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Vintage Thing No.169.1 - Bentley MkVI James Young saloon.

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Although damaged this photo of 1112RH must have been very cherished and looked at often (Photo : Vivian Bush) Vintage Thing No.169 attracted an interesting comment last month. I’d blogged about a Bentley Mk VI James Young two door saloon belonging to some friends of mine and mentioned that a four door version had apparently been also offered. Vivian Bush invited me to email him because he had personal knowledge of one and had photos. 1112RH was a Bentley MkVI with James Young four door coachwork to design C10BM (Photo : Vivian Bush) “My father arrived home one autumn evening at the wheel of the 1952 James Young Mark VI registration 1112 RH, and I think that was October 1961. I was approaching 4 years old and loved the car at first sight. It replaced a small 1.5 litre Wolseley saloon we’d had, and was a big step upwards in terms of body size and horsepower. Could this have been the Wolseley it replaced? (Photo : Vivian Bush) “The first owner was a local millionaire, in the days when...
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10 odd things about the book entitled The Wormton Lamb (make that 11 things *stance*

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1.                 The story begins with a growth hormone experiment that goes horribly wrong. 2.                 The tale of The Wormton Lamb asks us what are we doing to rural communities and our environment through the unseen effects of self-interest by people who have sold their souls. 3.                 The book introduces the traffiscope, a means of predicting the future by studying the traffic. What road sign are you? 4.                 It is set in the wider Wold around the flock market town of Wormton. 5.                 It also introduces the Mithering Brethren who believe souls can be improved if they are th...
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Vintage Thing No.172 - Little Satan

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Getting down low with Little Satan While in pre-war Austin mode, I found these pictures I took of a well-executed Austin 7 special at the Crash Box Club gathering at Powderham Castle back in 2019. It's only knee high Little Satan is a neat little aluminium blob with a mischievous radiator mascot. I reckon there’s something of a Ford Model T flat tracker about it and I’ve heard Austin 7s and Model Ts mentioned together as endowing the population with cheap reliable transport in both their respective countries. All you need to know, clearly displayed Running gear is 1935 Austin 7 Ruby with shortened rear chassis members and the engine was built Don Rawson, who is a well-respected name in Austin 7 circles. Output of this engine was estimated at 60bhp partly thanks to a stainless steel induction system for SU carbs by Haywood & Scott of Basildon. They were also responsible for the eye-catching stainless zorst system. I especially like the way the ally body has been left unpain...
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Vintage Thing No.171 - Austin 10 Ripley

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The Austin 10 Ripley. That radiator reminds me of an Austin 7 Grasshopper but chromed or nickel plated This rare survivor of an Austin Ten Ripley Sports appears at shows around the west country following a comprehensive restoration. I had a close look at it at Boconnoc last summer and it especially intrigued me because, years ago, I read about how the great rivals in the UK motoring market place – Austin and Morris – faced each other off with cheap sporty cars. In simplest terms, Austin had the Austin 7 and Morris had Morris Garages. The MG brand included larger sports cars and even saloons but Austin remained happy to let the Austin 7 represent them in the “scurrying kindergarten” the Bentley Boys had to contend with. However, there were little glimmers of sportiness in other parts of the Austin range as represented by the Austin 10 Ripley Sports. The present owner of this particular restored it over a seven-year period after it was recovered from a scrapyard in Callington in the ...
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2026 Land's End Trial

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In the queue for Darracott After the overheating and under bonnet fire on this year’s Exeter Trial, I set out to prevent any of that nonsense happening again. I fitted a new fan switch, a new temp gauge and sender and replaced any dodgy looking hoses. I used generic silicon ones wherever possible but some around the water pump on the Passat engine were bespoke and many branched like baby octopi. Finding the right ones took time and trial and error although I found AI helpful. Parts suppliers want to know my registration number as a starting point. I cut a long story short, I have European Article Numbers for them now, the 13-digit numerical code that accompanies a bar code. I never found out why it overheated on the start line of Waterloo after queueing when the ground was frozen but there you and there it is. I can only assume that wise owl Simon Robson was right. It was one of those things. The rear wheel bearing seals had sprung leaks as well, allowing oil to contaminate the rea...
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Marshalling on local trials (with the Buddha of the re-starts)

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I had a Matchbox model of a VW Fastback. This is the real thing of Tom Coles and Edd Wagner.  Remedial work on the Arkley-MG has taken much longer than I expected but it is now back together and running again. I hope to make the start of the Land’s End Trial at Easter. Experience tells me to keep my expectations low but I remain like that guy in Shakespeare in Love . “Don’t worry. Everything will turn out all right.” In the tranquil mists of the Camel Vale - but wait, what are those cones and markers for? In the meantime, I turned out to marshal on the Bodmin Heights and the Lewdown Trial. My section for the Camel Vale MC’s 2026 Bodmin Heights was Eddy’s Incline on the Eddy’s farm at Pendavey. Eddy’s Branch Line has featured on the classic Land’s End Trial for the last few years but Eddy’s Incline was a straight up blast and turn off the MCC section. Despite the wet winter the conditions were friable and, after a spectacularly misty start across the Camel Vale, the sun came out. ...
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Novel news

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I’ve finished the Soul Trader trilogy and will be re-relaunching The Horsepower Whisperer very dreckly. Possibly soon than that. This means new covers, ebooks and audiobooks. The Wormton Lamb will probably re-launch first. This is not part of the Soul Trader trilogy but a spin-off featuring some of the same characters. The reason this refresh might happen sooner is I want to check for consistency across all three parts of the Soul Trader story.
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