Association of ABC Enthusiasts
NEWSLETTER No. 1008, Apr. 2014
WHERE HAVE ALL THE ABCs GONE?
We know that about 2000 Sopwiths were manufactured, and that about 200 are left: so whatever happened to the other 1800? Surely a matter worth pondering?
It seems to me that the evident attrition occurred in two phases: the first was when the machines were fairly new and the second took its toll as they achieved relative old age.
To address the first: I ascribe this to Over-Exuberant Racing. Whether the resultant mechanical carnage was more due to Running out of Road or to Excess Throttle-Bending I cannot say. Anyway, the former researched the Crumpling Loads of Frame and Forks, and the latter demonstrated the Ultimate Tensile Strength of Pistons, Con-rods and Crankshaft.
Machines in the Stewardship of Restrained Riders would have survived to the second phase. Tired, travel-stained and worn out, they would have been laid aside, with an uncertain future. (a) Some went to The Tip, possibly for Proto-Recycling, but otherwise for Interment in Embryo Landfill Sites. (b) Some went to a Motorcycle Knackers Yard, for the picking of the good bits from their carcases, en route to re-sale as Genuine (Snide & Shark) Spares, or similar. (c) Some were simply dismantled by their keepers, for repair/refurbishment/"restoration" at unspecified future dates. In this condition, however, rusty old frames and forks were particularly vulnerable as Provision of Suitable Material for the Infilling of Holes in Hedges, or as Reinforcement for Concrete Foundations. Engines were slightly more adaptable, if they still worked at all, and could be pressed into Alternative Applications such as the Generation of Power for Circular Saws or even Cement Mixers. Otherwise, they too could finish up under the Crazy Paving, or as Anchors for Boat Buoys.
Some machines - a Favoured Few - escaped all such fates, to become the Core of our Present-Day Possessions. But at ten-to-one against, it was a Close Shave!
Keith has been in negotiation with The Taverners, organisers of the Founders Day event at Stanford Hall, this year scheduled for Sunday 20th July, with an eye to securing an ABC pitch. He says that we could be in for some free-entry tickets: watch this space. Stanford might lack the cachet of a Brook-lands, but it's nonetheless a good show, with a large autojumble, and maybe even some ABC spares!
One more call on behalf of Steve Hall, for a rear hub for his re-creation of a Sopwith machine, before he feels forced to start cutting fresh metal…
And now for something different: the photo of an ABC APU comes from Kim Siddorn, who writes, "I don't have an ABC motorcycle but I do have a pretty complete collection of ABC engines and APUs. Three WW1 units, two pre-WW2 MkI Lord Ridley-designed units, three WW2 ex-Short Sunderland Mk II units and two vee-four "Bee" engines as used in the Beverley transport aircraft. I also have a Skootamota engine and an Inglis generator. I would like to obtain a WW1 "Firefly" APU and would be delighted to hear from anyone who wishes to dispose of one." Kim is the author of the book briefly reviewed in Newsletter No. 1006: the photo is of one of Kim's own engines that doesn't appear in his book. (He supplied me with more shots of this engine, which I can forward to any interested parties).
The next shot is an uncropped version of one of the photos that appeared in the VMCC Journal for November 2013 (page 43) in my "Seeing Double" article, which certainly indicates an earlier French connection than the Sopwith/Gnome et Rhone one that we all know about.
Circulation of this Newsletter is 17. The updated Membership List is being circulated in parallel.
