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I am
a regular attendee at Standard Triumph marque days as I regard the
Standard Triumph movement as one big family and at the factories in
Coventry after the war the marques were indistinguishable. The works are
still referred to there as "The Standard" to this day.
Derivatives
are also welcome and with this in mind I left home at about 7.45a.m.
in the Swallow Doretti for the long run along the A14 and M11 to
Duxford where I'd taken the Vanguard estate to the last event
there in 2009. I
did the 90 miles run in well under 2 hours which would not have
been bad for a modern car let alone one 56 years old,and achieved
about 30 m.p.g. Have cars advanced at all since the 50s? ( Yes! -
Webmaster)
The
Doretti, Vanguard Vignale, Pennant and 6cwt Van, at rear
After
a long wait for the gate to be unlocked in the company of several
other stand organisers we were eventually let in and I managed to
reserve a circular grassy area with a good view of the runway for our
cars.The Club stand however had to be minimalist,i.e.a banner and
and a kite,as that was all I could get in the Doretti.
Gradually
other Standards appeared though the saddest sight was John Huckle's
phase 1 12cwt Vanguard pick-up being towed in by his customised Phase1A,
Bad Ash Woody. It transpired that it had developed a nasty
knock from the engine and a lack of oil pressure.
Some
of the cars were old favourites, notably Ian Leggett's Phase 2 Vanguard,
Vanguard spares officer Pete Foster's Vignale, which for me will always
be Arthur Morley's car and Ray and Di Ferris in their newly acquired
blue Pennant which will always be John Russell's car. Sadly John has now
moved on to a customised mobility scooter but it narrowly missed a
place in the Open Class at the International and we wish John well and
hope he keeps smiling with his Boy Scout sense of fun. |
John
Huckle's Bad Ash Woody and his errant phase 1 pick-up converted from a
saloon after a tree fell on it.
There
were also several cars local to Duxford which we rarely see,
notably a phase 1 Vanguard and a very nice basic 8.
The
turnout of Triumphs was excellent ranging from an Acclaim or two to a
pair of lovely pre-war cars and included our own John and Rachel
Maxwell in their grey Triumph 2000, being unwilling to risk one
of their Flyers on the A14.
The
pick-up is loaded onto a breakdown truck for the journey back to
Bedford
After
watching John Huckle's errant pick-up being loaded onto a breakdown
truck (though happily it had recovered for the International) all
too soon it was time to undertake the long run home and I
managed to keep the Doretti roof down for the whole day as in spite of
a dreadful forecast it didn't rain once.
There
are still parts of Duxford I have to see and if there is another
Marque day there I wholeheartedly recommend it.It was worth every penny
of the reduced admission charge. |
