Members’ Vehicles
HMS Conway
Motor Club
What are HMSCMC members driving and riding?
Members’ Vehicles is the HMSCMC garage: cars, motorcycles, motorhomes, tractors, mobility scooters and other interesting machinery belonging, or formerly belonging, to HMSCMC members.
Click on any vehicle to see the larger photograph and its story.
Model history
Model history
Model history
Model history
Model history
Model history
There were two main reasons for buying the Virago.
The first was entirely subjective. I like the way it looks. It looks like a proper, traditional motorcycle – low, simple, plenty of chrome and, importantly, a V-twin. It has the character and proportions of a much bigger cruiser without actually being one.
The second reason was rather more practical. At 71, I am perfectly capable of riding a much bigger and heavier motorcycle. The more pertinent question is what happens when it isn’t upright. Sooner or later there will be some gravel, an awkward camber, a badly placed foot or a moment of stupidity, and the thing will end up on its side.
The XV535 weighs around 180 kg and has a low seat and a low centre of gravity. If it falls over, I can pick it up.
That matters rather more to me now than owning another 50 horsepower that I don’t particularly need. The 535 gives me the V-twin character, the classic looks and enough performance to be enjoyable, without saddling me with a quarter of a tonne of motorcycle to wrestle with when gravity eventually wins.
There is, after all, a difference between being able to ride a bigger motorcycle and wanting to live with one.
Model history
I bought the Daytona after a ten-year hiatus from motorcycles, having previously owned a Honda Shadow. The Daytona appealed partly because of the colour, but also because of its three-cylinder engine, which was still a fairly distinctive proposition at the time.
The decision to sell it was rather less considered. I came off at a roundabout and came uncomfortably close to killing myself. In the event I escaped with a severely dislocated thumb, which was considerably better than it might have been.
My wife subsequently gave me a good talking to.
Model history
Model history
Bought for £350 with the idea of carrying it with the motorhome, giving us rather more range once we had set up camp than we had on foot. In practice I think I used it for that purpose precisely once.
I was never completely certain of the exact model. It was one of the Motobécane Mobylette 50-series machines, probably carrying one of the V designations, but the rear suspension did not correspond neatly with the model descriptions I could find. Rather than award it a model number by guesswork, 50-series seems the safer description.
It needed tidying rather than restoring. I treated some slight rust, fitted a new carburettor and 3D-printed several small plastic parts that were missing or past their best. I also replaced the original single saddle with a dual seat, theoretically making it rather more suitable for two. Hayley remained wholly unconvinced by this improvement and could never be persuaded to accompany me on it.
It was an engaging little machine but eventually surplus to requirements. Having paid £350 for it, I sold it a couple of months ago for £700, probably the nearest I shall ever come to being a successful motorcycle dealer.
- Approximate year
- c.1972
- Model
- Motobécane Mobylette 50-series; exact V-designated variant uncertain
- Purchase price
- £350
- Sale price
- £700
Photo gallery
Model history
Photo gallery
Model history
Model history
Related HMSCMC article
Model history
The Bad Badger
- Year
- 2001
- Motorhome
- Swift Sundance 590 RS
- Base vehicle
- Fiat Ducato
- Name
- The Bad Badger
Model history
I bought this MGB sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s, intending to restore it, although I thought I might drive it for a while first. Unfortunately, it was a complete shed and so alarmingly unsafe that I started the restoration almost immediately.
Someone had painted it metallic deep red and, worse still, fitted the rubber bumpers from a later model. Sacrilege!
Over the following six months I completely stripped and rebuilt it, including the engine, bodywork and respray. The gearbox was left alone. I did all the work myself, finishing it in Tartan Red and restoring the proper chrome bumpers.
I eventually sold it for about £1,800, which, considering the work involved, probably represented an hourly rate best not calculated.
I wrote an illustrated account of the restoration, complete with photographs documenting the rebuild, which was published over at least a couple of pages in Enjoying MG, the MG Owners' Club magazine. I'm now trying to track down a copy of that original article.
I also devised a ten-point numerical system for describing the condition of second-hand MGs. This was subsequently adapted by Roche Bentley into a proposed five-point system, with an acknowledgement of my original contribution, in Enjoying MG in January 1997.
Curiosity recently prompted me to look up the registration. To my surprise, OEG 81F was still passing MOT tests in 2017, nearly thirty years after my restoration. Its last recorded mileage was 48,000, and the DVLA records now carry an export marker.
So the old shed survived rather longer than I might have expected. Whether it's still running somewhere, and how much of my handiwork remains, I have no idea. But it's pleasing to know it enjoyed such a long second life.
1973/74 MGB GT – NFM 177M
Another of my MGB restoration projects, this time sometime after 1998, when I was living in Caversham, Reading, with my second wife and our young son.
Unlike my earlier MGB Roadster, OEG 81F, this one didn't require a complete strip-down and rebuild, although I carried out sufficient work to bring it back to a respectable condition.
Finished in red, with chrome bumpers, alloy wheels and a front spoiler, it was a rather smart example of the MGB GT.
The photograph shows my mother sitting on the bonnet. I can't remember exactly when I acquired the car, how long I owned it or what eventually became of it.
Another MG from my motoring past, and a particularly nice photograph to have kept.
Other Vehicles
Buses, lorries, tractors, military vehicles and other interesting machinery belonging, or formerly belonging, to members of the Conway family.
Writing ahead of the event, Simon said:
I have had the old girl since 1973 and still, medical allowing(!), have my PCV licence. On Sunday 27 September 2026, at the Amersham and District season-ending event at Chesham, I will be on my customary and original 353 route from Windsor to Berkhamsted.
RT3491, registration LYR 910, is a 1952 AEC Regent III RT with Park Royal 56-seat rear-entrance bodywork. It was withdrawn from London Transport in 1973 and acquired directly for private preservation in September of that year. It is now on long-term loan to the London Bus Museum and remains fully operational in its working fleet.
- Year
- 1952
- Registration
- LYR 910
- Fleet number
- RT3491
- Chassis
- AEC Regent III RT
- Body
- Park Royal, 56-seat, rear entrance and open platform
- Ownership
- Owned by Simon since 1973
Vehicle history
Your vehicle here
HMSCMC members are invited to add their cars, motorcycles, motorhomes, tractors, mobility scooters and other interesting vehicles. A photograph and a few basic details are enough, although owners are welcome to include the history and story of the vehicle as well.
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