Celebrating the fifth anniversary of the austin-rover.co.uk website, a collection of the cars owned by the fans of this site made the annual pilgrimage to Peterborough to show off their stunning collection of cars belonging to the BMC>Rover back catalogue.
This year’s stand – just like previous events – had a wide variety of cars, which ensured a steady stream of showgoers visit the stand and make their own comments about the cars, the owners, and of course, the website…
Photos by Tim Colley and Peter Melville
BMC>Rover Heaven
Old and new: Minis stood shoulder to shoulder with new generation MG Rovers…
A NEW beginning – that’s what the BMC/BL Annual Rally and Spares Day enjoyed after its organizers, for the previous twelve years, Mick and Barbara Clarke, handed over the event to Sara Nye. Well, we say ‘new beginning’, but in fact, it was more of the same, really – proving the old adage correct ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.
Many owners’ clubs treat the event as an annual pilgrimage, and pull out all the stops in order to make it a muct-see event. As per usual, it was down to the Maestro and Montego Owners Club, and the Allegro Club International to put on the largest displays, but credit where credit’s due – the readers of www.austin-rover.co.uk, under the organisation of Kevin Davis, made sure that theirs was the most varied selection of cars.
Without doubt, the collection of cars, which was bracketed by Eamonn Burnell’s Rover P4 and Michael Turner’s Streetwise, reflected the massive coverage offered by the website – and proved that a meeting of enthusiasts could take place without a meeting minds…
The club’s stand did well with the Seventies cars (Marina, Allegro, Princesses, SD1 and TR7), the Maestro and Montego did their bit as usual, and celebrating its 20th anniversary, there was a flourish of very nice 800s to whet the appetites of the Peterborough crowd. The strong showing yet again points to the 800 being the website’s favoured car – although, we’d always shy from such a saying as they’re all favoured cars – of course.
Another car heavily represented, was the Rover R8 – and a bevvy of nice examples generated quite a bit of admiration with the show’s crowds… Hopefully cementing the car’s future classic credentials, and stemming the low of nice examples to the nation’s scrap yards.
All in all, it was a great day, and the general concensus was that it was great for people to meet face-to-face and shapre their passion for this nation’s rich motoring heritage. The show had indeed enjoyed a new beginning, but in doing so retained its charmingly familiar feel. See you next year!
Gallery
A selection of the cars displayed by austin-rover.co.uk.
Thanks to all those who made the effort, and brought their cars for show – here are some of the highlights. Please feel free to send in your own pictures, and captions!
Lindsey Smith’s rare 220 GTi Turbo.
…and her partner, Daniel Pike’s, equally rare MG Maestro Turbo.
Happy birthday, Rover 800 – and we had some nice ones to mark the occasion…
Cabrios and hard-tops – we had them all…
Auntie Rover: we love ’em…
Ben Flatman’s TR7 was a nice addition to the show…
We couldn’t have a stand at Peterborough without Kevin Davis’ Princess 2000ST.
Martyn Mellodew’s Marina flanked by Richard Gunn’s Allegro…
Richard Collet’s stunning Vanden Plas 1100 Mk1.
Is the Editor of the Parkers website and price guide, formerly editor of Classic Car Weekly, and launch editor/creator of Modern Classics magazine. Has contributed to various motoring titles including Octane, Practical Classics, Evo, Honest John, CAR magazine, Autocar, Pistonheads, Diesel Car, Practical Performance Car, Performance French Car, Car Mechanics, Jaguar World Monthly, MG Enthusiast, Modern MINI, Practical Classics, Fifth Gear Website, Radio 4, and the the Motoring Independent...
Likes 'conditionally challenged' motors and taking them on unfeasible adventures all across Europe.
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