100 Year Old Cars & Motorcycles set for annual Bucks event

As the Aston Hill Centenary on May 17 fast approaches, the organisers have received a wave of entries for the parade that will re-create the hill climbs that took place at this important Buckinghamshire venue during the years either side of WWI.

As a result, tickets for the event are selling fast, and anyone planning to attend is encouraged to obtain their ticket soon, so as not to miss out. All profits from this one-off event will be donated to the nominated charities.

Full details are available on the event website www.astonhill100.com, with regular updates posted on the facebook page ‘Aston Hill Climb 100 Celebration’.

Aston Hill Climb was a speed hill climb on public roads up Aston Hill near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire which was active from 1904 until 1925. The hill's enduring claim to fame came when Lionel Martin and his partner Robert Bamford achieved success with their self-built 'special' car, and hence named their fledgling car manufacturing business Aston Martin.

Many classic car and motorcycle clubs will be bringing out their best machinery for the huge show at the top of the hill, where the pre-1926 vehicles participating in the parade run (‘The Climb’) will arrive. More than fifty cars and ten motorcycles which ran in the original events between 1904 and 1925, or models of the same type and year, have been confirmed already.

The latest entries include a fabulous 1914 Talbot Sports and a 1914 BSA 500cc motorcycle used by the War Department during WWI. These join a growing number of vehicles that have registered to participate, including a very rare 1922 ABC Brooklands owned by Adrian Bradshaw.

The ABC was a light car designed by the current owner’s uncle, Granville Bradshaw. The engine design followed the designs of his smaller aero engines and his ABC motorcycles of 1918 – being horizontally opposed oil cooled engines, hemispherical heads and total loss lubrication. The gearbox, steering and axles were also all of Granville’s design.

The Bean Motor Company took on the manufacture. The ABC Brooklands, though mechanically a little different from the production car, was prepared and raced by Gordon England. In 1921 he entered the Junior Car Club 200 mile race at Brooklands, but the 1198cc engine put him in the 1101-1500cc class alongside Bugattis, Talbots and Aston Martins. Several mechanical modifications were made for its return in 1922, and a more streamlined body was fitted. This is the same body as the one seen on her now. Bill Boddy said that the car “ran beautifully, lapping at well over 80mph, asking only a plug change in the entire race”. This ABC Brooklands then changed hands many times, with much of its history lost as a result, although it is known to have last raced in the summer of 1964, when it suffered engine failure. The car was subsequently stored, until purchased by Adrian Bradshaw who began its restoration.

The ABC road-going models were well liked by the more sporting drivers of the time, although the advent and popularity of the Austin 7 led to the demise of many light cars, Gordon England himself moving onto great things with the Austin 7.

As well as multiple parade entries from Aston Martin, Vauxhall, Bentley, Talbot, Sunbeam, Morris and Alvis, other rarer cars from the pre-1926 period will be represented by Maudsley, Crossley, AC, Hispano-Suiza, Singer, GN, Panhard and Salmson. In addition, enquiries have been received from Belgium, Turkey and Sweden.

In terms of motorcycles, Andrew Hunt has entered his 1924 Henley 350 Sports. Not to be confused with ‘new Henleys’, this is one of less than five existing original machines. It was purchased by Guy Ashenden for three pounds in 1937, being a very rare model with the 350cc Blackburn ‘Big Port’ engine. It was timed on a two-way run of a quarter mile during WWII at 90mph…running on ‘bomber fuel’! The light and nimble machine with the 10-1 big port engine has an incredible power to weight ratio, so it always out-performed most of its contemporaries. Guy owned the bike for over sixty years and competed in club races, grass track races, hillclimbs, sprints, national rallies and bike runs. He converted it from hand gear change to foot lever operation, drilling holes everywhere to reduce weight and he also fitted aluminium mud guards and shields.

In the early 2000s, Guy moved into sheltered housing at Wendover near Aston Hill. He kept his Henley in the workshop of VMCC friend Andrew Hunt. He would sneak out of his sheltered housing and take the Henley out for runs, often running it up Aston Hill. When he hung up his riding boots, he passed the Henley on to Andrew who continues to ride it to this day, including the Banbury Run, Kop Hill Climb, the Flywheel Festival…and, of course, it will be at the Aston Hill 100 event…a great machine 101 years old!