Jaguar Enthusiasts' Club - Oxford Region

This talk amplified the speaker's personal belief that the best way of preserving old cars is to use them and expands on the Vintage Sports-Car Club's ideals and those of the Motor Sports Association who have declared:

"The MSA has created Regulations so that Historic Cars may be used for competitions under a set of rules that preserve the specification of their period and prevent modifications of performance and behaviour which could arise through the application of modern technology.

Historic competition is not simply another formula in which to acquire trophies, it is a discipline apart, in which one of the essential ingredients is devotion to the cars and to their history. Historic Motor Sport enables the active celebration of the History of the Motor Car."

Originally from Gosport, Mike joined the Army, training as an Ammunition Technical Officer and completing over 25 years of service in munitions management, explosive ordnance disposal and counter-terrorist bomb disposal duties. He served in GB, Northern Ireland, Germany, the middle east and the USA.

Mike now works full time as Club Secretary and Chief Executive of the Vintage Sports-Car Club. Mike has served on the UK's Motor Sports Association Historic Committee since 2009.

In the course of his work, Mike carries out regular research on a wide range of historic motor sports topics. He edits the VSCC monthly Newsletter, writes a regular column for the Lotus Drivers' Club magazine, Chicane.

Mike has a deep and respected interest in the history of motor sport, in particular those involving pre-second-world-war cars. His particular passion, however, is for the Lotus marque, a subject in which he is very well read and has practical experience having owned and run Lotus cars for over twenty years. In his spare time Mike is Competition Secretary for the Historic Lotus Register and is Chairman of the Lotus Drivers' Club. He holds a current UK MSA Race licence.

The VSCC is dedicated to promoting and preserving the use of pre-war cars on the road and in competitions. It has over 7000 members and organises organises some 700 events each year, including around thirty competitive historic motor sports events.

These cover most of the motor sport disciplines: Race days, UK and overseas tours, Speed hill Climbs and Sprints, Navigational Rallies, Driving Tests and "pub meets".