LAST WORD / Steve Loughton

b500 magazine

THE LAST WORD

Steve Loughton

Iwas born in north London not a million miles away from the A406 North Circular Road close to the bottom end of the M1 and the (in)famous Ace Café beloved of motorcyclists, aka Rockers when the Mods were about. Think Bank Holiday Brighton rallies and Quadrophenia.

I was a mid-teenager in about 1967 when I started visiting on the pillion of my mate’s 650 Bonneville. The entire purpose of any visit (apart from escaping parents and being very grown up) was to ogle the other hardware, talk bikes, play the jukebox and drink milky coffee. There was the occasional road race too but typically lots of engine mods and noise. The wearing of helmets was not universal as this did not become law until 1973.

My family moved to Surrey in 1969 and I passed my driving test exactly 6 weeks after my 17th birthday. God bless BSM with student lessons costing an extortionate £5.00 per hour. I had five lessons plus the hour before the test and invested the princely sum of £30.00. Google tells me that on average people now have 47 lessons at a total cost of about £1100.00. I also joined the Hants & Berks Motor Club mostly because my girlfriend’s parents were very active members.

The Club organised many events but one of which I am recently reminded was quaintly called ‘Noggin & Natter’ which took place a couple of evenings a year. The plan was that you all met at a friendly pub with a decent car park, enjoyed a few noggins and had a natter. Such was the rich history of the Club that many members were blessed with very interesting cars and some even brought racers on trailers. This young man found the whole thing fascinating and educational and, importantly, all the elder statesmen were willing to chat about their cars and generally share their love of fine machinery. What an opportunity to soak up the (relatively recent then) rich automotive past. Many members were also ex RAE so had a love of aeroplanes (and in one particular case the British space race ie Black Knight and Blue Streak rockets – Google them). Bear in mind this was all many years before the opportunity to visit Goodwood FoS or Revival, Brooklands Museum, before the first running of the Le Mans Classic, the Monaco Historique and so on. There was no Classic Motor Hub or Bicester Heritage to visit and learn about our classic automotive history, rather it was passed on in a more singular fashion.

I now attend a few of these gatherings or ‘meets’ as they are known and love to see the new drivers in their VW’s, Vauxhalls, Fords and even a sprinkling of BMW’s and talk to them about the mods they’ve carried out and the costs – oh the costs, often horrific. Of course, we are mostly masked now and practising social distancing but the enthusiast car world continues to turn and long may it continue.