The world famous motoring event, the London to Brighton Veteran run for cars built before 1904, is again being run on the first weekend of November, an historical date which celebrates a new law which was brought in that year that revoked the requirement for all motorised vehicles to have a man walking in front of the vehicle carrying a red flag. Every year some owners of these fragile cars suddenly realise that the 60 mile trip is probably further than the expectation they will run, and I get some of these fascinating machines in the shop to play with and test run around the town. This weekend I had a very rare 1904 POPE TRIBUNE ( I am told only 4 still now exist ) in the workshop, a car made in Hartford , Connecticut USA, advertised then as a US developed car but very clearly an almost exact copy of the French DeDion Bouton, (perhaps the first replica car made ? ) This car has a 6 horsepower, at 1200 rpm, single cylinder water cooled engine and three speed gearbox. Frank
Its that time of year again
- Thread starter wealdenengineer
- Start date
I am not jealous Frank, not even a little bit.:evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil:
Bob
Bob
Pete McCluskey.
Lifetime Supporter
What a privilege to be able to work on these cars, a wonderful accolade to your skills Frank.
I was fortunate enough to be able to take part in this event in 2010, riding with Keith Mainland in his 1904 Orient buckboard. It was probably the most elemental car on the run, as it is little more than a buckboard wagon with a motor installed.
Here's a photo of Keith and his wife at Brooklands:
It was quite an adventure, as the engine insisted on dismantling its valvetrain and chucking pieces of the engine onto the road every few miles. We had to make a quick pitstop into Keith's garage (fortunately located near the route) where new pieces were fabricated by cutting apart an old open-end wrench to make a new valve keeper. Although it kept breaking, at least it broke less often, and we crossed the finish line with barely a minute or two to spare.
It was without a doubt one of the most memorable experiences of my life, really a lot of fun!
A great part of the fun is dressing in period motoring costume, and this shows that I am particularly shameless in that regard!
Here's a photo of Keith and his wife at Brooklands:
It was quite an adventure, as the engine insisted on dismantling its valvetrain and chucking pieces of the engine onto the road every few miles. We had to make a quick pitstop into Keith's garage (fortunately located near the route) where new pieces were fabricated by cutting apart an old open-end wrench to make a new valve keeper. Although it kept breaking, at least it broke less often, and we crossed the finish line with barely a minute or two to spare.
It was without a doubt one of the most memorable experiences of my life, really a lot of fun!
A great part of the fun is dressing in period motoring costume, and this shows that I am particularly shameless in that regard!
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Very jealous as well, I will have to dig out my Genevieve video and watch it again to compensate.
Rosalind Peters: Ambrose only seems to think about two things. That silly old car - and the other thing.
Wendy McKim: What other thing? Oh. My husband only thinks about the car.
Hotel proprietress: Nobody's ever complained before.
Guest: Are they Americans?
Rosalind Peters: Ambrose only seems to think about two things. That silly old car - and the other thing.
Wendy McKim: What other thing? Oh. My husband only thinks about the car.
Hotel proprietress: Nobody's ever complained before.
Guest: Are they Americans?
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