Engine Punk

This is a little old-fashioned for my usual taste but I'm hailing it as a Vintage Thing as I think it's another fine example of the internal combustion engine as Steam Punk and it's at completely the opposite end of the design spectrum from the monstrous Austin Hall-Scott ( Vintage Thing No.66 ). I like little cars as well as big cars - not to mention any in between - and admire the Carden cyclecar's flowing wings and obvious wooden construction that make it look like a portly aeroplane. It's also received an honorary mention on Engine Punk before now because it arrived at the 2010 VSCC Wiscombe Park hillclimb in the back of a Citroen Berlingo. Unlike the Austin Hall-Scott, which is a relatively recent creation, the Carden dates from 1921. It was designed by Sir John Valentine Carden who is better known for his work on armoured tracked vehicles, subsequently becoming  a director of Vickers. That was all later - for his cyclecar, Sir John used a monocoque ...

This year's Vintage Sports Car Club meeting was cold - so cold the batteries in my camera expired, one set after another. I tried warming them in my pockets and this helped a bit but eventually they all cried enough. If you scampered up and down from finish line to paddock - like I did - you could forget the cold but for the marshals and the guys on the gate who had to stay put, it was perishing. The machinery, though, was as diverse and fascinating as ever. I went to both the Saturday and Sunday events and camped in my van (VT No.44) with an Arctic-spec sleeping bag. The picture above shows Terry McGrath in his 1100cc 1928 Amilcar CGS special and several well wrapped up starting officials. On the Saturday there were the Formula 3 500cc racers from the fifties and although I can't usually work up much enthusiasm for single seaters, I really like these little things. They are so cute you could wear them as a badge. Number 64 is a Norton powered Martin and is a great example of a...