The staff at Stowe School in Buckinghamshire are to be congratulated on their imaginative idea to add to the usual activities for their annual speech day. They asked the Old Stoic Society to organise a display of classic cars which are mostly owned by ex-pupils ( ‘Old Stoics’).One such car was the ‘Steady Special’ – a 1934 special built by the late Ronald ‘Steady’ Barker who harboured a life-long love of Lancias. The lady you see smiling in the cockpit is called Krishna and was there in her capacity as a volunteer at Brooklands museum which brought the ex-John Cobb record breaking 24 Litre Napier Railton.
Krishna is one of the few people at the museum privileged to sit in this unique car and even drive it - a job which she clearly enjoys.
We drove there in a 1953 Ford Vedette from the Automobile magazine's 'Oily Rag' collection and were pleased to hear one pupil declare it was her favourite car. Most pupils and parents, however, were to be seen gazing at such rare delights as the 1932 Bugatti 'La Petit Royal', a 1926 Aero Morgan 3-wheeler, a 1939 Hudson Victoria Coupe, or the 1902 Curved Dash Oldsmobile but all in all a very good opportunity for the younger generation to be inspired by old cars, and let's hope they enjoy them as much as Krishna.
(Text & pictures by Robin Batchelor)