Car Club Members Reflect on 40 Years of the Classic Motor Show

Well over the years, we’ve made good friends and fellowships with other clubs.
And in the case of the Morris Minor in more recent times, in 2013 it was the celebration of the centenary of Morris Motors, and we had a huge stand on that occasion. We linked up with other car clubs to bring representatives of all the Morris models and so on, and to exhibit on the stand and in total we had 22 vehicles, and the centre piece was a Bullnose Morris, the oldest known surviving one and a memorable event on that occasion was Sir Sterling Moss was a guest of honour and he was invited to come to the stand. And although he was not particularly well at that time because he had suffered a fall, he insisted on getting into the Bullnose Morris and having his photograph taken to mark the occasion, its difficulty was that the Bullnose Morris was on a revolving stand. So actually, to get him into the car was difficult enough! Getting him out, I think his personal assistants were somewhat concerned at the time that all might not go well, but it all ended fine, and it was a really memorable event especially in terms of friendships.

A consequence of that particular stand and that particular show and all of the centenary celebrations that took place in 2013 a new organization was set up called the Morris Vehicles Association. And that just last year, just celebrated his 10th anniversary. So those friendships have, if you like, developed further and that's been facilitated in some ways by the show organisers who have accommodated putting a lot of those like-minded clubs together
 

Ray Newell, Morris Minor Club

In 2019 that was Citroens centenary event, so to Mark the 100 years I thought it would be a really nice idea to put the four Citrano related clubs together to create one massive joint stand, which in the end was 500 square meters, displaying 23 cars and we demonstrated not only the history of Citron over the century, but the fact that four clubs with disparate management structures and memberships can all work together harmoniously. And I found that very impressive, very encouraging.
Likewise, the show felt the same way, and we actually gained a best stand award on that occasion.

Nigel Wild, Citron Car Club

We've had the minor million on display, which is another very limited edition vehicle, and they've become the central point of the stand and because of their unique colour, which was a lilac colour dated from the 60s, 1961, they again provide a focal point and a memorable stand to have, I suppose one of the most memorable was one that was based around the Dads Army theme and people were dressed in suitable costumes and so on and obviously built, you know, a wartime sort of theme, including a mock unexploded bomb, which I think at one point gave the organizers a bit of a fright, but there you go.

Ray Newell, Morris Minor Club

Back in 2008 the Peerless and Warrick were commemorating their 50th anniversary of the Peerless, which won the Le Man Race in 1958 and what they did was blow up a life size photograph and it was big because it was a photograph of a bridge with people on photographers and all sorts, all in different poses looking over the finishing line of the Le Man Race, and so the car was going under this bridge with all these people on, so the photograph was mainly of the bridge and the steps going up, and then the car, the actual car that won the race was on the stand, and it looked so Retro and so exciting. They put bits and pieces round it and it looked you could really feel that you were at Le Man and seeing that car in the excitement going over the finishing line, and that car was there on that day.
 

Janette Horton, Club Peugeot

I’ve been fortunate enough to have three cars on the stand over the years. I had two Ginetta’s, I sold one a few weeks ago, it was the G32 Coupe, it was selected as a finalist in the Pride of Ownership feature and I was so proud of the car. It sat there on its own, on the carpeted area, with these lovely bright lights over it, and I kept walking past it and looking at it and thinking that's mine and that's a great thrill. It's nice to look at people looking at your car.

David Doolan, Ginetta Club

In 2018 the Online Austin Seven Club made an Austin 7. It was all made out of polystyrene and some Perspex for the windscreen, and it was put on a pole, you couldn't see the pole because there was a great big seven in front, and I mean, I've been driving an Austin 7 for years and you could feel that you could get in that and drive it off. It was so perfect, but it was made of polystyrene and to cut the wheels out of polystyrene takes some doing and to look like the real wheel.
It was perfect to scale and the spokes were made of straws that were painted black, sprayed in black, and they looked real and everything looked real. You couldn't fault it at all with the LED lights and a tiny battery. And the lights were on.
I thought that was lovely.
 

Janette Horton, Club Peugeot

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