L
oyaltyis a virtuenot alwaysfound
amongold car lovers.To the delightof
the dealersand the auctionhouses,
someof you are positivelypromiscu-
ous, alwayslookingfor a four-wheeled
idealthat you can neverquitefind.But in the
VSCCI suspectthere’s morethanthe average
degreeof marquefaithfulness:you may be aRiley
person,or a WOBentleyperson,or an Austin
Sevenperson,or perhapsan Amilcaror Lea-
Francisperson.Youmay even wantto spendyour
dayswitha singletype,be it 30-98or Hornet,
M35 or 1750. Often these are family loyalties,
passeddownfromparentto offspring.
But Bob Wood is a manwhoserelationship
withone singlecar maybe unequalledin its
energyand longevity. In 1958,whenhe was 24
yearsold, a friendlet him havea run in a low-
chassisS-typeInvicta.Manyof thoseInvictas
carriednamesin period,suchasScytheandSea
Lion,and this one wasFelicity.Bob was smitten,
and in 1960he persuadedthe ownerto sell it to
him for a few hundredquid.
At oncehe beganto race it on Britishcircuits,
and thenaroundEurope– the Nürburgring,
Montlhéry, Le Mans,Knutsdorpin Sweden,the
KlausenHillclimbhighin the SwissAlps.A
favourite photoin his scrapbook is of Fangio,
honouredguestat Spa one year , congratulating
him on his pole position.
Of course, the Invicta has always been driven
to and fromeveryevent.For Zandvoort,Bob
wouldcatchthe Fridaymidnightboatto
Zeebrugge, drive
northto the Dutch
trackin time for Satur-
day morningpractice,
race the car that after-
noon,dash backto the
ferryand be homein
West Wycombefor
Sundaybreakfast.
For a whilehe also racedan ex-deGraffenried
Maserati4CLsingle-seater.That,of course,had
to go on a trailer, so he put a hookon the back of
the Invictaand towedit withthat – Meadows
4½-litreenginesare torquey. Oncethey gotto
the event,whilehe campaignedthe Maseratihis
wifeSallywouldracethe Invicta.It’s a four-
seater, sort of, so whentheirtwo sons weresmall
they’dtravelunderthe tonneauin sleepingbags.Taylor
Simon
FULLTHROTTLE
COMMENT
And here’s the
thing.Bob is now81,
and he’s still racingthe
Invicta.In fact,he’s
racingit often:during
SeptemberaloneI saw
himin actiontwice,
in theBrooklands
Trophyat the Good-
woodRevival,and
then a weeklater at the
Kop Hill Climb.That
meanshe has raced
Felicitywithouta break
for 55 years.I think
onlyTo m Delaney,
whoracedhis Lea-
FrancisHyperfrom
age 20 untiljust before
his deathat 95 in 2006,
has beatenthat.
Bobhas longago
lost countof how manyeventshe’s done,but he
doesknowthat he andFelicityhaveclockedup
well over half a millionmilestogether. Overall
that distanceit has beenastonishinglyreliable,
with only two seriousmechanicalretirements:a
brokenhalfshaftat the ’Ringand a fractured
propshaftjointin a Belgiansprint.
Plustherewas the timeon the roadwhen,
pressingon towardsCanterbury, a rod came
throughthe side:“Notthe car’s fault– I’d done
the damagesomemonthsbefore,whenI over-
revvedit in aEuropean
hillclimb.I stopped,
and the car following
stopped.Its driverwas
mostupset.Turned
out my conrodhad
gone throughhis
windscreen.”
At KopHillthe
long,low Invictawas lookingas beautifulas ever
and Bob,as usual,was pressingon. Thiswas the
seventhrunningof this delightfulevent(see
News),whichcommemoratesthe last hillclimb
run legallyon mainlandUK publicroadsbefore
FrancisGiveen’s Bugatticrashedinto the crowd
therein 1925, leadingto an immediateban.
As well as some90 motorcyclesof all ages,
morethan 250 cars tookpart this year, fromtheDecember 2015 Classic& SportsCar 37“The othercar’sdriver
was mostupset.Turned
out my conrodhad gone
throughhis windscreen”
JohnCobbNapier-Railtonvia an extraordinary
varietyof Edwardian,vintage,PVTand classic
machineryto modernssuchas Lamborghini
Gallardoand Ferrari458 E2.
Beingon a (closed)publicroadit’s not timed,
but it’s steep,blindat the top, and all the corners
are fast ones,so my annualvisit in the Stovebolt
alwaysmanagesto curl my toes.Spectatorscan
wanderaroundthe cars and get a greatviewof
the hill, all proceedsgo to charity, and if you live
withina day’s marchof PrincesRisborough
you’dbe mad to miss it next year.
Bob’llbe thereagain,becauseFelicityis still in
fine fettle,and he has no intentionof curtailing
his fun withher: “I reckonI’ve got another 20
years left. That’lltake our timetogetherto 75
years.”We’ll drinkto that.Samecar, samedriver:
Bob Wood takinga tight
line at Prescottin 1963
and,bottom,still on a tight
line at the Chicaneat this
year’s Goodwood Revival