Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Great British Car Rally

The Great British Car Rally stopped in Masterton yesterday. I snapped these in my lunch hour
1958 Wolseley 6/90.
When I was a young lad, local pram shop owner Bill Perry had a black one of these.
Not all cars on display were entered in the rally, many were locals who just turned out for the day.
As this example carries no rally decals I suspect it is one of these.
The CJ registration plate indicates this car was originally local when the silver and black permanent  plates were first issued in 1964. Perhaps it still is.
Another local registration on this 1961 Hillman Minx Estate.
The New Zealand Rootes importers never imported Hillman Super Minx convertibles like this 1963 example. Which seems odd when much of NZ gets a lot of sun. Even odder is the fact that they were built in a country not renowned for its good weather.
Smart little Morris 8.
This Mk I Jaguar carries a personalized registration plate.
It is a copy of the UK rego used by Mike Hawthorne on his racing Mk I.
The Riley One Point Five was originally designed to replace the Morris Minor (like the one in the background), but the popularity of the Minor was underestimated. The Riley (and its Wolseley 1500 sister) ceased production and the Minor soldiered on for many more years.
Sydney Allard's family had a Ford dealership, so when young Sydney decided to build his own cars  he selected  Ford V8s as his power plant, but he later used General Motors and Chrysler units as well.
A 1951 Allard P1.
Ford's Capri was an unusual, but handsome style. This 1962 model has a small caravan attached behind  its long boot.
Riley RM from 1948.
When I was an apprentice mechanic I used to service vans, like this 1973 Austin A60, for our local Power Board.
I remember the oil filters were a nightmare to change.
The first Sunbeam Alpines were effectively a two door convertible version of the Sunbeam Talbot sedan.
This one from 1953
This Ford Prefect wasn't in the rally, but was parked outside the fish and chip shop opposite my work.
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2 comments:

  1. Those photos bring back some memories, Trev. I owned a 1952 Sunbeam-Talbot 90 for about 3 years and a 1951 2 1/2 litre Riley RMB for about 5 years, both great cars to drive and beautiful to look at.

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  2. Yep, the BMC cartridge filters. It was always a gamble whether to replace the rubber sealing ring or not. A bastard to change on so many engines, but if you didn't.......... a big clean up job was on the cards!!!

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