Category: Uncategorized (Page 2 of 3)

The Club’s Annual Rally this year will take place on Sunday 18th June 2023, at the Crich Tramway Village in Crich, Derbyshire. https://www.tramway.co.uk/

Set in the picturesque Peak District, this historic venue is home to the National Tramway Museum, a superb recreation of the tramways of days gone by, with many historic trams for visitors to ride on offering an authentic experience of travel by tram.

The museum also includes a living historic village, including a pub, a tearoom, an ice cream parlour and an old-fashioned sweetshop.

As usual, the club has also organised other events, including hotel accommodation and a Saturday evening meal as well as an optional visit on Saturday 17th to the Great British Car Journey, a car museum at nearby Ambergate.

Club members are entitled to a discounted entry fee to the Tramway Museum, and will be able to display their vehicles on the streets of the historic village.
The latest issue of ‘County Counsel’ contains a leaflet with an entry form and booking details for the Saturday evening meal. You can download a copy here .

The leaflet also contains contact details for this year’s Rally Organiser, John Reed.

ACCC are pleased to announce a new recommended Insurer for Members’ Cars.
Club members will benefit from discounted policies and no agreed value fee.
Plus, if your car is valued at less than £20k, no photographs are required.

HAGERTY PHONE NUMBER IS  0333 323 1138 AND QUOTE ‘ACCC15’

Or use the following link to request a quote online:
https://portal.hagerty.co.uk/journey/Vehicle/assumptions?affiliateId=288

It seems to be the case that most of our members in the UK have now received their belated copy of the Nov/Dec issue of ‘County Counsel‘. Many thanks to those of you who have followed the prompt in the magazine to renew your membership for 2023.

There is, however, still a potential problem for our members outside the UK. As well as the delays caused by the Christmas post and the industrial action, Royal Mail has suffered a further blow, in that the systems that deal with its overseas processing have been subject to a cyber attack, leading to significant disruption to that service.

It’s not clear whether or not our overseas-bound magazines had already been processed before the attack took place, but if they weren’t there will inevitably be further delays.

Once again, apologies for the delays – the Royal Mail seems to be going through turbulent times at present. Normal service will be resumed with the January/February issue, which is already being put together.

You can now renew your 2023 club membership online. Simply go to our Membership page and follow the instructions.

The membership price has been increased a little, to £30, to cover increasing postage costs. We are still a very competitively-priced club, and we had held our previous rate at £28 for several years.

The club’s new Membership Secretary, Alan Wood, has now taken up his role.

Alan’s full contact details can be found on our Membership page .

The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs has sent a press release announcing a partnership with heritage digitisation specialists Genus.

Details of the partnership can be viewed here .

You might also be interested to know that the club maintains an archive of every issue of ‘County Counsel’ magazine, which is fully searchable.

If you’re looking for an old article you remember from years ago, please email editor@austincounties.org.uk including your membership no. if possible and we’ll do our best to find it for you!

Members may (or may not!) be aware that many of the UK’s petrol stations have now switched over to using E10 fuel as the standard unleaded provision.

E10 is petrol with 10% ethanol mixed in with it. Whilst we have been using E5 (5% ethanol) for some time, the switch to E10 is likely, according to many credible sources, to damage components of our classic cars.

You should therefore try and use only E5 in your cars. E5 petrol is still going to be available, in ‘most towns’ we’re told, but will be branded as ‘Super Unleaded’ or similar.

You may also have to travel to an independent filling station to obtain it, as most supermarket retailers now seem to stock only E10, and of course, since there will be less demand for it, prices of E5 will be somewhat higher than previously.

If you’ve accidentally filled up with E10, don’t panic – the damage caused by E10 builds up over time, so the advice is to top up with E5 as soon as you can.

The FBHVC offers a comprehensive explanation of the perils of E10, and the situation in respect of future supply of E5 here and here .

Another piece of history has been removed from what was once the largest car manufacturer in Britain.

It seems that without very much in the way of consultation with groups interested in preserving the history of Austin at what is left of the Longbridge site, Lord Austin’s office, which up to now had been preserved at the site, has been unexpectedly moved to the British Motor Museum at Gaydon.

This has provoked a degree of controversy – as you can see in this article in the local newspaper here.

The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs has released a statement on the introduction of E10 petrol in the UK.

E10 petrol contains up to 10% ethanol. Ethanol has been shown to cause damage to various part of our old cars, including degradation of rubber and plastic components, such as hoses, seals, fuel lines and filters. It also absorbs water from the atmosphere, potentially leading to condensation and corrosion in fuel tanks, lines and other metal components.

The full statement from the FBHVC can be read here.

Club member Dirk Backenköhler has created his own website, dedicated to the A40 Sports – it’s a very comprehensive site, and certainly will be of interest to ‘Counties’ members. You can find it at www.austina40sports.dirksspacealbum.de