Pre-War Prescott is organized by the Vintage Minor Register.  If you are not yet a member of the VMR, please consider becoming one.  The Register was founded in 2000 to cater for the pre-war overhead camshaft Morris Minors, which nearly everyone had forgotten about, or never knew existed in the first place!  From humble beginnings with just sixty members, the Register grew to incorporate another forgotten model – the pre-war sidevalve Morris Minor, and then the M Type MG, which is somewhat better remembered.

To make up numbers at our annual Summer rallies, we have always invited owners of other pre-war cars to join us, and this included our visits to the hallowed hill of Prescott in the Cotswolds, an event that has grown from a small Register rally in 2003 into Pre-War Prescott – one of the most popular pre-war car events on the British motoring calendar.  As a result, last year the Register formally opened membership to owners of all pre-war cars.  We now have around 260 members in 20 countries, with a mouthwatering variety of cars that survived the War.

The Register will always centre around those forgotten little Morrises and the first MG Midgets, but looking to the future, the open road is the limit – thanks to the overwhelmingly enthusiastic support for both the Register and Pre-War Prescott which is the centrepiece of our annual Summer Rallies.  If you have not already done so, please consider coming aboard the most vibrant, energetic and friendly pre-war car club.  Members both in the UK and further afield enjoy a fifteen Pound discount on their Pre-War Prescott entry, which effectively halves the annual membership subscription.  And if you join now, your membership will be good to then end of 2019.

You can join online here and immediately claim your discount on your Pre-War Prescott 2019 entry.

Tony Gould exits the esses in his 1936 Wolseley Hornet Seber race/road Special – Pre-War Prescott 2016.  (Ian Sky)

We are expecting what may well be the largest gathering of Wolseley Hornet specials to date at Pre-War Prescott 2019 and there will be a Hornet cavalcade up the hill in the lunch break.   We have already received ten Hornet entries and are eagerly awaiting many more, including a large contingent coming from Germany and the Continent that will be participating in Pre-War Prescott and the Scenic Tour on Sunday.

There is a very good reason indeed for this fantastic assembly, but for now, that must remain a closely-guarded secret!  Needless to say, all Hornet owners are strongly encouraged to enter.

 

Spirit of Pre-War Prescott.  Tom Duffin rounds Pardon in his spectacular 1921 Vauxhall 30-98.  Pre-War Prescott 2016.  (Ian Sky)

No scrutineering, no racing licenses, no flameproof overalls, no space-age helmets, so you can actually see the look of concentration on the drivers’ faces.  It just doesn’t get better than this.  28 entries for next July already.  Get yours in now.

Every pre-war car entry for Pre-War Prescott 2019 will include a complimentary five Pound raffle ticket.  There will be a number of mouthwatering prizes including a once-in a lifetime flight experience in a wartime Tiger Moth, courtesy of our good friends at Finest Hour Experiences.  Additional tickets will be available at Prescottt on Saturday morning and the draw will take place in the lunch break.  100% of all funds raised from the raffle will be donated to our designated charity, the RAF Charitable Trust.  With 22 entries already received, we have already raised £110!

Be sure to check back here regularly as we post more great prizes.

We are delighted to report that the Early MG Society is planning to gather at Pre-War Prescott in 2019.  Here we see the Society’s recent gathering in France.  The Bullnose, Flatnose and 18/80 MG’s of the Society will add even more variety to the Paddock scene as we celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the start of production of the M Type MG in 1929.  We will also be welcoming the Dutch MG Group over the weekend, helping to make a tremendous MG assembly.

2019 marks the 90th Anniversary of the start of production of the M Type MG, and as such, the start of the entire Midget-Magna-Magnette sports car revolution of the thirties.  To mark this auspicious anniversary, we are planning, along with the MG Car Club’s MMM Register to mount the largest gathering of M Type MGs in living memory.  The M Types will have a fantastic supporting cast of many other MMM cars, and also early Bullnose, Flatnose and 18/18 MGs that are being entered by the Early MG Society who are planning to join us en masse next July.

And there will be a significant Centenary in 2019, the formation of Morris Motors Ltd., which took place in July 1919.  So we are also extending a special invitation to owners of all pre-war Morrises to join us with their cars at Prescott on Saturday 20th July.  Get your entry in now!

