Austin Healey/MG Car Display at the Castle Combe, Autumn Classic Race meeting, September 21st and 22nd 2024
On the 18th July, Joe Cox (Vice President Austin Healey Club) contacted Andrew Owst with a request for a variety of MGs to be displayed with a selection of Austin Healey Cars to celebrate 70 years of Austin Healey and 100 years of MG. Joe knew Andrew from way back when Joe and is dad had an MG PB and were MMM members of the car club. Andrew passed the email to me, and I then contacted Joe via email on the 24th of July,
I asked for details so that I could put something on the website and in the weekly email. Joe and I conversed on the phone, and he explained what was happening. At last year’s CC Autumn Classic Joe and Rob Ford, did a similar display for the Lotus Club. Joe was going to bring Rob on board again this year as he was excellent at planning the display. Joe needed at least 6, racing or ‘MGs with an interesting history’. I said that I would do what I could and put out the request.
I had offers from several members of the club, Dave Mothersdill’s MK 1, 18/80, Jeremy Hawkes, K3007, Colin Withers, offered 3 cars, a 1931 C Type, an MG SV-r and an MG Maestro Turbo. I also had an offer of an turbo charged MGF Supersport and a couple of racing MG Midgets and an MGC GTS replica owned by Laurent Brindeau. Joe had already managed to get the Windmill and Lewis MGB (which featured on the poster for the event, alongside the Austin Healey 3000, DD300 which raced each other in the 1960s). The six cars selected for the display were The 18/80, the C Type, K3007, SV-R, the MGF Supersport and the Windmill and Lewis MGB. Unfortunately, the MGF Supersport had brake issues a week before the event and had to withdraw, so the MGC GTS replica was drafted in during the final run up to the event.
The display was held in a large, carpeted marquee located on the grass area, in front of the Merlin Motorsport Shop. The Marquee was huge and had ample room for all the cars. In fact, on Sunday, due to the heavy rain, the Red Bull Tee-Pee where the big band were due to play was waterlogged so they set up in our marquee, in front of the display cars and played their afternoon set there.
Friday was the set-up day, and I arrived just after lunch to put up the banners and poster I had borrowed from Kimber house, on the previous Wednesday, (a special thanks to Ineke and Colin at KH for their assistance). I also picked up a ‘Cecil’ who was to take pride of place in the driver’s seat of the 18/80 during the display.
A couple of the Healey cars were already in the marquee and the MGs started to come in. Colin Withers arrived driving the SV-R and the C type was trailered in for him by Martin Smith. Next to arrive was Dave Mothersdill with the 18/80, looking resplendent with it’s new hood keeping out the rain. Once he was positioned in the back corner, the hood came down and was safely stowed. Jeremy Hawke then arrived with the K3 on his trailer, and he was helped to bring it into the marquee as it had no battery and no fuel. It is not a heavy car, so it didn’t take much to manoeuvre the K3 into the front corner of the display. It had started to rain, and we had a leak in the roof right above the covered C Type, so we quickly removed the cover and moved the car over so that the leak, missed the car at the side. Joe Cox disappeared to the paddock to go and talk to Richard and Alice Locke, who now own the Windmill and Lewis MGB and get Richard to bring the MGB over to the Marquee. That was positioned towards the front of the display where it was to be joined, on Sunday, by the Autin Healey 3000, DD 300, both cars featured on the advertising poster for the event. The last car to arrive was the MGC GTS replica, belonging to Laurent Brindeau, who had been held up on the M5 Motorway as per the normal Friday afternoon rush. With the MGC in place all the MGs were in position, and it was time to take a few photos and leave for home.
I could not attend on Saturday due to a family commitment, however two of the previous owner/drivers were re-united with the Windmill and Lewis MGB. They were Terry Osborne and Roy Ashford, along with Clive Baker and Peter Jackson, who also had past dealing with the W & L MGB.
Colin Withers arrived in his MG Maestro Turbo and parked it in the marquee in front of the K3, however, due to logistic problems, he could not bring the Maestro on Sunday, so I bought my MG Metro Turbo and parked in the space vacated by the Maestro.
On both Saturday and Sunday, we were visited by 3 of the girls from the Flaming Feathers Dance Company who posed with the past drivers of the MGB on Saturday dressed as 1920s flappers, and on Sunday, they posed with the MGs dressed as 60s Go-Go Dancers to add some glamour to the proceedings.
All in all, it was a great weekend, with lots of people coming in and wandering around (out of the rain on Sunday) and looking at the cars and giving positive comments about the display.
My thanks go to Joe Cox, Rob Ford, Max Symonds, Commercial Manager Castle Combe Circuit, Simon Lott and the owners of the cars on display for making the event a great success.
Credits: Words; Jim Lott. Photos below; Jim Lott and Rob Ford
