Since its inception all the editions of Floating Power (and for that matter the 2008 and 2009 TOC Calendars) have been printed in black and white.

A question was raised at the AGM by Richard Carlin about why future editions of Floating Power could not be printed in colour.

The TOC committee has always taken the view that the black and white only format of Floating Power reflects the era of the Traction itself and is an essential part of the style and brand of the TOC.

The committee considers that colour - even just for the cover for instance - would detract from that image.

There is also of course the question of cost - printing the magazine in full colour would virtually double its cost.

There are no real technical constraints that would stop the magazine being printed in colour - in fact I already produce it in full colour and turn it into black and white as part of the process of producing the press-ready PDFs that go to the printer.

As hinted at above, one of the ideas discussed at the AGM was the possibility of printing some or all of the 2010 calendar photographs in colour - with the August 2008 photograph of Mike Tebbett's car in a field of sunflowers being cited as an example of a photograph that absolutely cried out for colour.

So what do you think?? Should the 2010 calendar be fully or partially printed in colour, should Floating Power be fully or partially printed in colour or should we remain traditional in our approach and stay with black and white?

Let me know what you think - also, as I'm planning some changes to the style and layout of Floating Power for the January/February edition, please also let me know what you think about the new look for 2009 once you have seen it.

Tony Piper has restocked the Club Shop with new 75th anniversary regalia as reported in the last edition of Floating Power.

Stocks are fast running out so if you want to be sporting the latest in TOC fashion you should give Tony a ring asap on the telephone number you'll find in your copy of Floating Power.

(Sorry about this but every time I type Tony's phone number Skype decides that it is going to display it as a hyperlink - which for some reason is incompatible with the software I'm using to prepare this email. As a last resort the number is zero two zero eight five three two one four six eight).

Also just arrived in the Club Shop are copies of John Reynold's biography of Andre Citroen.

Before you dismiss this - these are brand new copies of the second edition of John's excellent hardback book published about three years ago by Haynes and on sale from Haynes at £30 a copy.

This second edition is a much improved and enlarged rewrite of the original book and contains a whole section on the Traction Avant as well as fascinating insights provided by the Citroen family into the real circumstances surrounding the 'bankruptcy' and their experiences during the second world war as a result of their religion.

Compared to the original the second edition contains about 25% more text and 30% more photographs and is an absolute bargain at just £20 plus £2.50 postage and package (UK) from the Club Shop.

Stocks of the book at this price are strictly limited so it must be first come first served .

If you want to buy yourself a Christmas present (or you want your spouse/partner to buy you one) contact Tony at the above telephone number this week and he will post the items you want out to you in time for Christmas.

Nicholas Greene, a recent and welcome new addition to the ranks of the TOC, has started a new TA forum which you can find at:

http://tractionavant.forumcircle.com/portal.php .

Nicholas lives in France and from time to time produces articles for the Citronean about living and driving there. Hopefully in the future we can look forward to his writing similar articles for Floating Power.

Meanwhile why not get your fingers whizzing across the keyboard to see what is being said about the TA on this new forum?

Retromobile will be taking place in Paris (Porte de Versailles) from 6th - 15th February 2009.

From 1st to 15th December 4500 tickets are on sale at €10 so you can make a saving of €3 off the entrance price of €13.

The offer is only available on-line so to purchase your ticket you need to go to http://www.retromobile.fr/index.php?id=4992

New DVD of Discovery Channel's hit series Wreck Rescue

On general release today (1st December) is a 2-disc DVD set of Mark Evans' Discovery Channel hit TV series 'Wreck Rescue'.

Obtainable only from www.markevans.co.uk the DVDs contain four and a half hours worth of restoration mayhem including over 40 minutes of previously unscreened footage. The vehicles covered during this series of restoration projects are : Frog Eye Sprite, Ford Capri, Elva 100, AEC Matador and Toyota Land Cruiser.

The DVDs, which are in PAL 16:9 widescreen format and region code 0 (playable in all regions), cost £19.57 (but this is possibly the pre-VAT reduction price).

And the Christmas Gift for the person who has (nearly) everything?

Classic Cars (which is produced by Bauer Media) is offering its readers the perfect Christmas Gift - a glossy A4 print of their favourite classic car for the amazing price of £24.99 inc p&p (their words not mine - honest).

With over 180,000 images to choose from they feel sure that they have exactly the one that you might want to make your Christmas complete.

For more information email jenny.gardner@bauermedia.co.uk 

You will remember that in the last newsletter I asked if your car was previously owned by a well known celebrity if you could please drop me a line so that we can satisfy Mick Popka's curiosity.

Well a number of readers responded:

Roger Prior, a luddite who still has a paper driving licence, bought his H van (WGF 205W) from Dave Davies. Apparently the H van had a very expensive camper conversion done to it by the bod who also did J Saville's caravans, and the H van he believes won a concours at a CCC rally in the early '80s.

TOCevents

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Upcoming Section meetings:

Peak Section - 12noon on 7th December at The Holly Bush in Makeney. Please let Richard Carlin know if you will be attending.

Surrey, Hampshire & Sussex Borders Section - all members of the TOC are invited to the section's annual Christmas Lunch at The Barley Mow, West Horsley, Surrey on Sunday 21st December. Pre-booking and pre-payment is essential so please contact Helen Shelley for a menu and booking form. On January 1st the section will again meet at The Barley Mow for the Vintage Sports Car Club meeting at 12.00 noon.

West of England Section - 2009 planning meeting at 12noon at the Tunnel House, Coates near Cirencester on Sunday January 1th. Come armed with bright ideas!!!

Dress up your Traction for the 75th Anniversary year, with a set of New Zealand-made current production wind deflectors that are exact copies of the Slough units.

Stainless steel metal components to eliminate corrosion and toughened glass to auto specifications.

Prices include airmail postage (6-12 days from receipt of funds). To U.K - GBP£74.00. To Europe - Euro€90.00. To USA - USD$115.00.

Enquiries: Carl Rofe, Email bullshooter@xtra.co.nz  Fax 0064 - 7 - 85 65 303