- Spent 50,000 on restoring Vauxhall Prince Henry in his garage
- Started project in Bedfordshire in 1998 and later moved it to Scotland
|
A father of four hit the road in Britain's first sports car after spending 12 years and 50,000 on lovingly restoring it to its former glory.
Alisdaire Lockhart, 67, painstakingly tracked down some of the last surviving original parts to rebuild the 100-year-old Vauxhall Prince Henry.
Mr Lockhart, from Selkirk in Scotland, then took an epic 620-mile trip through Sweden in the historic vehicle, following the route of Vauxhall founder Percy Kidner’s Great Swedish Winter Reliability Trial of 1912.
Mean green machine: Alisdaire Lockhart invested 50,000 in lovingly restoring the 100-year-old Vauxhall Prince Henry to its former glory
One of a kind: The 67-year-old car enthusiast has just completed a four-day drive across Sweden in the vintage vehicle
The retired university administrator spent four days driving from Gothenburg to Stockholm and back home in the gleaming vintage car.
He said: ‘It was fantastic driving the car in Sweden, especially because I have spent so long renovating every single detail of it using original parts which are extremely rare.
‘It drives superbly so I am very pleased. It was a once in a lifetime journey.’
Mr Lockhart bought the car as a rusting shell in 1998 and began restoring in in his garage, hunting down spare parts made in 1911 and 1912 to make his prized possession look like new.
‘In total we covered 620 miles in 22 hours of driving time spread over four days,’ said Mr Lockhart.
History buff: Mr Lockhart followed the route travelled by Vauxhall founder Percy Kidner during the Great Swedish Winter Reliability Trial of 1912. Pictured, Mr Kidner at the Standard Hotel in Norrkoping
‘With the open roads and low volume of traffic in Sweden, it was easy to cruise at 60mph without any mechanical trouble.
‘I love putting things to together and making them work. I have restored a few old Vauxhalls but this one was special because there are only five left in the world including mine – though mine is the only one with original parts.’
With a 21 horsepower, three-litre engine, the Vauxhall Prince Henry is thought to have been the first British-made car capable of reaching 100mph.
Mr Lockhart meticulously fixed every detail of the car to make it the only roadworthy model left in Britain.
He began work at his then home in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, before transporting his labour of love on the back of a trailer to his new home in Selkirk with his Scottish wife Patricia, 60, five years ago.
Prized possession: The retired university administrator bought the car as a rusting shell in 1998 and restored it in his garage, hunting down spare parts made in 1911 and 1912
Years of care: With a 21 horsepower, three-litre engine, the Vauxhall Prince Henry is thought to have been the first British-made car capable of reaching 100mph
He finally finished the car earlier this year before taking it on its maiden marathon on May 21.
He completed the route and posed with the car in the exact same spot as Percy Kidner outside the former Standard Hotel in Norrkvping, Sweden.
He said: 'We drove along the southern route of the original event, through Jonkoping and Linkoping, arriving in Stockholm on the Tuesday or a reception where the car was photographed with the original trophies for the event.
'The car was then driven back to Gothenburg by the northern route for the return to the UK on May 27. It was the first British Sports car and it must have been very impressive in its heyday.'
London 2012: bus drivers vote to strike during Olympic Games - The Guardian
Thousands of London bus workers have voted to go on strike during the Olympics if they do not receive a bonus of £500.
Members of the Unite union voted for industrial action by a ratio of nine to one. The union is seeking the bonus for the 20,000 bus workers it represents, claiming that other transport workers have been paid a premium for working during the event.
The ballot allows the union to name the date for a strike but they have not yet named a date. Unite said it was giving the bus companies a final opportunity to consider the "landslide" ballot result before announcing possible strike dates early next week.
At least 800,000 extra passengers are predicted to use London's buses during the Olympics.
Unite official Peter Kavanagh said negotiations had been going on for a year.
"Our members are only asking for an extra £17 a day which will just about buy you a pint of beer and a portion of fish and chips at the Olympics. Our members want the Games to be a success but their patience has run out," he said.
"We have given Transport for London and the bus operators almost a year to resolve this issue. Every single London transport worker in London will receive a reward to recognise their major contribution to this historic occasion except for London's bus workers."
London 2012 - London bus workers vote strike - Yahoo! Eurosport
Thousands of London bus workers have voted to take strike action in a row over increased workload during the forthcoming Olympics and Paralympics.
Nearly 40 per cent of Unite members, working for 21 bus companies, voted 94 percent in favour of industrial action, although no dates have been set.
They want a 500 bonus to cover their services, with 800,000 extra passengers expected during the Games, and a union official claims their "patience has run out" with bus companies.
They also pointed out that workers on London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railways, Network Rail and Virgin would all receive between 500 to 900 in extra payments.
Peter Kavanagh, Unite regional secretary for London, said: "It's a disgrace that London's mayor, Boris Johnson, and the bus companies have allowed this dispute to get this far.
"Our members are only asking for an extra 17 a day which will just about buy you a pint of beer and a portion of fish and chips at the Olympics.
"Our members want the Games to be a success but their patience has run out."
Transport for London claim the issue must be settled by private bus companies and insist additional hours would be covered by existing overtime arrangements.
London 2012: New personal best for Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield - The Sport Review
Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield produced a stunning personal best as they won the national 10m synchro diving title in Sheffield.
