September 2023

What a July that was rain wise; they say the Brits have an obsession with the weather, but the last few weeks have indeed supported that theory. We had booked up Vintage Prescott but as the day got nearer, we swapped to the Sunday rather than Saturday and good job we did as the car park was a quagmire as we all did pirouettes into our parking places. However, the racing as ever was perfect with everything from little baby Austins to huge Bentleys and seven ERA’s storming up the hill. The faster cars were reaching the top in 40 - 45 secs but the track was mostly wet from the heavy showers that interrupted proceedings. We were sat on Ettores field overlooking Pardon hairpin so had a good view of the possible! quickest way round the lower half of the course.

Our Sprint Hillclimb contingent also had a rather miserable Saturday as Goodwood did not avoid the day long on off rain showers.

Now is the time to get a bit of maintenance done on our cars as we get to the end of the summer months and before Autumn sets in. I managed to get a stock in of 20/50 Classic Oil as it is called these days, anyway, more importantly it has a large zinc content needed for its antiwear properties. If I can move the vehicles around in the garage, I’ll also have a quick spray with the Waxoyl or the Dinitrol that I’ve recently started using.

I’ve noticed that the prices of our cars seem to have flattened out of late, so is now the time to invest your pension pot? No recommendations here from me I’m afraid!

Talking of which I am pleased to welcome over 60 new members to our club, that is 10 or so since June to each of our Centres. Please come along to one of our local meets and introduce yourselves, there is plenty of advice and suggestions in the use of your Healey should you choose.

Meanwhile back in the garage the inner wings are on the Abbott and most of the flooring is complete surrounding the gearbox. The metal floors on these early cars are coachbuilt with all the individual pieces gas-welded to their neighbour and then tacked together to get the right shape and the finished shape fixed to the wooden/metal floor with a mixture of self-tappers and wood screws. All this in the days before mass production!

Enjoy the summer and - Keep on Overtaking safely!