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SOUTH EAST PAST EVENTS

CRAWLEY CLASSIC AND AMERICAN CAR SHOW - CRAWLEY, SUSSEX MONDAY MAY 31st 2004

At last the weather improved and it was the first show where we were able to enjoy a full day of warmth and sunshine.

Having arranged to meet before hand at the Pease Pottage Service’s a short distance away we realized that by 10.15am four out of the ten cars were not going to turn up as arranged. Still, six cars was good enough so we headed for the show ground in a convoy. Upon arrival at the show we were delighted to find Keith Miles had also decided to come along and had already parked on the club pitch awaiting our arrival.

Our pitch was located in a good position on the end of the car club display area and facing the main show. With seven very well presented cars we managed to create a rather imaginative display with cars arranged in a semi-circle with the gazebo located in the middle.

Those present were Eddie Pagdin and Keely, Nigel Orton and Michele, Robert Hexter, Keith Miles, John and Janice Kempshall, Peter Mason and Kelly, Steve Kingsnorth, Linda, Mark and myself.

Cars of particular interest were Eddie’s rare ‘C’ plate, series 1B red T Bar which could possibly one of the first T Bar models to be registered in the UK. Eddie is currently tracing the car’s history to find out if this is the case. Keith’s car is a Mica blue T Bar fitted with a ‘Powerflow’ exhaust system that has pipes both sides which everyone admired. Robert, whom we met at the Ravenswood show a few weeks earlier, brought along his ‘F’ plate red coupe on which he has just recently completed a major restoration which I must say is to a very good standard.

During the day the show organizers asked if we would like any of our cars to be individually judged. Although there was initial enthusiasm, it quickly faded, as we knew there would be stiff competition for best car in show, a pity really as I personally thought that the standard of all our cars was very high. However, we had devised a plan of our own encouraged by the feedback we’d received from last year’s show for the ‘Best Club Display’ which is voted for by the public. We knew our cars were very popular at this show so, with this in mind we printed lots of information about the cars and the club and displayed them all over our stand. To help things along a bit, we each brought ourselves a programme and entered the club name on the voting form on the back page and submitted our entries to the judge’s marquee.

Steve, Pete, Eddie, Mark and myself awaited eagerly by the judge’s tent as the awards were being announced. We had to endure a long wait while the other category prizes were handed out. Eventually the moment we had awaited. “Results for best club display. First the runners up are… The MR2 Mk1 Club”. Hooray, we’ve got an award! Steve walked up to receive the trophy, shook hands with the presenter then turned around and raised the cup above his head as if he’d won the world cup! The winners were as last year, the Capri club. Well they did have more cars on display than us! So congratulations to the Capri Club. We’ll be back again next year.

Alan Cayzer