was presented with a gift, after being questioned about their previous year’s behaviour. Chris who managed to disappear for Santa’s visit (he does make a habit of this) came back to find his gift of Mr and Mrs Santa salt and pepper pots, who when facing each other joined in a magnetic close embrace. Very weird. Most people then came back to Carlesgill, Craig acting as parking attendant, for vari-ous alcoholic beverages, and later an enor-mous buffet. We managed to get quite a lot done on the Highland Fling arrange-ments - we’re not letting on what’s in store for you just yet! An outline year’s pro-gramme was also put together - see below. The week before the Christmas do the La-

dybird driver had managed to acquire yet another lurgy! Many thanks to you all who helped even more than usual, so things could go ahead. Especial thanks to Craig and Lesley, Matthew and Alsie and Gwen and Geoff who all came early and did all the work while I faffed around. If you want good caterers just get Craig and Lesley on the job! Many thanks also to Chris and Judy for last minute shopping. Gwen and Geoff, who came on Thursday, took Merlin and Chessy out with their dog Badger for long muddy walks, and then had the pleas-ure of hosing them down and drying them off each time. Hope there will be a picture of Mr and Mrs Editor in their new roles! On the Sunday we had a very informal lunch, for about a dozen people - to eat up more food - and guess what! IT SNOWED! More snow overnight! About half the statics and chalets are al-ready booked for the Highland Fling, so keep your bookings coming in. (See page 15 about deposits and dress code!) See you all at the AGM and a good New Year to all of you from all of us.

]xÇÇ|x Outline of Events (Dates next time)

January 8th Tan Hill. Ring me or Sarah, organiser for 2CVGB Leshiboux on 0113 2931371. Ring Tan Hill direct to book bunk beds, breakfast or floor space at £10 per head 01833 628246. May Yorkshire Event June 14th-18th Highland Fling (Summer Camp) July Glamis September First Weekend Callums Do September Selkirk

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Welcome to New Members

Welcome to the New Year of events. This section looked very sad last year with no reports or events listed. Hope-fully this will change this year! You do not have to be an Area Repre-sentative to send in events or reports so if you are willing to run something locally let the editor know the details and it will be put in here. Peter and I will be doing our Boys and

Girls day out again at the end of Janu-ary. The boys can attend the Talmag Trial and the girls, well, we’ll do what girls do at any venue. Peter and I will provide a hot supper of Casserole, Lasagne and Curry. Just let us know if you would like to come over. This will be on the last Sunday of the month, 29 January 2012, so the Club meeting will be on the penulti-mate week 22 January 2012

Down South Events

1st January New Year Barbie with Pompey Puddleducks on Hayling Island beach. 8th January Area Meeting at the Foresters, Kirdford, West Sussex. 22nd January Area Meeting at the Cricketers, Eastleigh. Hants 29th January Talmag, pre 60’s motorcycle trial at Hungary Hill, Aldershot. Carole’s girlie day out! Hot Supper.

South 1944J Patrick & Ann Kinchin, Fareham, Hants. Blue Lomax 223 YAL 664S 1945 Paul Hockey, Branksome, Poole, Dorset. Lomax 223 South West 1946 John Eastoe, Devon. Re-joiner 066 Ron Hayne Hatherley, Cheltenham, Glous. Overseas 1947 David Randall, Chanteloup, 79320, France Cream Lomax Lambda, A727 OKM ‘Betty Boop’ 1948 Paul Hansen, New York

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Hi everyone, A happy New Year to you all! We hope Santa brought you all those goodies that you wanted and maybe some for your club car. Sadly, while I got so many lovely things, Santa did not bring me a four post lift and a high double garage to put it in - something about it not fitting on the sleigh; per-haps I might be lucky next year. My New Year’s wish is that we all have good health and fortune so that we can get all our section cars on the road. Did you realise that 50% of our section cars were off the road last year? There are many valid reasons for this but it’s still a shame that our cars are not being used and that members are not out and about en-joying them. Looking at the new handbook details I have lost six section members since the last print out. We have 54 listings, 25 of which are classed as joint mem-bers, so we have approximately 80 members in the NW&WM section. Many members have asked me how the Lomax rebuild is going. Well I’ve done a very important job - three coats of yacht varnish on the steering wheel. Oh, and a new battery to fire up the engine which I have done just once and it ran well, but I’ve done nothing else. I still have the 2cv which I have used on odd trips and it’s kept in the garage so the Lomax is wrapped well awaiting its turn in the garage. Otherwise it’s been all quiet in our

section. We have had two Sunday meetings at ‘The Bell’ at Tong, both very well attended with twelve and nineteen members respectively. Now that’s very pleasing. Thank you all. So I’m going to keep the Tong meetings going during Jan, Feb and March 2012. I’m also going to have a new meeting in the Birmingham area; it’s to be at ‘The Blackhorse’, Northfield on the A38. The meeting is to be on the first Wednesday of the month for the first 3 months of 2012. That will take us to the AGM where the new rep will take over organising the section meetings or not as is the case. I really want someone to come forward - perhaps you!! Just let me know if you would like to be our next Rep. Our Xmas do was attended by 33 club members. Colin and Lyn came all the way from Colwyn Bay. We had a great meal and Tony “H” sang for us. Personally I think it was one of the ‘Best Do’s I have been to with most members enjoying the company of good friends, old and new, and linger-ing till 4.30 pm! And many thanks to Ray John for organising it. If you have not been to any of our do’s why not give one a try; you may be surprised to find that attendees are really nice people - just like you. Have a great and happy New Year and safe driving.

Philip and Natalie. 1502J

North Wales and West Midlands

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Diary 2012

January Wednesday 4th A new venue, ‘The Blackhorse’ at Northfield on the Bristol Road (A38) B31 2QT, opposite Northfield Baths. Yes, it’s the big Black & White Wetherspoon’s Pub. Meet up at 20-00hrs. Sunday 15th ‘The Bell’ at Tong, TF 11 8PF. Meet at noon. Please phone me on 01384 567804 if you are coming so I can book the tables.

February Wednesday 1st ‘The Blackhorse’ at Northfield, B31 2QT Meet up at 20-00hrs. Sunday 19th ‘The Bell’ at Tong, TF 11 8PF. Meet at noon. Please phone 01384 567804 if you are coming so I can book the tables.

March Wednesday 7th ‘ The Blackhorse’ at Northfield, B31 2QT. Meet up at 20-00hrs Sunday 18th ‘The Bell’ at Tong, TF 11 8PF. Meet at noon. Please phone 01384 567804 if you are coming so I can book the tables

Friday 30th March to Sunday 1st April. The AGM at the Regency Royal Hotel, Llandudno.

June Thursday 14th June to Monday 18th June. Summer Camp at Faskally near Pitlochry, Scotland.

Opening one’s Mouth before Engaging one’s Brain

Sometimes modern speak doesn’t work well

Surely one of the reasons people want to live in Norfolk is because of the fantastic wildlife and wide spaces.

The challenge for us is to build on that in the future

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Cotswold Chat Unfortunately we missed the last issue of the magazine but here’s an up-date of what has been happening in this part of the country. The annual camping weekend organised again this year by John & Hazel Sobey was very well attended, both for the whole weekend and the Saturday run. We were joined by several Citroën de-rivatives - H Vans, 2CVs, Acadianes and an Ami which together with the Lomax 223s, Pembletons and an alternative Somerset made for an interesting con-voy around the lanes of Gloucestershire. A coffee stop and panoramic view before lunch at Kemble Airfield followed in the afternoon with a visit to the museum on the opposite side of the airfield before returning to the site for an evening bar-becue and quiz. The weather was very favourable until Sunday morning when the inevitable happened – the man on the radio was telling us how it was going to be a dry morning whilst we were all listening to the rain falling outside! After lunch at a local pub by the canal the sun came out and we were able to pack away the gazebo in the sunshine. Dates

for next year are below. The monthly meetings are still well at-tended and some members were keen to enjoy the last of the sunshine in Novem-ber by using their cars. It is now getting colder, although I know that wouldn’t stop those hardy types in the Frozen North, and most of the cars are now tucked up for the winter – time for doing that essential maintenance before the spring and the last minute rush MOT!! We will be standing down as area reps from the 2012 AGM but a volunteer has come forward so will be nominated at the AGM. By now Christmas will probably be over so we hope you all had a good one and that the New Year brings you all good health and happiness. Please note change of dates for the January and February meetings. Well there’s not a lot else to say just hope to see you soon.

