VMR Tenth Anniversary Rally 2010

[Ian Grace]

Information coming in the next 24 hours - watch this space closely ...

[Toby]

Any plans to tie up with the Morris Register or other Morris clubs for the Morris anniversary? Better try and make one of the minors absolutely bulletproof for 2010!

[Ian Grace]

Tried that twice before - MR and BNMC - nil response from either both times. Happy to try again, but don't expect to be trampled in the rush. Simon has pointed out that next year is the 60th for the WHSC, so I'll definitely be inviting them.

[Ian Grace]

18 clubs have now received formal invitations to the event and the declaration of interest form is now downloadable at http://www.vintageminor.co.uk/summerral ... terest.doc.

[Toby]

Ian, have you any idea of the cost to those who declare an interest? I'd like a guide figure before any declaration as I wouldn't want to let you down!

[Ian Grace]

Toby,

I'm looking at GBP 30 entry to Prescott, and GBP 2-50 a climb - price of a pint. Final prices will depend on entries, but that is the target.

Edited to add - it actually says this on the Declaration of Interest form.

[Toby]

Ahhh, many thanks.
Just a thought, as we had a fairly low turnout for the return to the cotswolds this year is it possible to have the rally around a different area but obviously close enough to Prescott for the hill climb? Maybe The Malverns or to the East? Perhaps it would encourage entries from those who have already been round the cotswolds with the vmr before or has this already been considered

[Ian Grace]

I haven't thought about the route yet, but it will be different. I think this time it might go well south - around Cirencester/Malmsbury.

Remember that the VSCC Light Car Section have been holding their Welsh nav rally in the same place for years, and there aren't than many roads in the area to pick from - and they always get a very strong turnout. We had 23 of 'our' cars (OHC, SV and M) at the 2005 VMR Prescott, so a small proportion of all entries, and the same ratio more or less translated to the nav rally, where we had teams of Austins, Rileys, Alvises, etc. We also had 5 30-98's and a 23-60 at Prescott as well as a long row of MG 18/80s and earlier flatnose MGs.

[Ian Grace]

Enthusiastic responses received this week from the MMM Register, the Bean Car Club (relayed by committee member Mike Jones!) and the BDC. Not a bad start.

I will make contact with David Baldock to see if the White Minor is now complete and if so, invite him wto bring it again - this time to drive it. It would be an historic sight to see this car belting up Prescott, like it did at Shelsley in the hands of Barbara Skinner in the thirties.

Historical note for the uninitiated - Barbara married John Bolster, and their daughter, Annabelle Swain is an Honorary Member of this Register. She was a Guest of Honour at VMR Prescott 2005 which also celebrated the SU Centenary, where she was reunited with her mother's car. Annabelle returned to the UK from Australia in recent years, where she had lived for a long time. She returned with an Australian-bodied Minor roadster which is being slowly recommissioned - with complications, which we need not go into here. In the meantime, she has tried repeatedly to acquire the White Minor, but with no success, so is mulling the purchase of a SV Minor chassis and the building of a accurate replica - not bad spirit for a lady in her seventies.

[Ian Grace]

Declarations of interest are arriving at VMR HQ already, among them a particularly welcome one from Terry Synnott who has entered his tourer GC 2938. Terry is deep into the rebuild at present and Terry entered this car on Bill Boddy's 1964 Boxing Day Informal - along with a youthful Roger Burnett in his M Sportsman's Coupe. And since Roger has also declared for VMR 2010, then the two of them, and their cars will meet once more after a gap of 36 years.

[Ian Grace]

With our tenth anniversary on the horizon, I was surprised to read in the May 2009 MMM Bulletin that the MMM Register's 50th is approaching, and there was the interesting statistic that 407 Bulletin address labels were produced for that issue. Having just despatched M 133, I counted 216 labels, so we are comfortably over half the size of the MMM Register in terms of fully paid-up members - which was a bit of a shock - particularly since the MMM Register has around 500 M Types recorded, not to mention all the other MMMs. At the last count, we had about 45 M owners in the VMR from 328 cars on our chassis register.

Edited to add that the MM website states "Today more than 3000 of these historic MGs are in the hands of enthusiastic MMM Register members worldwide". This seems more realistic - so maybe most MMM members receive their Bulletins electrically? They can be downloaded here:

http://www.triple-mregister.org/bulletinlist.asp

[Ian Grace]

The Wolseley Hornet Special Club will be joining us at Prescott. I have heard from Tony Gould, their Events Secretary who tells me that the club has accepted out invitation and will be promoting tyhe event in their bi-monthly magazine. We will allocate an area of the Padock to the club.

[Ian Grace]

I'm beginning to receive declarations back from those that were sent out with M133, which is encouraging, but we still have a long way to go to make the event viable. If anyone is intending to come but hasn't yet send back their declaration, please do so soonish if possible. The latest to arrive was from Andrew Batey with his '34 2-seater over in Chelmsford - he became a member back in June at the recommendation of Toby Sears. It will be good to meet him.

Roger Burnett is also doing a great job promoting the weekend and as a result, we have a new member this week with a 1930 M - Peter Smith from Aylesbury with MG 770. We may also have a C Type entering courtesy of Roger's efforts. Paperwork for the rally is also being distributed by Bev Hicks to his Morris Specials Group members with his next newsletter. All good stuff.

[Ian Grace]

Quick update - plans are moving along nicely and declaratins of interest are arriving in increasing numbers - 27 so far with 10 Minors, 5 M Types, 5 entries from the Morris Specials Group after they promoted the event in the latest newsletter and the latest entry to arrive is Les Paul's 1929 1750 Alfa. Also nice to see Jack Clover entering his Alvis again. We still need 100 declarations by year's end, so if yours isn't in yet, now would be a good time to get it in.

[Toby]

Have you thought about the Morris Register given the significance of 2010?