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Autos and Aeros, Banbury Road, Gaydon (2026)

04/05/2026

A car filled (fuelled?) weekend at Donington, Silverstone and Gawsworth Hall!

Saturday was spent at Donington Historic. We were hosted by Pirelli Tyres and got an incredible view of the action on track from the hospitality box! I met great friends and was gifted a Shelsley Walsh poster featuring R4D! Of course I went down and explored the paddock, saw the Alpha Don Lee Special! And an Aston Martin teams car - registered in 1930!

Sunday saw us down at Silverstone again supporting Equipe Classic racing where we were made very welcome! This gave another opportunity to catch up with more friends and see more incredible cars!

Monday (today!) I decided last minute to take Rosie my lovely little Standard Super 10 to a car show at Gawsworth Hall. I arrived late but was let in when they recognised us! What a fantastic car show, from veteran through to super cars - a fantastic meeting! Here I met up again with Shirley and was able to recreate Thelma and Louise in a Star thanks to our good friend Dave Maroney!

We finished the evening off at a lovely Greek restaurant in Knutsford (Stolen Lamb) where Rosie sat being admired by all who passed by!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend too! I’m so happy the season is here again!

26/04/2026

Mr Merlyns 80th birthday celebration!

Despite hoping to bring two very famous Merlyns along to Snetterton this weekend, (a preparer let us down at the very last minute with the other one) we brought along just the one with us - An ex-works Merlyn of North America Mk3 FJ which competed at Sebring and other major US races in 1961.

It was organised in honour of Clive Hayward, who is about to celebrate his 80th birthday next month! So in celebration a Merlyn Parade was organised by the HSCC during the lunch time break. We nominated Benn Tilley to take the wheel and lead the parade, unbeknownst to us, it’s exactly ten years to the day that he first drove a Merlyn!

Colchester Racing Developments (CRD) was a British manufacturer of open-wheel racing cars, best known for producing the Merlyn series of vehicles from 1960 to 1979.
Merlyn was founded by Clive Haywards older brother Selwyn. During this period approximately 400 Merlyn cars were made - with a large amount of those exported to the USA! The most notable driver was Jody Scheckter, who won multiple races in the Mk21 in 1971.

It was brilliant weekend, the weather was beautiful and the company as good as it always is at a race meeting!

I’m sure I will be out on track in a Merlyn myself soon enough…!

20/04/2026

83rd Goodwood Members Meeting 2026

An emotional rollercoaster on and off the track!

Arriving on Friday I was there supporting Adam Sykes and the team as always.
No pit board for me this year as the rules have changed (only one mechanic allowed on the pit wall now!), but I was still trusted with guiding the McLaren M1A to assembly… something I seem to be getting quite familiar with!

Adam qualified P9 on Saturday in the Bruce McLaren Trophy, and the race on Sunday was emotional.
The McLaren narrowly avoided a spinning Lotus 30 early on, and not long after, the exhaust sheared off… which sadly meant an early retirement from the race.

Thankfully everyone involved in the red flag incident during that same lap walked away.

Off the track was just as exciting for me, as I was in my own race… to secure a winning bid!

An absentee bid had been placed in the Bonhams auction happening at the same time as the race… which I won!!!
So I now have 25 more E.R.A badges to add to my collection!

That really was the cherry on top of a great weekend in fantastic company.
I got to witness some incredible racing, see so many beautiful cars, catch up with familiar faces and meet new ones along the way.

Goodwood is indeed glorious.

So here are just a few of my personal highlights…
Whether you were there, watching from home, or have just seen snippets on here, I’d love to know what you enjoyed most!

03/12/2025

This has to be the most difficult ERA to talk about. R8C.

It’s almost the reason those who know a little about ERAs get flustered when you ask “how many ERAs were there? How many are left?” Because this particular ERA complicates things.

That being said, this ERA is one of the best examples of just how iterative and resourceful they were at the time in such a difficult yet pioneering period.

This car isn’t just a collection of parts. It’s part of the timeline that kept being written into the history of the ERA marque.

To put as simply as possible, 20 E.R.A chassis were built. 2 have been lost (tragically R3B, and sadly G type which was driven by Sir Moss) two other recognised cars exist today (one on an original chassis as noted below) and one other. But those are stories for another time!

So here goes! When R4C was converted to R4D, the C chassis was used to convert R8B into R8C. This meant the R8B chassis was spare. When Prince Bira crashed R12C (Hanuman) in Reims, the White Mouse Garage used the B type chassis to covert R12C back to R12B (Hanuman 2) on the spare B chassis.
The discarded crashed C chassis was then used to recreate R12C in the late sixties to be completed in the late eighties.

