On Sunday the 5th of July the usual suspects from our MWS workforce attended Shelsley Walsh Speed Hillclimb - a course with a lot of history, open for one spectacular day for motor vehicles with a lot more history.

This event clashing with the annual Goodwood Festival Of Speed, we were unsure of just how busy it would be, we needn’t have worried though as the die hard members of the VSCC turned out in large numbers with a respectable number of the general public also out enjoying the cars on display, including a range of Bentleys and a healthy collection of Morgans.

The day began with some rather splendid warm weather which may have had something to do with the large numbers in attendance.  Having put away a quick sandwich the boys were hungry for some action and we were not to be kept waiting long before an attractive “Regency Red” coloured E-type pulled in with a common complaint, vibrations at 50 mph.  Before our customer had even left the stand the boys had the car jacked up and were removing the first wheel in anticipation of using our still sparkling machines.  The customer requested that we only balance the front two and it didn’t take our team long to find out that the wheels were balanced incorrectly.  Even in this modern day of motoring this is too regular an occurrence, many highly credited tyre firms still cannot balance wire wheels correctly, which is why we always recommend you visit an endorsed professional.  I have spoken with the customer again only recently and he has told me that it has since transformed the car and that he is looking forward to having the rears balanced at Prescott.

A brief respite proved only too much temptation for the team and they were soon disappearing for a closer look at the racing.  It was great to see everybody having a good day and I was even more pleased when I saw an existing customer who we supplied Blockleys to last year at Donnington still going strong in his impressive Bentley.

Lunchtime saw a boost in interest at our stand as people enquired about our Jaguar spinners which are very reasonably priced at the moment.  It was also around this time that I had the pleasure of meeting a father and son team who have recently acquired a 1961 D-Type Jaguar, a great piece of kit!  We spoke at length about the many strengths of this car and I could not resist going for a peek at this tremendous piece of engineering.

Upon my return, the heavens opened and our large blue marquee becoming a make shift shelter for anybody passing by.  It was during this spell of poor weather that I met a gentleman from Birmingham who owned a super Bugatti, we talked tyres and crunched some figures and finally reached an agreement that we would fit two new 500 x 19 Blockleys to the vehicle in question.  Not to be deterred by the weather our fighting fit team soon had the wheels off and were stripping the existing tyres in order to begin the process of fitting his new Blockleys.

This job completed we decided to call it a day and head back to HQ, we may have had damp weather but that did not cast a shadow over our day, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Our next event is:

Prescott Speed Hill Climb Weekend on Fri 31st July, Sat 1st and Sun 2nd Aug

and is looking to be an exciting few days; I hope that you will all find time to pay us a visit.

Happy Motoring!

Timothy Wilson