Page 170 - Classics Issue

B.U.G.A.N.T.I.C.S 1937ACROSS FRANCE IN A TYPE 55 BY C.W.P. Hampton I have always wanted to take as fast car to the south of France and this year the opportunity presented itself when a friend suggested that we went to Cannes for a week in my 2.3. Everything settled, we had arranged to meet in the West End at 5 p.m. on Friday, July 24th, being due at Newhaven at 8 p.m. for the 10 o’clock boat. The car functioned beautifully coming up to London and I felt happy at heart thinking everything was as right as could be. Imagine my horror, therefore, when at the eleventh hour, the starter failed to work and the lights showed an orange glow ! After unpacking vast quantities of luggage in the street, we discovered that the battery terminals were corroded to blazes and just managed to persuade them to stay put suffciently to enable us to reach Wimbledon where the brothers Bachelier worked like fends making and ftting new ones. We eventually left there at about 6.30 in a hot and bothered condition and by considerable road-burning reached Newhaven practically on time. After a moderate crossing, we reached Dieppe at some unearthly hour in the morning and the car was waiting on the quayside when we emerged from breakfast. Having dealt with the A.A., a most unpleasant customs offcer who lifted carpets and foorboards, and taken on 90 litres of petrol, we set off at 9.15 a.m. We had barely done 30 miles when the dynamo ceased charging again, but this was quickly remedied at a typically effcient garage at Rouen. We had set a rev. limit of 4,000-86 m.p.h. on my particular car-but this was soon exceeded. We were running parallel with the railway doing 65-70 when my passenger nudged me in the ribs and pointed to a large express train which was slowly over-hauling us; so my right foot went to the foorboards and we covered the next few miles at speeds in the region of 100m.p.h. until the train was left well behind ! Incidentally, this was the highest speed I did on the whole trip, though several times the speedometer wasover 90 for long stretches at a time. We lunched at a most excellent