Nearly 100 vehicles took part in the Veteran Car Club’s Creepy Crawly Rally from 12-14 April.
The event, which was based at the Horwood House Hotel, Little Horwood, attracted cars ranging from a four-cylinder 1898 Mors Dogcart and a 1907 Lion Peugeot to several single-cylinder 1900 De Dion-Bouton Vis-à-Vis. The photo above shows Bernard Holmes’ 1899 Decauville, with a possibly optimistic speed limit.
Saturday’s tour, of about 54 miles, kicked off at 9am.
Hills allowed for some overtaking, with the 1903 two-seater De Dion-Bouton of Brian and Ruth Moore (above) sneaking past Paul Easter’s 1902 Gladiator on one climb.
Veteran navigator Easter (below) was Timo Makinen’s co-driver on the ’65 Monte-Carlo Rally.
Adrian Goding’s c1904 6hp De Dion Bouton, aided by gravity, also nipped by the Gladiator on the way down.
More unusual marques on the run included the tiny steam-powered – and almost silent – 1901 Toledo of Jim Gregory (third photo from top) and the super-rare 1906 Alldays & Onions swing-seat-tonneau belonging to Roy Goodrum (on right below).
Nick Ridley’s distinctive two-cylinder 1902 Wolseley (below), which sports a vast finned, wraparound radiator, sadly suffered mechanical problems en route.
Sunday featured a 31-mile saunter around the nearby countryside, followed by lunch back at the hotel.
Words and photos: Neil Godwin-Stubbert
