Sussex Heritage: Amberley Museum's Vintage Car Day
Amberley Museum’s Vintage Car Day is always a must for old car enthusiasts and always marks the start of the new season.
With an extraordinary variety of marques on display there is always something for everyone.
I set off early from Storrington with a number of friends from the Riley Register including the club’s membership secretary Jocelyn Martin in his glamorous 1950 Riley 2.5 RMD convertible.
It’s a generous group who are always willing to lend their experience and time to anyone new to Riley’s.
As we drove down the beautiful road between Storrington and Amberley we were met by that majestic open landscape set against the backdrop of the Sussex Downs and the blessing of blue skies and scudding clouds.
The warmth of the spring sun was on our faces.
Wrapped in her tartan travelling rug my terrier, Bonnie, poked her nose out the side of our 1932 Riley Gamecock and seemed to smile.
Bonnie and I walked up through the museum to explore the displays and marvellous array of old cars and came upon my old friends Colin and Barbara Luff with their 1927 Austin Chummy.
We regularly meet up at Toovey’s auction rooms and about five years ago Colin came in in a triumphant mood declaring he finally had time to complete the little car’s restoration.
She’s been back on the road for about two years.
I ask Colin how long he’s had her and with his usual smile he says “I’ve had it since about 1963. I paid £50 for it and my brother towed it [home] behind his 1936 Rolls Royce.
"We went back in the Rolls the next day to pick up the Austin 7 spares, amazing how many we got in.
"I started stripping it down. I did the chassis and the engine which you normally do first.
"Then the body needed some attention so I put in a complete new floor. It had new wings and running boards but the body is all original.
"I made new woodwork for the ash frame round the back and a template to bend the wood.
"It’s an aluminium body with steel wings. Then I reupholstered it. Two houses later I started to reassemble it.
"After 40 years being stored I had to re-do the white metal bearings.”
The Amberley Museum’s themed weekends are always a cause for celebration and the re-telling of stories against the backdrop of the displays which so eloquently speak of our nation’s history, its heritage crafts and industry.
To find out more visit www.amberleymuseum.co.uk.
Rupert Toovey is a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington - www.tooveys.com - and a priest in the Church of England Diocese of Chichester.