RealClassic – August 2019

JACQUELINE BICKERSTAFF

motorway!Itwascoaxedhome,butwithlittle
diagnosisachieved(notmuchbeingthat
accessible)andcertainlynoquickfixavailable.
Thatwasadisastrousday.
AbriefpanicattempttogoonthePUB
Vincentprovedabortiveforvariousreasons

• theferryandaccommodationwerealready
  missed,andajammedmotorwaymeantthat
  shewasheadedill-preparedtonowherein

themiddleofthenight.Suchthingsshecould

dodecadesago,butnotnow.Returning

home,wellbeatenupbytheday’smileage,

sheresolvedthatabetterplanwasrequired.

TheignominyofgoingtoaVincentrally

bycarofferedamorerealisticpossibilityof

actuallyarrivingbeforetheeventfinished

• PUBhasacquiredoneforthedutiesthat
  theTrikingusedtodo,includingasalight

towtruck.Butshehasonlyinfrequently

drivenit,andneveronthecontinent(and

the‘wrong’sideoftheroad)soitwouldbe

abitdaunting.Neverthelessrepackingand

otherpreparationsweremade(required

documents,GBplate,sparebulbkit,dayglo

waistcoat,etc,allofwhicharecompulsoryin

France),readyforanotherattempt.Butfate

hadadifferentplan,intheformofillness,

possiblystressprovoked,andthebigevent

wasmissed.

Adisastrousdaybecameadisastrousweek.

Asanaside,nodoubtmanyreaderswill

reckonthattheUKisarareoddity,driving

ontheleft.ButarecentarticleintheVeteran

CarClubmagazinereckonsthatthereare

stillover 75 countriesandterritoriesthat

continuetodriveontheleft,notleastJapan,

andeventhreeintheEU(Ireland,Cyprus,

andMalta).NapoleonandHitlerhadamajor

influenceonmovingtotheright,although

theUSAappearstohaveselectedthatoption

fromthestart.Sweden(whereHitlerdidnot

invade)onlyswitchedtotherightin 1966 ,

andMyanmar(Burma)evenmorerecentlyin

1970 (apparentlyduetoamisunderstanding

byPresidentNeWin).SamoainthePacific

buckedthetrendbychangingfromright

toleftin 2009 !Thiswasapparentlydueto

theirimportedcarscomingmostlyfrom

DavidandJoanCatton’s 192216 HNortonandsidecarhascaughtPUB’seyeinrecentyears.Thisyearitalsocaught
thejudges’eyes

Finally.AJSMaryleavesthe 2019 Banburyrunstartonherrepaired 1929 Rex-AcmeVilliers

ARealThunderbird™,withyearsofpatina(andmileage)

toitscredit,andperiodCravenSilverArrowpanniers

Theflagdrops,andPUBengagesfirstgeartostart

theBanburyrunonher 1926 HRD.(CourtesyofPaul

Burbidge)

b ribe ve: eal- a .co. //s UG 2 9 I