The Gold & Silver Anniversary Rally

The Gold & Silver Anniversary Rally 12th - 16th June - 2003 Pevensey - A community with over 2000 years of history behind it. It has a castle that was originally built by the Romans, abandoned by them in 410AD, then used as a local administration centre by the Britons (until a massacre by the Saxons took place following a siege of the place. Apparently not "one Briton was left"), abandoned again, and then moved in by the Normans in 1066 as a sort of base camp, improved by them, and then left to fall down.
	The first Norman church (built in 1080) is in Pevensey, and a long line of quaint, Elizabethan style houses forms the main street, along with two pubs, a chip shop on the corner, and, oh yes, a load of Isetta's parked on the street!
And what a corker this rally proved to be! I arrived on the Thursday night, having trailered the Isetta down the A1 and around the M25. There were another couple there already, though, unfortunately, bubbleless as their car had had dynastart problems, but it was really nice to be greeted with a cup of tea after a long drive. Then bubble decamped, tent up, and the myriad of unpacking that has to go on to get set up (Why do I bring so much stuff?) And then a walk to the local pub in Pevensey for a pint of Tetley's bitter. Now, I don't normally drink, but that pint really went down great, I can tell you.
Friday I was up early as I was determined to cook a bacon sandwich. One of the things about camping that really gets to me is when you are chewing on your piece of bread, or drinking your cornflakes off of your knee is the smell of really delicious crispy bacon being fried from somewhere downwind. It always smells fantastic, and so, sad as I am, I was determined to achieve two things that morning;A) have a really nice set up for the day breakfast; and B) upset everybody downwind. Actually the only thing downwind at that time was a magnificent peacock (more about him later!) And two pot bellied pigs (who probably were upset!) Having washed up and got tidied away we were greeted by the sight of another Isetta, this one a local from Seaford just down the road, turning up, and by 11am we were all off and heading for Rolvenden, navigating down the back roads around Battle and Sandhurst.
	The C.M.Booth historic three wheel vehicle museum in Rolvenden is well worth a visit. Mostly it has Morgans, but the other paraphernalia from yesteryear, as well as a 1936 folding caravan is most impressive.The caravan is made of wood, weighs over seven hundred weight, and you won't be towing it with an Isetta any time soon. The advert for it showed it being towed by an Austin 7, but, as the curator pointed out, the advert didn't show it STOPPING with an Austin 7 on the front.
Greeting us there was Jean Hammond. She has known Chris Booth, who runs the museum, for a while, and after a look round the museum and a pub lunch, Jean invited us back to her place to see Edwin's collection of micro cars. I forgot to count how many micro cars there are in the collection, but there is a lot, I can tell you. Some in different states of repair, some pristine, and some, quite obviously not yet started on. I don't think the photographs do justice to the size of it.

