Post by Roadrunner on Jul 4, 2022 11:18:13 GMT
The main event of the weekend wasn't happening at Silverstone, but in rural Suffolk. It was the annual Alvis Owner Club International Weekend, with cars and drivers arriving from the four corners of Great Britain, as well as continental Europe and the USA. The event was centred around Hintlesham Hall, near Hadleigh. A very civilised place to base any event.
I drove over on Friday, taking an A14 avoidance route, which took me south of Milton Keynes and Bedford, then along the A505, before taking some more twisty Suffolk roads through villages. The route suited the car very well. I stopped briefly at Long Melford to stretch my legs.
Onwards, calling in at Lavenham and Kersey en-route:
Upon arrival at Hintlesham, some others were already there.
Saturday was a day of tours, with various trips arranged, including Sutton Hoo, Flatford Mill and Woodbridge, but I opted for the 'Longstone Tour' which was a 65-mile scenic tour of that corner of Suffolk on country roads, taking in many impossibly pretty villages and some good vintage driving roads. Those who weren't staying at Hintlesham joined us, and we we were set off from there.
If your Alvis isn't currently fit for the journey, bring your DB6 instead...
The first stop for some of us was Lavenham, where we created an additional tourist attraction for a while:
The recommended lunchtime stop was at the Queens Head at Hawkedon, not least because it coincided the VSCC's local monthly meeting. This is where I was in my perfect sweet spot. A rural pub, dozens of vintage and classic cars and the company of likeminded people. We were there for much longer than originally planned, but I could have taken root there forever...
Eventually we tore ourselves away and continued on our route. That part of Suffolk is surprisingly hilly, with plenty of twists and turns in the lanes, but my 12/50 was keeping up well with a small convoy of later 3-litre cars which we joined.
Back at Hintlesham it was time to admire some of the more exotic Alvis cars on display. This one has coachwork by Offord and is unique. The owner brought it over from the USA and, unsurprisingly, it won the Sunday Concours:
This one has coachwork by Gurney Nutting. This is the only Alvis with this body design, but there are three Bentleys and one Lagonda similarly clothed:
Time to give the cars some time off...
Letting the cars cool off, we enjoyed a very civilised evening of Pimms, excellent food, too much wine and lively conversation on topics raging from old cars (obviously) to life in the Diplomatic Service, polar expeditions, collecting rare plants in China, the restoration of historic buildings and bovine nutrition. From a distance we probably looked like a bunch of old farts, but the Alvis club does seem to attract some very interesting people.
Sunday was the main rally and concours. I was out early to get my car ready.
Then everyone arrived:
I had arranged for Red Triangle to be the main sponsor of the event and they arrived with a display of parts and were on hand for technical advice
The event included a driving test, with various manoeuvring exercises between cones
Back to the main field:
If anybody is looking for a 12/50, this is for sale. it is a reference quality example of a very rare version of the 12/50, with the short-stroke, extra high revving engine. I am told that it is 'reassuringly expensive'...
While these cars are impeccably turned out, they are not what we call 'trailer queens'. They are driven to all events and are in regular use:
A somewhat shocking moment came when I was talking to a member who is into the second half of his 80s and who is possibly the world's greatest expert on the 12/50 and 12/60 cars. He suddenly stopped talking, turned a pale grey colour, glazed over and started to fall backwards. A couple of us caught him before he hit the ground and for a shocking few moments it really looked as if he had completely expired on the spot. Fortunately it was just a brief 'outage'. A nearby member who is a retired medic rushed over and we soon had the patient on his back, with feet up on a chair. An First Responder was summoned, followed by an ambulance, by which time he was sat up and looking better than he had all day. I spent some time chatting to him while we awaited the arrival of the ambulance (an hour and a half!!!), hearing about his fascinating history of working for Lotus in the early '60s. I also picked up many tips about how I can fettle my car for even better performance. I now hear that he has made a good recovery. it was probably just a faint brought on the the warm weather and dehydration.
Once the event was over, awards presented and rounds of applause given, it was time to hit the road. My car started off well then went through a half hour section on the Cambridgeshire / Hertfordshire border of low power, backfiring and generally misbehaving. I pulled over into a garage to fill up and checked her over - nothing apparently wrong from the outside, so I decided just to coax her home. Fortunately, the stop and restart seemed to provide the cure and the old girl blasted up the road with renewed vigour. Driving into the summer evening, all the windows down, the characteristic 12/50 exhaust rasp reverberating off village houses and woodland, I was often leaving modern traffic in my wake. Going to peak revs in every gear and leaning the huge steering wheel into the bends I was heading into the night stage of a 1920s Le Mans. It was an epic drive back and a fitting end to a very full and (mostly) extremely enjoyable weekend.
