The West Midlander Newsletter for the West Midlands Area Group

October 2019

The end of the autumn motoring season is again upon us, with that sense of inevitability over which we have no control. Despite the SORNing of many of our cars over the winter period, life happily goes on & West Midlands' Members can look forward to keeping in touch by participating in our regional activities during the darker days ahead. Despite a hectic October for myself, including a 10-day break towards the end of the month, I'm attempting to squeeze-in preparation of this months issue, in the hope that you will receive it shortly after our visit to the JCB factory, which takes place on the 15th. However, expect more of my self-indulgent 'padding' towards the end, as I fear I'll need to fill some space again!

In the meantime, while I still have your attention, here's a reminder of what's coming up over the next couple of months in our Area Group:

Monthly Meeting, Thursday November 7th, Fox & Hounds, Shawbury SY4 4JG. 7pm for 7.30 as usual.This will be our final scheduled Monthly Meet of the year, to enjoy a not too serious get-together and I am pleased to tell you that we will be joined that evening by Britt Rothman, our good friend & former AGO, who is over from Sweden for a couple of days. If you want to catch up with Britt, who will doubtless have plenty to tell us about his latest Scandinavian exploits, make a date to come along. As ever, I'd be obliged if you will confirm your attendance, so that the caterers can be forewarned. I will send out the usual reminder as soon as I return from holiday.

The following day, Friday 8th, Britt (pictured right) will be accompanying me to the NEC Classic Car Show, so another opportunity to meet up, in our time-honoured manner, at the main FOC Stand around midday, for a brief chat & hopefully a West Mids Group photo. This is the only day we'll be attending, so if you're there please try to pop along & say hello. It's always a great show, so if you've not attended recently/ever, do consider buying a ticket - you won't regret it!

I'm delighted to report that bookings for our Christmas Lunchat Carluccio's, Shrewsbury are stacking up nicely. Our annual get-together, which takes place on Sunday, December 8th at 1pm has already attracted 22 of us, so please let me know as soon as possible if you'd like to join us. I will issue a reminder email in due course. We have provisionally booked for 26 places in a designated part of the restaurant, but we could

accommodate more if demand exists, however, the sooner you make your reservation, the better!

PLEASE NOTE: I will be emailing early November, requesting a deposit of £10 per head from everyone who's booked - or, if you prefer, you can prepay for the whole meal based upon the menu I sent through with my previous email. Contact me on 07967 722291 or email: westmidsferrari@gmail.com

Amazingly, 2020 will soon be upon us (good grief, doesn't seem like 5 minutes since Millennium!!), so time to put on your best thinking caps & come up with YOUR suggestions for NEXT YEAR'S CALENDAR of EVENTS. I'm sure many of you are itching to do something/go somewhere different, perhaps revisit events we've attended in years gone by, or simply feel we need to change something to cater for your wishes. As is often said, because we are such a widely-spaced Area Group (although no more so than some other AGs), it makes (my) life difficult trying to please as many of you as possible with regards to where things take place. All I will say is that if you have a voice, then please use it. Meeting venues & the like can always be shuffled around the region, but we can consider alternatives only if you are prepared to have an input. Over to you, then...........

As you know, we normally skip January & arrange our first Meet of the year in February. Following suggestions, we are planning to hold our Feb & March Monthly Meetings on a SUNDAY LUNCHTIME, which we think will be more appealing since a) you haven't got to dash straight from work and b) there's more chance to get home before it goes dark. We could stick to our normal venues, or maybe consider alternatives (a very nice, suitable venue has just opened to the north-east of Telford, for example). No immediate panic to sort, but I'll keep you posted.

Looking back over recent weeks, fewer events upon which to report, but first off, the Ferrari Challenge UK Season Finale took place at Silverstone on September 21st/22nd. I attended on the Saturday, which fortuitously was blessed with glorious sunshine (unlike the Sunday, I gather!), although I spotted only one other West Mids Member, so apologies if you were also there & I missed you. My own view is that the proceedings were a little muted compared with last year, but, nevertheless, a varied & interesting array of machinery was on offer. I hope the following selection of photos I took will help to convey the flavour & atmosphere of the day.

Our Monthly Meeting on Thursday October 3rd, kindly hosted by Graypaul at their showrooms at Shirley, Solihull, took the form of a speaker evening courtesy of Terry O'Neil, well-known former FOC AGO, Club archivist & now established historian & author of some ten volumes. Although 55 Members & partners/friends had pledged attendance, (which would have been a record number at a Monthly Meet in recent years), sadly & disappointingly only around 35 actually turned up. Terry very kindly gave the assembled crowd an enjoyable presentation on the subject of his forthcoming 11th book, the iconic Ferrari 333SP sports/racing car,

accompanied by a slide show (remember those!). He also brought along an advance copy of the book - a pictorial history of the 333, which it must be said, is an extremely impressive tome (big & heavy!!) full of action photos, production list, race results, etc, detailing many aspects of its development & competition history. Interestingly, Terry told us that, financially, the 'SP is Ferrari's most successful competition car. His fascinating book, due for release in the UK shortly, would make a fine (if expensive) Christmas present, so tell your personal Santa to place an order. You know you're worth it!

