| Date: | 18 February 1997 |
| Location: | P8 Shed, DRA Farnborough |
| Time: | 15.30 |
| Occasion: | MACH1 Club seminar |
| Activity: | Auction for ThrustSSC memorabilia |
| Aim: | To raise money for the project |
18 February 1997 was the date of the third of the seminar run by the MACH1 Club, allowing members of the club a chance to come to P8 Shed, talk to members of the project team and see the car in its developmental state.
Members of the organisational team behind the club had decided at the beginning of the year to run an auction of various parts of ThrustSSC which were now no longer needed. At the previous two seminars MACH1 Club members had been asked to submit sealed bids. There were throttle and brake pedals to bid for, as well as the cockpit canopy which had been signed by all the Project team, superbly machined items from the steering, two of the tyres which had been flat spotted when Andy Green tried out the brakes for the first time, and one of the Fetchers designed for marking out the desert and signed by the Team members.
It had been decided to hold the auction at the most popular of the seminars, Andy Green's talk on driving ThrustSSC. Bidding started quite modesty, with the brake and throttle pedals going for just over £20. What I had my eye on was one of the tyres which had given Andy his nickname "Leadfoot" Green. I took the risk and didn't bid for the first tyre to be auctioned and listened nervously as the price rose. Richard Noble then asked for a starting price on the second tyre and I started the bidding at £25.00. My pulse rate rose as did the bidding by anything from £1 to £5 until no-one was prepared to top my bid of £60. I consider that I have a bargain and I'm already planning the design for the coffee table we are going to make out of it!
Probably the most spectacular bidding was for the signed cockpit canopy. The canopy was intended to be a one-off, but became damaged so a replacement was made. Bidding started at £100 and rose steadily past the reserve of £250 and up to £330. A further increase came fractionally after the third hammer strike hit the table top. Everyone agreed that this was a serious investment for the future and I had to sit on my hands to prevent my credit card taking a further bashing.
Unfortunately it is very difficult to convey in words the excitement and tension which had been generated in P8 Shed. Even the team members was bidding against one another for items. The auction raised around £900, money which will be ploughed straight back into the project.
I felt that the whole day was a great success. If you weren't there I can only say that you missed a great day out. Thank you to the MACH1 Club and the ThrustSSC team for hosting such a great day.
Thanks to Barbie for letting us have her report - we hope the coffee table turns out successfully!! Maybe the team could pop round for coffee one day???....
As always, we are more than happy to publish Mach 1 Club members articles on or related to Thrust SSC. Please send your articles to mch1club@chapm.demon.co.uk
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