Beyond that, knowing the seat I sat in has carried the weight of people who shaped motorsport was, as always, an incredible feeling. Francis Earl Howe. Reg Parnell. (Even links to the White Mouse Garage) and Works drivers who lived at full speed in a world that never stood still.

In the early 1980s, Bruce Spollon worked hard to bring R8C back to its original Howe specification, even colour matched as closely as possible. The little details are still being debated! To see it on display and know its story continues is exciting!

It was a privilege to be invited to sit in this seat as always. Thank you to Guy Spollon for the opportunity.

It’s currently on display at The British Motor Museum, where the annual ERA Club dinner was held, which was a delight to attend as always.

23/10/2025

Rosie update!

So Rosie hasn’t been out over summer, when people asked about her the joke became that Rosie and I had something in common. We’re both always right.

That’s because her steering wheel physically wouldn’t turn left! something we discovered in live traffic on the way to car meet in Cheshire. Luckily I managed to pull over safely before she was recovered home.

The problem was the steering column, (not my driving!) which had dropped below the chassis and was catching.

After a bit of head-scratching and some help from the Standard Motor Club for parts and advice, I had an idea what to do, but not the exact fix or the confidence to do it myself.

I first met Chris of Jackson performance service through a friend when he was mid-way through wrapping a very colourful Lamborghini, but I was to find out his attention to detail extends far beyond wrapping and fixing modern supercars. He saw how gutted I was that I couldn’t enjoy driving Rosie, but also knew I liked to get involved. Once the day’s work was done, Chris stayed behind and guided me through each step of the fix.

Having Rosie up on the ramps instead of lying on a cold floor made all the difference, and I learned a lot in the process!

She’s now running beautifully again, ready for the road trips, rallies, and late-night tinkering sessions ahead.

Huge thanks to Chris for his time, patience, and advice to keep her safe for the miles to come!

Are winter car meets a thing? Is there anything Rosie and I can tag along to? Let me know! (She has a heater so the cold doesn’t bother me!)
In the meantime enjoy some photos of her!

13/10/2025

Veteran Car Club Cheshire Cheese Run

It started the night before, with Rosie up on the ramp and me underneath her into the late hours. A small job (but fiddly) revealed a bit of a mission ahead (more on that in another post), but she was back together and ready for the morning drive at least.

Rosie ran perfectly on the way to Crewe, I have missed driving her so much! On arrival was greeted by a car park that felt like stepping back in time. Polished brass, wooden wheels, and early engineering at its very finest!

Morgan had invited me to be his navigator in his daily 1929 Riley 9, and we used every bit of its 1100cc engine. The lanes echoed with the sound of veteran engines and laughter as the convoy rolled through the countryside, following tulip-style directions. Luckily the Cheshire Candles Run earlier in the year helped prepare me for this!

We quickly learnt not to follow the car in front when around twenty of us took the same wrong turn and had to U-turn in formation at one point.

Our first stop was the (not so) Secret Bunker. I had no idea it even existed (the irony isn’t lost). While most went in for tea and biscuits, I found myself staring at four incredible Auto Unions, all owned by the keepers of the bunker. They even let me behind the gates for a closer look.

The afternoon brought more sunshine, cheese tasting, and good conversation. Cars parked, people swapping stories, and that shared passion that makes these events so special.

Days like this remind me why I love the veteran scene so much. The smell of oil, the sound of gears, the faces that light up when the engines start — from drivers and riders to spectators alike.

I don’t have a seat for London to Brighton this year (if you have one, let me know), but I’ll be on Pall Mall the day before soaking it all in and getting as close as I can, as always.

Thank you to the Veteran Car Club and PreWarCar.com and Megan and George for making this experience happen. And Morgan for the invite!

16/09/2025

I am excited to share that I’ve joined working in marketing, to support our Aston Martin and Bentley brands!

It’s brilliant to be part of a family company with Yorkshire roots and a proud racing heritage!

Don’t worry, I will still be here posting about all things autos and aeros… but you may see me in other places too!

28/07/2025

The BRM 75th anniversary celebration at Oulton Park Gold Cup.

Row after row of BRMs in formation on this iconic circuit, along with Hall & Hall, and of course the Owen family. An undoubtedly iconic moment in motorsport history unlikely to be repeated.

Hearing the BRMs fire up, seeing friends driving some of them, and feeling that history come alive as they thundered past on the track… not many things can interrupt me, but the way conversations paused every time the BRMs roared to life says it all!

