Coffee & Chrome Impney Estate

from Classic and Competition Car 134 November 2021

by Simon Wright

VSCC Welsh Trial Page 101Rallye Prescott.

Impney Estate, Droitwich, 26th September 2021. By Simon and Janet Wright.

Returning to Chateau Impney, now called Impney Estate, the Footman James Coffee & Chrome Breakfast meeting drew a huge attendance to this very popular midland venue. A vast variety of hundreds of cars filled the former hotel car park, were lined up alongside the former hill climb course across the front of the hotel and on the grass verge to the side of the hotel. Then beauty of these types of meetings is the diverse

types of vehicles they attract. You get everything, from vintage classics to modern supercars and everything inbetween. Even enthusiasts with more modern, normal cars are welcomed, though wether these vehicles will ever obtain classic status in these political times, is another matter for the future.

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

One of the oldest cars there was also one of the most unusual, in that it looked a little like a banana! The 1928 Austin Heavy 12/4 Racing Special had recently been in action at the VSCC Prescott Long course hill climb (See report in this issue). This car is unique, hand built on a rolling chassis by Ex-Austin Apprentice Rob Lewis. No one has ever built a racer based on an Austin 12/4 before. The original Austin 12 was first launched in 1921, the second Austin model launched after the first World War, with either a 1661cc or 1861 cc engine with a choice of Saloon, Tourer or Coupe body.

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

A few hundred yards away was one of the latest supercars, a 2016 Lamborghini Aventador Roadster SV, 1 of 500 (not sure if this meant it was the first of the 500 or 1 of the 500), making it a very rare and special car. Powered by a V12 6.5 litre engine, producing 740 bhp, it can accelerate from 0-62 mph in just 2.9 seconds and has a top speed of 217 mph.

Quite a few car club members or owners of similar vehicles, arrange to arrive together so they can park as a group. There were several nice line-ups, including Wolseley, Triumph, BMW and MG owners.

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright © Janet Wright

You do not need to belong to a club to attend, and some fantastic cars were parked next to each other. November 2021 73

© Simon Wright

American cars are popular, as they usually offer large engines with plenty of power for a relatively modest price for the performance. They usually stand out as being larger cars, with older models often sounding incredible from V8 engines. The Chevrolet Camaro Z28 from the early 1970s was a typical 5 litre V8 two door coupe, which starred in the British Saloon Car Championship of the period. This was a second generation model, which was produced between 1970 and 1981. The Camaro was originally designed to compete with the Ford Mustang and shares many major components with the Pontiac Firebird. The Ford Mustang was the original pony car that was introduced in 1964 and we had an early example at Droitwich.This was eye-catching in white with the iconic red strips running along the length of the vehicle. Designed as a sporty coupe or convertible. It was initially available with a six cylinder or V8 engine. This car has the 3.3 litre 6 cylinder engine which produced 120 bhp.

The Mustang story continues and there was a lovely red 2018 car, the sixth generation , which first appeared in 2015. There were three engine options, 2.3 litre EcoBoost 4 cylinder producing 310 hp, a 3.7 litre V6 producing 300 hp and this one is the 5 litre V8 engine producing 460 hp. The automatic transmission option is a 10-speed Ford 10R80. By 2018 the 3.7 litre V6 engine had been dropped.

© Janet Wright

Not all cars have to exotic to be interesting. The Triumph Toledo was the fore-runner for the successful Triumph Dolomite range. The Triumph Toledo was produced by British Leyland between 1970 and 1976. It was available with two engine options, 1300 cc or 1500 cc, both straight four cylinder engines with a manual 4-Speed gearbox driving the rear wheels. It replaced the earlier Triumph 1300 and 1500 which were both Front Wheel Drive. The 1296cc Standard SC engine produced 58 bhp, with drunm brakes all round and a live rear axle and coil spring suspension. Initially the Toledo was just a 2 door model but a four door version was launched in March 1971 with the 1500cc engine. Fitted with twin SU carburettors, it produced 64 bhp. The 4 door model also came with Radial ply tyres to compensate for the additional 50 weight from the two rear doors. By October 1972 front disc brakes were fitted on all models and heated rear windows were added by 1974.