The 750 Motor Club has a number of active centres, often (but not exclusively) established on a regional basis. The North Hertfordshire Centre is one of the most active, with dedicated sections for those with a primary interest in Heritage, and Competition and Kit Cars.
The Heritage section continues to hold monthly meetings on the third Wednesday of each month at Caddington Social Club (LU1 4HH). These are focused on the Austin Seven. On 17 April, Andy Storer will talk about his epic A7 drive in the Mille Miglia Retro.
The Competition and Kit Car section has moved to a new location for its monthly meetings. The Bull, at London Colney (AL2 1QU), is just one mile from junction 22 of the M25 and so is in easy reach of members in London and Essex, as well as Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. Meetings take place on the first Wednesday of each month.
Their programme for the year includes a talk by Bob Dance, the retired chief mechanic of Team Lotus on 3rd April; a visit from Austin Seven and vehicle dynamics expert John Miles on 4 September; and a presentation by our President, Tony Southgate, on his life as a designer on 2 October.
In addition, there will be an ‘Interesting Car’ meeting at Andrew Owen’s workshop on 5 June, and a visit to Ron Welsh’s Lotus collection in late June.
A recent visit to the University of Hertfordshire’s Motor Sports Faculty allowed members, welcomed by Dr Howard Ash, the chance to tour the workshops and see the 2012 and 2012 Formula Student Cars. The 2012 car, which uses a 600cc motorcycle engine developing around 85 bhp, weighs only 190kg - close to the weight of the donor engine two wheeled bike! Work done by the students ranges from theorectical vehicle dynamics to welding up the spaceframes - so more similarities to the self-build tradition of the 750 Motor Club.
Many of the racers, in particular, made use of the Cruden racing simulator, which allowed ‘drivers’ the chance to lap Zandvoort in Peter Bove’s 750 Formula car! High speed electric motors move the rams which tilt the machine to simulate G forces in three dimensions - so successfully that several members ended up queasy!
There are very special links between the University and 750MC because the University's origin lies in Hatfield Technical College where many of the Austin 7 driving de Havilland engineers, who helped to found Lotus, studied.
The North Herts Centre would be pleased to welcome you at their future events. All members are invited, and if you are not already a member of the Club you can join for just £20 per annum by clicking the link here.