Gordon & Allyson Burch 1462J

8th January 2012 Monthly meeting at the Hunters Inn, Longdon 12 noon(ish) 12th February 2012 Annual post Christmas Lunch Details to be confirmed. Contact Gordon & Allyson Burch. 9th April 2012 Coleford Carnival of Transport Booking essential (January) Contact Gordon & Allyson Burch. 28th – 30th September Camping weekend. Apple Tree Caravan Park. Near Dursley – all welcome. Contact John & Hazel Sobey or Gordon & Allyson Burch.

Forthcoming Events

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Hello All Attendance at our first Sunday of the month lunches at the 'Airfield', Gallleria site, Lensford, Comet Way, Herts ALI0 0DA in Nov. and Dec. was back up to normal levels again. If you wish to at-tend, please contact us first on 01277 622331 in case the venue or date have changed, e.g. the first Sunday in January 2012 is New Year's Day so we have changed it to 8th January. The article on the trip to Russia was very interesting and showed what was involved just to get started. I don't think I would have had the courage to embark on such a trip with my car hav-ing just been extensively modified. We have been notified of the 10th An-niversary of the Medway Festival of Steam and Transport at the historic Dockyard, Chatham, on the 8th and

9th April, 2012. We highly recommend this event. It is free for one vehicle and two people. However, please note you must book early because there is a limited area for 'specials'. Forms available on www.thedockyard.co.uk. In the back of the Nov./Dec. magazine was a photo of a Lomax with a propel-ler at the rear for propulsion. We went to the Goodwood Festival of Speed some years ago and there was an old saloon vehicle with such a setup. It was quite a sight (and sound) as it pa-raded around. Health and Safety!!! At least it would dissuade tailgating! Can you imagine a supermarket car park full of them? Happy New Year to all.

Vic and Denise Braybrook

North Thames Gas

The Highland Fling 14th—18th June Do keep your bookings for Stat-ics and Chalets coming in, as about half are already booked. Early bookings for Cairngorms trip, if you’re camping, are also much appreciated. As it’s still some to go until June it’s been suggested a Static/Chalet deposit rather than the full price, would be a good idea. We’ve settled on a £50 deposit for a Static/Chalet,

but you do need to add on fees for the Friday and Saturday Nights, and the Cairngorm Train, in your advance booking. If it’s more convenient, you can of course still pay for everything at once. The “Dress Code” will be any-thing Scottish, Tartan, or appro-priate to the Highland Fling.

]xÇÇ|x

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On Saturday 22nd October I made my way to Exeter all on my own but in reasonable weather and arrived safely at about 11.15am after a good run down. I was quite surprised to find that the main car park was already full but regret to say that Lomax were few and far between....perhaps they all decided to go on Sunday! I spent some time "browsing" the amazing selection of cars in attendance before ven-turing into the Show. It was nice to see Richard Oakes and his Guzzi motored Blackjack stand but… I'm afraid there was little else there to get my pulse racing. Various minor "bits and pieces" were pur-chased and I luckily managed to find a new Lomax badge on the Vindicator stand which I told other members about when I bumped into them. The other remaining badge was purchased by Ken Edwards who just managed to find the Vindicator stand a few seconds before Don Eden ...much to his annoyance. All in good fun as we had quite a chuckle about it later...especially as Ken had paid double what I had! By mid/late afternoon the sky had dark-ened so I decided it was time to depart as I was anxious not to get too cold or wet. The first of our winter dinners was sched-uled for Sunday 30th October. Janet and Patrick Wilson had arranged for us to all meet at 11.30am in the car park of the Crosshands at Old Sodbury. When we arrived there were already several Lomax and a couple of tin tops waiting patiently to set off in procession for the Red Bull at Malmesbury. Upon our arrival we met a few other members and all 24 of us en-joyed a very nice buffet lunch, after which we split into male/female teams and played

two hilarious legs of skittles. Much to the men's amazement we were well and truly "thrashed" by the ladies who revelled in their victory and enjoyed their photo ses-sion as well deserved winners! A really big thank you to Janet and Patrick for organis-ing a very enjoyable outing. Sunday 4th December saw 18 of us meet at the Kicking Donkey for our annual pre-Christmas lunch arranged by Jim and Carol Caldwell and afterwards we were treated to tea/coffee, cakes and a plentiful supply of biscuits. It was a chance for us to catch up on news from the one or two we had not seen for a while and also confirm arrangements about the Christmas festivi-ties. Our hosts made sure we all had a very enjoyable afternoon and I am sure that their efforts were appreciated by us all. On a less enjoyable note I am afraid that despite all our representations... we would appear to have lost the fight to cross the Severn Bridge without payment. It is a bit-ter pill to swallow but the Operators have really dug their heels in on this subject. My sincere thanks to John Fowler who took on this task as a personal challenge.… lost the fight but lives to fight another battle. Thank you John. It is with some regret that I also report no interest in filling my post as S.W.Area Rep and, unfortunately, it would appear that we shall shortly be yet another Area without any representative.… unless we are fortu-nate to get a last minute volunteer!! Regards and best wishes to you all for safe and enjoyable motoring in 2012.

Ron

Not So Wild West

Just to cheer you up a little Ron, I read in the Eastern daily Press that the tolls are increasing to £6.00 in the New Year. Thought that would make you smile.

Geoff

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Eastern Angles As we are now in the depths of winter and it’s not a very good time for going out and about in our Specials, I thought you might be interested in some correspondence I came across in a monthly motoring periodical. The subject was about angle grinder discs! On some recently purchased discs the writer discovered that on said discs was a label disclosing the fact that they were manufactured in Sep-tember 2010 and that they were “Best Before 09/13” I expect several of you, and that includes myself, will be own-ers of cutting and grinding discs that you have owned for some time and, like the writer, wonder if you should now throw these away. Or as he went on to comment “were they made of stronger stuff in the good old days?” I decided to check my stock and found there were no such instructions on any of my discs. I therefore wondered what other peo-ple’s feeling and opinions might be re-garding these products as I expect like

myself, apart from the usual disinte-gration with use, I have never experi-enced any major problems with this accessory in my workshop. Perhaps as the advice is “Best Before” it’s an-other example of health and safety taken to the limits and would I be con-sidered reckless by keeping my stock of discs and not heeding manufac-turer’s advice. However that’s not the end of the story because the maga-zine then went on to say that they had come across some discs currently on sale with the advice “Use by 2013” printed on them. I rest my case! I have started to compile my events list for 2012 and meanwhile as they say, we in the East Anglia Area continue to meet for our monthly Sunday lunches, which for the next two months will be at the Horseshoes at Billinigford on the following dates: January 15th and February 8th At the usual time of 12.00 for 12.30. Dennis

Roy Webb designed and built the first Hudson Free Spirit in 1989 and at the time it must have been the only single-seat trike kit car on offer. The narrow racing car- like fibre-glass body covered a steel twin rail chassis with welded in steel floor panels and square tube upper framework into which R5 me-chanical parts were bolted , whilst the rear wheel was carried by a R5 single arm re-versed and suspended on a coil-over un-der a neat fibreglass tail/mudguard unit. For those wanting someone to talk to, the

2-seat Kindred Spirit with a 12” stretch was launched 2 years later and became by far the biggest seller. I always liked the tandem seating layout and was lucky enough to have a short drive in a Spirit a few years ago – great fun but watch out for that central gear lever! Anyone wanting a donor and is willing to travel the Renault 5 Series one was still being made in 2002…………In IRAN!!

