Strong club presence at BOVC Show

This year the annual vintage and sports car display organised by the Banbridge Old Vehicle Club in  aid of the Northern Ireland Childrens’ Hospice  moved venues from Sprucefield to Warren Park in Lisburn.  The  organisers had kindly invited NIIMC to display a selection of our cars and club members ensured that there was a healthy club turnout.  The oldest club car (and the oldest driver) was Herbie in his 1964 Fiat 1500 Cabrio with the kost modern car being Richard Houston’s brand new Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sportiva.  In total we had 10 club cars on display and the Italian style certainly stood out amongst the wide selection of other vehicles.

For us one of the stars of the show had to be a Maserati Merak SS – we were astonished to see it sitting in carpark in the Sunday sunshine when we arrived. It had  been brought on a trailer and isn’t currently driveable, having been stored in a barn for the last 30+ years of its life. It has belonged to the same family since it was a year or two old and the  owners are now committed to bringing it back to its former glory.   Despite being nearly 40 years old the styling is as sharp today as it was back in the 1970’s.

Apart from the obvious appeal of the Italian cars there were a wide range of other interesting and desirable cars on display, from the humble Morris Minor, the ever popular Mini to some of British Leyland’s finest – from Rover SD1’s to Dolomite Sprints.  Ford, Vauxhall, Toyota, Porsche and Mercedes were also well represented and a selection of other exotic marques drew admiring glances. A brand new Aston Martin Vanquish . an E- type Jaguar and several Bentleys and Rolls Royce and even a Daimler Dart are worthy of mention.

The event was well organised and BOVC members made us feel very welcome – all in all an enjoyable day and certainly one to add to the fixture list again next year. Take a look at a selection of photos from the show which are attached. 

 

Tim Logan

Club Secretary