VSCC’S hillclimb always hits the spot
People smirk at the notion of me driving a Merc X-class
SATURDAY, SUNDAY
Joyous weekend with the Vintage Sports Car Club at Prescott hillclimb, just north of Cheltenham, where hundreds of car enthusiasts traditionally gather at this time of the year. It’s a remarkable organisation, the VSCC, envied and emulated worldwide. If there’s a bigger, better way to have simple fun with cars with friendly people who love them as much as you, I don’t know it.
Some don’t see the point of pre-war cars, given that what we drive nowadays is so much more convenient and capable. But old cars have four huge advantages the modernistas miss. Mostly they’re simple, so those of us with Meccano-level skills can do a satisfying amount of maintenance. They don’t depreciate. They emit unfettered engine sounds, which adds hugely to the fun. And they’re mostly slow and not especially easy to drive, which means extracting the best performance somewhere like Prescott is a matter of familiarity, skill and ‘touch’, not bravery.
If this appeals to you, it just so happens that the VSCC has decided the Prescott meeting needs repeating this year, on 29 September. Book your tickets online beforehand and save a few quid. TUESDAY
Mazda’s decision to launch a project in partnership with Saudi oil interests to match new, specially formulated low-co2 fuel with further developed Skyactiv engines – bringing about valuable (though yet unspecified) wellto-wheel CO2 cuts – strikes me as just the kind of practical anti-greenhouse measure that has been lacking from years of theorising. Mclaren has been having the same thoughts: a recent conversation with chief executive Mike Flewitt revealed his belief that specially formulated very low-co2 or even Co2-neutral fuels may one day mean that those prepared to pay to run cars powered by ‘special-petrol’ engines may be able to. More on this soon.
THURSDAY
A couple of days working at home in the Cotswolds reminds me again, as a keen driver and rider, never to go away at this time of the year again. The holidayers’ dog-eat-dog scramble to get to Heathrow and Cornwall seems to be over, the roads around our way are lightly trafficked and the hotspots where queues develop as a matter of course (if I cite The Air Balloon roundabout, south of Cheltenham and Gloucester, some will know the suffering) are practically clear. It’s as good as a holiday.
The Mercedes X-class I’ve been driving these past few months is leaving soon. I’m sad and I don’t exactly know why. It’s not the kind of vehicle I usually like, and it certainly doesn’t fit neatly into my lifestyle. People smirk at the notion of me, portly 60-something with the softest hands in the county, going about in a vehicle that sets the standard for builder’s luxury. Yet I’ve often found myself settling into the Big X in preference to better-riding, quicker and more agile vehicles.
So what’s good about it, then? The cheerful simplicity, I suppose. It feels so strong and so ready. And it holds course with the stability of an ocean liner. These may not be the qualities we road testers usually spend our time banging on about, but in this case they’re what really matters.