Chris Tilney

4CV - The other French Donor

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A Happy New Year to you all! We hope in the year ahead you all remain healthy and that you enjoy safe jour-neys wherever you travel. Like many of the Groups, we always have an annual meal together which in the past, has always been in January and so started off the new season. Af-ter having to postpone the event in 2009 and almost having to do the same in 2010 due to bad weather, we decided to re-schedule the event to October to become the ‘End of Sea-son’ meal. It was held at the venue for the 2009 Summer Gathering, Bainland Country Park and, despite having 5 of our members away in France, still had 21 of us at the meal. Our number in-cluded Editor Geoff Ticehurst and Gwen who had travelled up from Nor-folk to be with us. After relaxing with a drink and watching a slideshow of the extensive display of 120 of the years photographs on the big screen we all tucked in to our 3 course meal fol-lowed by a raffle and an auction of a variety of items. The afternoon con-cluded with the presentation of the ‘Bagshaw Trophy’. The Trophy was donated to the Group by the late Roy Bagshaw and, over the years since, has been presented to that person in the Group who in the opinion of the majority, has displayed particular engi-neering excellence. This year, how-ever, there were no nominations and so, after some discussion, it was de-cided this year to have an ‘open’ nomi-nation for the Trophy. That is: that any member of the Group could be nomi-nated for any reason to do with the Group’s activities. I am delighted, but also rather embar-

rassed to say, that it was almost a unanimous decision that I should re-ceive the Trophy myself for my ser-vices to the East Coasters. As I said at the event, it is a labour of love, I thor-oughly enjoy administering the Group with the assistance of John Davis and I will continue to do so as long as the Group wish and I am able to do.

Our next event is our normal monthly Meeting on 29th January and then our combined Planning Meeting and Monthly Meeting on 26th February. Both of course at Bainland Country Park, Woodhall Spa at 12 Noon. Visi-tors and prospective new members are always welcome.

David Field

East Coasters

A less conventional photo of the Trophy Winner Editor

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North West Notes Dave and Julie Knight and myself paid a visit to Dennis Cawston over in York-shire (got to keep an eye on them to see what they are up to). Dennis has just got a lovely low mileage V75 750cc small block Guzzi and I wonder what he is going to do with that? He’s also got a 1979 - 947cc round barrel V Twin Guzzi carbs facing backward. Can be seen running on test bed to sell for £550. If anyone is interested ring Dennis on 01759 319068. In the afternoon we went over to Goole to Den’s mate Allan Pells, he’s building a lovely Citroen 3 wheel special. It’s looking good and is now near comple-tion. His workmanship is to a very high standard. I’ve managed to get five 15” wire wheels and adaptors for the Midge which have now been fitted. They look absolutely stunning. I’ve also man-aged to get louvered chassis cover plates made in aluminium. These are going to run the full length of the car. A mate invited me to join him on a trip to Northern Phoenix Trial Car Club’s

Yuletide Trial. The weather was wet to say the least, this made for lots of mud and plenty of fun. It’s amazing how agile these cars are. Even a Citroen had a presence in the form of a GS4 speed box, fitted with home made pin-ion diff and a home made reduction gear just behind clutch. It was all made to a very high standard. One thing that did strike me was the num-ber of young people involved. Late teen early twenties they were really getting involved and enjoying them-selves, driving and passengers in some of the older cars and really put-ting in some good rounds, it’s a shame we don’t seem to attract many people to the CSC. Well I’ve still got to do the Pembleton engine. I’ll have to get going. It will be spring before I know where I am. Ending my news, me and Eileen would like to wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR. Cheerio

Malcolm

Did You Know? (do you care?) It is against the law to impersonate a Chelsea Pensioner

(why would any body want to?)

In the Pantomime season of 2010 and 2011 an amateur group producing a show were taken to court by the Red Cross, Switzerland, for having a cast member wearing a nurse’s uniform with a red cross on the front. They said only the Red Cross can use the symbol. During an interview on the radio the Red Cross spokesman said “Even children’s nurse uniforms should not display their logo”

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What is this? Will it be the next big thing? Tata Motors of India thinks so. It is an auto engine that runs on air. That's right; air not gas or diesel or electric but just the air around us. Take a look.

Tata Motors of India has scheduled the Air Car to hit

Indian streets by August 2012 The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy N. For Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air to push its engine's pistons and make the car go. The Air Car, called the "Mini CAT" could cost around 365,757 rupees in India or $8,177 US.

Is this just a lot of hot air

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The Mini CAT which is a simple, light urban car, with a tubular chassis, a body of fiberglass that is glued not welded and powered by compressed air. A Mi-croprocessor is used to control all electrical functions of the car. One tiny radio transmitter sends instructions to the lights, turn signals and every other electri-cal device on the car. Which are not many. The temperature of the clean air expelled by the exhaust pipe is between 0-15 de-grees below zero, which makes it suitable for use by the internal air conditioning sys-tem with no need for gases or loss of power. There are no keys, just an access card which can be read by the car from your pocket. According to the designers, it costs less than 50 rupees per 100 KM, that's about a tenth the cost of a car running on gas. It's mileage is about dou-ble that of the most advanced electric car, a factor which makes it a perfect choice for city motorists. The car has a top speed of 105 KM per hour or 60 mph and would have a range of around 300 km or 185 miles between refuels. Refilling the car will take place at adapted gas stations with special air com-pressors. A fill up will only take two to three minutes and costs approximately 100 rupees and the car will be ready to go another 300 kilometers. This car can also be filled at home with it's on board compressor. It will take 3-4 hours to refill the tank, but it can be done while you sleep. Because there is no combustion engine, changing the 1 liter of vegetable oil is only necessary every 50,000 KM or 30,000 miles. Due to its simplicity, there is very little maintenance to be done on this car. This Air Car almost sounds too good to be true. We'll see in August. 2012

What will the Oil Companies do to stop it?

Sent in by John Davies and Tony Fenn

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I can now announce our arrange-ments for the Club's next AGM Ho-tel Package. Hence as last year our members will enjoy 2 night's Bed and Breakfast at the fully re-furbished and top-class Regency Royal Hotel, East Parade Llan-dudno, North Wales LL30 1BE on the Landudno Sea-Front with Tea or Coffee on arrival, Dinner on Fri-day, carefully-chosen outings on Saturday with a magnificent Fancy-Dress Dinner and Dance in the evening with a top entertainer; an exciting and riveting AGM (starring your ever-popular Chairman and General Secretary!), also an excel-lent Spares Fair on the Sunday morning followed by a first-rate Lunch before departure. By very careful negotiation we can offer all this for only £90 per member or guest!! Full details of the Hotel m a y b e s e e n o n w w w .regencyroyalhotel.co.uk Even if this full Great Weekend is not for you, - and you also live not too far from Llandudno, - why not come along just for our AGM? This will start at 10.30am sharp on Sunday 27 March and will be im-mediately followed by our Spares Fair, so bring along all those un-wanted 2CV and Special Parts or other interesting auto-related Items. Lunch and drinks for all "day visitors" will be available at

the hotel. Thus following last year's ex-tremely successful and almost sold-out event, my booking board for the CSC's 23rd AGM Package is now open. The Regency Royal's full capacity of 12 single, 12 Dou-ble, 24 Twins and 6 family rooms are again available to us - with sea-view rooms on all 4 floors allo-cated on a first come / first served basis. As in previous years I require de-posit cheques for £20 per person, with the balance to be paid to the Hotel on arrival. I will acknowledge all bookings by telephone or e-mail as per details included on the booking Form - or those in the Members' Handbook. Any Members requiring a written acknowledgement are asked to in-clude a Stamped Addressed Enve-lope with their booking. Members may book "additional nights" at the Regency Royal be-fore or after the AGM Weekend at the same special rate of £90 per double or twin Room or £50 per single room including Breakfast and Dinner. To avoid confusion, all such bookings for extra nights must be made directly with the Ho-tel.

