Yes, in the Friday meeting of the VSCC 75th anniversary celebrations at Prescott hillclimb (not Prescott Arizona, but Prescott near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England). Come and say "Hello".
Biggles, Do you have more information on Batten Specials ? How many were built ? Were they all Ford based ? All I could find was this photo of a drophead convertible in an old Shire Album... TIA
Oh heck - I've a gig Friday night and won't be there till Saturday morning. But if you're still about I'll definitely say hello!!!
Before the war Jim Batten's Beckenham Motor Company built ten or eleven "production" Batten Specials which were all Ford based, on 1932 chassis frames, shortened and inverted at the rear so as to be slung under the rear axle with a modified transverse spring located behind the banjo. Such was the originality of that arrangement that a patent was granted. The cars were aimed at the sporting trials enthusiast and most were two-seaters but at least one four-seater was built, possibly for Lord Plunkett who intended to invest in the company before being killed in an accident. For his own amusement, Jim Batten built a lightweight racing special - much lower than the production cars and with a highly tuned Ford V8 engine fitted with his own high compression heads and (later) eight Amal carburettors. The racing special competed successfully at Brooklands and Donington Park before the war and has had a continuous competition history since - the last 35 years in my hands. One of the production cars remains and competes regularly in sporting trials, sprints and hillclimbs. Aside from the Ford-based cars, Jim Batten and his brother Ted constructed a number of racing specials of which at least one remains, the Beckenham Special. Jim Batten's daughter has placed all her father's papers and photograhs with the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in England, where they are available for examination. I hope this whets your appetite. Onwards and upwards, Neil.
here in so cal in the sixtys the model a club had the mt. baldy hill climb,my dad has some cool old trophys he won, ill see if i can post some pics..
Yea, I second what he said (and the HAMB Hillclimb idea too). Fantastic video, I've been trying to see it ever since you put it up (IT guys at work block video feeds). I'd love to see more of this type of stuff.
The test hill at Brooklands for all you fans of hills. Not sure where I found this photo, but whoever took it sure has some talent in cool images.
This was a great event! Lucky enough for it to be right on my doorstep. There are loads more besides. Prescot's already been mentioned, but there are also a lot of hill trials on dirt as well as down hill soap box derbies with a bit of hill climbing action thrown in for good measure. If any of you are out this way it's worth checking out. Here are some more photos from the event. Russ Carpenters daimler hemi powered rail. Elva overhead inlet valve conversion on a British fllathead 4 cylinder Allard
The Jalopy Journal
