Some Surprises at Brighton Rally
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THERE were some surprises among the 1 list of prizewinners at the 1963 British Coach Rally, with some less familiar names taking most of the leading positions. The overall winner, and thereby holder of the title "The Coach of the Year ", was the Bedford-Duple Bella Vega with refrigerated air-conditioning owned by Hastings Coachways Ltd. and briefly described in last week's issue. The only other similarly equipped coach in the country, an A.E.C.-Plaxton Panorama, more predictably carried off the 'principal prize in the Concours • &Elegance for Sheffield United Tours. The weather was a little kinder than for last year's event for, although Saturday was generally very wet, the Concours d'Elegance and final driving tests on Sunday were held in dry weather and tilere • was even some sun for a while. Unfor
tunately the beginning of the prizegiving was again the signal for a downpour.
The entry list was slightly shorter than in 1962, with 52 vehicles, but these included one from Italy, five from the North of England and one from Monmouthshire. The expected Ogle-designed coach from Coras Iompair Eireann did not appear, nor did Stirling Moss, the prizes being presented by Miss Joy Black, " Miss Great Britain ". One looked in vain for the entry of a rearengined Bristol-E.C.W. coach or, for that matter, any other model from a T.H.C. concern. B.E.T. support came from Maidstone and District as well as Sheffield United Tours and Southdown. all these concerns collecting prizes.
Of the vehicles enteied, no fewer than 30 were Bedfords, and of these 11 were SB models, 10 were of-the twin-steering VAL type and the remainder smaller models. Thames Trader and A.E.C. Reliance coaches. numbered nine each and the remaining entries comprised two Leyland Leopards, one Commer and the Fiat which was the Italian entry. PIaxton bodywork was fitted to 22 entries, Duple to 20, the total being made up by Harrington (five), Yeates (two), and Martin Walter, Weyrnann and Sicca (one each).
The framework of the rules for this year's rally and Concours had been revised to clarify the distinction between vehicles of the current length classifications and between special touring coaches and those normally employed on express
and excursion work in this country. On the whole this worked out quite well, and some anomalies that had occurred in 1962 did not recur this year.
No entries in the under-15-ft. class were received, but all the other groups had sufficient entries to ensure adequate competition, and the new 29-33-ft. group had the intended effect of ensuring that the vehicles measuring 31 ft. 5 in. or so ran with the basically similar 30-ft. models rather than the 36-ft. coaches.
It was interesting to note that several 36-ft. models did well in the driving tests,
two being included among the nine coaches which secured the best marks in the Saturday driving tests and thus took part in those which took place on Sunday. One of these was the Whitefriars Coaches Bedford VAL, driven by D. F. Janes, which was the overall runner-up, and the other was Glenton Tours' A.E.C. Reliance 590 with Alpine Continental. Particular credit applied to the latter as the coach had only been purchased a fortnight earlier.
The form of several of the driving tests was altered, including two of those used for the Sunday session. Driving with the nearside wheels passing between two rows of halved tennis balls did not cause much difficulty.
The final test, called "gearing ", involved accelerating through all forward gears to at least .25 m.p.h. and then stopping the coach in the shortest possible distance without using the brakes. A.A.T. •
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