The World Famous Citroen Specials Club presents their 23rd AGM Weekend

Friday 30 March to Sunday 1 April 2012

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AGM 2012

Friday 30th March - Sunday 1st April

Accommodation Form

There will be the usual Fancy Dress Theme which this year will be “Characters from Nursery Rhymes”

…………………………………………………………………………………………...

Committee Posts Nomination Form

These forms may be removed carefully so as to keep

your magazine intact or they may be copied

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I/We wish to attend the AGM Weekend at the Regency Royal Hotel, East Parade, Llandudno, on Friday 30 March - Sunday 1st April 2012 and enclose de-posit cheques for £20 per person. Cheques should be made payable to “Citroen Specials Club”

Members and guests

Double Room Twin Room Single Room Name ………………………………………… Membership No. ………. Number ………… Address ………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………… Reply to : Dr John Fowler “Rivendell” Shortsill Lane, Flaxby, North Yorks HG5 0RT. Members may book additional nights before or after the AGM Weekend. Please contact the hotel directly (www.regencyroyalhotel.co.uk) Tel 01492 877191

AGM Nominations 2012 Send to Dr John Fowler at the above address at least 7 days before the meeting Members may stand for election to any CSC Committee post, but we urgently need the following:-

Chairman

Area Reps

I, (insert full name) …………………………………... Membership No. …………….. a, wish to be considered for the post b, wish to nominate the following members for the post (delete as appropriate) of ………………………………………… Nominated person …………………………….Nominated by…………………………... Seconded by ……………………………….. Signed…………………………..Date…………...

………………………………………………………………………………………..

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Car Tyres Part 1 - The History It’s normal to tell the history of anything by starting at the beginning and continu-ing until the end. But where was the be-ginning of car tyres? Was it the discov-ery of the wheel, or rubber, or the car itself perhaps? You can read the history of the wheel and chariots elsewhere so let’s concentrate on the tyre and start with rubber. Rubber and Vulcanisation Rubber products had become very popular in the early 1830’s. It was really a forerunner of plastics and ideas for its application were very similar. There had been plans to use it for many products including shoes. Charles Macintosh had developed rubberised cotton material which was used for weatherproof cloth-ing. This would become very popular in the early motoring days yet to come. Thomas Hancock of Wiltshire had also produced such fabrics, influenced by Macintosh but he developed a spread-ing machine rather than using a paint brush. More of Mr.Hancock later. Rubber products of this time were, how-ever, very unsatisfactory. They would become sticky and smelly in hot weather and go rock hard in the winter. A young hardware merchant from Connecticut working in Philadelphia noticed this and began experimental work to resolve it. This is probably the saddest part of the entire history of the rubber and tyre in-dustry. This young chap was Charles Goodyear. He was the typical man in a shed sort of inventor by all accounts and pawned family furniture and other be-longings to buy flour to eat and rubber for his work. He used the kitchen for ex-perimental work using his wife’s oven and rolling pin. It was by accident that he dropped some sulphurised rubber on to the stove. This was 1839 and by this

accident vulcani-s a t i o n had just b e e n i n -vented . Samples of his w o r k h a d b e e n seen in England and dis-played at the International Exhibition there in 1851. These were seen by Brit-ain’s Thomas Hancock, the chap men-tioned earlier who made the rubberised fabric. He worked out what Charles had done and patented the process in Britain in 1843 just 8 weeks ahead of Good-year’s US patent. It was a friend of Han-cock who coined the term Vulcanisation from the Roman god of fire, Vulcan. Charles Goodyear spent many periods in prison for debt brought about by poor health and his dedication to his experi-mental work. At one low point his family had to camp on Staten Island where they lived off fish he caught. 6 of his 12 children died in infancy. After all this he was still able to say, “Life should not be estimated exclusively by the standard of dollars and cents. I am not disposed to complain that I have planted and others have gathered the fruits. A man has cause for regret only when he sows and no one reaps.” He died in 1860 with $20,000 of debt. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company was nothing to do with Charles Goodyear. It was not founded until 38 years after his death and was named after Charles by its founder Frank A Seiberling. Charles Goodyear was inducted into the Na-tional Inventors Hall of Fame in 1976.

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The Pneumatic Tyre Back in Europe cycling had become very popular in the late 1800 but really took off in the 1890’s after the introduction of the safety bicycle which is the pattern we know today. John Boyd Dunlop of Ayr-shire developed the first practical pneu-matic tyre in 1887 for his son’s bicycle in a bid to stop him getting headaches. He patented it the following year but the pat-ent was declared invalid because of the prior work of fellow Scot Robert Thom-son who had patented pneumatic tyres in 1846 but there had been no applica-tions for it at that time. Advances in bicy-cle design and the yet to come automo-tive industry would be needed before its applications could be realised. In France Edouard Michelin already had a rubber factory in Clermont Ferrand which had been incorporated in 1888. He was pre-sented with a bicycle whose pneumatic tyre needed repairing and it took over 3 hours for him to make the repair as tyres were glued to the rims at that time. He worked on a removable tyre and took out a patent for this in 1891. In 1895 Mich-elin were the first to introduce pneumatic tyres to cars. Was Edouard’s interest in rubber encouraged, I wonder, by his business partner’s marriage to Charles Macintosh’s niece Elizabeth Pugh-Barker? A small world indeed. Balloon Tires and Low Profile Tyres Tyres had retained the proportions of bicycle tyres and become sort of circular when inflated. In 1922 or 1923, Harvey Firestone’s company of Akron Ohio de-veloped a tyre of much wider cross sec-tion which was called a balloon tyre. This was inflated to lower pressures and could be driven at higher speeds. It was introduced on the first Chrysler car in 1924. Pirelli also introduced a balloon tyre, the Pirelli Superflex, in 1924. In France tyres also changed their profile when Michelin developed the low profile

80 series Michelin Pilote in 1937. We wouldn’t think that a tyre with an aspect ratio of 80 was low profile today. Changes to the Rubber Pirelli was the first to introduce carbon black into the rubber compound. This was in 1907 and it was to improve the strength and durability of the rubber. Up to this point, all tyres had been a creamy colour but now all tyres soon became black. The next main development in the compound was the introduction of synthetic rubber. Work on synthetics, like all technical devel-opment, in all fields, was being done in different countries simultaneously. It was Germany, however, lacking access to natural rubber, who had the incentive to explore synthetics. By 1936 they had in production a synthetic rubber which was known as SBR (Styrene Butadiene Rub-ber) and also as Buna rubber. The follow-ing year, Firestone introduced a synthetic tyre in the USA. SBR had its problems. It was called a lazy rubber due to its resis-tance to change shape. This caused heat build up when in use. It was the small Brit-ish company of Avon Rubber who came up with the idea of capping a natural rubber tyre with a synthetic tread. By the early 1960s synthetic rubber production equalled that of natural rubber. Today, modern tyres are made of different components, each having to do a different job and therefore each made of a different mix but maybe we should leave manufacture for another time. Tubeless Tyres

The idea of making the tyre carcass seal on to an air tight rim had been around for some time. There was a pat-ent granted in Britain in 1928 and Good-year had a South African patent in 1944. But it was BF Goodrich who made a real success of this idea and was granted a patent in 1946. The use of synthetic rub-ber helped to make a better seal than natural rubbers had been able to achieve. By 1955 tubeless tyres were standard on most new cars.

