Just as BBC youth-radio station Radio 1 have their "One Big Weekend" then so too do owners of aluminium cars.
Today Widget and I visited the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon for the much anticipated 60th anniversary of Land Rover.
In keeping with the style of vehicle, the event was loosely assembled to say the least and appeared to follow an evolutionary process, rather than an actual plan or blueprint. Despite this we did get to see tidy examples of numerous rare variants of Solihull's finest.
That said, every time I see a fully restored and completely authentic Series II SAS "Pinkie", I can't help but feel a smidge of sympathy for the owners of such vehicles who, having spent years restoring the vehicle and gathering suitable period accessories, have to display it alongside a battered V8 One Ten bought at auction, roller-painted in beige then drenched in a healthy dose of tat harvested from the "militaria" section of e-Bay (usually by someone who swears blind they could've been a Royal Marine but failed the spelling test on a time penalty because their pencil broke)
The Bob & Widget Award for the Best Club Display goes to the Series II & III Club who had at least made an effort and a very credible one at that, with a small static convoy of long and short wheelbase Series vehicles, some absolutely immaculate, others well used but no less appealing because of it. By clever use of chopped down rims and tyres a couple of the cars appeared to be sinking/stuck and were being recovered by the others. Top stuff and entertaining in a typically cheeky Series way.We also gained entry to the Gaydon museum itself, which houses those pipe dreams, day dreams and wet dreams from the last days of the Rover Empire. It is truly a museum of the bizarre, with freaks such as a Rover SD1 Estate and a four-seat TR7 fast-back. What British Leyland were smoking back then is anyone's guess but they were clearly big fans of Logan's Run, Captain Scarlet and Quatermass as all the cars on display have subtle undertones of "This is what we in 1976 think the year 1998 should look like".
The aluminium car big weekend continues tomorrow in the Caterham with a run to the Kit Car show at Stoneleigh. Not entirely sure at this stage what this particular show is all about but I think there's a clue in the title, and whatever happens it should be a good blat there and back in the company of several fellow Seven owners.
