Flight's Win at Brighton
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HIGHLY placed among award winners at coach rallies over the past few years have been Flight's Tours, Ltd. At the 1960 British Coach Rally they won the Concours d'Elegance and last year they were runners-up in . the rally as a whole. In this year's event they were the overall .winners, thereby obtaining the Brighton Trophy, which carries with it the title: "The Coach of the Year." The prizewinning coach, a 36-ft.-long A.E.C. Reliance 470 with Plaxton Panorama bodywork, with the same driver, Mr. F. K. Flight, was also runner-up at the National Coach Rally at Blackpool last month. It is noteworthy that Flight's is a comparatively small concern with about a dozen vehicles.
For the first time since Brighton became the terminating point of the British Coach Rally in 1956, the weather was predominantly wet. Even so, a surprisingly large number of people assembled to watch the driving tests, Concours d'Elegance and prizegiving held on Madeira Drive on Saturday and Sunday (May 5-6).
The entry list was somewhat shorter than that of last year with 56 coaches instead of approximately 70. No entries came from the Continent this year and only four from the North of England. Support from British Transport Commission concerns was once again conspicuous by its absence. The B.E.T. group was represented only by Sheffield United Tours, Ltd., and Southdown Motor Services, Ltd., both of whom secured major prizes, however. , The breakdown of the entry list into makes revealed that Bedford and Thames were the most numerous chassis makers, with 19 vehicles each, followed by A.E.C. with nine and Leyland with three entries. Plaxton bodywork was the most popular, being fitted to 21 of the entries, followed by Duple (17) and Harrington (six).
As before, the entry list was dominated by new coaches, some of which had evidently barely entered normal service. It was, therefore, rather pleasant to note the entry by Best B24 and Sons, of Wembley, which comprised a Dennis and two Sentinels dating from 1952-1954. Even more significant was the manner in which the drivers of the two Sentinels, J. Lowe and A. H. Best, secured first and second places in their class in the driving tests.
The extension of the maximum permitted overall dimensions to 36 ft. X 8 ft. 21 in. since last year's event and the increased interest in small coaches caused a much wider spread of sizes among the entries. Eight of the A.E.C.s and one of the Leylands were of the new maximum size, whilst at the other end of the scale there were five Bedford VAS models and one J2, as well as the Thames-Kenex 25-seater described elsewhere in this issue.
The road section was not as adversely affected by the weather as the later events, although the coaches had t contend with many miles of wet roads. Two coaches ar understood to have been involved in a minor "shunt which put them out of the rally.
The driving tests on Saturday afternoon and Sunda afternoon generally followed the pattern of the previou year, although the wet road surface meant that fierc braking was more unpredictable in its effects.
The title of "Coach Driver of the Year," obtained b gaining the highest marks in the road section and drivin tests, was won by M. C. Pulford, driving a Bedford VAS model with Plaxton 22-seater body. He performed th tests in the deceptively easy-going manner of the expert.
Also praiseworthy were the efforts f F. Holden, who won the over-30-ft.mg class in the driving tests with a outhdown 28-seater Leyland. This oach was, in fact, the overall runner-up in the rally as a ?hole, whereby winning the Rawlings Trophy. It had an verall length of 31 ft. 5 in. and was noteworthy in these ays of " gimmick " furnishings as being a\vehicle in which Ele interior space was entirely devoted to exceptionally omfortable forward-facing seats. W. P. Bo stock, runnerp in the driving test for over-30-ft. vehicles, deserves
mention, however, as he was at the wheel of a 36-ft.-long coach. This was an A.E.C. Reliance 470 of E. J. Rostock, of Congleton, one of the few North of England entries.
Sheffield United Tours, Ltd., could, with their long experience of coach rallies, be predicted as being among the winners. True to form, they secured the Clacton Trophy with the 36-ft.-long Plaxton-bodied Reliance. A.A.T.