My lovely Girlfriend & I visited Grimsthorpe Speed Trials again this year, it was a good day out, the point is to run some slow old cars along the drive of a country house against the clock. No sorry, the point is to have a day out in the countryside - the excuse is to run some slow old cars along the drive of a country house against the clock.
There were some fabulous '30s & earlier cars, some immaculate, some looking like they'd just left the barn they were put in in 1939 & some built for occasions such as this out of an eclectic mix of parts from the early days of motoring.
There were also bikes, INCREDIBLY NOISY bikes, others were two stokes belching smoke. I didn't like the bikes.
There were also a few proper racers, two Bugatis, an ERA which is a new-build & a couple of MGs, one with an early IRS. The two originals were being treated nicely, but the new-build ERA was getting some beans, smoking off the line each time.
The other cars mostly pootled up the track, I dare say they were going as fast as they would, but many of them weren't build for speed.
Here's a case in point. It's actually an AC, as in AC Cobra, it has the logo on the foot plates & everything. There didn't appear to be much in the way of brakes.
Then there was this - it's a Ford model A with all the bits you don't need taken off.
Of course some people's idea of what you need is different to others
But the model A seemed almost luxurious next to this 1909 Daraq - or a least parts of one. Everything was drilled for lightness, the chassis, the tank straps, the pedals.
It was quite brilliant & on it's first public outing, the chap said it was good up to "a certain speed" & then the 1 litre, single cylinder engine hit the car's resonant frequency & it all leapt up & down a bit.
And this ratty Bugatti was there, there were two actually, neither in "showroom condition" but both looking spectacular.
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