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This is the worldwide club for all owners and enthusiasts of Standard Cars

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

Part of the lineup of Flying Standards

Sunday 28th June

After another  substantial, and leisurely breakfast it was just a short walk onto the Rally field at the RAC at exactly 9.00am. Soon the cars were arriving, with the Rally Control opening at 10am for those that had not signed in on Saturday.

One of the benefits of belonging to the Club is the opportunity to pick up the spare parts that you need to complete your restoration or repair. A number of members have benefited from this service during the year and a number of them were pleased to admit  that their cars were only there thanks to this club service. This is particularly true of the earlier, pre 1948 cars, catered for by Brian Parkes. A number of members were therefore looking for him on the field to put a face to his name and to thank him for supplying them with Standard Parts.

One couple, Peter and janet Darby have been so pleased with the Spare Parts service that they have made a substantial financial donation to the Club to assist the expansion of the Spares Scheme, and the Club thanks them hugely for their contribution.

Also setting up shop in the Rally Control Marquee were Tony and Beatrice Pounder with displays of 1950's 8's and 10's Spares and Club Regalia respectively. I hope than many members are interested in the new lines that Beatrice is developing.

The thumbprints below show cars gathered on Sunday. Click on any of them to see an enlargement

Vanguards at the Rally:

For the unfortunate ones amongst you  who have been unable attend an International Rally, let me tell you about how the concours competition works. Sunday is the traditionally "static" day with a display of cars on grass. Whilst we welcome cars in any condition, there is also the opportunity to win prizes. Car are parked in Class order, there being 9 different age-related Standard Classes plus an Open Class for other marques. Eight of the classes are what we call "self judging", that means that members of that class vote for the best three cars in their class not including the own. The first, second and third in each class are identified by totalling the marks awarded over that class.

Here are a selection of Standard 8's and 10's which included some customised cars:

A different set of rules apply  for the Master Class, these are winners of their class in any of the previous three years and the Open Class, both of these classes are judged by a team of independent judges. The Master Class Winner, together with the winners of each of classes 1 to 8 then go through a final competition, again independently judged, to determine Car of the Show. There are a number of other awards. You can see the list of Prizewinners later.

It is also worthwhile mentioning two other competitions that took place on the day. The first is a raffle which is used to help fund the rally and also offered a large selection of valuable prizes. The most valuable of these were a Satellite Navigation System, next was a Battery Booster and about 12 other prizes including a pair of digital Telephones and an Electric Power Drill.

Also running all weekend was a competition to name a number of London Tube Stations from a list of cryptic clues. A number of you have asked for the answers to be published so I will publish the competition separately soon, so that you can try it yourself. The winners were Phil Hetherington and Emma.

Here are some more photos of the cars I took during the day. You can click on any of them to see an enlargement

Our special guest to present the prizes was Nick Black, son of Sir John and Lady Black, who was highly delighted to be involved.  As usual, the table was groaning under the weight of prizes that he had to give away, a first second and third in each of the 10 classes. There was plenty of room for a parade of prize-winning cars past the marquee. 

All too soon the Rally was over. We added up over 90 Standards over the weekend plus another 20 or so in the "Open Class", a grand total of over 110. A fine turn out but still less than 15% of the Club membership. The rest of you missed a treat of course and some of the best weather we have experienced in recent years.

Lynda and I had decided to stay in the area for another night and were able to pass a pleasant evening and dinner with other club members at a local hostelry.

We hope to see all of you again next year, why not persuade your Standard owning friends to come along too....?

Details and dates will be published here soon.

Report and Photos by Phil Homer

If you would like your photos of the rally to appear here, just send them to webmaster@standardmotorclub.org.uk