SWTVC BULLETIN NUMBER 2 MARCH 2019
The SWTVC Website can be found at www.swtvc.org.uk and has up-to-date information about meetings.
Registered address of the SWTVC: 31 Roselea Drive, Milngavie, Glasgow G62 8HE
Committee
Ronnie Gordon: (Chair & Acting Secretary) 0141 956 2950 07906 042215 Ronnie@Glasgownet.com
31 Roselea Drive, Milngavie, Glasgow G62 8HE
John Stewart (Treasurer)
Harry Sherry : (Webmaster)
member
John Young: (Membership Secretary)
Ian Stother: (Member)
Ronnie Johnston: (Editor)
Dave Stewart: (Webmaster)
Monthly meetings: These take place on the 3rd Tuesday of the month in the Kirkhouse Inn at 08.00PM.
All members welcome.
Note:
The opinions expressed in this bulletin are not necessarily those of the committee or any of its members.
EDITORIAL
I am writing this on 1st March, St. David’s day and the first day of spring.
I am sure we all enjoyed the warm spell late last month and I got things done that I did not expect to be able to undertake for several weeks yet.
However, my delight in the warm weather was tempered by the thought that it was far too warm for this time of year and concern over climate change. An unseasonably warm spell can tempt hibernating creatures out too early and they will suffer when the inevitable cold spell returns.
WINTER QUIZ:
As promised last month here is Ian Stother’s quiz with the answers.
1. Horse riders are exempt from the requirements and rules of the Highway Code (True / False)
1. False – there are paragraphs within the Highway Code specifically for horses.
2. Which Scottish car factory was largely staffed by women and produced the body for Sir Malcolm Campbell’s speed record breaking car in 1928?
2. Arrol Johnston Heathhall Works Dumfries.
3. Below Stirling, which is the oldest road bridge across the Forth?
3. Kincardine Bridge – 1936
4. Toucan crossings allow pedestrians and mounted cyclists to share open space when crossing the road. (True / False)
4. True
5. Who described his cars as having “Space, pace, and grace”?
5. Sir William Lyons of Jaguar.
6. Car horns and hazard warning lights should only be used when a vehicle is stationary. (True / False)
6. Unless in an emergency use hazard lights when stationary and horn only when moving,
7.“Sure as the Sunrise” was the slogan of which Scottish vehicle manufacturer?
7. Albion.
8.You should not normally signal on approaching a roundabout.(True / False)
8. False
9.How many Hillman Imps and its derivatives were produced at Linwood?
9. 440,000 Imps 1963-76.
10.The AC ME 3000 was also produced in Scotland. What does the “M.E.” stand for?
10. Mid-engine
11. Who did Jackie Stewart consider to be the greatest driver of all time?
11. Juan Manuel Fangio: (Both as a driver and a gentleman.)
12. What is an “LED” as used in “ LED lights”
12. Light emitting diode.
13. The “Rest and be Thankful” is on which A road?
13. A83.
14. Which type of engine produces more particulates, petrol or diesel?
14. Diesel: Now known to produce fine particulates that can cause serious breathing problems.
15. Si-OAT is a description of a type of brake fluid.(True / False)
15. False. It is coolant / anti freeze for modern engines.
Club events 2019:
19th May: Club BBQ at Maid of the Loch.
4th August: Summer run and lunch: As last year’s run to the Maritime Museum was so successful we plan to return this year. A different route will be planned.
September: Bus run and afternoon tea. A vintage coach to Dumfries house exact date still to be confirmed.
5th or 12th October: Autojumble.
26 / 27th October Anniversary outing. (See below.)
2nd December: AGM
17th January 2020: Mid-winter dinner.
CLUB ANNIVERSARY:
As you know, our club celebrates its 40th anniversary this year and plans are in hand to mark this with an extra special event.
This will take place over Saturday / Sunday 26th & 27th October and will be based at Crieff Hydro.
This date has been chosen as Stephen Leckie, who owns the Hydro, will be putting his collection of classic cars on display on Saturday morning. The cars are located in a number of outbuildings around the hotel and visitors are free to walk round.
The plan is to set off sharp on Saturday morning to arrive at the Hydro about 10.00.
The car display runs until about lunch time and a run will arranged for the afternoon.
We have still to finalise plans for this but one suggestion is the Sma Glen which is very scenic and close enough to offer a leisurely run out.
Dinner will be at the hotel on Saturday evening.
The return run on Sunday could be along the A85 via Comrie, St. Fillans and Lochearnhead possibly having a lunch stop in the Trossachs.
It is proposed that the club will pay the cost of B&B accommodation for two persons with members only paying for the evening meal.
I have reserved 20 rooms and these will be allocated on a “first come” basis.
Additional rooms are available but it would be wise to place your booking early to avoid disappointment.
Please complete the attached entry form and send it to me with a cheque payable to SWTVC Ltd for £25.00 per person. This payment is non returnable and will be used to offset the cost of the evening meal.
ENTRY FORM
CRIEFF HYDRO 26TH OCTOBER 2019
Please complete and return by March 25th 2019.
Ronnie Johnston, 8 Saibai Park, Blackwood, Lanark ML11 9GP.
Please enclose a deposit of £25.00 per person.
This will used to offset the cost of the evening meal and is non refundable.
Block letters please.
Name: …………………………………………………………..
Address………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………….
Post Code……………….. Telephone……………………..
E- Mail: ………………………………………
Accommodation: Single / Double / Twin.
