We spent a very very pleasant day on Sunday taking part in the MSA Classic . A gentle amble through the countryside, stopping at a few interesting stops on the way, and finish at Silverstone for a few laps. My wife was navigating and our two year old daughter was in the back…
We started from Epsom in the 3.5 Coupe. It was perfect weather for driving; sunny but not too hot, we had the sunroof open most of the time - the reason will become apparent later! It was good to see a few old faces from the MSA EuroClassic events that we’ve done over the last ten years at the start. The selection of cars was also good with a nice range of ages and values… At the Epsom start we were next to a very well presented Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet. It was fresh from winning its class at the Mercedes Owners Club Concours event and was showing off its fabulous black paint work and new red leather interior.
First stop was Longcross proving ground which has a good mixture of fast sweeping corners and a central twisting hilly section. I’ve not had the coupe on a track before so I was interested to see how it would perform. There was plenty of grip from the 185 x 14 Michelins, the body roll is not too bad - but quite noticeable - but the size and weight of the car are not ideal for tight corners! I always really enjoy driving it, and the automatic gearbox is an unexpected joy…it’s easy to drop down a gear instantaneously just by clicking the gear stick back a notch and blipping the throttle. This makes it easy to control the car into a corner.
The trouble is all this driving seemed to have a nasty effect on my daughter who (for the first time) got violently car sick! She decorated the back seat and carpets quite comprehensively…Time for a stop and a change of clothes! The odour did mean the sunroof came in very useful. She recovered quickly and seemed to enjoy the rest of the trip!
The finish at Silverstone was very busy – five routes with 600 cars finishing together - a we managed a couple of laps on the grand prix circuit only to suffer the indignity of being overtaken by Malcolm McKay’s Sierra.
The car ran very well. Replacing the inlet manifold gaskets has made it so much nicer to drive, but I must add a few things to the to-do list; a rattle from the drivers door, a slight chuffing from the exhaust (hopefully the union just needs tightening up) and some new v-belts need to be installed for the steering pump...
As always from the MSA a very well organised event and a lot of fun.
OK so maybe there could have been more effort made at Silverstone, some better catering at the finish would go down a treat, but they are minor gripes…
I hope it runs again next year.
Loads of photos from the event here