ORCHARD COUNTY VINTAGE VEHICLE RALLY - 5TH MAY 2012

Billy Martin’s Farm, on the Portadown Road, between Portadown and Armagh was the venue for this charity event, with the monies raised being donated to Marie Curie Cancer Care, Diabetes and Chest, Heart & Stroke.

Although this show has been running for 22 years this was the first time that we have attended it.  My husband, son and I meet up with a friend at the BP station on the Glenavy Road at 9.30am before travelling to the venue.  When we arrived at just after 10.00am we were the 5th  and  6th  cars into the field.

As the morning wore on cars and tractors filtered into the field and despite the overcast morning and the chilly breeze (given that it’s May) there was a good turnout.  With 150 plus vehicles on display including lorries, bikes, cars and tractors. 

FORDSON

 

ALLIS-CHALMERS

A SMALL SELECTION OF THE TRACTORS THAT WERE ON DISPLAY

As expected at a country show, there was a large display of tractors including Massey Ferguson's, Fords, a Fordson and an Allis-Chalmers.  Cars on display included a selection of Minis, Reliant Robins, Fords, Austin Maxi’s, Triumphs, Austin Healy’s, Humber's, Morris’s and a DeLorean.    

 A SELECTION OF LORRIES THAT WERE ON DISPLAY

Apart from our SD1 and our friends Rover 100 there was only two other Rovers on display, a Rover 213 and a Rover 216.

A couple of cars stood out at this show, a Panter Rio Especial and a Mark 2 Ford Escort.


The Escort was immaculate with a very clean engine, the owner said that it had been restored but that the engine had not been touched as he wanted to see how many miles it would do without needing rebuilt, currently it has 145,000 miles on the clock.

The Panter Rio Especial is a very rare car.  The Rio was designed and built after the 1973 energy crisis.  The Rio was based on the Triumph Dolimite and the Rio Especial was based on the Dolomite Sprint.   Launched in  1975, these cars didn't sell very well due to their high price compared to other cars on the market at the time, I believe that only 38 were sold .

Away from the vehicle display area there was a blacksmith demonstration, bouncy castle, car boot sale, bric-a-brac stalls, horse and carriage rides and an auction.

We got talking to a lovely couple from England, who really enthused over the SD1.   They own a SD1 3500 Vandem Plas, in showroom condition, which he bought new in 1985 for just under £16,000.  It has only 13,000 miles on the clock and has never been out in the rain and has been in dry storage for quite a few years.

The £4 entry fee was a nominal, given that you got a lunch, consisting of a large salad, with a meat of your choice and unlimited wheaten bread and a mug of tea or coffee and a finisher’s award (a china plate).

This was a lovely show, in the County Armagh countryside, with a really friendly atmosphere.  It would be nice to see more member of the Classic Rover Club (NI) attend next year.  

THE ARGORY VINTAGE VEHICLE RALLY - 28TH APRIL 2012

Some of the club members meet up at Sprucefield to travel in convoy to The Argory,  we joined the convoy at the Moira Road Roundabout.  

We arrived at The Argory at 9.15am and as in previous years the Classic Rover Club (NI) stand was in the courtyard.   Thankfully, there wasn't as much dust flying around as there was last year.  


Cars were cleaned and the club banner was erected before some of us headed off for burgers, others headed to the cafe and some people went off to see the other exhibits.

THE FOLLOW PHOTOS ARE OF THE CLASSIC ROVER (CLUB NI) CLUB STAND IN THE COURTYARD

By lunchtime the courtyard housed 11 cars .  The cars on display on our stand in the courtyard included 3 P4's 2 P5's, 2 P6's, 1 SD1, 1 MG ZT, 1 Rover 25 and 1 Rover 100.   It was nice to see a MG ZT on our stand.

After our burger and a chat I went for a short stroll around a small part of the gardens.   These gardens are breath taking and really worth a visit.  

After my stroll around the gardens, it was back to the courtyard for a rest and more chat before I headed off around the other exhibits on display.  There was a large display of cars, bikes, steam engines and vintage tools.

THE FOLLOWING PICTURES ARE A SAMPLE OF SOME OF THE STUNNING VEHICLES THAT WERE ON DISPLAY.  EACH AND EVERYONE OF THEM A CREDIT TO THEIR OWNERS

MY CAR OF THE SHOW

Has never been welded or restored since it rolled of the production line in 1934. Totally original "willow green" paint work and interior.

When I returned to the courtyard most of our members had already returned.   This meant only one thing, it was time to produce the birthday cake for one of our members who recently celebrated his 40th birthday.   By the time he'd opened his cards and we'd eaten our cake it was 3pm and the other exhibitors had started to gather in the courtyard to collect their finisher's award, a lovely brass plaque with the location and the year engraved on it.  

After the show had finished and the other exhibitors had left, a few of us lit up the barbecue and sat and chatted until the sun faded and temperatures began to drop.   This was the perfect finish to a great day out that my husband, son and I thoroughly enjoyed.

DRIVE IT DAY, SPRUCFIELD, LISBURN - 22ND APRIL 2012

The car park of PC World, Sprucefield was the venue for this year’s Drive it Day, Classic Car Show.  This was a  Charity event organised by Banbridge Old Vehicle Club (BOVC), held in aid of N I Children’s Hospice.

Despite the dull day and looming rain there was a very good turnout overall.  6 members of the Classic Rover Club (NI) turned out to support this event and we were also joined by 3 members of the Rover 75 MG ZT Club.   While I was walking around I noticed a few more Rovers on display including a Rover P2.

There was a great mixture of pre and post war Vintage and Classic vehicles.   The largest club stand displays were Fords and Minis.   

One of the minis was getting a lot of attention, when I took a closer look I was soon told that it had been fitted with a motorbike engine!

The Air Cadet display proved very popular with the young and old alike and the display of Military Vehicles, ranging from a bicycle to an amphibious vehicle, proved very popular with one of our members, who told me the names of all the vehicles, which I have since forgotten!  

THE FOLLOWING PICTURES SHOW THE CADETS DISPLAY AND A SMALL SELECTION OF THE MILITARY VEHICLES THAT WERE ON DISPLAY

There was a steady stream of spectators of all ages browsing around the cars, some of them even stopped to chat with the exhibitors, asking questions and reminiscing about the cars.

My favourite car (well that’s apart from our SD1!) on display was the Morris 1,000,000.  The Millions were created to celebrate the millionth sale of the Morris Minor.  Given that there were only 350 produced, I am pleased to say that I have seen 2 at shows in the last 10 months.

This was a great show with lots of variety and something to interest everyone and definitely one that I will be marking on next year’s calendar.