HCVA Members Fuel The Future At Flywheel 2023
At the HCVA, our ongoing campaign is proudly focused around four key pillars:
Environment & Sustainability
Education & Skills
Regulation & Policy
HCVA Community
They form the backbone of all we do, so when Bicester Heritage's 10-year anniversary Flywheel event saw the coming together of two of these pillars; Environment and Sustainability, and HCVA Community, the Historic and Classic Vehicles Alliance team was delighted to offer its support.
And pleasingly, Flywheel 2023 saw two HCVA members stepping into the spotlight.
Fuel specialist Coryton launched the UK’s first publicly available sustainable petrol for classic vehicles at the event, with its new SUSTAIN range, which contains no ethanol and can be added straight to your tank with no modifications required to your car and will mix happily with the existing mineral-based fuel in your tank. Not only that, but one-stop automotive liquids warehouse, Motor Spirit, debuted the pioneering pump to supply the ethanol-free fuel, live from the event, while also being the initial distributor.
Unsurprisingly, SUSTAIN was the main talking point among visitors to our gazebo, with all agreeing that this is the way forward for the classic fleet. Disappointment was unanimous that the government is not currently being more open-minded and exploring this and other options in its bid towards decarbonsing the UK's transport sector.
Whilst in real terms a classic car’s carbon footprint is negligible, and the sector is the epitome of recycle, repair and reuse, the HCVA and the sector are committed to helping the environment wherever we can.
HCVA member Warwick Hall, first came across SUSTAIN through the HCVA and used his attendance at Flywheel to discover more about the fuel and meet the Sustain and Motor Spirit team. Before heading home on Saturday, Warwick took his 1966 Ford Mustang 302 to the pump and filled up.
Warwick reports: “I love the ability to mix it with the fuel already in your tank! I definitely felt the car ran and sounded better / healthier! Interesting noticing the smell too, with a distinctive difference because of the high biomass content.”
Fergus McIver from HCVA Founding Partner R S Williams Limited displayed his lovely 1968 Lenham LeMans on the HCVA stand and commented that SUSTAIN had been launched at their premises, where it had been run in their Aston Martin V8. Before leaving the event, Fergus filled up his Lenham with SUSTAIN and told the HCVA that the car ran beautifully on his return journey to Sussex.
Amongst the many other great members cars on display was Kester Hull’s 1959 Saab 93B, certainly a crowd pleaser on the Saturday.
As ever, Flywheel was a fantastic event organised and hosted by the team at HCVA Founding Partner’s Bicester Motion site. It was great to see so many people in attendance, with such positive feedback about the work the HCVA is doing and the need for it to continue representing the sector at all levels.