| COTSWOLDS,
EUROPE AND ON TO GREAT MALVERN
A report by Bob
and Val Richardson
An early Vanguard
hiding in a corner at Autoworld Brussels
Our feet have finally
touched the ground after being away for the best part of the last few
weeks. We meet up for time away with several groups of friends each
year, some with classic cars and others are old work colleagues. Most
people wish to go away as soon as the schools are back for a quieter
time, being the age we are, and while the weather is still relatively
warm. We have been very lucky this year with the weather.
Our first break was with
the Standard Club on the Cotswold Tour organized by Phil and Lynda
Homer. The company was excellent, the food good and we visited some
very interesting venues as described in a previous report. We had a
great time and Hattie, our 1934 Standard Ten Avon Tourer, behaved
immaculately. We are not fast, but will tick along all day at a steady
pace.
| No sooner were we back
home than we had to run round to get ready for our second holiday. For
the second time we joined a group of friends for a coach tour to
Europe, taking in car museums and collections. Our first day travel,
via the Shuttle, took us to Brussels where we were to spend our first
night. That evening we did some sightseeing, the Grand Place and the
Mannequin Pis, after an excellent meal. It was a beautiful balmy
evening too.
Next day was our first
Motor Museum, Autoworld Brussels, which is situated on a hill
overlooking the city, housed in a magnificent historic building
surrounded by parkland and fountains. |
Autoworld
|
| A great many of the cars here
were part of the Mahy collection (which we were to visit later on),
and went right through the history of the motor car. Minerva models
were plentiful, it being a major manufacturer in Belgium. Imperia got
a mention too (whatever happened to the lovely Imperia which was shown
in Bristol quite a few years ago?). There were quite a few British
cars, Austin, Swallow, Jaguar and tucked away in a corner two
Standards, a fifties Ten and a Vanguard. I did my best to get photos,
which I will send with this report, not sure they are worthy of
publication though, as they were in awkward situations. n fuel was at a
premium, there is nothing new! |
|
|
One surprise
was seeing a small electric city car made in 1947. We also went to the Daf Museum in
Eindhoven, I didn’t realize they made such a variety of vehicles
from their well-known little saloons to amphibious and military
models, all using the unique variomatic transmission.
We travelled on to
Amsterdam visiting the Ford Museum, 170 vehicles from 1908 to 1948. We
were given an excellent guided tour by an enthusiastic volunteer who
spoke fluent English. They even have a replica of the very first
vehicle built by Mr Ford in his shed, apparently he had to dismantle
the shed to get it out! The collection went right through all the
models made by Ford, including a very good collection of commercials.
|
|
After a day off from
cars visiting a diamond factory, (no he didn’t buy me one, but I did
try on some rings costing many thousands), and doing the obligatory
canal boat trip, we travelled back to Ghent for an overnight stay
(broken by a group of drunken Frenchmen, it isn’t only the Brits who
have a hooligan element).
We went on to visit the
Mahy collection. This collection consists of 750 vehicles collected by
one family! I cannot begin to list the marques of vehicles here, from
1894 Rochet-Schneider to a 1992 Honda NSX. All I can say is that by
this time I was beginning to feel a bit car-worn! It was then back
home in our luxury coach, by far the best way to get around and see a
lot of places. Visits were well organized and we were just dropped off
by the door and picked up again at the end.
|
The Ford Museum |
Our final trip away was
with a group of classic car friends who we met up with on the
"Automobile" magazine rallies. We travelled to Great Malvern
where we were staying for the duration. On our way up we saw a
plethora of VW Caravanettes, it was the big annual Vanfest on the
Malvern Showground and these were people departing from there to make
their way home before the rush! We again travelled in the Standard,
which behave well, although I was a bit nervous of the hilly geography
in that area, but she manages well. We did avoid the worst hills in
the town. Highlights for Bob were the visit to the Morgan factory and
the TVR specialist in Inkberrow.
After this I have plenty
of "brownie points" to use up for what I would like to do;
now where shall we go ….?
Val Richardson
Below, The Standard
10 in Autoworld
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