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Radial Tyres This was the biggest shake up of tyre design in the previous half century. Due to the need to retool many tyre makers pulled out of the tyre business altogether and many plants closed down. It was in France that a clerk working in the export office of the Michelin company was spot-ted as being quite a capable chap. He was Marius Mignol. He made a sugges-tion to make an experimental tyre with-out walls and then to measure friction losses. It was found in this way that most losses had been coming from the move-ments of the side walls. So tyres were made with floppy side walls with stabilis-ing belts under the tread. This led to the introduction of radial ply tyres by Mich-elin in 1946 which would be used on the Citroen Traction Avant and the 2CV. Cit-roen was owned by Michelin at this time. 2 years later the tyre became the Mich-elin X. It is worth mentioning here that this idea had been thought of many years earlier and who knows if the peo-ple at Michelin were even aware of it. In Britain in 1913, Christian Hamilton Gray and Thomas Sloper of the India Rubber

Company (later to be purchased by Dunlop) patented the radial ply design. It did not progress mainly due to the out-break of the Great War and lack of suit-able materials. In Europe production of radial ply tyres took hold in the late 1950’s but the USA resisted the change to radial tyres probably due to the need for massive reinvestment. BF Goodrich announced plans to make radial tyres by 1965 but their introduction in the US was slow compared to Europe. Michelin used steel to make their radial tyres and pro-tected this design fiercely. This led to other manufacturers experimenting with textiles. In Italy, Pirelli developed a tex-tile based radial and introduced it in 1948. It was called the Cinturato. Mich-elin and Pirelli were well ahead of the game. Today virtually 100% of original equipment tyres are of the radial design. I called this article “The History” but his-tory never stops. So let’s stop it here and leave further developments for another time. Walter Clough

Car Tyres Part 1 - The History (Contd)

Two very different cars

From Walter Clough

Top one is 2CV based but

The bottom one definitely isn’t

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From Russia - Now we were two Leaving Ken and Maureen at the mon-astery we headed towards the Ukraine & our 1st border crossing which we in-tended to make on the E40 at Mostys’ka. We still needed to buy insurance but when we reached the border we still hadn’t managed, so carried on hoping there would be an office on the other side. We drove past lanes of lorries parked up and joined a queue of other waiting cars. There were shops that people seemed to be using from both sides of the border and we realised later that certain goods were more easily ob-tainable in Poland than the Ukraine. This led to the strange sight of fridges being loaded into small cars, alongside sacks of groceries, alcohol and pet food. There also seemed to be a great deal of swapping of items from one car to an-other, bizarre! A lot of interest was generated by the cars, with people taking photos, posing by the cars and generally crawling over, under and round to see how they were made. Lots of questions were asked, which we attempted to answer with lots of sign language and the odd word of English. A coach driver in particular was very persistent, insisting I rode in his coach, while one of his friends went in the car. Packed though Sprocket was, there was still more room than in the coach, so we politely refused. The crossing itself though tedious and long, was good tempered. Passports, log book and filled in odd bits of paper, then through customs with the same pro-cedures all over again. A lovely lady guard asked if we had in-surance. We replied only from our coun-try but we still needed to obtain the Green Card insurance. She shrugged and asked why, no one else has it!! She

also asked if we were AFRAID, we re-plied, well, just a little. You should be, was her retort, really filling us with confi-dence. The same procedures were un-dertaken as we crossed into the Ukraine, passports, log book and the bits of paper we had filled in earlier were taken away from us. We didn’t know what they were for but presumably someone did. A brief comfort stop and to get some lo-cal currency (you can’t get Ukraine hryvnia except in the Ukraine, and you are not allowed to take them out of the country) and we were on our way. The process took about three and a half hours and the light was starting to go, so we were hoping for some good fast roads to get us to our hotel in Lviv. WRONG!!! As we entered Ukraine, the condition of the roads went downhill rap-idly. It brought a whole new meaning to traffic calming, sleeping policeman the size of mountains with no warning they were there. Potholes like craters, no road markings or any suggestion where the lanes or hard shoulder were. Traffic coming from all directions at us, with Dicky frantically trying to avoid the worst holes. We had put the ride height up and put extra pressure in the tyres, also got the suspension stiffer, which meant we were bouncing along the road, but hopefully without damaging anything. The light was fading and being in the lead it needed both of us to watch the road ahead for obstacles. Colin and Lynn appeared to be faring a bit better with their standard suspension but also had the advantage of seeing the route that we were taking. We finally arrived bruised and shaken to discover the hotel was fabulous. We

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drove in through guarded wooden gates and checked in Our rooms were huge and the whole place was beautifully built in wood. Even the restaurant menus looked like a wooden book. A good meal accompanied by live music & a few bevies refreshed us. Then off to bed as we had a long drive the next day. Shame we couldn’t have stayed another night but ce la vie.

Saturday 3rd September We were on our way to Kiev, about 320 miles. Luckily the roads did improve a bit, though going through small towns they disintegrated again. The last 80 miles especially were quite bad. The po-lice pulled us over twice but only to look at the cars, they didn’t seem interested in any paperwork, just wanted to take photos. The roads were fairly quiet, mainly pony and carts laden high and roadside stalls outside the houses. These were selling all manners of fruit and veg obviously from their own gar-dens, also flowers, pickles and home made booze of some sort. The area seemed quite poor, with small wooden houses that all seemed to be leaning askew. They were brightly painted how-ever, and all seemed to have satellite dishes stuck on the roof!! There also seemed to be bonfires everywhere, pos-sibly burning crop stubble, but it was fairly unpleasant to drive through.

Arrived at our hotel to discover there was no record of our booking. Never mind, it meant we didn’t have to explain Ken and Maureen’s absence and they had plenty of rooms. Whilst unloading the cars we were accosted by some truck drivers. As it was the weekend they had to park up and the hotel had a designated parking spot for lorries. It also had a campsite but at this time of year it was mainly deserted. One in par-ticular took a fancy to Colin and we were duly invited to join the truckers for a meal that evening. They cooked in the back of their lorries and the meat seemed to be roadkill and the vodka about 80% proof!! We declined, citing illness as an excuse and tried the res-taurant in the hotel as an alternative. We may have been better off with the truck-ers as we were told the only food is so and so. Eat or go without - so we ate. The beer was ok but the wine was like sherry, but not as good. Next morning, after no breakfast (the restaurant was closed) we ventured by taxi into Kiev which was about 15k from our hotel. There seemed to be a big po-litical Rally going on, with loudspeakers, flags and crowds of people. We man-aged to find a good cafe, also a Marks & Spencers, which we had to check out - almost the same as at home. Also found a supermarket and stocked up on the essentials of life - beer, wine, crisps and bananas - just as well as it happened. We split up to go sight see-ing and met up later to share a taxi back. That evening back to the restau-rant. STILL CLOSED. Our supper that night was cuppa soup, Milky Ways, crisps, breakfast was Mars Bars with

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bananas for pudding. Most enjoyable, if not the healthiest diet!!

Monday 5th September. Although we only had one more day in the Ukraine we felt it was important to get insurance, as the driving standards were lousy, to say the least. Colin had managed to find a garage/workshop just down the road where we hoped to pur-chase this insurance. After a couple of hours and a lot of phone calls and inter-net searching from the owner we left, proud owners of green card insurance for the Ukraine. It cost the princely sum of 160 hryvnia (about £13) for fifteen days and we all breathed a sigh of relief. We had to drive through the centre of Kie Kiev to cross the bridge over the river - no other way out and it was CHAOS. Imagine the M25 in rush hour and multiply it by 4. Lanes of traf-fic cutting us up, overtaking, undertak-ing, cameras out taking photos. It was more like a play station game than a road. There was even a guy in the fast outside lane in a wheelchair going along. He had lost his legs and I

imagine would lose his arms by the end of the day. MADNESS but when you know that most drivers in the Ukraine don’t have a driving license, have never taken a test, have no MOT or insurance, it’s not such a surprise. We were leading and lost Colin and Lynn within minutes, it was every man for himself. When it was finally safe to pull over we texted them to let them know where we were and eventually they caught us up. It didn’t help that the few road signs we saw were in Cy-rillic, so thank heavens for a Sat Nav that worked. For those unfamiliar with Cyrillic, imagine a Scrabble board and all the letters that you can never seem to use. The signs and language seem to be made up of all these useless let-ters, jumbled up together and put on in no particular order. Not easy to in-terpret to say the least. Away from the city the roads cleared. Instead of cars there were animals, goats, cows, hens, turkeys, ponies and still the roadside stalls. We had a good run and arrived in Sumy 6.30ish to find a good hotel with restaurant open and hot showers. What a relief, so off to bed ready for an early start. We had the border into Russia to cross and would lose another hour changing into a different time zone.

