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By Neil Lewis and David Smith

OXFORD Motor Club officially celebrates its centenary this year - but research shows it is even older.

The club's secretary, David Smith, spent two years researching the club's history in old newspapers, archives kept in the Bodleian Library and the Centre for Oxfordshire Studies at the County Library, which actually show that the club has its origin in 1903, making it one of the dozen oldest motorsport clubs in the country.

The club marked its centenary with a reunion dinner in at Eynsham Hall, with guests ranging ranging from 80-plus down to the youngest current member, Jack Smith, at just 13.

They were welcomed in by the sight of a 1924 Bullnose Morris and the latest Mini Cooper, provided by BMW Plant Oxford, representing the oldest and youngest cars built at Cowley.

The evening started with a reception where there was a display of photographs from the early days of the last century up to the present day, which brought back memories for the senior club members whilst displaying the diverseness of events put on by Oxford Motor Club over the years.

The images went back to the days when hill climbs and time trials took place on the public highway; often with a huge crowd of onlookers. Those events were outlawed in the late 1920s when cars became too fast to compete safely on public roads and since then competitions mainly take place on private land. The centrepiece was a display of the club's silverware gathered back together for the first time in many years. These included silver trophies presented by Lord Nuffield and various local automobile engineers.

Unfortunately the trophies donated by the well heeled' prior to 1914 are sadly missing because they were never recovered when the club reformed after the First World War.

The club would very much like to find out what happened to those early cups which would have the names of The Oxford and District Automobile Club, The Bocardo Motor Cycle Club, The Oxfordshire Automobile Club and the Oxford Motor Cycling Club from which the present club was formed.

The dinner of roast lamb shank was rounded off by speeches by club president, John Jago, who organised the night's festivities, the present chairman, Neil Lewis, and Peter Tothill, a chairman from the early sixties. Dinner guests were then entertained by Stuart Turner, former head of BMC Motor Sport and then Ford Motor Sport, who spoke about the past glories of Oxford Motor Club and the future of car clubs in the 21st century. The last major social gathering held by the club was in 1939 when about 500 people attended the buffet and dance in Oxford Town Hall.

The pressures of modern life mean that the current membership put all of their efforts into continuing the competition side of the club by organising two annual rallies and various other smaller events throughout the year. The club would be very interested to hear from anyone interested in motorsport who would like to get more involved.

Oxford Motor Club has published a book detailing its history over the last hundred years, packed with pictures and interesting facts. For ordering details visit www.oxfordmotorclub.co.uk

6:51am Friday 23rd November 2007

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