Being part of a weekend that honoured so much British engineering brilliance (and its connection to E.R.A!) is hard to put into words. Seeing the Owen family and Hall & Hall not just preserving, but running these cars, proves BRM’s story is far from over.

And then came another moment I’ll never forget. Whilst being an absolute fan girl in the BRM tent, I was invited to sit in the 1963 Rover‑BRM gas turbine Le Mans car by the British Motor Museum volunteers. Thank you Jonathan Storer! I felt incredibly and overwhelmingly privileged, I found out I was the sixth person ever to do so since Graham Hill.

This incredible car came from a partnership between Rover and the Owen Organisation, combining Rover’s twin‑shaft gas turbine with a widened BRM Grand Prix chassis (famously crashed by Richie Ginther at Monaco in 1962). It made history at Le Mans in 1963, finishing 8th overall and becoming the first gas‑turbine car ever to finish the race. Later racing in the 2‑litre class with Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart behind the wheel!

To sit where those once sat, in a machine capable of 142 mph with its pioneering turbine engine, was surreal and emotional.

But this was a celebration myself and I’m sure many others will be talking about for a long time!

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22/05/2025

E.R.A - GP2

Today marks 91 years since ERA was unveiled at Brooklands by Raymond Mays, Humphrey Cook and Peter Berthon.

So it feels right to mark the occasion with an ERA post!

Not on a track. Not in motion. Just me, sat quietly but excitedly behind the wheel, revisiting its story in my head and taking in the details (Including the story of the white stag - but I am learning not everyone at race events wants a history lecture when they’re trying to torque wheels or grab a sandwich…)

GP2 (E Type) wasn’t the fastest. It isn’t a car defined by its wins. It’s defined by its survival and resilience.

Completed in 1939, GP2 raced at circuits such as Zandvoort, Goodwood, Silverstone, the Isle of Man and Jersey, recording a few strong finishes… despite having more retirements and non starts due to mechanical issues or failures between then and 1950.

After its final appearance at Silverstone in 1950, GP2 passed through a number of owners and was eventually acquired by the late Gordon Chapman. He began restoring the car in the 1960s and continued his work into the mid 1990s. It then spent time on loan to a museum, almost finished, but not yet complete.

That changed when Jolyon Harrison acquired GP2 and entrusted James Baxter at Tip Top Engineering to complete the job. After 2.5 years of meticulous research and craftsmanship, GP2 returned to the track gloriously in its original specification! It’s no surprise that in 2024, GP2 and the team earned the RAC Historic Restoration Award.

GP2 is special. Because sometimes, it’s not about glory.
Sometimes, just still being here at all is the real achievement.

14/04/2025

RAF Museum Midlands

Dislocated my thumb & fainted, great start!
RAF Midlands was still a great aviation day out. V-Bombers, a Mosquito, a Defiant, and now guided tours - the excitement was clearly too much!

A huge thank you to Steve, Cameron, Peter, & the rest of the incredible team who looked after me when I dramatically fell over, dislocated my thumb & fainted. Not quite the entrance I’d planned!

Did you know RAF Midlands is the only place in the world where you can see all three V-Bombers Vulcan, Victor & Valiant together? It’s something truly special to stand beneath these giants of Cold War history.

It’s also home to the Wolverhampton-built Boulton Paul Defiant, a unique WWII fighter that played a crucial role in night-time bomber interception thanks to its radar capabilities, even after its lack of forward armament saw it withdrawn from daylight operations.

There’s a beautifully preserved de Havilland Mosquito too! Fast, wooden, and versatile, it served as a fighter, bomber, and reconnaissance aircraft. And if you love something a little more unusual, they’ve also got a Bristol 188, the striking, stainless steel research aircraft built to explore supersonic flight! And not forgetting the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel… the Harrier’s fascinating predecessor!

This visit I was especially excited to try their new guided tours: Bomber Command, The Cold War, and Battle of Britain. Naturally, I booked all three. Honestly? it’s the best £30 I’ve spent in a long time! The tours add so much depth and are a fantastic way to support a museum that remains free to enter.

RAF Midlands is high on my recommendation for you to visit for the huge scale and diversity of the collection. They even have virtual reality machines! (Sadly I couldn’t ride them due to fainting earlier) You get the full immersive experience here.

When I go back (which I will be doing!) what would you like to see me post more of? Let me know in the comments!

Autos and Aeros

04/05/2026

26/04/2026

20/04/2026

03/12/2025

23/10/2025

13/10/2025

16/09/2025

28/07/2025

22/05/2025

14/04/2025

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