Essex Meet August 17th 2016

KPD goes to Essex

This was the first time I had been out in KPD (aka Keep Passionate Driving) for a couple of months and I knew it would be a laugh, if not pleasurable. I was not disappointed. We left the heights of north London in good time to saunter out to the folds of rural Essex. All was well until we hit the badlands of the Lea valley when the front brakes started to bind on. Simon cursed me and said it only happened when I was in the car, but he kicked the pedal a few times and pressed on until we had to pull over in Woodford with smoke billowing out from both wheel arches. A couple of gallons of water through the front wheels (lots of steam!) and all were freed-off, and away we went, choosing the M11 route on the basis that you don’t need brakes on the motorway.

From Junction 7 the quiet bending lanes of Essex in the evening light were lovely and KPD complemented the scene. We were in time to call by at Matching Church, which is picture-postcard pretty, and after a photo call and blessing the clock struck eight, and we turned to the Chequers at Matching Green to meet up with fellow Lancisti.

Our arrival at the pub was a bit disconcerting – cars parking all over the place and a shortage of spaces. Simon found a spot at the front by a 2000HF and reversed in. I first thought the shrieks from the locals were in awe and delight at KPD, but alas they were simply complaining about spoiling the view and upsetting their dinners! Such lack of understanding should not go unnoticed.

The light was fading fast and although a full moon was rising, it was too dark to take many photos. Fellow LMC members were found clustered silently around Colin Clamp’s perfect Flavia Sport, looking absolutely right in deep Lancia blue. The audacious Zagato lines of this car looked almost muted in comparison with a really vulgar modern Bentley convertible parked alongside. I am not familiar with modern Bentley variants – maybe this is a special Essex ‘Bre*it’ edition. Other Lancias dotted around included Tim Heath’s ‘Stratos’ a pair of Deltas and then under cover of darkness a nice Fulvia Coupe appeared, to be followed by Andy Tait in his Flavia Vignale. This was the first time I had seen this Vignale since I had admired it at my first Flavia gathering in 1985 – it still looks good. Sorry to have missed seeing the Montecarlo and the Gamma.

The Chequers is a very popular pub/ restaurant and is superbly located on the side of the huge village green. It was very busy last evening and not such a congenial place for a ‘noggin & natter’, but it was good to catch up a bit with old friends standing around in the car park, while edging out of the way of seemingly massive big black Land Rovers. I wonder, do they make a special Essex edition of these too? Through all of this I was slightly disappointed that as far as I could tell, nobody actually ventured over to have a close look at KPD. Perhaps it was a question of silent awe and adoration from a distance.

Our return journey was uneventful. The moonlight illuminated our swift passage through the dark winding lanes of the Essex weald with only the faintest of tyre squeals round the bends and passing alongside slumbering big black barns. Then an easy cruise back down the M11, while I was thinking how much nicer that car would cruise if it had longer legs, and while Simon was working out how he could convert the space on the console below the heater to take a slot-in sandwich toaster so that we could enjoy cheese toasties on the move.

Thank you Essex (and Simon) - here’s to the next time!

Colin

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