To be continued

Pat Dawes

Paraprosdokian A verbal contract is not worth the paper it’s written on

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine

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Don’t sign the E-Petition says FHBVC! The Federation of Historic British Vehi-cle Club has a word of advise for those who want to sign the e-petition to re-store a rolling thirty year old exemption to Vehicle Excise Duty - DON’T In the last issue of CMM we reported how the internet e-petition was gaining much support amongst grass root en-thusiasts, who were being urged to sign it in the hope that enough signato-ries would get the issue debated in the House of Commons. But the FHBVC’s Legislation Chairman, David Hurley, says now is not the time. Said Mr Hurley: “On the face of it, this is an understandable move to eradi-cate the invidious gap between the VED treatment of pre 1973 vehicles and more modern classics, caused by the actions of Gordon Brown who, when Chancellor, stopped the rolling nature of the historic VED category. The FBHVC have consistently asked for reinstatement on a 30 year basis (originally it was 25 years) but whilst Labour were in power it proved impos-sible. Prior to the election last year the Con-servatives acknowledged the anomaly and agreed to review it if they gained power while warning that it would probably need to be fiscally neutral. (That’s before they opened the books!) The political climate (Coalition) and economic situation have deteriorated dramatically since the change of gov-ernment. With the programme of defi-

cit reduction adversely affecting gov-ernment spending, including that for vulnerable sections of society, it is, in my personal view, the wrong time to raise the profile of this anomaly and could prejudice any future change for many years. The theory behind e-petitions is that if the petition gets 100,000 signatures, and gets the support of the Back-bencher’s Committee, it will be de-bated in the Commons. It is inevita-ble that the coalition would be against change at this juncture since it cuts across the main government policy and would give away revenue to a mi-nority interest. You can also imagine the reaction of the opposition - it would be perceived as giving away revenue to ’Hooray Henrys’ in their expensive classics whilst at the same time cuts to expen-diture to the NHS, Social Services, concessionary fares for OAPs and Li-braries continue. Issues raised in any debate would leave a lasting bad feel-ing against our movement and make it politically impossible to change the concession for many years. It is also possible that some opposition mem-bers might question the continuing existing concession. It is vitally impor-tant to retain public and political sup-port for our movement and to avoid any accusations of being blinkered self-interested minority” Sent in by Ken Edwards

Latest News from The Federation of Historic British Vehicle Clubs

Taken from Classic Motor Monthly

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Buckland B3 Returns Penguin Speed Shop has announced they are producing 20 Buckland B3 kits, definitely the return of an under-rated trike.

First designed and built by Dick Buck-land in 1985 and was the star of that year’s Stoneleigh. Dick took his inspi-ration from the Mor-gan F4. He raced for many years. Per-sonally, I always thought the front looked like Dick Seaman’s 1930’s Delage Racer.

Powered by a 1300cc Ford Crossflowthrough, a type 9 gearbox to a cus-tom-made bevel box, it is based on a Buckland designed chassis of Zin-tec folded steel, with fibreglass body bonnet and wings. Original production was just 12 (one or two which were owned by CSC Members) so hopefully the B3 will now get the following it deserves. Comprehensive body/chassis kits start at £6800 including VAT - not cheap but definitely classy! More details at WWW. Penguinspeedshop.com

Chris Tilney

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The traditionalists amongst us will probably argue that the 2CV engined three-wheelers will last for ever and nothing else will ever be needed , but I beg to differ, although I think the Citroen engine is a great design and my own car is fairly traditional I also think that future owner/builders will require fun vehicles with modern mechanicals. Exoskeleton cars seem to have be-come more that just a passing fad and two kits spring to mind both from the pen of one designer – Stuart Mills of MEV. Eco-Exo – This is an interesting trike with some lateral thinking involved ,it is based on any Suzuki Burgman scooter as a donor and it uses all the mechanical parts (including the han-dlebars) plus another Burgman’s complete front wheel/brake assem-bly, an excellent idea well executed, but some people will find the handle-bars and tandem seating strange.

MEV Trike – As you may have guessed by the name, the power for this beast comes from the 150bhp

Yamaha R1 motorcycle. This is a beautifully engineered kit and is as near as you can get to a 3-wheeled Ariel Atom with bespoke suspension parts and side-by-side seating from the Eco-Exo as possible. But I feel there is a huge empty gap in the market between the two vehi-cles , one is a lowish powered fun machine and the other a bonkers road burner! How about filling this market mid-ground with an exo-trike with a Trike type front chassis and in the rear a Burgman 400/650 engine/trans unit. The Burgman is an excellent donor with 400’s (32bhp) getting affordable on ebay etc. and with the 650(54bhp) motor its got the makings of a great all-rounder once you get the hang of the auto trans with the man-ual 5-speed selector.

Just a thought!

Chris

Three Wheelers - The Future Exoskeleton?

36

Built in the USA from 1983 to 1985 the Trihawk was a factory produced Citroen GSA-powered sports trike , which unfortu-nately ceased production after less than 100 when the company’s assets were bought by Harley-Davidson, who originally planned to market it as the Harley-Davidson Trihawk, but decided against this as a new dealer network would have to be formed.

To me the Trihawk was a particularly well designed and engineered offering from the US in the 80’s, which normally consisted of motorcycle based trikes and some really peculiar 3-wheelers.

Trihawk - America’s One That Got Away

Mechanically the Trihawk consisted of a spaceframe, containing a front mounted GSA engine/trans, front suspension and steering from a Renault 5 which also provided the rear suspension arm and hub. All this was clothed in a stylish glass-fibre body with full screen and fit-ted hood. Road and Track, the renowned Ameri-can sports car magazine road tested the Trihawk in 1983 and raved about its han-dling. The GSA engine was a strange choice for a vehicle produced in the USA as it

was never available there so I can only presume the power-plants were supplied by Citroen Canada – Apparently Subaru were approached to supply their 1600cc flat four but they didn’t take the project seriously. The owners of Trihawks seem to love them and this is mirrored by the second-hand values about $17-20,000 for a nice one, the only downside seems to be the availability of GSA spares , but there’s space in my shed for one – Now where’s that Lottery ticket! Chris

