Martin 'Thornycroft' Shelley reported yesterday to us regarding his long-long time Thornycroft project (you may remember his progress reports from these pages) that it is finally warming up the tarmac:
"At last the Thornycroft is a runner and a good one at that. Just over a week ago I was joined by my son Philip for a day out driving the car alongside a bunch of veteran motorcyclists who had gathered at the Scottish Museum of Flight at East Fortune aerodrome in East Lothian where the R34 commenced its transatlantic flight in 1919 and where I had flown model aircraft in the 1960s and raced vintage bikes in the 70s.
The car performed faultlessly, running for well over an hour without attention and covering something over 25 miles. She started first time every time and all the systems worked as designed, the trembler coil/magneto dual ignition, the exhaust pressure fed fuel system, the cast iron on cast iron rear brakes, the hand throttle (pictured in one shot with the Bass Rock and Tantallon Castle in the background). It was all very gratifying, and I felt pleased to have reached this stage with the car.
There is still some development work to be done, as the inlet manifold is icy cold even after a long run, so the inlet air needs heating (for which there is provision via a muff around the exhaust manifold) and at some point the touring body will need to be refitted (it was removed after construction in March 2009 and remains in storage in Kent).
However, it's nice to have a car on the road not an interminable project. Last Saturday I was also invited to talk to the VSCC Northern Dinner about the restoration, and as the previous weekend, all went to plan, and it seemed to be appreciated by the assembled company.
Thanks for all your encouragement and support over what now seems a very long time!"
Martin Shelley (photos Philip Shelley)