Wednesday, 2 January 2008

New Year Challenge

Dave Halley from The Dellow Register had a couple of pictures arrive over Christmas and would love to know more about them, like Who, when and where. I think we may be defeated on this one but if anyone can......
 
 
 
 

18 comments:

  1. Don't know who - but how about a caption "The old    'coat over the radiator'   trick fails yet again"   Actually we must be getting soft. When did you last see a trials car with it's rad covered like this ?  .....  in the 'good old days' it was quite a regular ploy when crossing deep water.

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  2. Different cars, what happened to the fence in the background in the top picture? Or is that it in the foreground of the bottom pic. Was it part of a special test? ( Invitation to go fast and drown the engine hence those posh rad covers). Looks like a proper crossing and they should have made at wheel hub depth?  Has to be Wiltshire , or anywhere?

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  3. Top caption, 'If it ain't broke don't fix it. Bottom, ' Pass me the landing net'

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  4. In response to Nigel Brown's comment "We must be getting Soft" implying that deep water is no longer used as an obstacle, I would have to reply "There speaks a man who didn't do the 2006 Allen"

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  5. No, very true. The last Allen I was able to enter was the 1999 or 2000 event when I took Gavin Allard (Sydney's grandson) as bouncer.   Now you mention it I do recall an Allen a year or two earlier in which we had to negotiate a well flooded lane - although it was not to quite the same depth as David Haley's period photos!   It may well be my imagination but those photos have a 'Fenland' look about them. Maybe because it is so flat they had to resort to desperate measures to stop cars.   The clothing of some of the onlookers looks very Fifties University student to me. Cambridge?  Cambridge University Car Club?

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  6. Good grief !       I see what you mean Simon.   Next time I enter I must remember to stash on board the ex-Army PVC mac that is currently draped over my lawn-mower.   Brilliant photo by the way, Peter.   Any shots of 'drowned' cars .....?

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  7. Another possible site for these photos ?   Marefield Brook.    Used on the Sporting Trial run by Leicestershire Car Club in November 1955.

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  8. I have spoken to the photographer and he thinks the event may have been organised by Shenstone Motor Club, (he had pals who were members) but has no further information. One thing that occured to me was that the non Dellow looking car is similar to photos I have seen in Autosport/Motor Sport of the W.H.Waring special with set back rad which was made by Dellow Motors. Whether the driver here was him I don't know. Needless to say I have been unable to turn up those pics yet. Dave Haley

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  9. Walter (Wally) Waring's Dellow certainly had a non-standard cowl -  well set back in the photos I've seen. Wally was RAC Trials Champion in 1951 in the WHW-Dellow.   You'll find a photo of the car (GBK 268 ??)  in the April 1953 edition of Motor Sport currently on fleabay !

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  10. Having looked again at the non-Dellow I think it is a bitsa. The WHW, I think, used a standard Dellow bulkhead and windscreen - but until David or I find the photo - cannot be 100% sure.

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  11. Waring appears to have had two Dellows EPE389 and GBK268. there is a poor quality photo of EPE in Autosport Nov 24 1950 p443. GBK was ex works on 10Sept1951. The pic of EPE shows a single lamp similar to the one in the upper photo.

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  12. So he used EPE 389 in the early part of the '51 Championship and GBK 268 for the end of that season ? Are either still in existence?   EPE is a Surrey registration issued between August and October of 1936. GBK is a Portsmouth number issued in September of 1951.    David, does the Autosprt photo show EPE as having a completely non-standard body with a rather high windscreen like this special?

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  13. The Shenstone Club held a Chase Trophy Trial on 7th November 1954, on of the tests was a timed hill-climb which started immediately after fording an 18" deep stream. Dellows dominated the sports car class-  ( Autosport Nov 19 1954). So was this used in previous years as well?

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  14. The Autosport photo is too vague to scan but its possible to see that the car has aero screens rather than the tall screen shown in the upper photo. The body is non standard.

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  15. On the strength of John's 'lead' I have today emailed the current Shenstone secretary asking for help and he has already set in motion efforts to see if this was indeed on a Chase Trophy and if so - where.

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  16. I had a very quick look at a map of Cannock Chase and the Sherbrook runs through the middle and has numerous crossings .......

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