37

In my last ramblings I told you I had come into ownership of a Lambretta GP 200, complete with Bambini side-car. Now I had to learn how to change gear and keep the sidecar on the road. Friends advised me to load the sidecar with a few bricks to act as ballast so that when I cornered the sidecar would not lift off the road. I was not keen on that idea as sometimes I would be driving with children in it and some-times empty. I decided not to have bal-last but to learn to drive it properly, with Geoff as my instructor. I quickly learnt how to change gear without it lurching down the road like a de-mented dog. OK, first lesson completed satisfacto-rily as far as gears were concerned. I then encountered an even bigger problem. The kick-start lever was hit-ting the road before I had any com-pression so I had to put bricks under the rear wheel to enable me to encour-age the beast to start, which was not very satisfactory as I then had to re-move the bricks from the road hoping the machine would not stall whilst I was doing this (We had no drive or front garden so it had to be kept on the road). Eventually Geoff decided to cut the kick-start lever in half, remove a section and weld the two pieces to-gether to enable compression to be reached before hitting the road. This worked a treat and made my life a lot easier. That was another problem solved and I could now ferry the chil-dren around. Oh, no, another big problem ap-peared. Whenever I stopped or stalled this machine it would not start without me changing the sparkplug which

meant that I had to take the rear wing off take the plug out and put a replace-ment in. I used to ride off with a pock-etful of sparkplugs. When I had to pick up Christine from guides I used to start off a little later so that I did not have to stop and wait for her to come out. This did not work very well as she would come out later and later. It was quite embarrassing for me and for her as one of the dads would give me a push start to enable me to restart and go on our way home. I was getting a bit dispirited as I was on L plates and needed to take the driving test but was too scared to in case I couldn’t get the Lambretta going again when I stopped. Geoff eventu-ally found out that the carburettor would not stay upright and would gradually tip over, so that had to be put right. I was still not confident enough to put in for the driving test. In those days you could drive on a provi-sional licence which had to be re-newed every year without taking the test. There was a local Scooter Cub that used to come round our way and they used to regularly knock on the door asking if I wanted to sell this combina-tion. I kept telling them no as I was using it every day to ferry the children around and to go and see my parents and I had become quite attached to it, I drove a vehicle that nobody else had in the town. In a future issue read about my grad-ual progression to larger beasts. ZãxÇ g|vx{âÜáà

SIDECAR VENTURES - 4

38

Many years of European and interna-tional touring without any serious prob-lems and here we were stranded in a monastery, in a village, near Krakow; no bar, curfew at 9.30pm and monks everywhere! Dom Gosci Monastery is the last active monastery in Poland and we had found it! The group were really impressed!

The rebuild of our car took a little longer than expected, gear box had been rebuilt and the BMW engine sorted. We knew the roads in the Ukraine were going to be rough, in readiness the suspension cans had been cleaned out, new knife edges and dampers fitted - which turned out to be our downfall! Because ‘we’ were still working on the car the night before departure, we ran out of time to test the car; so we set off for Dover full of ‘confidence’ in the pouring rain.

All was going well - until we reached the French roads where the car started to ground on the bumpy cob-bles. We pushed on to Bad Honnin-gen in Germany, on the Rhine, where we had planned to meet the rest of the group to start the partitour. The next morning it was obvious that the damp-ers were not working, but still we could

not see where the car was grounding, also a spoke on the back wheel had broken but the others were fine, or so we thought…

During the build back home - we had two wheels to choose from, a 2CV converted wheel, or one with spokes. Having weighted them both, we de-cided to go for the lighter spoked wheel. WRONG CHOICE!

We had a lovely sunny drive to Tabor in the Czech Republic. However a few days later on route to Krakow, we hit the Polish motorway, the surface was like corrugated sheeting and did we bounce! Later over dinner Colin re-ported that ‘sparks were flying’ from our rear every time we hit the floor. Next day we found the domino effect had begun and 5 spokes had now bro-ken. It was obvious that the wheel was in imminent danger of collapsing and would not cope with the Ukrainian roads that lay ahead. It was time to call it a day…

The village garage put us in touch with the local Honda motorcycle dealer in Krakow, with darkness looming, Dicks

Poland Alone (A story to complement Pat and Dicky’s Russian Trip)

39

led Ken into Krakow - unfortunately the dealer was unable to help! It was back to the drawing board with a group meeting over supper in the re-fectory. ‘The solution’ a spare wheel in our garage at home……so a quick call to a very good friend to break into our garage and send the wheel out by DHL asap.

I expect you are all wondering why we did not use the spare wheel on our car! For those who know us, know that we never carry a spare, which one would we carry the front or rear as both very different. Punctures can be mended, collapsing wheels not.

Being the weekend, transport vehicles are banned from moving in Germany, so it was going to take 4 days for the wheel to arrive. We were snookered!! Therefore we had no choice but to wave goodbye to Pat, Dicks, Lynn and Colin as they continued their journey through the Ukraine to Russia.

Plan a – was to still get the wheel re-built and catch them up. The RAC ar-rived and took the wheel to a garage for an assessment, verdict it was be-yond repair - it was quickly on to Plan b.

Plan b - as long as the wheel arrived early on Monday, with RAC support to fit it, we could leave early Tuesday; head north through Poland towards the Russian border, driving through Lithuania and Latijas to meet up with the group in St Peterburg.

With the RAC on stand-by, we had the weekend to enjoy the area, and the weather had turned very hot! We had also found a very nice bar by the river. We were on holiday and going to make the most of it!

To be continued

Ken & Maureen

Will it Happen Here According to the Sun newspaper all British motorists in France will have to carry Breath-test kits in their cars under tough new rules being introduced in 2012. Anyone caught without the £1.20 apparatus faces an on-the-spot £14 fine. The new law is part of President Sarkoszy’s crusade against drink-drivers, who cause nearly a third of fatal accidents. He had pledged to cut the number of road deaths to below 4,000 this year - but it has already reached 3,980. The drink-drive limit there is 0.5 grams of alcohol per litre of blood - equivalent to about a pint of beer. In Britain the limit is 0.8. I have checked French drink/driving laws to try and verify this report without any great success. I wondered whether it was only British drivers, and if so why.

Geoff

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Product Price per item Boyer Bransden Ignition Dual Output Coil….. £39.50 Boyer Bransden ignition Kit………………….. £24.50 Oil cooler feed adaptors (pair)……………….. £5.50 Breather Reed valve………………………….. £25.00 Oil Filter Cover………………………………… 3.00 Sets Exhaust/Rocker Cover nuts…………… £6.50 Stainless steel Car badge…………………… £7.50 Self Adhesive Club Logo badge……………. £1.30 Windscreen Sticker………………………….. £1.00 Embroidered Club Badge…………………… £4.00 Enamel Lapel Badge………………………... £2.50 Sweatshirts……………………….. £15.00 Polo Shirts ………………………………. £13.75 Baseball caps……………………………….. £7.00 Zip neck fleece…………………….… £18.00 Full zip fleece (unlined)…………. £22.00 Full zip fleece (lined)……………….. £25.00 Cast Metal badges………………………….. £2.50 Magazine Binders…………………………… £4.00 Mugs…………………………………………. £2.00 Lomax Books……………………………….. £8.95

Citroen Specials Club Regalia

Prices do not include Postage or Packing For Order or Enquiries please contact: Lynda Kiley (Regalia Sales Rep) Tel: 01395 263163 (evenings or weekends) 14 Spencer Close Exmouth Devon EX8 4LP

41

The Footman James

Bristol Classic Vehicle Events Updates

Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet

February and April 2012

Following the success of the recent Footman James restoration Show at Shepton Mallet here are the details of our next 3 events in early 2012

The first event is actually 2 events taking place at the same time.

The Footman James Ford Show and The Great Western Autojumble take place

on Saturday February 11th and Sunday 12th 2012 at The Royal Bath & West Showground Shepton Mallet and they will attract 60,000 + Classic Car and Ford enthusiasts

over the weekend.

The Great Western Autojumble will be held in the Edmund Rack Pavilion with all the 1500 stalls being housed in one hall. We have now added an extra hall in order to

accommodate Ford Clubs which will mean 3 full halls of Classic English and American Fords as well as modified Fords and all

relevant traders. We will also be celebrating the start of the Cortina’s 50th Anniversary in 2012 with all of the Clubs representing the 5 models being present as well as Lotus and other variants. Entry to the showground will give visitors access to both events

on the one ticket.

There is also an auction run at the show by Charterhouse of Sherbourne featuring Classic Cars, Bikes, automobilia and memorabilia.

