Ely Classic Car Rally

The day started ominously dull and grey with drizzle dripping onto the drive as I went to pack the car before the journey up to meet everyone at the show. This is the second time the Cambridge & District Classic Car Club (CDCCC) have organised an event in this magical setting - on the Palace Green outside Ely Cathedral. The event raises money for Memory Lane Singing Café - a Dementia support group in St Ives so we in the East Anglian SAOC were very happy to go along and support it.

Firing the car up and backing out of the garaged I noticed the bonnet ‘pop’ open. I assumed I’d not closed it after checking the oil and water the previous evening, but try as I might (eventually bumping and slamming down) it would not stay closed. However as you know the blessing is that the bonnet hinges from the front so I was ok to drive up to the show.

It is about 60 miles from my house to Ely which is in the heart of the Cambridgeshire Fens. Sometimes called the ‘Isle of Ely’ it is the tallest point in the Fens – although at 85 feet (26 m) ‘tallest’ is relative. The current cathedral dates from the 11th century and is in the oldest part of the city, so with the prospect of busy Saturday traffic clogging the lanes I elected to hit the A14 for much of the way as I did not want to be late. Although the grey clouds continue to haunt me on the run, as I neared the Green most of them went away and the sun broke though. Thanks to David Hunns (an enthusiastic fellow Alpine owner, member of the CDCCC and Organiser) we had star billing in the front of the green, actually in the shadow of the tower itself.

Picture from Ely Cathedral Octagon Tower courtesy of Roger Carr

I parked up (re-closed the bonnet as best I could) and after a few minutes most of the other Alpines arrived and the public began to wander around the cars. We had a group of five Alpines and my Series 1 quickly had lots of admiring looks and even some children pointing at the wheels, which was odd, but as I chatted away I spotted that unfortunately the attention was due to the flat rear tyre and not my newly polished three pointed spinners.

For the next 10 minutes I provided some ‘live theatre’ for the public milling around the cars as many just stood and watched me change the wheel. I’d only had the correct three pointed spinners for two weeks but had made a wooden tool to protect them and it worked well. Since I took the car to Duxford in April, I’ve fixed the wheel bearing, replaced the brake light pressure switch and re-done the boot lining (it had none at all in fact) and luckily I’d checked the pressure on the spare wheel before I put it back. Job completed I had a wonder around the cars at the show.

Immediately next to me was a 1964 Triumph Vitesse. I thought it was interesting that that it and my car were built quite closely (Canley and Ryton six miles apart in Coventry) but remembered that as a Series 1 my car was built by Armstrong Siddely at their Parkside plant - co-incidentally also about six miles from Ryton. (Although I was born in Coventry, not having lived there for many years please forgive me if my geography is a bit hazy - but you get the point.) Anyway on that theme, in turn the Triumph was flanked by a slightly younger MGB GT (probably made 60 miles away at Abingdon) and skipping over a couple of interlopers was joined by an Aston Martin DB9 (Gaydon - 26 miles) another MGB GT and a magnificent Humber Super-Snipe (back to Ryton).

So it turned out that most of the front row were made within a few miles of each other – and with the exception of Aston Martin – are sadly no more.

There were just over 50 cars at the show and the event was a huge success, raising money charity, and filling the green to entertain the public. An Armstrong Siddeley Hurricane was the Committee's choice, but my favourite car was a tie between the Humber Super-Snipe and a very nice 1933 Austin Seven Box Saloon.