I drove over on Friday, taking an A14 avoidance route, which took me south of Milton Keynes and Bedford, then along the A505, before taking some more twisty Suffolk roads through villages. The route suited the car very well. I stopped briefly at Long Melford to stretch my legs.
Onwards, calling in at Lavenham and Kersey en-route:
Upon arrival at Hintlesham, some others were already there.
Saturday was a day of tours, with various trips arranged, including Sutton Hoo, Flatford Mill and Woodbridge, but I opted for the 'Longstone Tour' which was a 65-mile scenic tour of that corner of Suffolk on country roads, taking in many impossibly pretty villages and some good vintage driving roads. Those who weren't staying at Hintlesham joined us, and we we were set off from there.
If your Alvis isn't currently fit for the journey, bring your DB6 instead...
The first stop for some of us was Lavenham, where we created an additional tourist attraction for a while:
The recommended lunchtime stop was at the Queens Head at Hawkedon, not least because it coincided the VSCC's local monthly meeting. This is where I was in my perfect sweet spot. A rural pub, dozens of vintage and classic cars and the company of likeminded people. We were there for much longer than originally planned, but I could have taken root there forever...
Eventually we tore ourselves away and continued on our route. That part of Suffolk is surprisingly hilly, with plenty of twists and turns in the lanes, but my 12/50 was keeping up well with a small convoy of later 3-litre cars which we joined.
Back at Hintlesham it was time to admire some of the more exotic Alvis cars on display. This one has coachwork by Offord and is unique. The owner brought it over from the USA and, unsurprisingly, it won the Sunday Concours:
This one has coachwork by Gurney Nutting. This is the only Alvis with this body design, but there are three Bentleys and one Lagonda similarly clothed:
Time to give the cars some time off...
Letting the cars cool off, we enjoyed a very civilised evening of Pimms, excellent food, too much wine and lively conversation on topics raging from old cars (obviously) to life in the Diplomatic Service, polar expeditions, collecting rare plants in China, the restoration of historic buildings and bovine nutrition. From a distance we probably looked like a bunch of old farts, but the Alvis club does seem to attract some very interesting people.
Sunday was the main rally and concours. I was out early to get my car ready.
Then everyone arrived:
I had arranged for Red Triangle to be the main sponsor of the event and they arrived with a display of parts and were on hand for technical advice
The event included a driving test, with various manoeuvring exercises between cones
Back to the main field:
If anybody is looking for a 12/50, this is for sale. it is a reference quality example of a very rare version of the 12/50, with the short-stroke, extra high revving engine. I am told that it is 'reassuringly expensive'...
While these cars are impeccably turned out, they are not what we call 'trailer queens'. They are driven to all events and are in regular use:
A somewhat shocking moment came when I was talking to a member who is into the second half of his 80s and who is possibly the world's greatest expert on the 12/50 and 12/60 cars. He suddenly stopped talking, turned a pale grey colour, glazed over and started to fall backwards. A couple of us caught him before he hit the ground and for a shocking few moments it really looked as if he had completely expired on the spot. Fortunately it was just a brief 'outage'. A nearby member who is a retired medic rushed over and we soon had the patient on his back, with feet up on a chair. An First Responder was summoned, followed by an ambulance, by which time he was sat up and looking better than he had all day. I spent some time chatting to him while we awaited the arrival of the ambulance (an hour and a half!!!), hearing about his fascinating history of working for Lotus in the early '60s. I also picked up many tips about how I can fettle my car for even better performance. I now hear that he has made a good recovery. it was probably just a faint brought on the the warm weather and dehydration.
Once the event was over, awards presented and rounds of applause given, it was time to hit the road. My car started off well then went through a half hour section on the Cambridgeshire / Hertfordshire border of low power, backfiring and generally misbehaving. I pulled over into a garage to fill up and checked her over - nothing apparently wrong from the outside, so I decided just to coax her home. Fortunately, the stop and restart seemed to provide the cure and the old girl blasted up the road with renewed vigour. Driving into the summer evening, all the windows down, the characteristic 12/50 exhaust rasp reverberating off village houses and woodland, I was often leaving modern traffic in my wake. Going to peak revs in every gear and leaning the huge steering wheel into the bends I was heading into the night stage of a 1920s Le Mans. It was an epic drive back and a fitting end to a very full and (mostly) extremely enjoyable weekend.
