Moulton - Bicycle Porn

Alex Moulton’s paternal great-grandfather, Stephen Moulton, founded in 1848, in Bradford on Avon, a company to exploit Goodyear’s rubber vulcanisation process, which he'd brought to England. This expanded to become Spencer Moulton, bought by Avon Rubber in 1955. A mechanical engineer, Alex worked for the erstwhile family firm, developing suspension systems. These were fitted to, amongst others, the iconic BMC (British Motor Corporation) Mini.

Taking a cue from the small wheels of this, and adding frame suspension, Moulton developed a bicycle with 16 inch wheels, which debuted in 1962. Raleigh, who had been approached as potential manufacturer, was uninterested, so Moulton built the bike himself in Bradford on Avon, later outsourcing to BMC in Kirby. In 1965 Raleigh developed the RSW-16 (Raleigh Small Wheels) as a competitor which, although much inferior, marginalised Moulton, who sold to Raleigh in 1967.

The last Raleigh Moulton was made in 1974. Moulton bought back his patents, and in 1983 launched the revolutionary AM Spaceframe. This was succeeded from 1992 by the APB (All Purpose Bicycle), built under licence by Pashley, in Stratford upon Avon, until 2005, when it was itself replaced by the TSR.

The pictured APB R18 has a separable spaceframe, Italmanubri Europa drop handlebars, and 20-inch wheels built on Pashley hubs and shod with Schwalbe Marathon Slicks. Go is by a Stronglight chainset with 56T and 44T rings, SRAM nine speed cassette, and Shimano Tiagra Derailleur mechanism, the 18 gears controlled via Shimano Dura-Ace bar end shifters. Stop is by Tektro brakes, governed by Dia-Compe levers.

Triumph Carledo

A 1974 Triumph Toledo, fitted with an injected two litre Vauxhall Carlton SRi engine, driving through a Vauxhall Omega gearbox. Finished in Carmine Red, and sitting on MGF wheels. Not to be taken on lightly.

Charente - Racing Angoulême's Ramparts

Street racing started in Angoulême in 1939, the ramparts of the town providing a testing circuit of short straights, extremely tight turns between steep inclines, and mixed road surfaces. Racing recommenced in 1947, after WWII, but stopped again in 1955 due to changes in French law bearing on street racing. In 1978 Juan Manuel Fangio gave his support to the circuit, and racing commenced once more in 1983.

A number of races lasting twenty minutes or so provide for cars of many pre-war and pre-1980s marques to be seen in quick succession, including Bugattis, Rileys, Fraser Nashes, and MGs. There are races of just Bugattis, and races of mixed marques. It is quite possible to see Minis mixing it with Renault Alpines and Porsches (top). Overall winner was Erik Comas, in a Renault Alpine A110.

The organisation is impressive, but thankfully the overall atmosphere is relaxed. F1 can't touch this, in terms of either cost or closeness to the action. In the paddock one can see the cars close up, including this year a very nice Triumph Dolomite Sprint, and talk with the drivers. On the circuit one can move around and view the action from various vantage points. Proper racing.

Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex

Sited on the seafront, the De La Warr (pronounced "Delaware") Pavilion was built in 1935 in International Style to the design of Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff. They had won an architectural competition set up by Herbrand Sackville, ninth Earl De La Warr, the brief for which specified a 1,500-seater hall, a restaurant for 200, a reading room, and a lounge. The budget was initially set at £50,000.

The pavilion was built with a welded steel frame cased in concrete, the first in the UK, which enabled graceful cantilevered balconies. Construction took less than a year. However, after the war the council failed to properly maintain the pavilion, and made a number of philistine and ham-fisted alterations. Grade I listing was applied in 1986, but the council dithered. In 2002 serious funding was secured from the Arts Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund to enable the pavilion to undergo a major restoration in 2004, returning it to its elegant modernism. Thankfully, the pavilion is now owned by a charitable trust.

Bexhill lays claim to being the birthplace of motor racing in Britain, hosting the first recorded race, in 1902. It was also the original home of Elva cars. In the town's museum is a lovely Elva Climax III, rebuilt by its original creators. The bodywork was undertaken by Hastings Motor Sheet Metal Works, also behind the one-off Jensen Esporando.

