Edwardian Cars at Shelsley Walsh

Midland Auto Club hosted over a hundred cars at Shelsley for a Vintage motoring day on July 6th. A clutch of redoubtable Edwardian cars tackled the thousand yard hill – the oldest motor sport venue in the world, on a magnificent sunny day.

The oldest car present was a 1903 Mercedes 60hp (No.71) of the very same type that Charlie Rolls raced with – head to head in Phoenix Park, Dublin during the Irish Fortnight, which was part of the 1903 Gordon Bennett race celebrations. Rolls lost, but the current similar car driven by Roger Collinge tackled the hill with guile and determination.

The other 1903 car was a French Brasier(No 121) – a monster of 11,500 cc, and the other pre WW1 cars were an FL GP prototype (No.67), a Sunbeam 16/20 (No.68), a Vauxhall 30/98 (No.69), a Chalmers 17 (No.70) and a Stutz Bearcat (No.72) – all driven by their owners.

….. and days later Shelsley welcomed a Thousand Mile Trial re-enactment party of 42 cars including a magnificent 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom 2 Sports Coupe.