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Well, with only a few days to our inaugural meeting the sun was shining, the temperature read out on my car dash board was showing a scarcely believable 20ºC…was still February? I was really getting excited about seeing all sorts of cars and meeting new people. The FB group was growing daily and the number of saying they were coming to our first meeting at The Duke William was climbing steadily! But as the week wore on the weather started to worsen and the forecast for Sunday was to put it bluntly, dire. The morning of the meet came around and the rain and wind howled and as I tinkered away in garage (it was too wet to clean my Lotus for the meet) I listened to the radio…then came the kicker, a yellow weather warning for our area was announced for 3pm Sunday, precise moment our gathering was to start. Not only that, it wasn’t an ordinary little storm, oh no, it was a named storm! Storm Freya…thanks, thanks a bunch. The ‘committee’ Luis, Graham, Matt, Nigel, Stewart and myself, chatted online and briefly toyed with the idea of cancelling, but it was too late.
So I peeled the sodden covers off my Excel, smiling ironically at ‘Lake Lotus’ that had formed on the boot lid due to the spoiler doing a passable impression of the Hoover dam! I jumped aboard and coaxed the 2.2 four reluctantly from its slumber and headed off into the gloom, my single, central wiper manfully clearing the screen. I rocked up at The Duke William just as Stewart. Luis and Matt arrived in their cars, a MGB GT and a pair of R30 BMW Minis. Well at least we had four cars!
We huddled in the pub, drinking mild and bemoaning our luck when a wonderful thing started to happen…people rocked up anyway. First was a chap called Colin in Supercharged MB SLK, then one the clerks of the course at Shelsley Walsh arrived in his gleaming black Alfa Breva….if you have an Alfa Romeo, you have a classic meeting! Then steadily they rolled in, a mean Lancia Delta Integrale, a 70’s Alfa Spider, a 82 Metro with only 21k miles, a Nissan Bluebird (when did you last see one?), a Moggy flatbed pick up. We had an actual meeting on our hands! They steadily streamed (pardon the pun) in over the next couple of hours. Some copper bottomed classics, notably a stunning 71 Alpine A110, a TR250, a Borgword Isabella 1500TS, a Datsun 240Z, a stunning Corvette C3 that when fired up sounded like thunder and thoroughly upstaged poor old Storm Freya. No less than three Minis, a limited edition Ritz being used as a daily runner, a Mini van in General Lee colours (obviously…) and looking a tad faster than when it left Longbridge. The Lime green Clubman looked rather cool too. The more modern boys were not to be left out…a very clean MB AMG coupe, a 99 Alfa Spider to show how the marque has evolved since its 70’s stable mate was built, an Audi A4 with an extraordinary body kit, a slick and very cool Audi 80 Sport. It was good to see the 90’s BTCC era represented by a Renault 19 16V, another car I have not seen in years. The Japanese were not to be left out, we had the Geordie Bluebird I mentioned earlier, but it was good to see a Soarer coupe… a car never sold in the UK, although I can’t think why. A tidy MG F too, that is a really affordable way into a mid engined drop top sporting car. The tradition British Stalwarts were not to be left out either, a lovely little AH Sprite and a beautifully prepared MGB were kept company by the outrageously cute A35 Countryman….people used to cram whole families into these back in day. There was even a Swedish contingent, a 740 estate and a 480ES coupe.
In all 32 cars turned up and the variety was impressive with every decade from the 1950’s to the noughties represented. It is interesting to note that while a 1999 Alfa for example might be considered ‘modern’ to some eyes, it is 20 years old. When I had my first classic, a Morris Minor, it was only 15 years old at the time!
What was great was to see was people mixing well as they gathered around the cars. Bonnets were opened and conversation was flowing. Meanwhile our hosts at the Duke William were doing very nicely, with perhaps an extra 60 customers they would not have had on a run of the mill wet Sunday afternoon. So everyone is a winner! I will finish off by saying thank you to all those who took the trouble to come and to the small team that set up the club and this first meeting. See you all next month!NEXT MEETING SUNDAY APRIL 7TH at THE DUKE WILLIAM PUB, CALLOW DY14 9XH, 3pm
Will try to get along to one of these, but the next one clashes with a meet at Bibury Classic Motor Hub that I've registered for. My Alfa is a bit older, a 1976 Spider.
https://www.facebook.com/TheClassicMotorHub/photos/pcb.2332620723439083/2332620430105779/?type=3&theaterWill try to get along to one of these, but the next one clashes with a meet at Bibury Classic Motor Hub that I've registered for. My Alfa is a bit older, a 1976 Spider.
https://www.facebook.com/TheClassicMotorHub/photos/pcb.2332620723439083/2332620430105779/?type=3&theaterBe great to have you along!
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