Prior to the presentation, Members were able to look around Graypaul's showroom with some beautiful machinery in evidence & then partake of a fine Italian-themed buffet courtesy of the Dealership. Pity the numbers didn't stack up as I'd anticipated, as regrettably, a significant amount of food was 'doggie-bagged' or else went to waste. However, may I express my appreciation to Terry for sparing his valuable

time (& help in setting-up), to all who attended and, of course, to Nelli Khanum & the Management at Graypaul for the use of their premises & organising the buffet.

As you will know from my email following the event, we have some issues regarding the reduced attendance numbers/cost of the buffet, which has left me in a somewhat embarrassing position with Graypaul. Not wishing to cause offence, but I trust I have made my point to all members regarding commitment to attend events & I can only hope that I can amicably resolve matters with the Graypaul Management.

Members enjoying the buffet at Graypaul

Terry discusses his new volume with Christian Mineef General view of the assembled audience

Now, time for Kev's Self-Indulgence Corner - continued

By way of a minor diversion (actually to fill space again!), you may - (or may not!) - be interested to see a few photos of 333SPs somewhat smaller than life-size. The model companies Minichamps, Ixo (& others) produced a number of lovely 1/43 scale 333s in various liveries about 15-20 years' back. To accompany Terry's presentation, I prepared a sequence of photos, some of which appear below for your amusement.

Score yourself extra marks for spotting Eddie Irvine in racing attire! He never drove the 333SP but it's the only 1/43 scale figure I have. I'm sure you'll forgive the historical inaccuracy on this occasion!And finally, a brief report below on our last scheduled outside event of 2019..............

The earth certainly moved for the 21 West & East Midlands' Members who attended the JCB Factory Tour at Rocester, Nr Uttoxeter, on Tuesday October 15th. Our Group convened after arrival in the imposing Visitor Centre, where a warm welcome was extended to our party, enjoying tea/coffee & biscuits, before being

ushered into the plush-seats of their purpose-built cinema for a professional video introduction. We then split into groups & our hosts firstly walked us through into what can fairly be decribed as a 'JCB Museum', detailing the amazing history of the firm since its humble beginnings in nearby Uttoxeter, where the Bamford family began by engineering various metal items such as tractor seats, taps, feeding troughs & other more complex machinery, such as grinding machines. After WW2, Joseph Bamford, who had been in the business since 1935, left the family firm to set up the company with which we are now familiar: JCB. His son, Anthony, (well-known also as a Ferrari & classic car collector) continues as

Chairman to this day. Amazingly & unusually for an operation of this size, JCB is still a privately-owned & run family firm, being currently the world's third largest construction machinery company.After being shown a restored example of JCB's first commercial product - a tipping

trailer (opposite), we viewed examples of many JCB products over the years, from an early Ferguson tractor-based excavator, a backhoe machine based upon the Fordson Major tractor, through various refined versions progressively recognisable as a 'JCB', in their customary bright

yellow paintwork, which immediately identifies the brand worldwide.Incredible as it may seem now, Joseph Bamford's first 'factory' was none other than a modest-size shed, a recreation of which is pictured left; a far cry from today's huge modern establishment here at Rocester, one of 11 JCB factories in the UK - with a further 11 across the world. Its current range of equipment & vehicles is much more extensive than you might think & even includes military versions. What's also remarkable is the level of 'cab comfort' nowadays - plush

seating, sound systems, even a coffee machine! Also present here is the JCB Dieselmax which holds the current World Speed Record for diesel-powered cars - some 350 mph. Its two tuned JCB444 powerplants push out around 750 horsepower. Driven by Andy Green, his record, achieved in 2006, remains unbroken to this day.

Our hosts then took us on a conducted tour of the main factory buildings where we observed ongoing production of a range of their vehicles from incoming parts delivery, steel machining/welding, initial assembly, shotblasting of components prior to painting, main assembly & finishing before road/final testing & quality control procedures in preparation for customer delivery. Interestingly, we were told that production commences only upon receipt of customer order; no stockpiling of completed vehicles takes place.

At the conclusion of our Tour we enjoyed a splendid lunch back in the Visitor Centre restaurant & all too soon our visit was over. All in all, we witnessed a most impressive operation - thoroughly enjoyed by all. My thanks go to Martin Phillips for organising the visit for our Area Group & to the staff at JCB for their hospitality. (NB all photos shown here are 'stock' images). That's all for now - keep an eye open for my emails. Kevin Brown, AGO