Special dietary Requirements. Vegetarian / Gluten free / Other
Any other special needs?
Meanwhile, Dan Gardener’s account of the Club’s 25th Anniversary event should whet our appetites and perhaps stir a few memories among our more senior members.
Most of us can remember what we were doing on 9/11 in the year 2001 and many of us can remember as far back as 22 November 1963 but can you remember what you were doing on the morning of Saturday 12 June 2004.
Well, it was a beautifully sunny morning and 120 SWTVC members, their partners and friends were assembling in the car park of The Kirkhouse Inn at Strathblane for the start of the 25th anniversary Rally. There were 56 Rally cars the earliest being a 1923 Rover 8 and the newest being a 1970 Volvo 131. Each entrant was handed a Rally envelope containing, as one entrant commented, a considerable amount of paperwork and this included General Instructions, Entry List, Rally Plaque, Saturday morning route instructions, Crieff Visitor Centre lunch discount tickets, Saturday afternoon route instructions, Self judging concours form, Driving Tests marking form, Ardeonaig Hotel lunch vouchers plus various associated brochures and other less important papers.
After a free bacon roll and tea/coffee at The Kirkhouse entrants set off on Part 1 of an observation section at one minute intervals in strict compliance with the terms of the permit for the Rally and this section terminated at Crieff Visitor Centre for lunch. Some entrants chose to picnic on the lawn in glorious sunshine. The afternoon run comprised Part 2 of the observation section and the cut off time for arrival at The Scotland’s Hotel in Pitlochry was 16.30 hours. This particular hotel had been chosen by the committee as it had adequate and secure parking for all entrants’ cars and this was appreciated by all. For those entrants who wished, a visit to the nearby Edradour Distillery had been arranged and this was much appreciated by all who took part in the visit and enjoyed a wee dram.
Dinner in the hotel was at 19.30 hours and this was enjoyed by all although there were some groans when a quiz appeared but this was mercifully a short affair. Eight of the founder members of the Club were in attendance and they were especially welcome. The dinner at £19 a head was the only part of the Rally that entrants had to pay for as the hotel accommodation and everything else was being paid for by the Club.
The merriment and Drambuie shandies continued long into the night for some entrants which probably accounted for some of the Sunday morning breakfast tables being a little subdued.
On Sunday morning first car departure was at 10.15 hours and this was a map reading stage ( six figure grid references dominating) which ended at the Ardeonaig Hotel on the shores of Loch Tay. Entrants then had to partake of 5 driving tests on grass by the lochside before going in to the Hotel for a buffet lunch. We were told by the Hotel owner that the following weekend they were hosting a wedding reception for a Japanese bride and groom and some of the arrangements involved six seaplanes meeting the Japanese guests at Glasgow Airport for flights to the bottom of the hotel garden. Much time was spent during the Rally and especially on Sunday in marking the results of the various sections of the Rally and the prize giving was held later on Sunday afternoon at the Hotel before entrants made their way home.
We were blessed with gloriously sunny weather and no rain until the journey home and I believe everyone enjoyed themselves.
There were a couple of incidents to Rally cars during the event but these were very efficiently dealt with by club member Stuart Ross who had very kindly agreed to forego his eligible car entry and instead drive the breakdown truck kindly provided by Gillespie’s Garage in Kirkintilloch and arranged by club member Raymond Taylor.
It might be of interest to learn that the Rally cost the SWTVC approximately £6,500, a not considerable sum but everyone who took part considered the money well spent.
MOTORING TRIVIA:
I am grateful to Dan Gardner for this item about the RAC Formula for calculating engine horsepower for taxation purposes which hamstrung engine design in Britain for years.
HOW POWERFUL ARE YOUR HORSES?
In a 1996 edition of the News Bulletin the late Bob Flockhart wrote that he had been asked at some event to explain why cars of the vintage era and beyond were labelled “Ten” or “Twelve” when, in fact, their respective catalogues gave a completely different figure for ‘brake horsepower’.
It is an interesting question and Bob’s article is worthy of reproduction.
‘It was, of course, all the fault of the Government of the day way back in 1921, when they introduced a horsepower rating as a basis for taxation of motor vehicles. By some freak of ministerial thinking it was decided that ‘horsepower’ would be calculated by an empirical formula – a formula which had less than nothing to do with the actual horsepower which could have been measured on a dynamometer.
Under the Roads Act of 1921 horsepower was to be calculated by taking the cylinder bore of an engine, in inches, and square-ing the figure before multiplying it by the number of cylinders. The resultant figure to be divided by two and a half and the answer, rounded down to the nearest whole number was the horsepower!!! For Austin Sevens the calculation is:-
bore 2.2 inches, squared = 4.84, multiplied by the number of cylinders, four, gives 19.36 which divided by 2.5 gives 7.74 which when rounded down to the nearest whole number = 7.
This meant that the smaller the bore the less tax would be payable annually and this resulted in the roads of Britain being used by cars with small bores and long strokes – a retrograde step in engine design. Long strokes meant excessive piston speed and, in turn, increased inertia when the piston, literally, stopped and changed direction, at the top and bottom of each stroke. It also meant increased heat generation from piston ring friction. Manufacturers in other countries, unhampered by such legislation, went on to build ‘square’ or even ‘over square’ engines in which the shorter stroke significantly reduced piston speed.
AND FINALLY:
I found this in an old programme.
That’s all folks,
Ronnie