Métallurgique - Wacky Racer

The 21 October 1966 issue of the Weekend Telegraph magazine was given over to the Motor Show of that year and a retrospective of 70 years since repeal of the 1865 Locomotives Act - commonly known as the Red Flag Act. An article entitled "Bizarre Cars" featured a vehicle described as a Metallurgic. The relevant text from the article is below:

"Such a driver [of powerful cars] is Douglas Fitzpatrick who owns a remarkable 1907 Metallurgic. The car's engine is not original. A new one from an airship was fitted in 1910, giving the car a top speed of 120 m.p.h. - a lot faster than most cars built today. It gives Mr Fitzpatrick great pleasure to overtake sleek modern sports cars. In winter he hibernates this extraordinary machine on the Norfolk estate where he has lived since childhood, and turns to his other hobby, music."

(Photograph by John Marmaras)



The car features in a 1957 Pathé newsreel clip of a rally of veteran and vintage cars held at Beaulieu Abbey (thumbnail stills above). A web description of this clip states that the car is Belgian - it is, properly a Métallurgique 60/80 hp Maybach; and that Fitzpatrick, shown polishing, owned Sheringham Hall, on the North Norfolk coast - he didn't, but he did live there.

The car was regularly entered in the Brighton Speed Trials, driven by Fitzpatrick. Extant is a photograph of the car, wrongly identified as of 1912, participating in the 1959 trials. It is mentioned in Tony Gardiner's book The Brighton National Speed Trials as having been entered again in 1961. The car, numbered 202, also features in a cine film of the 1964 Brighton trials.



Rupert Lloyd Thomas, commenting on the 1964 footage, quotes from Motor Sport, October 1964, which gives the car's capacity as 21 litres. The same capacity is given for a car described by La Societe Anonyme des Automobiles Métallurgiques as a type AZ, with an airship engine, and based in England (above). This suggests that it is the same car, but Fitzpatrick's had a live axle final drive, not a side-chain. Perhaps this latter car is a Métallurgique Maybach with its more modest original 10 litre engine.

Where is the Fitzpatrick car now?

Welsh Banger Racing

On the floodplain of the River Vyrnwy at Meifod, Bron-Y-Maen Farm plays annual host to charity banger racing. There are a number of races, including non-contact, contact and a final demolition derby; and the event moves along at a good pace, with stranded cars quickly moved out of the way by tractors.



The little circuit, roughly marked out with the occasional large tyre, sees some pretty competitive action. It's sad, though, that many spectators seemed most interested in the possibility of a driver who had to be cut out of his car being seriously injured. Thankfully, he was reported to have only broken ribs and clavicle.



Just one complaint: parochialism. Commentator: "All the money raised goes to the air ambulance and local charities, not to some country the other side of the world that you can't even pronounce." A bit rich, with places such as Llangyniew nearby.

Loton Park Hillclimb

Loton Park, Alberbury, is one of only two private deer parks in Shropshire, and has been in the hands of the Leightons since 1391. The eleventh baronet, Sir Michael Leighton, has planted over 200,000 trees, and it is through these that the hillclimb rises and, unusually, for part of the run, dips.

The climb was laid out in the mid-1950s by the Severn Valley Motor Club. Since 1970 the course, 1,475 yards long, has been included in the British Hillclimb Championship, organisation being in the hands of the Hagley & District Light Car Club.

No fewer than ten championships are contended for this weekend, the climb tackled by road-going production, modified production, sports libre, racing, and classic cars (Hillman Imp, second from top); motorcycles, and motorcycle side cars. Particularly stylish are the cars of Club Alpine Renault - Renault 8 Gordini, and Alpine Renault A110, above.

It's a relaxed venue, with full access to the paddock, and no over-zealous security. Many of the spectators' cars are as interesting as those competing - TVR Vixen (top), and Lancia Flavia coupé (above). The Dolomite 1500 SE didn't look at all out of place.