Let battle commence in Kent!
A wheel job
As these early TVRs didn’t have an opening boot, if you needed to change a wheel, the only option was to manhandle the spare out through the passenger doors.
Brands Hatch, Kent, summer 1968
We’d love to tell you what this 1968 event at Brands Hatch was, but it’s lost in the mists of time. However, as several of the cars are road-registered and the people milling around don’t look like team professionals, we suspect it might have been a club meeting or support race.
What we can talk about, with some certainty, is what’s lining up for battle. Car number 17 leading the grid is a TVR and, with that finned rear end, probably a 1962-64 Grantura III with either an 1622cc or 1798cc BMC B-series engine. Hopefully it’s the latter, more powerful option, as keeping up with the neighbours is likely to be quite the challenge. There’s a Jaguar E-type fixed head coupe (with a modified rear end) which has shed a bit of weight by losing its rear hatch door. Adjacent is a fellow Series 1, albeit in roadster form with hard-top in place.
Crusty valance
The second row is formed of a Morgan Plus 4 and an MGB roadster. While we can’t make out the Morgan’s numberplate, it’s presumably the 1961-onwards Triumph TR4 2138cc-engined variant. The MG (with mismatched paint suggesting some previous racing mishaps) is, like the Jag in front, sporting a hard-top. However, its sister behind, a Midget MkII, seems fine with just its hood up. Alongside it is a Triumph GT6 MkI.
The cars on the in-field are a selection of typical British Sixties fare, albeit with the inevitable high performance models you’d expect in a motorsport setting, such as the white Jaguar MkII, silver E-type FHC and black Alvis TD21. And, of course, there are Minis everywhere.
WHAT'S GOING IN 1968?
IN THE NEWS Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat received its inaugural performance in March, but not as we now know it. The honour of the world premiere of this first Andrew Lloyd Webber/ Tim Rice collaboration went to the pupils of Colet Court Preparatory School in Hammersmith and, presented as a pop cantata, it lasted 15 minutes. It was made rather longer in 19
