Events : Canadian British Car Day 2017

All-round good egg and site fan Neil Rapsey certainly enjoyed his recent holiday to Canada.

He even took the time to visit a car show, as he explains to us…

We all know and love the British car shows that are held across the country. Pride of Longbridge, BMC/BL Annual Rally & Spares Day at Peterborough and the BMC & Leyland Show at Gaydon are all excellent examples. But there are other shows that don’t get the same attention – granted they are not on the UK mainland.

One such event I was fortunate enough to attend while on holiday in Canada is the annual British Car Day held at Bronte Provincial Park near Toronto and organised by the Toronto Triumph Club.

We set off early on Sunday, 17 September, which was one of the hottest days on record for the time of year, with temperatures hovering around the 30ºC mark. This is the first time I have attended this show and I was taken aback by the sheer size – think PoL and BL Day combined and then multiply that by two.

You would never believe how many British cars are overseas, not only imported but sold new in Canada, ranging from Minis to Bentleys and everything in-between. Some people brought their cars over the border from the USA. There were rows of TR7s, MGBs, Jaguars, Austins, Rolls-Royces, Triumph Spitfires (including an electric Spitfire), a raft of DMC12s through to rare, modified and bizarre vehicles – all making for a interesting mix.

There were also the obligatory trade stands selling all manner of second-hand and new parts – weirdly enough, there seemed to be more odd ball parts there than you’d find here in the UK. The show is now the largest British car show in North America and I reckon it would take you a couple of days if you wanted to see every single car or object on display.

We attended the show as an exhibitor – a friend of ours, who lives near Toronto, was showing his rather lovely 2004 Jaguar XJR on the Ontario Jaguar Owners’ Association stand. They were a very friendly bunch, one man we got speaking to had even brought plates of sandwiches and coffee for the Jaguar drivers.

So, if you are ever in the area then this is certainly well worth putting on your to do list.

 

Keith Adams

4 Comments

  1. Very interesting for Neil to share this with us. A great surprise to see so many British cars on show in Canada. An electric Spitfire sounds intriguing! My favourites of the photos are the Jensen, Aston DB5, ADO16, Capri MK1 with twin headlights… All of them really..

  2. Canada is unfairly often overlooked and has a lot in common with the UK – much more deserving of a special relationship than its neighbour to the South…. In fact you can often find things there which have disappeared at home, eg draught pale ale!

  3. I was there last year with the Triumph Stag Club USA when the Stag celebrated its 45th anniversary. It’s a lovely venue, with very friendly people, a huge variety of British cars of all types and ages, and it was a magnificent day out. Don’t plan on two days: it’s a one day show, so you do have to move quickly!

  4. Next time you should head to Vancouver in May when the annual All British Field Meet is held at Van Dusen Botanical Gardens. It’s really quite good and in an excellent location. It’s full of the usual things but every so often there is a surprise. This year it was a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth.

    The show was featured in a recent edition of Classic and Sports Car.

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