APPLEBY PARVA MONTHLY MEETINGS 2001
FROM CLASSIC HI-FI TO CLASSIC CARS:
SUPERCHARGER DEBUTS AT THE PISTON RING MONTHLY MEETING
On a grey autumn Sunday in September
myself, Richard Morgan and his son Thomas went along to the Piston Ring Classic
Car Meeting held at Appleby Parva in Leicestershire. I went just to see a
collection of nice classic cars, Richard went to show off his Supercharger, and
Thomas went to see his dream car the Delorean. The meeting itself was well
attended despite the poor weather and the range of cars on show whetted and
satisfied the appetites of the majority of the car enthusiasts present. But how
we got to find out about the meeting itself is an interesting story in its own
right and goes something like this.
I was in Richard’s hi-fi shop learning
about the delights of a Garrard 401 turntable and how to service one (should I
ever own one!) when a middle aged gentleman came in and enquired if Richard had
any 8-track music tapes he could look at. After digging out a box of them the
Garrard 401 stole our attention again. Not long after the man enquired if the
shop had any car speakers for classic cars, to which Richard replied “no, but
you ought to try a classic car show, there is one in Malvern next weekend”. The
man clutching his chosen 8-tracks replied "Well actually I organise my own classic car meets for the Piston Ring
Club”. With a mild look of surprise Richard said “That’s interesting as I happen
to help run the Toyota MR2 MK1 Club”. The convesation continued with the man
telling us about a meeting the next day to be held locally in Leicestershire, we
were all welcome to go along and Richard could show his car if he wanted. The
man went to his car and returned with a couple of Piston Ring Club newsletters
with information about the meet and how to get there. The star attraction for
this meet was going to be a Delorean sports car. I had never seen one in the
flesh, but of course knew about them from its starring role in the Back to the
Future film trilogy and so said I wanted to go. However Richard knew that this
news was of most interest to one Thomas Morgan, a big fan of the car and author
of a web site dedicated to this enigmatic sports machine (address http://www.dmcworld.freehosting.net/
for other DMC fans). Richard thought that his life wouldn’t be worth living if
he failed to inform and take Thomas to this meeting to see one. Hence we agreed
whatever the weather we would turn up at 12 o’clock the next day to attend the
classic car meeting.
The next day I found the hotel / pub in
Apple Parva (off the M42 J11) easily enough, about 15 classic cars had already
parked up in the pitch allocated for the show. I spotted Richard’s white
Supercharged MR2 parked neatly on
display sandwiched amongst a trio of old Roll’s Royce’s.
The image of a thorn amongst the roses
sprang to mind as we all mused over the MR2’s strategic placement. Over the next
half hour about 20-30 more classic cars turned up with probably a similar number
of visitors cars. Both British and American models were on display. The
highlight for me was pair of E-type Jags in lovely condition. No matter that it
was a grey wet day their beauty and elegance stood out from the rest. When the
Delorean arrived heads were turned and a crowd around the vehicle ensued. What
of the MR2 I hear you ask? It surprised me but probably not Richard, a fair
number of the car enthusiasts were keen to find out about the Supercharger. What
the history of the model was, technical stuff about the engine and basically
about how good a little sports car it is. I would consider that Richards MR2
debut at the Piston Ring meeting was a real success. I didn’t encounter any
snobbery regarding its position amongst some truly classic cars in the
traditional sense.
As the rain fell most people went into
the pub for either some lunch or liquid refreshment. This was my first outing to
a car entusiast meeting, (I have been to several motorcycle ones in years gone
by) and had a decent couple of hours entertainment. The Piston Ring organises
this meet on a monthly basis throughout the winter and so it would seem to
me that it would be an ideal place for
all you MK1 maniacs (in the nicest sense of the word) to go and show off your
MR2 pride and joys.
ALEX BELL
STEVENS US SUPERCHARGER AND TONI'S SUPERCHARGER JIMMY CHENG CAME UP FROM LONDON
THE SHOP