The Second Event

The Footman James 33rd Bristol Classic Car Show is the longest running and

friendliest car show in the UK, which takes place on Saturday April 21st and Sunday 22nd 2012. We will again coincide with “Drive It Day” on the Sunday

and are already working with several car clubs to arrange runs to meet and park up at the event. This year we had over 900 cars each day parking adjacent

to the halls in the classic car parking area. It was a fantastic display and possibly the largest of its type in the country! There will be over 70 club displays and 150 trade stands and stalls throughout the 6 halls with a large auction run

at the show by Charterhouse of Sherbourne featuring Classic cars, bikes, automobilia and memorabilia.

For all our events next year our headline sponsor is Footman James Insurance

who is now part of Aon.

To book your space please email josette.corbett@btconnect.com

or call us on 0117 9071000

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Dear Editor If of interest, I have attached pic-tures of my 2CV Special Trike: It is a Neval Trike, renamed “Franco Russe” by myself. Origi-nally built in 1997-2001, it was re-commissioned by myself over the last eighteen months, tested and used regularly, and is nearly fin-ished with a new paint job. The front is an eighties Russian Neval motorbike with a reversed Citroen Dyane 6 front end driving the trike.

Richard (Dick) Aldridge Membership No. 1940 ………………………………………………………………………………

Mailbag

I’m always interested in what people have to say about different ways of using A Series bits and pieces or anything that’s going on in the Club. If you don’t want to write an article a letter does just fine. Editor

…………………………………………………………………………………………………...

Paraprosdokian (no it’s not Russian for mailbag)

Examples

If I agree with you we’d both be wrong.

You’re never too old to learn something stupid.

Do not argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

I didn’t say it was your fault - I said I was blaming you.

Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.

The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on my list.

John Davis

A paraprosdokian ( /pærəprɒs�doʊkiən/) is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part.

43

English as she is wrote Scart Switch Box Function instructions

• When you only press switch “A”, the signal will be transferred from “SCART A” to “D”, “SCART B” and “SCART C” simultaneous output. • When you only press switch “B”, the signal will be transferred from “SCART B” to “D”, “SCART A” and “SCART C” simultaneous output. • When you only press switch “C”, the signal will be transferred from “SCART C” to “D”, “SCART A” and “SCART B” simultaneous output. • When you press both the switch “A” and “B”, the signal will be transferred from “SCART A” or “SCART B” to “D” and “SCART C” simultaneous output. It permits one way signal of “SCART A” or “SCART B” input. If “SCART A” and “SCART B” are simultenous input, the output signal will be unorderly “SCART A” plus “SCART B” signal. • When you press both the switch “B” and “C”, the signal will be transferred from “SCART B” or “SCART C” to “D” and “SCART A” simultaneous output. It permits one way signal of “SCART B” or “SCART C” input. If “SCART A” and “SCART B” are simultenous output, the output signal will be unorderly “SCART B” plus “SCART C” signal. • When you press both the switch “A” and “B”, the signal will be transferred from “SCART A” or “SCART C” to “D” and “SCART B” simultaneous output. It permits one way signal of “SCART A” or “SCART C” input. If “SCART A” and “SCART C” are simultenous input, the output signal will be unorderly “SCART A” plus “SCART C”. • When you press synchronously the switch “A”, the switch “B” and “C”, the signal

will be transferred from “SCART A”, or “SCART B” or “SCART C” to “D” output. It permits one way signal of “SCART A” or “SCART B” or “SCART C”. If “SCART A” and “SCART B”, “SCART C” are simultenous input, the output will be unorderly SCART A plus SCART B plus SCART C signal.

…………………………………….. These ‘explicit self-explanatory’ instructions came with a switchable

Scart Switch Box!!! It was easier to put all the plugs in and work out the switching

without reading the instructions, checking the function as I went along

It turned out the output lead was so short the switch box couldn’t be used without lying on my stomach to reach behind the television

Needless to say it all ended up in the bin Geoff

44

For Sale Lomax Lambda Super Tourer.

Four Wheeler, Cream with Chocolate Brown wings and upholstery.

New windscreen with side screens.

Tonneau and side screens in brown. Recently renovated so excellent condition.

Rare and sought after Special, open to offers over £4750.00

(as auction)

Old picture on club website.

Will go on Ebay in New Year if not sold. would prefer it went to a club member.

Peter Chiltty Tel: 01252 620128

email. cachi@tiscali.co.uk

Quiz of Quizzes No. 10 Here is the last quiz from Anthony Shelton for people who may not have driven in Europe, but who do read FLAT OUT.

Give me the answers to the last 9 quizzes that have appeared in FLAT OUT

In the last five years. Can you find your old mags?

Answers to me as usual.

Anthony - LOMAX PILOT (for over a quarter of a century)

Anthony Shelton 39 Vine Close

Ramsgate CT11 7BJ

There a small prize of an aluminium gear knob with the Dutch Club Badge

donated by Ivor from Germany

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South: The Cricketers Arms Pub, Chestnut Avenue, Chandlers Ford (Eastleigh), Hants. Last Sunday of the month, 12 noon. The Foresters Arms, Kirdford, Billingshurst, West Sussex. Tel: 01403 820205. 2nd Sunday of the month 12 noon. RH14 0ND South West: The Live & Let Live Frampton Cotterell nr. Bristol. 3rd Monday of the month. Tel: Derek 01454 250959. The Borough Arms, Bodmin, 2nd Monday each month. North West 2nd Saturday each month from 1.30pm onwards. The Bowling Green on the A49 at Charnock Richard PR7 4LA Malcolm Hopwood 01253 854363 Cotswolds 1st Sunday of the month. 12 noon. Hunters Inn, Longdon. contact Gordon & Allyson on: 01594 562844 for more details East Midlands (East Coast Sub Group) 12 noon, last Sunday in the month (unless this clashes with an event) Bainland Country Park, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire. It is suggested that casual or first time visitors contact David Field (01522 753372) before travelling in case of an event clash. East Midlands: (Mid Shires Group) Monthly winter meetings (October to March) 4th Sunday of the month at Sibertoft Airfield (between Husbands Bosworth and Welford on the A5199) for 12 noon. Monthly summer meetings (April to September) 2nd Tuesday of the month at Sibertoft Airfield 7pm, contact Jim or Joy on: 01536 724512 to confirm venue and book numbers. East Anglia: The Horseshoes, Billingford (A143) or The Bell Wortwell, second Sunday of the month, 12.00 for 12.30 pm. Please phone as numbers need to be confirmed. Dennis Page 01502 713498. North Thames: The Airfield, Galleria Site, Lemsford, Comet Way, Hatfield, Herts. AL10 0DA. First Sunday of the month, October to April from 12 noon. Vic Braybrook 01277 622331

Monthly Meetings Regular Meetings not necessarily listed in Area Reports

46

New Kit on the Block We are all aware that donor vehicles with which to build our creations are gradu-ally becoming fewer. There is an alternative though, build your own scratch-built car using components from many other vehicles. As an example of what I’m talk-ing about, have a look at this:

Rather nice isn’t it? A sort of cross be-tween an early Mor-gan and one of Dicky Dawes’s crea-tions. Look closely though and the give-away is the ac-tual size ammeter on the front. A 46-year-old Australian artist called James Corbett who lives with his wife Jodie in Ningi, Queen-sland, Australia, manufactures mod-

els fabricated from junk salvaged from 1950's and 1960's automobile parts. French and British cars are James’ favourites from which to retrieve parts. His work has proved very popular and is often worth thousands of dollars. One of his pieces made of spark plugs, sold for a whopping $23,000. James says that the welding and compilation of the sculptures does not consume most of his time. Often the longest part of the process is finding old parts suitable for use in his sculptures. His sculptures are made of gears, spark plugs, exhausts, radiators, in fact just about anything that the artist can use to achieve the finished result. After spending weeks dedicated to locating suitable parts, James meticulously cleans and welds them together. On average, each piece takes a little over two weeks of work but the larger pieces can take much longer.

David Field

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From Russia

48

Who is this heavily disguised person delivering presents to the Children of the Happy hands Play Group

The clue is in the strange car on the left

Santa Rides Again