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SPARKPLUG the Newsletter of the Letchworth Garden City Classic & Vintage Car Club FEBRUARY 2018

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SPARKPLUG the Newsletter of the Letchworth Garden City Classic & Vintage Car Club FEBRUARY 2018 SPARKPLUG The newsletter of the Letchworth Garden City Classic & Vintage Car Club FEBRUARY 2018 Whitewebbs Museum run. It was a crisp November Sunday morning and as agreed I arrived at Tesco Baldock at twenty past ten (ten minutes before the appointed departure time), and toured the car park three times in the search for the other participants. After the three drive bys, and starting to look like a gangster in a MX5 (I did have sunglasses on), I decided that I would abandon the fool’s quest and wait at The Rising Sun which was the second meeting point. A brief wait of ten minutes or so and the run arrived at the pub. We set off heading for Walkern as per John Scott’s route direction through the lovely and picturesque Hertfordshire countryside. It was obvious from the very start of the run that others in the county also had decided to make the most of this lovely day - cyclists, horses and riders, walkers with errant dogs, etc who also wanted their space on the highway (how selfish). Passing these little inconsistencies we arrived at Whitewebbs Museum of Transport and were instantly directed to park up in the museum’s central area where we formed a static display complimenting the museum’s vehicle and auto jumble area. Paying our £5 entrance fee we staged a takeover of the cafe for a warming drink and chat about the drive. We were then ‘released’ into the museum for a browse of the three floors of which the displays reduced in size and weight as the height above ground increased. Vehicles to the Ground floor, up through the warm and lovely cafe to the third floor consisting of displays of model vehicles, camera and photographic equipment, war time items and uniforms to typewriters. We then descended to the shop and waited for a treat that John had organised.... a visit into the basement which was where the well for the pump station was located and still full of water, the well being 200 feet deep and hand dug. Back up above ground I visited the model railway that was located within a railway carriage, this was complimented by a lovely and skilfully made scenery of British life including recently installed working street lighting, railway signals, vehicles (some with their own lights). I had to depart early, just after 2:30pm for family duties (roast lamb at my mother in law’s, oh what a chore; not), I could have spent many more hours at the museum and will be returning to view the many items that I had just glanced at. The museum is run by volunteers and is dependent on the visiting public to keep this fascinating, educational treasure running. The museum’s web site is a taster of what is there, and I would recommend anyone to visit. Their website is whitewebbsmuseum.co.uk And if you are looking for a full day out I would recommend John’s route as it passes numerous places of interest and potential lunch or evening meal venues, and a lovely paced day. Peter Saunders. The Chairman’s Bit On Monday 9th April we shall be holding the club’s AGM - happily this usually involves only about half an hour of business followed by a longer period in the bar... The club officers met in early December to review the year to date and I am happy to report all is well with the finances and membership. If anyone would like to stand for any of the club officer roles - chairman, treasurer, secretary, and membership secretary, please let the current secretary Jim Bassett know by Monday 2nd April. It has been quite a long time since we had to actually hold an election because there was more than one candidate for a post... Nick Salmon The Imptalian Job Simon Benoy A group of friends and I had been talking about driving the Stelvio Pass in the Alps for many years and thanks to circumstances changing a little, the talking became planning in early 2017. The plans became a two week touring holiday with 4 cars and 7 people for the first two weeks of September. The cars were a 998cc Hillman Imp, a 1040cc Singer Chamois coupe, an 1120cc Sunbeam Stiletto and my 998cc Ginetta G15; perhaps not an obvious choice due to limited space but the only road legal classic that I had available. All the cars have beefed up cooling systems for their modified engines, a useful precaution when temperatures in central Europe are up to low thirties degrees C, fortunately cooler than it had been in August. damp and there were many cars parked on the hard shoulder. But by the time we arrived at our hotel, the rain had stopped and after a quick late lunch we headed into the city to see as many of the sights as we could in the short time available. We left one of our group behind when we left Rome, he has retired and was heading down to Sicily for an extended tour. The rest of us made the journey up We met up in Kent ahead of catching the Channel Tunnel and driving down to to the walled city of Lucca. We walked the walls, climbed up the clock tower for Luxembourg for our first night. Day 2 was a long journey to Davos in Switzerland superb views, and had a great meal in the amphitheatre. – we left in fog in the morning, stopped at one of the cheapest and hence busiest services for fuel before pushing on to finish in the Alps where it was much cooler. The next leg took us up to Antibes, via a short drive through Monaco, so this was Our hotel was very nice and provided a splendid evening meal and local beers. a longer day in the cars. After Antibes, we lost another of our party who was heading back a day earlier than us to attend the BTCC round at Silverstone. The remaining two cars took a more leisurely route via the outskirts of Lyon (avoiding the centre where old cars aren’t welcome) and Reims where champagne was enjoyed before the final run back to the Tunnel and home! Our mileage was around 3,200 miles and all the cars got home without any outside assistance; we did have a few little issues but nothing serious. My only problem was that the engine is tired and uses oil, to the extent that it would foul the plug on number 3 cylinder in traffic jams, so I had to give it a quick wire brush and swap it with the plug from 2 or 4 a few times. We cruised at a fairly gentle pace most of the time, around 60-65 (remembering that the speed limit was often 130kph which is around 80 mph), fast enough to keep clear of the trucks and caravans and to make good progress without killing the cars which are all 45-50 years old. We got a lot of attention from other motorists, it was unnerving when a truck sounded its horn as we passed it, I nearly jumped out of my seat, but the driver was just giving For the drivers, Day 3 was the big one, driving though the Alps to Italy, in particular, us a friendly wave! taking on the Stelvio Pass. But we still had a few miles to cover to get to the start, which included the Fluela Pass. This was also quite a challenge and gave us a taste I don’t get as much time to drive or work on my classics as I would like, so this was of what was to follow. a real treat to enjoy a great trip around some fantastic places with great company. We might do a trip to Portugal in a couple of years, who knows? After a coffee break, we realised that the sat nav route was going to miss out part of our planned route and that we had further to go than we thought, but before we knew it we were into the first of the 48 hairpins that make up the climb. Many of the hairpins are so tight and steep that 1st gear is required and plenty of revs were used through the gears – my car runs an R20 cam and twin 150 stroms and this was working well. Towards the top of the climb, there was snow at the side of the road and it was a bit of a shock to meet a snow plough on its way down! There were a lot of cyclists and motor bikes on the pass as well as the odd coach or motorhome, some of which had to make a 3 point turn to get around the hairpins. We stopped at the summit (2760m) for lunch, before heading into Italy, past Lake Como to Milan. The ‘holiday’ part of our trip was 4 nights in a village above Sorrento overlooking the Bay of Naples. We got there via a shortish trip to Rimini (very commercialised beach, but the old town is very nice) and then a longer drive following the east coast and across the country through a national park, past Napoli to the Amalfi coast. Here we were able to do more ‘touristy’ activities, sightseeing, lounging by the pool and visiting local attractions. There were various trips available from the hotel. Some of our party went to Pompeii but my wife, Karen, really wanted to visit Herculaneum and we got there via the local train – the journey was quite slow but excellent value at 2.90 euros.
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