Liverpool Motor Club

Liverpool Motor Club has possibly the longest history of any motor club in the UK, dating back over 110 years to 1896.

The Early Years

Unfortunately, the Club’s documentary records were destroyed in the blitz on Liverpool in 1941, so our historian had quite a task piecing things together mainly from contemporary press articles, and from the memories of the Club’s older members.

The project was originally undertaken as part of the 1977 celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Liverpool Motor Club in 1902, and an article was published in Duckhams Quest Magazine that year.

Subsequently, further information was provided by readers of the magazine which clarified the connection with the Liverpool Self-Propelled Traffic Association and enabled us to be far more confident in our claim of direct descent from that original association of 1896.

Filling in the Gaps

We are currently attempting to bring our history up to date by documenting the last 20 odd years, (no small task in itself), but this is still some way off being ready although we have succeeded in re-establishing contact with the Liverpool Motor Club of New York.

Incidentally, in our archives we found the following Notice of Forthcoming Events dated June 1977:- “11 October - Celebration Dinner A Celebration Dinner will be held at the Blundellsands Hotel, Liverpool on Tuesday 11th October, at 8.00pm. Confirmed guest speakers include Stuart Turner from the Ford Motor Co., Simon Taylor from Autosport Motoring Magazine, Roger Willis from the Burmah-Castrol Company, and Jack Reece formerly of Blakes of Liverpool.” It would be difficult today for any local motor club to put together an evening with such an esteemed group of guests!

Timeline

A brief history follows collated by the present Chairman from material supplied to him from various members etc.

