On 10th February, appropriately the date of celebration of the birthday of Sir John Black, we say farewell to Darrell Cunningham, a stalwart of the Club for many years, who sadly passed away on 11th January after suffering a severe stroke, just before his 76th birthday. Darrell had a lifetime’s interest in cars, having learnt to drive aged 17 in his father’s Austin A35, and went on to become one of the youngest Ministry-approved driving instructors at the time. He would restore several classics and after he retired early, due to illness, he acquired a 1939 Standard Flying Eight Tourer which he called Stan.
He wrote books about Stan and his magical adventures with his friends Topper the scarecrow, Charlie the crow and two children Becky and Thomas. Part of the proceeds were donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust. Stan the Standard was the start of his involvement with the Club along with his partner Josephine, and by 2007 he was Group Leader of the New Forest Group. At the 2008 AGM he became Publicity Officer on the Club Committee and remained in both posts until his death. In the same year he organised the 70th Anniversary celebrations of the Standard Eight at Beaulieu. He later established, and along with Josephine, (who was also on the Club Committee) monitored the Standard Motor Club Group on Facebook.
He organised a Club presence at both annual Beaulieu Autojumbles, Spring and Autumn, on a regular basis and had also exhibited his cars on Club Stands at shows at the Bath and West Showground at Shepton Mallet. He was a regular on the London to Brighton Runs organised by Gemini Events both with Stan and, after he had to sell it because of declining health, in Vincent, his last-of-the-line Vanguard Luxury Six Automatic. He also arranged club stands at other Gemini shows and at Braemore House near his home in the New Forest, organising local accommodation and road runs for Club members both in the area and from further afield.
Braemore House was also the main venue of the 2013 International Rally where accommodation was in Salisbury; he organised another successful rally in 2016 based at Norton Park Hotel with pleasant road runs in the New Forest area.
As well as enjoying his Standards another achievement for him was the saving of Standards in the Standard Rescue Scheme, finding owners for basket cases that would otherwise have gone for scrap. Finally, Darrell organised regular annual Drive It Day Runs for the New Forest Group where other local Clubs joined in. He will be missed on this year’s run.
His contribution to the Standard Motor Club was enormous and he will be a hard act to follow.
Farewell Darrell. Peter Lockley
Darrell Roger Cunningham
1947 - 2023
LINE OF C
