February 2025

Hello all, and welcome to the New Year. Yes, it’s 2025, I don't know where 2024 went, it disappeared in a cloud of rain and a smattering of snow. The garage did not look too inviting, so I spent Boxing Day tidying up the mess and disposing of all the bottles!

Going forward into the New Year, the next event on the list is the New Forest dinner at the beginning of February, which may have gone by time you read this but is always enjoyable and following this is the Daffodil Weekend, the popularity of this event is such that it usually sells out as soon as it is announced.

Just before the Daffodil it will be the Classic Restoration Show at the NEC on 21st – 23rd March, the club discount ticket code is in the members section of the Club website. The show emphasis is on the practical aspects of car restoration so you can see things such as new car ramps or welders that look useful. The barn finds are interesting and show how far the dreaded rust can go when the car is left over a period of time. As we all know, this is a problem which can easily beset our Healeys.

Drive-it-Day this year is on Sunday 27th April in aid of the children’s charity Child Line. Many of our Centres are organising trips out to support this event and a plaque may be purchased from the FBHVC to show the public at large our support for this worthwhile charity. Don’t forget that you don’t have to wait until the day to display your plaque on your car.

The next Scramble event at Bicester is also being held on Sunday 27th April. If you are in the area, it is always a great show to kick off the season, showcasing many companies catering for historic cars.

Always a good idea is to pop along to your local noggin and natter to get a feeling of what is going on in your area. Information on Noggin Meetings can be found on page 1 of RevCounter each month.

Reading the FBHVC report from Robin, we are pleased to see there will be no alteration to the zero-rate V.E.D. on our cars in the historic class. The fuel duty has also not been altered from its current frozen rate; a sigh of relief here.

Elsewhere you will read concerns over any Club Member giving an opinion on a car's value. This can only be spoken about in the concept of insurance valuation with our club representatives and the appropriate caveat; this is a result of the increasingly litigious world we are living in.

Enjoy your first trips out of the year and…

Keep Overtaking! - carefully!