N E W S  

November 2009                                                                                                            Page  1

PISTON RING

-the

magazine of

the

MIDLANDS

and

YORKS

CLASSIC

CAR CLUB

Classic Meets  

Our next Yorkshire Meet is on Sunday 6th December 2009 at the New Inn, Tickton, East Yorkshire, 11.30am to 2.00pm.

We continue our Autumn/Winter schedule of meeting on the first Sunday lunchtime of the month from 11.30am until April 2010.

REMEMBER: WE MEET ALL YEAR ROUND. When the nights are lighter and Sunday car shows are abundant, we switch to our summer programme of meeting on the first Thursday evening of the month from 7pm. When the clocks go back and the nights are dark, we then meet on Sunday lunchtime (from 4th Oct 2009,) on the first Sunday of the month. Our meets are weather-sensitive, with fewer cars displayed when it is raining.

HALFORDS RIP-OFF

One of our members recently went shopping at the Halfords store in Beverley, East Yorks.

Having noticed that the oil on sale cost more than at his local supermarket (surprising perhaps as Halfords specialise in motoring products) he selected a number of items and went to the check-out.

'Do you want a bag, Sir? he was asked and replied 'yes.'

It was only when he got home he noticed from his bill that they had had the cheek to charge him 2p for the cheap and flimsy carrier bag that was covered with their own self-advertising.

What a rip off. He was not told he was going to be charged and, in view of their inflated prices, he will certainly not be going back.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.  

CAPRI to make a comeback?

Rumours abound that the Ford Motor Co are to soon launch a new sporty coupe and are poised to bring back one of the most popular names of the 1960's, by christening it 'Capri'.

This sounds great, except rumours also say it is actuallly not going to be a 'new' model at all, but just a slightly souped-up two door Focus.  

E U Meddling !

The European Union has once again meddled in UK affairs and broken-down motorists are being left in the slow lane.

The AA, RAC and other recovery firms are now being hampered in recovering stranded vehicles by new EU 'health and safety' rules that restrict commercial vehicles from travelling more than 62 miles from base without a tachograph. Motorists are being left at service stations to wait for another tow vehicle to take them on the next 'stage' towards home.

It just beggars belief that the idiots who imposed these rules think they are doing us a favour.

Yet More EU Meddling !

The European Union has also been meddling in UK affairs against the wishes of our own government!. From 2011 all new vehicles will have to have daytime running lights switched on when the car is in use. This comes despite British objections led by the Chairman of the UK Parliamentary Historic Vehicles Group and by former Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman MP.

The Eurocrats have at least for now exempted EXISTING vehicles from these rules.

British MEP's, who are supposed to represent us, have been appallingly quiet on this issue.

Of course, if you drive around all day with your headlights on, you will use more petrol as your car struggles to recharge your battery!

* * * * *

Leaded 4 star Petrol

is available in the Midlands at

Woodbine Garage Sinfin Lane Derby. 01332 766074

*  *  *

Don't forget to catch up with  the blog of   Aubrey Baggpuss.   Aubrey is regularly featured in each issue of our club magazine posted free to all members .

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More Magazine Pages

See some past pages from The Piston Ring, at 'back issues.'  

JENSEN C-V8 'Kaleidoscope' model?

A Yorkshire classic car dealer has a red Jensen C-V8 for sale but is it a Mark II , a Mark III or a bit of both?  

According to the year, it should be a Mark II but it has a Mark III front end fitted and the bumpers are Mark III. Perhaps it is a composite model? And if so, why?

And why doesn't the dealer disclose this mixed pedigree in his advert?   Aubrey Baggpuss is puzzled too - click here to see Aubrey's comments..

Classic-fied Ads  

Brown's anti-car bribe.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his government are still trying to bribe local authorities to introduce 'anti-car' measures or loose out on public funding.

The latest threat comes last year's spectacular rebuff to this anti-car stuff  by the people of Manchester.

In the Greater Manchester area, councils were told last year that if they did not introduce road charging then they would miss out on millions of pounds from the so-called Transport Innovation Fund. The disclosure angered many MPs, including some of Brown's supporters, who felt that local authorities, who know their areas best, should be able to make up their own minds on what road schemes are needed without these anti-car measures.

In Manchester, the bribe did not work and in their local referendum, voters told Brown to 'get stuffed'

Despite this massive rebuff, the government have announced that they are to arm-twist Nottingham into introducing a 'workplace parking levy'.

Unlike the Manchester case, in most instances the public are never asked for their views and weak local councillors, ecouraged by their money-grubbing officers, just go ahead and take the money.

Labour's threats have angered Conservative Transport Spokesman Stephen Hammond who says that these bribes are unacceptable and if councillors think a scheme is wrong for their area, they should say so and reject the money.

Mr Hammond has promised that an incoming Conservative government would abandon the anti-car policy.

A further blow to the present Labour Government's anti-car wheezes comes from Cambridge University which says that British Motorists are grossly over-taxed.

'Greed Camera' con coming to a road near you!

An increase in the number of mobile speed cameras being used on Britain's roads has generated a whopping sevenfold rise in fixed penalty notices. The number of mobile speed cameras has soared by more than a third in a year, figures show. The mobile units, which have less stringent rules on where they can be placed, are increasingly favoured over fixed gatso cameras, the data shows. And cameras have resulted in a massive rise in the number of fines dished out to speeding drivers. In the period 2003-2004, 1.8 million fixed penalty fines were issued in England and Wales, seven times more than in the period 2000-2001.

This anti-car government has changed the rules so that Speed cameras and increased fines are not now primarily about safety. They are about raising more money from the long-suffering British motorist, partly to pay the wages.for those who work for the money-grubbing Speed Camera Partnerships.  

Speed cameras have also led to a surge of penalty points on drivers' licences - with more than a million motorists now just one offence away from a ban. Perhaps this is how the government intends to cut congestion -by taking many of us off the road!

In East Yorkshire those responsible have gone beserk in order to acomodate these money-grubbing camera operators. A plethora of speed camera pull-ins have been expensively constructed in tarmac, -with our money of course, on the A614, the A165 and the A166. These locations are not, as you might think, where accidents occur, but where the road is straight and you might just be over the speed limit.

Also, the money-grubbers frequently set up their operations on a Sunday when unsuspecting day-trippers to the area are on their way in or are going home....."Welcome to the East Riding - You're nicked" appears to be their message.