THE ROVER 75 and MG ZT CLUB OUT TO THE ABINGTON COLLECTION - 25TH FEBRUARY 2012

On Saturday we had our first outing of the season with the Rover 75 and MG ZT Club today.

We meet up with other club members at 10.00am at the BP station near the Moira Roundabout.  We meet and introduced ourselves to new members and had a bit of banter with the member that we knew.  We departed at 10.45 and travelled in convoy up the motorway to the Maxol station at Mount Joy.

 

Here we were we meet up with other members and the owner of The Abingdon Collection.   A great opportunity to get group photos.

The Abingdon Collection, Omagh, is a private collection of cars and motorbikes and World War 2 memorabilia built up over the last 40 years.

When we arrive we were welcomed with tea, coffee and biscuits and given the chance to browse through a massive selection of classic car magazines, before we were given a guided tour of the collection.

The first part of the collection contained classic cars and motor cycles.  

The Cars on display included 

• 1953 MG TD
• 1957 MGA Fixed Head Coupe
• 1968 MG C
• 1980 MG B
• 1978 Porsche 911 SC
• 1986 Opel Manta GTE
• 1983 Ford Capri 2.8i
• 1997 BMW 328i
• 2010 Mazda MX5

The follow photographs are of the 1953 MG TD - my favourite car that was on display.

The motor cycles on display included 

• 1972 Triumph Bonneville
• 1993 Kawasaki 1000 Highway Patrol Bike
• 2006 Harley Davidson Low Rider

All of the vehicles have been fully restored.

Also on display were over 500 die cast models, enamel signs, jukeboxes and automobilia dating back to the 1950's.

The second part of the collection concentrates on World War II.  It is one of the largest collections in private ownership, with over 3000 items on permanent display.   Unfortunately we were unable to take photographs in the room containing the World War II collection. 

I was intrigued by the war memorabilia on display and the stories that the owner told.  In my opinion there was too much stuff on display to take it all in during our short visit, you would need to spend a full afternoon in that room alone.

Having completed the tour of the collection it was decided that we would stop for a meal at the Sperrin Restaurant.   Here we enjoyed craic and banter over beautiful food.  

This was a super day out, it was great catching up with the usual suspects and meeting new members but we missed a number of our regulars were unable to attend. 

Thanks to Colin, for organising another great day out.

If you are planning a trip to the Omagh area I highly recommend that you contact the owner and pre-book a tour as this collection is open by appointment only.