Motorsport for the poor | Autotesting |
O
ver a fistful of Garibaldi and a steaming
lapsang souchong, it had seemed like
such a good idea; during that ‘editorial
brainstorm’ we’d agreed that it might
be interesting to look at classic grassroots
motorsports and, in particularly, those madcap
Morgan fanatics who still campaigned their
precious machines as their gentlemen owners
might have done a century before. There and
then a sketchy plan was hatched ... and I
volunteered to cover it from start to finish.
I have to admit that five months later, as we
navigated the greasy back-roads of Somerset
on that dreich January evening, my enthusiasm
for this MSFTP feature was beginning to wane;
a night on the sofa with the remaining bottle
of Christmas port, a gifted James Bond box
set (with A View to a Kill duly removed and
burned, obviously) and my favourite corduroy
onesie seemed a much more attractive option.
Nevertheless, the arrangements had been
made to meet with Trial Team Morgan (TTM
for short) around midnight at the Haynes
Motor Museum, the first gathering point for all
competitors in the Motor Cycling Club’s (MCC)
Exeter Trial.
Founded in 1901 the MCC is one of the oldest
motorsport clubs in the UK. It was formed by a
group of gentlemen motorcyclists in the back
room of a swanky London restaurant, at a time
when there wasn’t even a proper accepted
title for these new-fangled “powered bicycles”.
The tally-ho enthusiasts were keen to prove
that their machines represented a clean and
practical alternative form of personal transport
at a time when the capital was ankle-deep in
nag droppings. So began a series of gruelling
long distance reliability trials designed to show
the establishment just how capable these
revolutionary motor vehicles really were ... and
why not have a jolly bit of sport at the same
time?
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