And the pair believe there is still plenty of room to improve after posting a total score of 475.77 to also secure their Olympic selection.
“To come out of the World Series as overall champions and then come here and set a new personal best is great,” said Daley.
“Everyone is very excited for the announcement of the Olympic team on Monday, so everyone’s come to the Championships in the best shape they can be.”
European champions Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow won the women’s 10m synchro title – although they were the only pairing entered.
Together they’ve enjoyed a year to remember already, winning bronze at the FINA World Cup before continuing their success last month in Eindhoven.
And despite no opposition, they also bettered their previous personal best score, setting a 327.18 British record in the process.
“With the PB everything is going to plan and we’re working really hard,” said Couch. “I dropped one of my dives, so it wasn’t the best we can do – if I’d got that it could have been 330 or more.”
Defending champions Nick Robinson-Baker and Chris Mears won gold in the men’s 3m wynchro to increase their chances of being selected for Team GB this summer.
“This is exactly where we need to be at this point, with the Olympics coming up,” said Mears.
“We’ve put in a great performance, and done some really nice dives, and that’s really positive looking forward to the Games and the selection on Monday.”
Robinson-Baker added: “I feel in the best possible position I could be in physically and mentally. Since Beijing, we’ve come on a long way.
“We just need to get strong, get fit and mentally set to compete in the next 50 days.”
© Sportsbeat 2012
London Bus Workers Back Olympic Strike Over Bonus - lbc.co.uk
Saturday 9th June 2012
Thousands of London bus workers have voted to go on strike in a row over extra payments for working during the Olympic Games.
The union wants a one off payment of 500 for its 20,000 bus drivers claiming they're the only public transport workers not to be getting a London 2012 bonus this summer after deals were done with London Underground, Overground and DLR staff.
At least 800,000 extra passengers are predicted to use London's red buses during the Games which start next month.
Unite says its now giving the 21 London bus operators, including Go Ahead, Stagecoach, London United, Arriva, Metroline, First and Abellio and Transport for London a final opportunity to consider this 'landslide' result in favour of strike action before the union announces possible strike dates early next week.
Unite regional secretary for London, Peter Kavanagh, said "There are only seven weeks until the Olympics and the whole world is watching London. It's a disgrace that London's mayor, Boris Johnson, and the bus companies have allowed this dispute to get this far.
"Our members are only asking for an extra 17 a day which will just about buy you a pint of beer and a portion of fish and chips at the Olympics.
"Our members want the Games to be a success but their patience has run out. We have given TfL and the bus operators almost a year to resolve this issue. Every single London transport worker in London will receive a reward to recognise their major contribution to this historic occasion except for London's bus workers."
Transport for London have previously said the dispute is not anything to do with them as the workers are employed by private companies.
"Their pay and conditions are set by those companies" says Leon Daniels TFL's Managing Director of Surface Transport. "If bus drivers are required to work additional hours they are always paid ovetime."
One of the bus company's has told LBC 97.3's Olympics Correspondent John Cushing its already offered 'extra payments' for staff who're doing extra shifts and cancelled holidays during the Games.
"We have never said that we will not speak about extra payments and we have formally advised Unite that we will be making extra payments for staff who are relocating or moving holidays during the period of the Olympics" a Metroline spokesman said.
London 2012: London bus drivers vote to strike over bonuses - BBC News
Bus workers in London have voted to take strike action in a row over their workload during the Olympics.
Nearly 40% of Unite members working for 21 bus companies voted 94% in favour of strike action. No dates have been set.
The union, which is asking for a £500 bonus, says bus workers are the only London transport workers not to receive an Olympics bonus payment.
Transport for London (TfL) said it was disappointed but workers were employed by private firms who set their pay.
Dates for strike action could be announced early next week.
Unison says it expects 800,000 extra passengers to travel on buses during the Games.
It said workers on London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railways, Network Rail and Virgin would all receive between £500 to £900 in extra payments.
In May, a survey of 2,955 London bus and rail passengers commissioned by the union found that 88% were in favour of Olympic bonus pay.
'Completely reprehensible'Peter Kavanagh, Unite regional secretary for London, said: "It's a disgrace that London's mayor, Boris Johnson, and the bus companies have allowed this dispute to get this far.
"Our members are only asking for an extra £17 a day which will just about buy you a pint of beer and a portion of fish and chips at the Olympics.
"Our members want the Games to be a success but their patience has run out."
Leon Daniels, TfL's managing director of surface transport, said: "I am not surprised that 70% of London's bus drivers did not vote for strike action.
"That is because about 70% of London's local bus services are not affected by the Olympic Games.
"The whole country is really entering into the spirit of the Games and the overwhelming responsible majority are pulling out all the stops to make it a huge success.
"Only Unite appears to want to exploit it by adding a further multimillion-pound burden to the hard-pressed fare-payers and taxpayers of London."
Mr Daniels added that Unite had already negotiated binding deals for pay and conditions with each of the bus companies for this year.
"Attempting to tear up those agreements and get a new one with less than 50 days to go before the Games is completely reprehensible and out of step with every other provider of services in this city this summer."
Looks great, after all that hard work enjoy it.
- james, merseyside, 09/6/2012 13:48
Report abuse