Those of you who were at the ACTC Dinner on 16th March, and were lucky enough to have been watching the video at the appropriate time, may have spotted an essential item of trials trivia, probably without even knowing what it was or why it was significant. The short clip showed at least one car…
Trials Trivia #6 – Higher Rill
This is, I’m afraid, one for the real historic trials sections nerds. Back in May 2022, Jonathan Toulmin and I were trying to confirm the location of a photograph, taken on the 1939 Exeter Trial, of his father, Maurice Toulmin, in the Cream Cracker MG TA Reg.No. BBL 78. It was noted as Higher Rill…
Trials Events Database updated
I have just published an updated printout on the Trials Events Database page.
Troll T6 magazine article added
I have just added an article from Kit Car International magazine for June 1993 to the Troll T6 page (scroll down the page to see the download link). Thanks to John Hammill for the scanned pages.
Troll T6 Register re-published
I have just re-published the Troll T6 Register on the Troll T6 page (scroll down the page to see the download link). This is, I’m pretty certain, the most comprehensive public listing of all 18 completed Trolls and their history, plus information about two further Troll chassis and the six Troll chassis fabricated by Arch…
The Wharton Special
Ken Wharton was not the first competitor to drop an 1172cc Ford sidevalve engine onto an Austin Seven chassis as the basis for a trials special, but he was certainly the first to make the combination really work. He won a number of events in 1947, and then had an incredibly successful year in 1948…
The Joys of Classic Trials
I recently came across this wonderful quote which, I think, perfectly sums-up why so many of us love classic trials: This little hill, even if it is not the most severe, must come close to being the most beautiful of trials hills. It is a gem in a setting of emerald meadows still awash with…
Trials Events and Trials Sections pages updated
I have recently updated both the Trials Events Database and Trials Sections Database pages. The printout available from the Events page now includes dates from the 2024 ACTC Calendar, and a large number of additions for events in the late 1940s. On the Sections page, I have removed the printout as I am now updating…
Trials Trivia #5 – The MCC Devon Trial
Every trialler knows about the MCC’s ‘Big Three’ trials (the Cold One, the Long One, and the Rough One, to quote Peter Jones of MG fame) and the Sporting Trial (the precursor to the modern Edinburgh); and those with a reasonable knowledge of MCC History will have heard of the Spring Trial (1980 and 1981…
Where is it? – #6
UPDATE – 29 August 2023 This photograph is now confirmed as Eric Kay (of Cheltenham), with Howard Homer as passenger, on Lyn Hill (near Barbrook, North Devon). The photograph was taken on 16th April 1949 during the MCC’s 29th Land’s End Trial. I have to thank Roger Wrapson, of the Riley Register, for the information…