| VSCC at Shelsley Walsh - July 2010 |
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| Written by Colin Rear |
| Monday, 05 July 2010 06:56 |
  THE PADDOCK Unlike Prescott, almost all the cars in Paddock get their own covered space. With over 170 cars competing for honours on the Hill, there was much that was of interest and fascination being prepared in the Paddock. ALFA ROMEO A 6C 1750 Zagato. Just fabulous, as ever!       There were three of these iconic British sports cars at the event, and they set some impressively fast times. Well below 40 seconds for the best runs.    A lovely Ballila sports car       This monster sports a 24 litre aero engine. When it set off, the clouds of smoke took some time to dissipate, and you could still smell the after effects 10 minutes later!       Not the most subtle of vehicles, this American monster clearly had a large V8 engine under the bonnet.    A 1930s Dolomite    The course is 1000 yards long, during which distance it climbs 368 feet. The steepest gradient is 1:6, with an average climb of 1:9. That means that it is rather steeper than Prescott, but with less in the way of tight bends, this is more of a test of coping with the inclines than the tight turns, though one hapless contestant did not seem to understand this and as he rounded Top Turn, he went straight on, up the steep bank and through the fence. Luckily, he was OK. It would seem that there is no separate return road, so every now and then, proceedings stopped and all the cars that had climbed the hill came back down, almost in parade style.               When we were chatting to one of the Stratsone Sales Managers at Prescott, he did tell us that the firm owns the cottage at the base of the hill, so it was no surprise to find that Stratsone had a comprehensive display of both Jaguar and Land Rover cars on display. No-one seemed to be paying them much attention, though, and the man we had met a couple of times before at Prescott was not on site today.         There was a truly amazing variety of cars to be found in the car park, and I wandered round the field where everyone was parked up a couple of times, and took plenty of photos. Here are just some, but by no means all, of the highlights: ABARTH Just one lone Abarth, as I had taken the Audi for the day.  This Bristol engined Aceca was parked up just near my car. Stunning.     A 6C 1750.     Lots of Alvis cars. This 4.3 litre was once described as the "best" British sports car of the 1930s      A rather nice DB5 Volante    This original Quattro was rather nice    Plenty of Austin Sevens, ot course.       There were a lot of classic Bentleys in the car park, and all of them were stunning.      This lovely 326 saloon is a car that I have seen at previous events.   This is one of a small number of Conquest Roadsters that was produced in the mid 1950s. The car was not a success.   This Consul Capri GT is a rare survivor from a car that had a short production life, and was not exactly well regarded when new.    There were some of these British sports cars in the car park as well as the Paddock.  Invader Series 3. These cars cost more than an E Type when new. Thanks to their grp bodies, the survival rate is very high, and now they are highly rated by those who know what they are.  XK models, of course    The Jupiter, a sporting model from this Bradford based maker  Plenty of these 1930s sports tourers at the event.      A Fulvia Coupe - one of those really pretty mid 1960s Italian coupes that we so need to see reappear in the market!     Yet another forgotten marque, there were several of these cars in the car park  The classic Elan and Plus 2   The rather nice 220SE Coupe from the early 1960s    So many classic MGs on show, it is hard to know where to begin. I particularly liked this glorious fastback.               This Plus Four Plus is extremely rare. Just 26 of these cars were made, following a 1963 debut, but the idea of a "modern" Morgan simply failed in the market. It is understood that just 8 of them are in the UK these days, so this was definitely one of the more unusual sightings of the day.      What can I say? Just splendid!  Not a marque many have heard of, but there were a few of these British cars parked up   Hot on the heels of seeing one of the last of these cars at Gaydon last weekend, here is another of the small SS1 cars that must have seemed like such a good idea until the MR2 came along and stole the market away.  This is a late model left hand drive R4, badged "Clan" which was the replacement for the long-running TL trim level (ignore the GTL badges, that became the Savane).    Sporting saloons from the 1930s included the Kestrel and Monaco and there were examples of both parked up.       The Silver Shadow Coupe, from the time before these cars became the Corniche    SINGER This canvas-bodied Nine was Singer's answer to the big selling Austin Seven and Morris Minor.   A Tiger.  Well regarded sports tourers from the 1930s, there were a few of these in the car park, to join those which were competing up the hill.  A much earlier car than the ones we usually see from this Czech marque  There were plenty of TR models, from early TR2 cars, through to TR6s.     There were quite a few TVR in the car park, though nothing compared to the Gaydon showing. This S caught my eye, and camera.  The 30/98 was an expensive and fast sports car in its day. Not quite the image that we have now when we think of Vauxhall  This 14 saloon appealed. A luxury family car of the 1930s.     |
| Last Updated on Monday, 05 July 2010 17:18 |
Discuss (12 posts)
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VSCC at Shelsley Walsh - July 2010
Jul 05 2010 17:19:57 What a fabulous collection of cars, looked worth going just for a wander around the car park!
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#22913 |
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Re: VSCC at Shelsley Walsh - July 2010
Jul 05 2010 17:29:21 Looks like a top event. Is there anything similar too this coming up soon as I'd like to take my dad to this sort of thing.
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#22915 |
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Re: VSCC at Shelsley Walsh - July 2010
Jul 05 2010 19:46:25 VSCC Event at Prescott is weekend of 7/8 August. Well worth clearing your diary to attend!
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#22923 |
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Re:VSCC at Shelsley Walsh - July 2010
Jul 05 2010 21:35:57 Was it windy there? It was blowing an absolute gale where I was - the headwind I encountered on the southbound M1 around Leicester beggared belief.
Looks like an interesting day anyway! |
#22937 |
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VSCC at Shelsley Walsh - July 2010
Jul 06 2010 15:17:29 Excellent. Just my sort of event, but I haven't been to Shelsley for many years. When I was last there, that red Napier Bentley did a dramatic start in the fashion you described. I must try to get there next year.
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#22962 |
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Re:VSCC at Shelsley Walsh - July 2010
Jul 06 2010 19:32:16 Yes... you would have been in petrolhead vintage heaven, James!
Roll on VSCC Prescott next month! |
#22963 |
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Re:VSCC at Shelsley Walsh - July 2010
Jul 07 2010 12:07:54 Colin wrote:
Roll on VSCC Prescott next month! Very much looking forward to that. I have found a Youtube video of last year's event, in which we play a walk-on part right near the beginning, at about 0:07. |
#22983 |
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Re:VSCC at Shelsley Walsh - July 2010
Jul 07 2010 12:37:26 Road Runner wrote:
I have found a Youtube video of last year's event, in which we play a walk-on part right near the beginning, at about 0:07. Well spotted! |
#22985 |
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Re:VSCC at Shelsley Walsh - July 2010
Jul 07 2010 15:09:57 I might go on the Saturday. It will probably be quieter than the Sunday and is definitely a damn sight cheaper!
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#22987 |
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Re:VSCC at Shelsley Walsh - July 2010
Jul 07 2010 15:22:51 I am unlikely to be able to go on the Saturday, so it will be Sunday for me, which would be my choice anyway since that is the day to see all the member's cars in the orchard.
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#22988 |
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VSCC at Shelsley Walsh - July 2010
Jul 30 2010 22:39:54 Hi, I'm Poppie and thanks for the welcome! I have so enjoyed looking at these beautiful cars!!!
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#23851 |
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