The spirit of Pre-War Prescott.  Colin McLachlan and his 1934 MG PA.  Pre-War Prescott 2018 (Phil Jones)

Entries are now OPEN for Pre-War Prescott 2019!   Normally, this does not happen until October of November, but I have already had so many enquiries that I have updated this website and generated the Entry Page.

There are a number of small changes to the entry arrangements for next year, most of which resulted from lessons learned this year:

• The entry fee has increased from £45 to £50, but this is not a real price increase, because the additional £5 will buy you a £5 ticket in the raffle to be drawn on the day. 100% of the funds raised from the raffle will be donated to the RAF Charitable Trust, Pre-War Prescott’s designated charity.  There will be a number of significant prizes, of which more in the coming months, but I can tell you that the first one to be organized is a scenic or aerobatic (your choice) flight in a Tiger Moth with our good friends at Finest Hour Warbirds (https://www.finesthourexperiences.co.uk/flight-experiences/).  If you have any ideas or suggestions for additional prizes, or have something interesting to offer, please get in touch.  This year, we donated £400 to the RAF CT, funds which were raised from the lunchtime auction.  With tickets being offered as part of the entry package, and around 200 entries, we should be able to make a much more significant donation next year.
• The £30 per car spectator fee is great value if you have a car full of people, but not such good value if you are coming alone.  So this year, we are switching to charging per spectator rather than per car.  There will be no car parking fee, but occupants will be ticketed at £10 per ticket, excluding twelves and under.  I think this will be a much fairer system for everyone.

I think those are the main changes to the entry arrangements, but there will be other minor adjustments to the day to ensure things flow smoothly.  In particular, we will be re-organizing the queueing arrangements for the hill.  This year, with a heavy demand for the hill, we had three queues merging in to one for most of the day and the queue coming down from the top of the Paddock took an inordinate time to reach the gate.  This will be resolved for next year.

The other change to be aware of is that we have been encouraged my many parties to restrict the event to pre-war cars only.  We will retire the ‘course cars’ and we will also cease bending the rules to allow some post-war cars to enter.  With the increasing popularity of the event, I hope that owners of post-war MGs, Alvises, etc. will understand.  Of course, owners of such cars would be very welcome to join us and spectate.

I hope that the above changes will help next year because Pre-War Prescott 2019 is already shaping up to be a tremendous event.  Several one-make clubs, new to Pre-War Prescott, have already declared that they are planning to gather with us and other regularly attending clubs are planning to expand their ‘footprint’, including the Dutch MG Group which is planning another ‘raid’ on us next year, and have twelve cars lined up already.  So it is going to be another tremendous MMM MG turnout.

One club has booked a large lunchtime cavalcade up the hill, but right now, at the request of the club, my lips are sealed!  The Riley Roadster Register, who gathered in the Orchard this year to mark the 70^th Anniversary of their cars is planning to join us again, and this time I think they will be joined by the early post-war Riley RM saloons.  There is plenty of space for post-war clubs to gather in the Orchard if they so wish.  Just let me know so that I can arrange parking accordingly.

Camping arrangements remain unchanged.  Camping is available in the Prescott for £5 per night, payable on the day directly to the Bugatti Owners’ Club office in the Paddock.

Recently I heard from Colin McLachlan a few weeks ago.  Colin drove down with his friend Barbara from Fife in his MG for Pre-War Prescott.  He said that he was disappointed that so few participants dress appropriately for the occasion, as he believes that it would add so much to the atmosphere.  I agree.  He has very generously offered a large engraved pewter quaich as a perpetual prize, and will add several miniature versions to be used as prizes to be retained by the winners of a ‘best dressed’ award for PWP 2019.  I have accepted Colin’s extremely generous offer.  We will be gathering the hopefuls on the start line in the lunch break for judging and photos.  Thanks Colin!

In other Pre-War Prescott news, I have already submitted our request for air support to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.  These requests must be received by the Flight at RAF Conningsby by the end of September.  For the first time, in 2018, our bid was unsuccessful.  This was because the Flight was so stretched this year with the RAF 100 celebrations.  Fingers crossed for next year!

