Middlesex County Automobile Club
A historic motor club based in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire.
The Middlesex County Automobile Club is a motor club based in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. It originated in 1905 and has been involved in competitive motoring events since its early years. The club is notable for its long history and its role in representing motorists' interests.
Quick Facts
- Founded
- 1905
- Original name
- North London Car Club
- First president
- Col. Henry Ferryman Bowles
- First recorded event
- 27 May 1905
- First competitive event
- 5 May 1906
- Current location
- Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire
Facts from the source article.
Formation
The club began in early 1905 when a small group of young businessmen and professionals met at The Fox Hotel in Palmers Green, north London, and decided to form a motor club named The North London Car Club (NLCC). Upon discovering that the North London Cycle Club already existed, they quickly changed the name to the North London Automobile Club (NLAC). The club committee invited Col. Henry Ferryman Bowles MA MP JP, a direct descendant of the 6th Earl of Macclesfield, a founder member of the Middlesex County Council, Chairman of the Enfield Bench, and Conservative MP for the Enfield Division, to be the first President. He remained in office for 38 years until his death in 1943. Among the first vice-presidents were The Hon. Rupert Guinness, heir to the Guinness brewing business, ADC to King George V and an MP, and Mr. A.W. Gamage, founder of Gamages store in Holborn. Initially affiliated to the Motor Union (MU), a subsidiary of the Automobile Club of Great Britain (later the RAC), the NLAC changed its name to the North Middlesex AC (NMAC) in January 1908 after the MU broke away from the RAC at the end of 1907. On 1 January 1909, the club joined the RAC Associates scheme. The first recorded motoring event took place on Saturday 27 May 1905, followed by eight more runs that year. The first competitive event, a Production Car Trial, occurred on Saturday 5 May 1906 and was won by the Hon. Secretary, Mr. Chas Smith, in his 12 hp Darracq. On Saturday 19 May 1906, a speed-judging contest for the Gamage Challenge Cup was the first co-promoted event, in conjunction with the Southern Car Club. Although the Southern Car Club won that event, the NMAC won the next three, retaining the Gamage Cup in perpetuity; it remains the oldest cup in the club's collection.
Between the Wars
By 1920, the club’s membership had climbed back to about 300, and it got back to work sharing the opinions of Middlesex motorists with the county council. Starting in 1926, the club put on a combined Speed Trial and Hill Climb at Brooklands, drawing in plenty of famous racers. At the 1927 event, George Eyston took the 50 Miles Handicap, while Mrs Victor Bruce—a club member who once held 17 world records—won the Ladies’ Cup in the hill climb. Dr. Dudley Benjafield, one of the Bentley Boys, claimed the Kensington Cup for the fastest time, a trophy he kept winning every year from 1926 to 1930 and again in 1932. He joined the club’s committee in 1927 and stayed involved in its management until at least 1939. The following year, Mrs. Bruce and Dr. Benjafield both repeated their cup wins, and Capt. Archibald Frazer-Nash came third in the Middlesex Short Handicap. In 1929, the club made Capt. Malcolm Campbell a Vice-president; he stayed a member until his death in 1948, having been knighted in 1931. By late 1930, membership stood at 852, and the club was calling itself the second biggest of its kind in the UK. The RAC recognized its importance by letting the MCAC put a permanent representative on its Associates Committee, an honor given to only five clubs. Into the 1930s, the club’s political sway faded, even with 16 MPs serving as Vice-presidents. Still, its 18-person committee ran as many as 15 events most years, the standout being the 100 Miles Reliability Trial, held every year from 1907 to 1939 without a break except during the war.
Post-War
By the start of 1946, membership had fallen to just over 200, many having joined solely for RAC membership benefits at advantageous rates. Motoring was no longer the preserve of the privileged, and the appeal of motor clubs diminished dramatically in the post-war years. The club entered a long period of stagnation during the 1950s and 1960s, with few events organised due to petrol rationing and new laws that reduced the ability to promote road rallies. The MCAC survived by holding social functions and a few road events when petrol supplies allowed, supplemented by gymkhanas, driving tests, and production car trials toward the end of the 1960s. The second President, Lord Brabazon, died in 1964 and was succeeded by The Marquess of Donegall, who instituted the annual Donegall Award.
Rebirth
In 1969, a handful of rally enthusiasts took a wreck from a scrapyard and turned it into a car for the 1970 RAC Rally. That project sparked a revival for the club, which had been stuck in a routine for years. It led to a near-unbroken streak of individual and team entries in that rally ever since, along with many class and team wins. The work sessions for that first RAC Rally also created regular weekly social gatherings, which still happen today. In 1975, the club’s third president died. Neale Alexander, the son of a founding member and a former Treasurer, Secretary, and Vice-president for nearly four decades, took over. The fourth president died in 1986, and Adrian L’Estrange—a former Treasurer, Membership Secretary, and Vice-president who joined in 1964—succeeded him. In 1982, MCAC became the first UK motor club to field a team of three cars in the East African Safari Rally. In 1986, two members placed 3rd and 4th in the Himalayan Rally. Through the 1990s, several members regularly competed in UK international and Belgian national events. In 2000, the club entered ten members and three teams in the London-Sydney Marathon. Since 2003, the club has taken part in the Barbados Carnival Rally and co-promoted the South of England Tempest Rally.
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