When we got back to the rally field, around 6pm, we found Bob & Jenny Crompton, Neil & Jan Bain, and a whole host of others setting up and beginning that evening task of homo sapien, the foraging of food (well, a quick drive to the pub and the chip shop actually). Bob and I then went into Brighton to reconnoitre the area and to drill and mount the plaque. The first drive around Brighton was done from memory , as I had been there last year. We found the factory site again in New England Street, but the route was a bit awkward, so, after drilling, rawl plugging and mounting the plaque on the wall, which we then promptly unscrewed and took away again, we had a couple of practice trips around Brighton until we had got the route sorted out. Eventually it turned out to be really easy. Drive along the A27 until you get to the church at the end, turn right and immediate left, and the factory is virtually in front of you. It turned out to be very close to the centre of Brighton, just a couple of hundred yards, in fact, although up quite a steep hill.
We all met up with the others again at the campsite around 8pm and, to describe it accurately, sat in a large circle around a bin bag, drinking wine and talking, but it was actually a really good laugh, and we continued to sit in a large circle and drink wine until, gosh, was it really midnight? Saturday morning dawned rather early for me - 2am to be precise. That flaming peacock squawked seemingly in my ear and woke me bolt upright. After that I couldn't get back off to sleep, so at 2.30 I went and had a shower, and then had a read until it got daylight. Breakfasted, washed up, and the car filled with petrol we waited on the campsite for the local members to arrive before setting off along the A27 to Brighton. Lee Turnham turned up in his turbo charged Smart car, and, of course, it had to be compared with the other Smarts of Bob & Neil's for performance comparison purposes you understand. Rather craftily, I thought, Lee positioned his car on the mown grass, Bob's car was just on the edge of it, and Neil's was sat in the long grass of the unmown part of the field. On "Go" Lee roared off, Bob moving sedately after him, whilst poor old Neil sat stationary with the wheels spiining!
With the local cars arrived as well, the cavalcade of bubbles and Smarts set off at 11am, and we were well on course for a planned 12 noon arrival until one of the bubbles had an abberation and conked out! A minor problem, as it turned out, since that car had decided to dispense with any adjustment at the slutch arm, and, once re-adjusted, we were all back on the road. As we approached Brighton itself, the cavalcade, which had spread out somewhat, naturally began to compact up again, and it must have been quite a sight for those people waiting there as the line of Isetta's climbed up the hill and parked outside of the former factory.
We were greeted by Leonard White, the former Secretary of Isetta of Great Britain, and by a former assembly line worker, Gary Cook. Gary had worked at the factory for around 18 months in 1960-61, and his job had been to take the running chassis immediately after the engines had been fitted, fill the engines, gearboxes, transmissions and swing arms with oil, put the drums on the brakes and fill and bleed the hydraulic systems. He told us that they worked in two's. Bob Crompton had already arrived as well, as it had been his task to drive ahead and screw the plaque back onto the wall.
Steve Hurn had arrived, as well as Bill Houghton and his fiancee Ruth, the press were there from the Brighton Argus, and, all told, there were probably 40 - 50 people there for the unveiling, which was conducted by Leonard. Leonard told the assembly that you could buy an Isetta in 1960, for cash, for around œ300, but if you went into any of the dealers and filled in the HP paperwork, it was possible to drive away in a brand new Isetta for just £10! An incredible deal in 1960.
	Leonard unveiled the plaque, and then had his photograph, along with Gary's, taken alongside the plaque. Then, it was line the cars up time for the photo shoot. Eventually, after around an hour and a half, and after upsetting a rottweiller of a little man, who barked at us from his side of the fence, we packed up, said goodbye to Leonard and Gary, and continued on the rest of the excursion.
Gary, though, had been talking to Steve Hurn, and had told him that "I've got a couple of Isetta engines in my garage. Do you want them?" Now before you start adding two and two together and making 37, these weren't engines that Gary had walked out of the factory with 40 years earlier. No, it turned out that his son had owned an Isetta around 20 years ago and it had had a blown up engine it it. Gary and his son had found a couple of engines in the locality and had cobbled together a working engine from the three that they now had. These two were the bottom ends of what was left. Steve spent the afternoon with Gary and the club has gratefully taken his engines into useful stock.
From Brighton the cavalcade joined the A259, and we headed for Beachy Head along the very pretty coast road. A pub lunch an d a walk to the cliff top revealed a wonderful view from the top of the 560 foot cliffs, down along the Seven Sisters. It is also a very popular departure point for some people, as a dried out bunch of flowers tied to the fence commemorated, as well as the signs telling you that the Samaritans are only a phone call away. It was a poignant thought for all of us as we stood there.
	Around 4.30pm we headed back to the campsite where we finished off the evening with the club BBQ, ably cooked by Bob and Neil (Slight exaggeration, folks, Bob did the cooking, Neil drank his beer, but he was there to share the experience).Mike & Jackie from Seaford turned up again, and Jackie had made a 50th birthday cake for the Isetta's which, after the single candle was blown out, was cut into slices and despatched. Madam Editoress just about managed a slice as the photo shows.

Unfortunately, as the sun went down, so a slightly cold wind came up, and it brought with it a chill which dampened the groups ardour somewhat. No sitting out until midnight this time but a relatively early night.
Sunday leapt on us with a blaze of sun shine, oh, and that darned peacock screaming in my ear hole. Still, 6.30 in the morning beats the queue for the shower, so I was breakfasted and ready to go on the last jaunt of the rally, a trip to Bentley wildfowl park and motor museum.
		This proved to be 17 miles away, a mere jaunt for an Isetta, and the members that attended enjoyed the car museum, the ducks and geese, and all the other stuff there. The house is especially nice, with lots and lots of duck paintings. Also, the hand painted wall paper in one of the rooms that dated from the 17th Century. If you ever get another chance, do pop in.
Arriving back at the campsite at 4pm, the only members stopping to the next day were Neil & Jan Bain, who took the opportunity to go pink and crispy under a blazing sun. We decided to finish off what was left of the BBQ food from the previous night, which we fried this time (the BBQ being too much effort) and then retired for an earlyish night as a damp and cool mist descended on us. The next morning it was put the car on the trailer, descend the tent and head off for home. On a personal note I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who put so much effort in to make this a brilliant rally weekend. The number of people who wanted to attend a historic moment in the history of the Isetta was gratifying and I would like to thank you all for making this a most enjoyable event. Richard Jones.