Beaulieu - 2007 ........  

National Austin Seven Rally

1st July 2007

Organised by the 750 Motor Club for the forty-fifth time the National Austin Seven Rally was held at Beaulieu on the First of July.   143 names appeared in the programme, but actual numbers were probably confused by the weather!   A jolly good time was had by all during an unexpectedly dry pause in a wet summer.

Solent was well represented, and had twenty entries in the programme.

Having ruler out all thoughts of attending, it turned out to be a good decision that at nine-thirty Chris and I actually changed our minds and decided to brave the weather - it had been tipping it down since daybreak but eased off around then.    I think we ran around the back edge of the clouds on the way down through Romsey, and it was fine for the rest of the day; not a drop all day at the museum.

On arrival we found that we were all on the barrack square this year – as the rally field was utterly waterlogged. There were mixed views on this, particularly from the "Jumbly People" who were sited on the very edge of the field and thus slightly divorced from the crowd.   The rally cars were in more intimate proximity than is usually the case, but there was a a good atmosphere prevailing.   It is always interesting to see the various models sorted out and lined up together, and in the odd (very odd) moments of near sunshine there was a splendid sparkle about the place.

The gem of the day for me was Dave Williams’ 3 cylinder Blackburn engined special. He has not only produced a very useful sprint car, whilst overcoming a number of difficult technical challenges, he has captured the whole ethos of special building from the pre-war era. I could almost hear Bloody Mary stretching her muscles the other side of the wall in the museum and wanting to come out to join in the fun. John Bolster would have loved it.

Tom Hamblin’s immaculate Cadet was also a joy to me. How I lusted after one of these back in the fifties whilst doing National service in Germany. I even had pictures of them stuck on the wall by my bed!

For your delectation I have included engine room pictures of a couple of other splendid performance offerings. David Howe’s Works TT Ulster, and John Hunt’s Rochdale “Sacre Bleu”.

Another interesting car was the Military Seven belonging to David Morgan.   There is a five page piece on this vehicle in the July 2007 edition of Classic Military Vehicles, as well as figuring on the cover.   I happened to spot this on the shelf in W.H. Smudge, and bought a copy;  it is interesting to read about another branch of our fancy once in a while.

Some of the silverware was awarded to Solent members, perhaps someone will be kind enough to provide me with a list.

A mass exodus started around three o’clock, no doubt due to people not wanting to trust the weather for some long trips home. I think a vote of thanks goes to the organisers for pulling the fat from the fire and moving the whole event onto the hard standing at the last moment