What is an Edwardian Car?
Peter Hull and others
The late Kenneth Neve and his wife Jo aboad their 1914 TT Humber in 1954
Light Car & Edwardian Section
What is an Edwardian Car?
Peter Hull and others
The late Kenneth Neve and his wife Jo aboad their 1914 TT Humber in 1954
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August 1935 the fledgling VSCC held its first speed event – a speed trial
on the gravel drive of the Howard Park Hotel, Aston Clinton. The
first run of the day was made by the oldest car in the club at that time,
Lieutenant-Colonel J. Clutton’s 1910 16 hp Fafnir. This was the car
which inspired the Edwardian class. At that time, the Veteran Car
Club only catered for cars made before 1905, and it was felt that many
delightful and historic machines were in danger of being broken up unless
something could be done to arouse more interest in them and bring them
together. This was the original of the Edwardian class – though the
term ‘Edwardian’ came later.
In May 1936, the club organized another speed trial at Aston Clinton, particularly memorable for the fact that the Edwardian class was won by John Pole’s famous 12-litre 1908 Grand Prix Itala which Sam Clutton acquired later that year. Other cars of the period appeared at pre-war club events, including Kent Karslake’s 1908 Sizaire-Naudin, Eric Giles’ 1913 5-litre Bugatti ‘Black Bess’, Dick Nash’s 1912 15½-litre Lorraine-Dietrich and Anthony Mills’ 1907 7¼-litre Renault. In the early fifties a rally and road section for Edwardian cars (now defined as cars built between 1905 and 1918) had been instituted to take place in the Cheltenham area the day before the Prescott Hill Climb and whilst a good entry had been obtained in 1953, in 1954 the entries were sparse, so Light Car members were invited to join in and thus saved the day. From then,
the Edwardian and Light Car rally became an annual event held in different
parts of the country with the light cars forming the majority, but it was
not until the early 1960’s that the Light Car people invited the Edwardians
officially into their fold, which ever since has become the Light Car &
Edwardian Section. It is said that the Section has recaptured better
than any other the spirit of the pre-war Vintage Sports-Car Club.
However, unlike the light cars, there is no 30 bhp restriction on the Edwardians,
some of which are very powerful indeed, and some of which are fitted with
World War 1 aero engines, carrying on a tradition instituted at Brooklands
in the years following the Great War.
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