I helped man the Rover SD1 Club stand at the
Classic Motor Show in both 2004 and 2005. Unfortunately the
lighting is poor and so the photos are not brilliant. However,
here are some of the highlights from these shows.
LEFT: Club Peugeot 1979 Peugeot 504
saloon. I have an affection for these
cars that goes back to 1985 when my dad bought an estate version
Click
HERE for a photo of that car.
The Classic Motor
Show 2005. Again, I was fortunate enough to help man the
stand. This time we had a Series
1 V8 Vanden Plas, a modified 2 litre Diesel and an original press
release Vitesse.
My Star of the Show award
goes to...
Left: The Main Attraction
This car is a
very early Vitesse. Moreover, it is an original press car.
This Vitesse would have been driven by motoring journalists in 1982.
The owner is on the lookout for any additional information available
for this car.
the only
noticeable changes made are a non-standard steering wheel and a
Rimmer bros sports exhaust.
Left: A late Series one
Vanden Plas.
This car
left the factory with just about every conceivable extra: an
electric sunroof, special alloy wheels, air conditioning, electric
windows all round, headlamp washers, leather seats and body
mouldings along the flanks.
this in
addition to standard features - 3 speed auto, fog lamps front and
rear...
After the
show, the owner was kind enough to give me a lift to the car park
where Bob was waiting for me in the rain. It was nice to be
wafted around the NEC in such a nice example of the marque
Left: A Vitesse?
No, look again.
Originally an
automatic 2300, a lot of time and effort has been spent on this car.
Surprisingly, it's fitted with a 2 litre, normally aspirated Perkins
Diesel engine mated to an SD1 5 speed gearbox. The car is
capable of 90 MPH at 3000 RPM.
This car is
also fitted with unusual alloys. MGB V8?
Some SD1
Club members wonder whether it's possible to fit a Montego Turbo
engine to Rover SD1 2000 variants.
I think I may have let slip a couple of
expletives when I first saw this car - an
original and un-restored Chrysler
Alpine GL. The grainy photo on the right was taken from
my mobile phone. I chatted with the owner for about an hour
and he even let me sit in it. Dad bought a blue GLS model from
new some years ago. Ah, memories...
HOME PAGE PLEASE
LEFT: Practical Classics 1965 Cadillac
Limo. This
car really was massive. Probably because of this, the car became
an impromptu cafe for the Practical Classics team.
The Classic Motor Show
2004: Setting up the Stand. L-R Vitesse (3.9
V8, heavily modified, but standard looking), modified Series 1 V8
and a standard six cylinder 2600.
