NIIMC cars impress at Motorfest NI
It’s been a few years since NIIMC members attended a car show at Ballee Playing fields at Harryville in Ballymena (remember Ballymena Fest?) but it was back to Ballee on Sunday 21 August for the inaugural Motorfest NI, a charity fundraiser for Community Rescue Service NI. The event promised supercars, trucks and rally cars and although there were some cars that fell into this category the numbers were relatively low with the majority of cars being from the 70s to the present day.
That said there was a healthy turnout of vehicles and a good club presence with the Capri Club, Ford Owners Club and other club cars on display. In terms of supercars to drool over the Italian offerings attracted plenty of attention in the form of a Ferrari 812 Superfast, Ferrari 488 Pista and a Lamborghini Gallardo. A McLaren 765 LT and a Porsche 911 GT3 RS were also admired. There were other cars to suit all tastes but there was no doubt that Sean Treacy’s Lancia Fulvia was a real crowd puller in terms of its rarity and also Peter’s iconic Lancia Delta Integrale. It was good to have a brace of Lancias amongst the Alfa Romeos, although we did miss our club poster boy Alan in his Magnum Pi Ferrari 308.
The weather was kind as although there were some clouds in the sky it was warm and mainly sunny and the show had a welcome feel good factor about it. It was good to talk to fellow Alfistis like David McCalmont and his family who, although they are real Ford fanatics, displayed their stunning Misano Blue Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, a very similar car to Brian Pearson’s which was also in our line up at the show.
Other cars that caught my attention were a 1979 Opel Kadett Rallye coupe, a 1985 BMW M535i and a 1964 Ford Cortina Super – all pretty rare and great examples of older vehicles.
All in all it was an enjoyable day out and with a bit more publicity and word of mouth to promote the event Motorfest NI promises to grow in size and scale if it returns to Ballee Playing fields again next year.
Tim Logan
Club Chairman