1896: Liverpool Self-Propelled Traffic Association formed. 1896 First member’s Trial held on Everton Brow, Liverpool, the first British hillclimb?
1902: Association dissolved & reformed later in the year as Liverpool Motor Cycle Club.
1903: July 4th - Speed trial & sprint held by LMCC on Southport Promenade.
1904: Name changed to Liverpool Motor Club to reflect members wider interests
1908: Club saved by Victor Horsman & Frank Rees and renamed Mersey Motor Club which then ran the popular Pen-y-Ball Hill Climb and Colwyn Bay Speed Trials annually ? As a result of internal disagreements, the Club split into Mersey Motor Club, Liverpool Auto-Cycle Club, & Liverpool Amateur Motor Cycle Club.
1915: Victor Horsman persuaded the three clubs to re-merge as The Liverpool Motor Club although world hostilities severely restricted activities.
1919: Colwyn Bay Speed Trials revived to become one of the premier events in the calendar.
1923: Sir Alexander Jeans of The Liverpool Daily Post & Echo presents a handsome solid Gold Cup to the Club for a Reliability Trial which would be run until the 1950’s.
1923: The Club’s first sand race was held on Wallasey Beach before a crowd of 6000 spectators. Later events would also be held on Formby and Southport Beaches.
1926: Club membership was noted as having reached some 350 members, (subs 10 shillings pa [50p!]).
1928: Colwyn Bay Speed Trials abandoned due to risks of riders colliding with a new Pierrot show on the promenade. The open reliability trial continued as the Club’s premier event.
1930’s: Membership gradually changed from mainly motor cycle owners to car owners, as a result of the introduction of realistically priced sporting types of cars.
1939: Activities suspended due to the effects of the war.
1941: Club records destroyed in the May blitz on Liverpool’s City Centre.
1947: Membership had recovered to 170 & a standard car trial was held although the majority of members owned motorcycles due to petrol restrictions.
1948/9: The Open Reliance Trial for motorcycles was noted to be attracting several Manufacturers Teams.
1950’s: Emphasis was again changing back in favour of car owners, and the Jeans Cup rules were changed to also allow cars to compete. Grass Track racing (later to be universally known as Autocross) was being pioneered by the Club, another LMC innovation. Rallying becoming important, with club members entering the Tulip, Alpine, RAC, and Monte Carlo international events, despite petrol rationing.
1959: Juan Manuel Fangio elected Hon. Vice President 1959, Club member Geoff Hunt (a Cunard employee) moved to USA & formed the Liverpool Motor Club of New York, also in 1959 the Club ran its first sprint at Oulton Park.
1960: A series of carbon copy events were run either side of the Atlantic, with the results phoned across. The winner’s trophy would arrive a few days later by a Cunard liner!
1960’s: Activities continued, by now wholly car orientated, and with membership now being in excess of 500, included Rallies, Driving tests (Autotests) Go-karting, Sprints, and Autocross.
1964: Sand racing (Sandocross) resumed on Ainsdale beach.
1970’s: Sprints held at RAF Burtonwood (until M62 motorway construction closed the site), and then later at Longridge Racing Circuit (until it too closed).
1976: The club established the Merseyside Autotest Championship jointly with Ford (Halewood) MC, later to become a round of the national championship.
Late 1970’s & 1980’s: Production Car Trials held twice yearly at Afonwen, near Denbigh. Autotests continued with four events a year, and an annual Autocross also held. Main activities now concentrated on Rallies with the popular Mayfield Safari Rally being held in and around Knowsley Safari Park for a number of years. The Jeans Gold Cup Rally was now a Road Rally, but by the late 1980’s had become a Special Stage rally again. It was last held in 1989. The cup still exists - in safe hands! LMC ran a special stage of The RAC Rally for a number of years in Penmachno. 1990’s: Membership and events declined due to economic conditions and Rally Marshalling became the main organised activity although a number of members were still taking part in local rallies.
1998: Down to one paid up member and with no official activities, the club was rescued by a team put together by the Club’s current chairman, in order to take over the running of the highly regarded Sprints previously run at Aintree by the defunct Aintree Circuit Club which for financial reasons, had become unable to run them itself.
1999: Membership reached 75 and in May, the Club’s first Sprint for nearly 20 years was run at Aintree and is an unqualified success. The Club’s membership includes the winners & runners up of the 1997 & 1998 British Sprint Championships. Navigational Runs are being organised once again, and the Club’s members are not only marshalling on other club’s rallies, but are also competing in their own right. Two further Sprints were run in 1999 in June and September, together with two open Track Days all on the Aintree Circuit, thereby establishing the pattern for the Club’s future events. We become the only club to host more than one round of the British Sprint Championship at the same venue, an indication of the confidence that the National Championship organisers have in the Liverpool Motor Club. For its June 1999 Sprint, the Club was honoured to be awarded the ‘Les Edmund Memorial Trophy’ by the Hillclimb & Sprint Association, for the best run National Championship Sprint of the year.
2001: The club continues to run its 3 Sprints & 2 Track Days annually and for 2001 relaunches the Jeans Gold Cup rally at Aintree at a time when most UK motorsport is cancelled due to the Foot & Mouth Epidemic.

2002: The rally was a great success but, sadly,  developments to the Golf Course at Aintree mean that it was a one off. The Club continues to organise 3 Sprints and 2 Track Days at Aintree, and members regularly help other clubs by providing marshalling teams for several Classic & modern rallies in the North West.

2003: The Club joins forces with Hagley & District Light Car Club to co-promote a hillclimb at Loton Park, near Shrewsbury. A highly successful event, hopefully the first of many. The Club also puts on a display of members cars at the first Historic Motor Show at Southport. A rather wet weekend doesn’t dampen our members enthusiasm and though rather basic, the stand is well received by the visiting public.

2005: The Club’s Roadshow, now housed in a prominent shelter to offer protection from our great British summer weather, has extended its range to Aintree and the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park, as well as the greatly expanded Show at Southport. A fantastic array of cars accompanies the display of current and archive materials on show.

2007: Three Sprints, Two Track Days,  a Hillclimb Weekend at Loton Park, Motor Show at Southport (with a live arena run by the Club) and Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting; we are certainly getting the Club noticed. Membership reaches 200  by the end of the year. Our events are virtually all fully subscribed, we have a great reputation for giving participants great value for money. We receive an award from the MSA to commemorate our centenary (which was actually in 2002!)

Membership is still only £10 per annum and members are kept informed of developments through the Club’s newsletter, ‘The Bulletin’, and through this website at http://www.liverpoolmotorclub.com