Classic Trialling in
Bertie
Shortly after I completed the car, I was
introduced to classic trialling by a then colleague. Les Kerry and his brother
in law, Alan Jones - of whom more elsewhere. Bertie has never been the
most successful trials car - partly due to the lead-footed driver - but we have
had our moments over nearly 20 years of periodic entries in the MCC Classic
Trials series (Exeter, Lands End and Edinburgh each year).
Click on a
thumbnail to see a bigger version.
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This shot is from Motor Sport
magazine, and shows Bertie in his first incarnation, being given a helping
hand around the first tight bend at Fingle in the 1985 Exeter Trial.
1200cc Triumph power, 13-inch Herald wheels and very little ground
clearance made the trialling a fairly sticky proposition at this time.
My then next-door neighbour Ian was navigating.
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The 1997 Edinburgh Trial
- taken on Litton Slack. This was incarnation two - 15" wires
and the Vitesse straight six under the bonnet - a heavy lump. As so
often, the pic doesn't do justice to the slope here. We stopped a
few yards further on with the grins wiped off our faces. Navigator
for this one is my colleague Andy Preston. Actually, his grin may
have been more a rictus of fear...
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Two major rebuilds later, in the
2002 Edinburgh Trial on Bamford Clough. The 2000cc Vitesse engine and
15-inch TR4A wires have been and gone. Now we're running 16-inch
steels, and the running gear is up to 3500cc Rover V8. The rear
chassis was rebuilt at the same time (2000) to take a banjo axle from the
Toyota Hilux. Now the only problem is putting the power down without
spinning the wheels... Andy navigating again.
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This
linked page contains eight new pictures from the Lands End Trial
2004. Not an award-winning outing for us, but an enjoyable trial, in
which - running early in the field after a wet night - we were just
outside the medals table due to failures on some of the Class 8
restarts; the navigator is my daughter, Caroline.
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This links to some pictures my son took on the Edinburgh Trial on October 2, 2004. The navigator is Andy again. The conditions were very wet indeed, after several weeks of above-average rainfall; most sections were running with water and mud - very slippery. Nevertheless, an unexpectedly good outing for us - we only failed Litton Slack to gain a Silver award.
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This page has two
photos of our progress on the 2007 Exeter Trial (my son Alex
navigating). There' also a link to a video on YouTube with
ourselves on this hill (third vehicle). |
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