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"Dedicated to the preservation of Standard Cars 1903-1963"

The Standard Motor Club's Chiltern Roadrun

Steve Birt's fabric bodied Teignmouth gets close scrutiny

We have actually lost count of the number of Chiltern Rallies that Lynda and I have organised. I have found a report on the 1985 Event in the Standard Car Review of October of that year, but I can not find an earlier reference. I am sure that 1985 wasn't the first gathering, so if anyone can remind me about the earlier ones I will be able to get the chronology straight, maybe even come up with the full list of venues.

What started my thinking on tha topic was that we have used the "Royal Standard of England" as a starting point before. Its a highly appropriate name for a pub pf course and it is just down a tiny lane a short distance from Beaconsfield. It's popularity is increased by it being signposted on brown Tourist signs. We arrived about 12.30pm and the place was already hoping. Early arrivals included the Johnsons in their Flying 10, a car previously unknown to us. They were delighted to meet another Flying 10 owner, Stephen Barr, though today he had left his 10 at home and was in his Pennant. We are always delighted to see Mike and Pat Beavis, though this year they were in something called a "Subaru", the Stag being under minor repair that weekend.

I have never seen so many Sunday lunches served in one place at one time. The pub isn't huge but it was crammed as were all the outside seats. Good job it was a glorious early autumn Sunday else the venue just would not have been able to cope. Unfortunately the volume of orders caused some to complain that their lunch wasn't cooked though others has no complaints.

The Roadrun every year follows a familiar pattern. We try to find the smallest lanes that are possible, though this year we were close to London so the opportunities were pretty limited. The first couple of miles though were down proper rally routes, the ones with grass growing down the middle. The route passed close to the Thames and Cliveden House.  Here we lost (deliberately) Steve Birt with his Teignmouth as he had promised to attend another Classic Event in their grounds that afternoon. Our 20 mile route was disrupted a little by large numbers of cars turning out of a very large boot sale.  En route we also lost David and Judith Over, who dcecided to head home due to mechanical problems in their Standard 10. 

The rest of the party however made it Eton Wick, where the Castle at Windsor dominates the skyline. Our destination was the "History on Wheels" Exhibition. which only opens on one day a month, and this happened to be that day! This extensive  Museum is very much the personal hobby of one man, Tony Oliver who has built the collection up over many years. It is mainly  Military based including a lot of "enemy" hardware. We spent a happy hour looking round followed by a cuppa in their canteen. ( they had a fully stocked NAAFI wagon but it was only being used as part of the display!)

Here are some more of the participants parked in the Museum's parking field. The Sunday afternoon had proved to be the hottest in September. 

Steve Smeltzer was a little worried about the V4 as it was loosing water and making unusual noises. He had the furthest to go home and as it turned out he didn't get there until well after dark.

Another successful event. The format will be similar next September - please keep an eye on the Events  list for the date and venue. We hope that you can make it

Report by Phil Homer