Our April lunch meeting at the South Lawn Hotel was treated to a fascinating, detailed and beautifully illustrated talk by John Ellis on The Birth Of The Motor Car. John drew on his extensive knowledge of the motor industry, gained during his experience running his own engineering company supplying the industry and subsequent life membership of Beaulieu Motor Museum to which he lends his great expertise.

Starting with the Fardier A Vapeur built at the behest of King Louis XV in 1765 to tow his cannon, but sadly lacking steering and brakes, with the inevitable consequences, we progressed into the 19th century through a variety of steam driven contraptions to the invention of the internal combustion engine. The arrival of Siegfried Marcus,now largely forgotten and overlooked, heralded the production of probably the world's first practicable gasoline powered automobile.

It was however names such as Benz and Daimler who built upon these early beginnings and eclipsed Marcus' achievement often erroneously being cited as the inventors of the motor car. Throughout his wonderfully knowledgeable and carefully researched talk John held our interest and hugely contributed to our understanding of the development of the modern automobile.

Lentune Probus welcomes new members to join us for our lively, friendly and occasionally even educational lunch meetings and events. If you would like to learn more, or even better come and meet us please call our secretary Basil Jeffries on 07849 045127 or chairman David Newnham on 01590 642124.