Well, better late than never, my first 'show report' of the year, this is
despite the fact that I've already attended two shows over Easter, but being
let down by the majority of the local TSSCers and spending most of the time
huddled up away from the cold wind I couldn't think of a great deal to write
about the Southern Classics show at Shoreham or the American and Classic car
show at Fort Brockhurst here in Gosport. There are a few snaps on the area
website at http://triumphsouth.20m.com/photo_events.htm if anyone would like
to peruse them, not captioned yet though, and if anyone can identify some of
the cars I saw, I'd like to hear about it - guess who forgot to take notes
at each of the shows! I've had some help with identification so far, but
still a few unrecognised cars amongst them.
Last weekend was just an informal get together of people from several TSSC
areas, arranged by Bob McDay of Test Valley area, at Sparkford in Somerset,
home of the Haynes Motor Museum, which we visited on Saturday. Yep, he who
put his name to dismantling and rebuilding cars, taking lots of pics then
selling the books to those of us who fancy trying the same with our own.
There's quite an eclectic mixture of vehicles there, not necessarily seeming
to have much rhyme or reason for placement at times except for the first
hall which is just a sea of red ranging from the TR3A to the Lamborghini
Countach. I think if I could have taken one car away with me I'd have chosen
the 1931 Duesenberg but I don't somehow think I'd have gotten away with it.
On Saturday night we had a barbecue and quiz night, and I humbly offer the
noteworthy event that my quiz partner Guy and I won the general knowledge
and car related rounds combined to the tune of a couple of bottles of vino.
Not bad going since neither of us thought we'd do so well. We didn't quite
manage to pull a full sweep with the music round too though, Bill and Karen
Davies did much better than us there. Amazingly the wind died down during
the festivities but Sunday dawned bitter cold with ice on the cars. After a
few hours huddled up in the gazebo wrapped in sleeping bags against the
bitter cold wind we made our way to the Yeovilton Fleet Air Arm Museum,
that's rather an impressive place. It was definitely interesting to see the
development of the aircraft carrier and various forms of seagoing aircraft
from the very earliest right up to modern day jets and even a Concorde,
though I can't quite see that landing on a carrier!
Well, those were the general weekend highlights for most people,
unfortunately Baby Blue decided it was the ideal time to dig her heels in,
perhaps I've just been driving her a little too fast for her own comfort
since having all the suspension sorted out so well but she decided to stall
every possible place she could on the 90 mile journey on Friday. Of course,
being in a place with a dozen or more knowledgeable people was the right
place for her to kick up her heels and the final diagnosis was that I'd
somehow lost a cylinder, she was definitely only running on 3. She'd still
start perfectly from cold, and even run reasonably well considering, but I
simply don't have big enough feet to keep the heel and toe technique working
to keep her running so once warmed up she died again, right in the middle of
a busyish junction of course, it was a heck of a job to get her going again.
Thanks again to Guy for achieving that, and also showing me what BB's really
capable of with a much more competent driver at the wheel
He came to our rescue and we had her shipped by low loader to Wiltshire
where he took the head off to find the problem there (please don't ask me
for details, you know I'm not a techie, I just know there's a hole where
there shouldn't be one), rather than in the bottom end, thank heavens for
small mercies. So this weekend's job is to fit the unleaded head I managed
to source, figuring the job might as well be done properly if at all,
luckily only about 30 minutes away from where she's currently having her
countryside vacation. So, all things being well (ok, so I know it's a
Triumph we're talking about here, but I do have to try to be optimistic)
we'll get her up and running again in time for the TSSC South of England
meet in Leatherhead on Sunday.
So, not having BB to nip around all those lovely Somerset and Dorset country
lanes I kept Guy and his dog Sadie company in his Bond convertible, (she was
very useful at keeping my legs warm with the weather we were having, thanks
Sadie, though my thighs did get pummelled a bit at times when she decided to
wriggle around), and no it's not sunburn I came back with, just wind burn,
but we had some exhilarating drives. Methinks we did cover the ground a
little faster than I would have alone in BB though, 2 litres & 6 cylinder do
somehow have the edge over 1.3 & 4 respectively, though I still wouldn't
swap my Baby Blue, she just needs a little more TLC, as I believe does any
self-respecting 30+ female, she & I both included in that!
So, if anyone's still with me after that not so brief intro to my show
season, I'll let you know how this weekend's ministrations go - and what
else we might find along the way. And I'll still be at SEM one way or
another if any other UK listers are heading that way next Sunday and would
like to meet up.
Suzie & a rather poorly Baby Blue
///
/// spitfires@autox.team.net mailing list
/// To unsubscribe send a plain text message to majordomo@autox.team.net
/// with nothing in it but
///
/// unsubscribe spitfires
///
///
|