And more good news.  The date for the VSCC race meeting at Cadwell Park has been for Saturday 27^th July next year, so there will be no clash with this event next year.  Good news for the MMM racers!

Stop by here for further event news as planning unfolds.

 

 

Pre-War Prescott 2017 – Mike Jakeman’s D Type rests while Mike goes in search for the clue.

A week today, the Vintage Minor Register’s Navigation Rally and parallel Scenic Tour will head forth from the Prescott paddock to discover some of the most scenic byways, hamlets and country homes of Gloucestershire.  At the time of writing, we have 53 entries, so there are 7 more places.  If you would like to join us, you can pre-book here or come along to the Register marquee in the Paddock next Saturday and sign up.

The Navigation Rally and Scenic Tour both traverse the same route.  However, while the nav rallyists are working out their navigation clues (on OS map 163 this year), the Scenic Tourists can relax and simply follow the clear directions in the 12-page Tour Handbook which is also packed with fascinating historical information on the various places of interest that we will be visiting on the day.  There will be a pub lunch stop and the afternoon run will conclude at the gorgeous Jacobean Stanway House where results will be calculated, awards presented and home-made cream teas and cakes for all.  All this and then we will be treated to a special private launching of the 300 foot gravity fountain – always a highlight of the Pre-War Prescott weekend.

And a week tonight everyone is warmly invited to the Shutters in Gotherington, just along the lane from Prescott for a Farewell evening that will conclude the weekend.

 

A week tonight, next Friday evening, everyone is cordially invited to gather for our traditional Informal Reception for early arrivers, which usually includes a number of overseas visitors, so the evening typically takes on an international flavour.  This year we will gather at the Ye Olde Hobnails Inn at Littte Washbourne, just north of Prescott.  Dating from 1473, this delightful inn is reputed to have been L T C Rolt’s favourite local.  This is a brand new venue for us and comes highly recommended by local member David Hinds.  All welcome from opening time onward and meals will be available until 8-30 p.m.

We are in the final ten day countdown to the biggest and best Pre-War Prescott so far – and our tenth visit to this quintessentially English motorsporting venue.  We have come a long, long way since we gathered sixty pre-war cars in the Paddock in 2003.  But the relaxed, friendly, uncrowded atmosphere is just the same.  As someone noted, Pre-War Prescott is just like VSCC Prescott … fifty years ago!

As of this morning, we have a fantastic 183 entries and are anticipating topping 200 on the day.  We have a tremendous lineup of Centenarian cars, the earliest being Ian Brough’s gorgeous 1902 Warwick Stanhope.

At the other end of the spectrum, we have four modern supercars being brought along by Aston Martin Cheltenham and Cotswold Motorsport.  Blasts up the hill in these iconic cars will be raffled on the day.  And if you want THE CLIMB OF YOUR LIFETIME, in the lunch break we will be auctioning a climb with the legendary Joy Rainey in her brand new 2018 McLaren F570S!  (The 3.8-litre twin turbo V8 develops 562bhp and 443lb ft of torque, and records identical acceleration times to the fabled F1 road car: 0-60 mph in 3.2 seconds and 0-100 mph in 6.3.  So don’t forget to bring your G suit!)

100% of all funds raised by the raffle and the vintage auction will be donated to the RAF Charitable Trust, so we are definitely anticipating some very hot bidding for the McLaren run!

Advance entries will be accepted until midnight next Monday and ticketed by post, along with a free climb.  Thereafter, simply come along on the day and pay at the gate, although there may well be no climbs left by then.  As of this morning, we have just 21 climbs left!

Spectators are also very welcome and get a tremendous deal.  Just £25 covers your car including as many occupants as you can squeeze in!  Park in the Orchard and have unrestricted pedestrian access to the entire paddock and hill.  Bring a picnic, chill the Chardonnay (the forecast is looking hot!) or avail yourself of the multiple catering options available all day.  The main gate opens at 9 a.m.  and Joy Rainey will open the hill at 10 precisely in her McLaren.  Not to be missed!

Enter or book your spectator tickets on the Intergoogle thingy here.