'Photos by Vic Truluk
The Nautical Rally was organised by Vic Truluck and took place at Dunorlan Park,
just east of Royal Tunbridge Wells town centre, over the weekend of 14th and 15th
August.
We arrived with EJ4569 on the trailer around 11.15am on Sunday morning to find
a pretty full house because this was also the venue of Autorama 2004 with over 500
vehicles in attendance.
Our Club was one of seven represented at the Autorama
Show. Thanks to Vic for a very sensible choice of position (under an oak tree which
successfully acted as an umbrella), and to John Chadwick and Mike Scott-Coomber
for the supply of BSA car and trike information boards.
The BSA FWD Club was honoured with the Best Club presentation prize, beating the normally all conquering
East Sussex MGOC into second place!
Vic's choice of venue was also excellent for it gave Club members the opportunity to
view a wide range of other manufacturers' motoring products. Did anyone else
notice the fabulous 1926 Citroen Paris taxi ?
Nine BSAs turned up on Sunday including Mike's superb trike van, Martin Brockwell's
very smart, partly fabric-covered two-seater trike, four Scouts including both two
and four-seaters, and one vehicle not previously exposed to a Club event. This was
David Smith's threewheeler.
David has recently acquired this vehicle having known
about it for some years but was unsure about its birthright.
Having mustered with toolbox at the ready, a gathering of experienced hands soon
determined that this machine, of trike format, was a bitsa, comprising a very early
BSA chassis (number F300L), with an early four-cylinder side valve engine (number
1 36). Having three large core plugs on the right hand side of the block above the
dynamo, thus it might have seen early life in either a trike or a T9 around 1932. The
front springs were a bit of a mix and match, comprising both old type and new
quarter-elliptics whilst the carburettor was a healthy sized SU. Inspection of the
chassis suggested that, although a very early version, it had been back to the factory
for the strengthening modification. Discussing it with Graham Skillen, it looks to be
around the third oldest known. Compared with most trikes, the back-end bodywork
was huge, being almost square rather than boat-tailed, where someone had spent
considerable effort in its construction.
Subject to checking, it could be that David's trike also has the oldest of any surviving
four-cylinder engines in the Club. Whilst not a runner at present, for its early assets
the vehicle is certainly worth saving, which David hopes to start on when he finishes
a current Austin project.
Meanwhile, the worshipful Mayor of Tunbridge Wells, John Cunningham, inspected our line-up of BSAs and decided he would most like to have John Chadwick's Scout
(but who wouldn't).
This meant that John won both available Club prizes, the other being
for the greatest distance driven in a BSA to attend the rally. Well done, John!!
Having had EJ4569 up on stands for a number of months, it was nice to get her on
the road again, even if she was trailered from Portsmouth, to see old friends and meet new
members. A most enjoyable rally. Thank you Vic.
John Wise
