Easter was late this year; in fact it was getting on for the end of April. With all the doom and gloom which currently pervades our daily lives I thought I’d share this E-card with you, which certainly brightened up my Easter!
There seems to be no abatement to the never ending round of motor fuel price increases. A couple of days ago (I’m typing this on 1st May) the price of Brent crude had reached $120 a barrel; at this level we are not too far off the record of $147 a barrel of a few years back. As these ‘spot’ prices filter through to the petrol pumps it is bound to impact on vintage and classic car motoring with the result that owners will be looking at events nearer to home.
Various reasons are advanced for the upward hike in prices; the activities of speculators are cited by some, but it is difficult to escape the conclusion that it is mainly down to the laws of supply and demand. World oil demand grew by 2.8m barrels per day in 2010 (3.3% over 2009) and demand (led by China) has continued to grow in 2011. On the other side of the equation, supply is barely keeping up with demand, especially with the removal of 1.7m barrels per day due to the Libyan crisis. There are, of course, producers who could boost production, but is it in their interests bearing in mind that oil is a finite resource?
“The bitterness of poor quality lasts longer than the sweetness of low price”. This maxim was related to me recently by a garage owner when I was accompanying a friend in his MG L2 for its first MoT test, following a five year rebuild (the car having previously been in the USA). Apparently, it was on a sign in an ale-house, which also prepared meals for its patrons.
At the time I was complaining about the quality of some of the after market spares which are sold nowadays – not always at a low price!
When I started including recommended suppliers on the website https://ttypes.org/ I had the issue of quality very much in mind. I do not charge for advertising, either on the website, or in TTT 2; suppliers are there, either because they have been recommended or because I have personal experience of their quality and service. They do not, or never will, be included because of the size of their wallets!
Some readers will know that I sell, on a non-profit making basis, a limited range of spares. Invariably this is because I need a part for my own rebuild and rather than get just one made, I arrange for a small batch. A good example of this can be found on page 22. The supplier I use for spares such as king pins and shackle pins is Steve Brook of Crick, Northamptonshire. Steve, a precision engineer has been making parts for vintage and classic cars since 1982.
Any parts that I sell quote the material specification and come with either a NDT certificate or a materials certificate. I can’t do more than that!
One bonus of putting together this magazine and keeping the website up to date is the contact with T-Type owners all around the globe. I get a particular ‘buzz’ when I am able to help somebody. One recent example concerned the owner of TB0607 (pictured below) in Sweden. Prior to its recent rebuild the car had languished in a barn in Sweden for thirty years. It had no papers when it came out from England, which didn’t seem to matter much all those years ago, but it certainly did when the time came to register the car with the Swedish Transport Authorities! Through the good offices of my friend Gabriel Öhman and his excellent “Swinglish” we were able to convince the Authorities that the car is a genuine Abingdon product, which left the Factory on 17th October, 1939.
Just enough room left to let TA/TB owners know that there is a pre-war ‘Garden Party and Hill Climb’ meeting at Prescott on 16th July hosted by the Vintage Minor Register. Go to http://www.prewarprescott.com for more details.
DISCLAIMER BY THE EDITOR
‘Totally T-Type 2’ is produced totally on a voluntary basis and is available on the website www.ttypes.org on a totally FREE basis. Its primary purpose is to help T-Type owners through articles of a technical nature and point them in the direction of recommended service and spares suppliers.
Articles are published in good faith but I cannot accept responsibility or legal liability and in respect of contents, liability is expressly disclaimed.