V8 Column for January 2005
published in Safety Fast!, the award winning monthly magazine of the MG Car Club

What was the last RV8? It's a question many RV8 members ask and following some research at the Heritage Museum by John Bolt (Nightfire Red 1228) from Buckinghamshire we now know it was Woodcote Green 2233. John popped into Gaydon recently to get a Heritage Certificate for his RV8 and enquired of the archivist whether they had any details of how many RV8s had been produced in each colour. He found they did not have that information to hand but they indicated he could work through the build cards for the production cars and produce the information. A few weeks later John found he had a day to spare so set off again for Gaydon and took up the archivist's offer. He went through all the "build cards" and produced an authoritative table which shows that of the 1,982 production RV8s, 307 cars (15.5%) were supplied to the UK market, 92 cars (4.6%) went for export (mainly to Europe, particularly Germany), and of course most cars (1,583 or 79.9%) went to Japan. It's well known that most Japan spec cars are finished in Woodcote Green, and John's table shows that an extraordinary 79.5% (some 1,258 cars) were exported to Japan in that colour! A copy of John's table is available on the V8 Website and a copy is included in an article prepared as a workshop note, RV8NOTE216. John notes the build cards are in three colours - white for RV8s supplied to the UK market, pink for export, and yellow for cars sent to Japan. The last RV8 is registered with the V8 Register by John Holt from Kent.

The annual V8 Curry Night is the first event in 2005. It is on Saturday 5th February at 7.00pm at the Last Viceroy in Bourne End near Marlow. The V8 Curry Master, David Biddle, is organising bookings and needs confirmation from you as early as possible so he is able to ensure sufficient places at the curryhouse. He can be

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Tornado Red 4330 came up for sale recently as was snapped up within day. It was a particularly well built car on a Heritage shell with a low mileage. (Photo: John Farrar)

contacted at davidbiddle@v8register.net by email or on 01753 892714. Full details including location maps and directions are on the V8 Website but in broad terms it is just east of Marlow in Buckinghamshire only a few miles north of M4 Junction 8/9 and south of M40 Junction 4. Later that month Clive Wheatley will have a small V8 stand at the Classic Car Show at Stoneleigh on Sunday 27th February. All the V8 Events are set out on the Rolling V8 Calendar on the V8 Website - if you do not have internet access, just call Victor Smith and he will arrange for a printout to be sent to you by mail or fax.

New range of V8 Regalia has been launched for V8 enthusiasts with fleeces, polo shirts, sweatshirts and other items finished with
modest V8 Register and Club badge logos. Full details are on the V8 Website where you can order by mail order from Mike Russell at mikerussell@v8register.net or on 01494 814371. Details and a catalogue are available on the V8 Website.