“Caring with Cars” – July 2011

As far as I can tell, this was a new event for 2011. Organised through Pistonheads, and with sponsorship from a number of sources, the idea was simple. Get a number of people – initially targetted at 400 – to bring their interesting cars to display, and see how much money you can raise for charity by asking for donations both online (justgiving) and with collecting buckets on the day, as well as the proceeds from running a couple of raffles. The selected venue was The Downs school in Wraxall, near junction 19 of the M5, and so pretty close to home for me, so it made sense to go and have a look. The entry list even a few weeks ago looked very tantalising, but when the day started with torrential downpours, I suspect that a number of people were deterred from attending, as quite a lot of the cars on that list were not there, at least by the time I arrived at around 1pm. Dan, on the other hand, had to work in the afternoon, so was only there in the morning. Between us, that meant that we covered the whole day. I got lucky with the weather, but he may have seen more of the cars! Here are some of the highlights:ABARTH

They get everywhere, these little Scorpions, (!) and sure enough, there was an Abarth 500 parked up in the shade. I am not sure that I even know to whom this car belongs.

ALPINA B7

ARIEL ATOM

ASCARI ECOSSE

ASTON-MARTINWith the latest V12 Zagato model in the news, it was interesting to see Zagato’s last effort for Aston-Martin, the DB7 Zagato, as well as the “donor” car for the latest one, a V12 Vantage.

DB9, DBS and V8 Vantage both new and original

AUDIOne of the sponsors for the event was Bath Audi, so it is no surprise to learn that there was quite a sizeable display of new Audis at the event. Their cars included the latest RS3 and RS5, and it says something for the discrete appearance of both, with the RS3 lacking the rather attention seeking red wheel rims of the press cars, that I did not even register that these were RS cars the first time I was in the area. The dealer also had a new A1 on show. Slightly obscured was an S4 with the supercharged V6.

The display included an urQuattro and the iconic RS2.

Elsewhere, there were a couple more R8’s and R8 Spiders.

AUSTINAn absolutely immaculate early example of the Mini, badged still as Austin Seven.

AUSTIN-HEALEYThe dimunitive Sprite.

BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT

BMWThe two most notable BMWs at the event were both well known cars, belonging to well known The Motor members. Both looked good. The Z1 in particular was attracting a lot of attention, and when I finally found Jonny, he was deep in conversation with someone who was keen to buy one

….. a very rare M5 Touring

I did also come across this Z4 Coupe

BOWLERSomething about this Land-Rover did not look quite “right”, and then I realised that this is because it was a Bowler model.

BROOKE DOUBLE R

BUGATTIAn elegant Type 57 Atalante. This car has previously been shown at the exclusive Salon Prive event in London.

And a Type 35

CADILLACEldorado. Just enormous! Powered by a 7.7L V8 driving the front wheels!!

CHEVROLETThere were several Corvettes in attendance, with C3 and C4 models the most prevalent.

DAIMLERA Dart SP250 sports car with Fulvia Zagato in the background.

DODGEThis Viper arrived towing a trailer with the 2007 Honda F1 car on it. Reversing that combination cannot have been easy.

DUESENBURGOne of the most spectacular vehicles of the day was this absolutely splendid Model J. Reputedly one of just two such cars in the UK, these vehicles were very expensive when new, but built to high standards. The engine made a lovely burbling sound as the owner headed off from the event.

FERRARIThis 599 GTO was parked up right next to the buildings, and looked particularly striking in its pearlescent white paint finish.

This Testarossa was a late arrival to the event.

348

F430 Spider

FIATAn original 500

FORDAlmost a time warp car was this, a 1972 Granada 3.0 GXL. One of the early production cars, it featured a manual gearbox. When did you last see one?

Mustangs

A 1970 Mach 1

There were several examples of the modern Mustang, none of them the entry level rental car spec!

The Mark 2 Escort in rally guise.

GT40’s & GT’s

An immaculate Escort RS1600i

There were two Focus RS’s, both in signature green.

HOLDENA 1973 Monaro GTS.

HSV

HONDAJust the one NSX and a couple of Integras were on show

HOOPERThat’s right, a two door Bentley Turbo R. These were very expensive coachbuilt cars, incredible to see one today

HUMBER HAWK

JAGUAR C-TYPE

KTMAn X-Bow

K1Dan Duke knew the owner of this car, so was able to give me a little more information. Called the Attack, it has a carbon fibre body, with Honda mechanicals. It is a beautifully finished car.

LAMBORGHINIThere were 2 Countachs in attendance, though one escaped before I pointed the camera at it. This is a late model Anniversary car.

Here’s the one you missed Colin:

Gallardo

I caught this Diablo just as the owner was reversing out of the car parking area.

LANCIATwo Delta Integrale’s

Fulvia Zagato

LEA-FRANCIS

LOTUSQuite a variety from the British marque. A Lotus Carlton, an Esprit and an Exige

MARCOSAn early example of the 3 litre car

MASERATI

McLAREN F1I knew that there was an F1 car in attendance, as I got a text from an excited Dan early in the morning to tell me. He did not mention that it was the even rarer GTR model, though!

MERCEDESThe CLK DTM AMG, SLK55 & C63

MERCURYCougar

MGThe completely bonkers 6R4, in road going form.

MORGANThere were a couple of Morgans, representing the more recent models.

MOSLERThe very rare MT900S

NISSANQuite a contrast to the supercars among which it was displayed was this Cube.

From Nissan’s own supercar stable was the GT-R

NOBLEThere were several Nobles at the event, all of them were M12 based models

PORSCHEPlenty of different Porsche models to see, from the 911, 993 and 997 to Cayman and Boxster cars. One 928 too.

RENAULT GTA

ROVERThere were examples of the classic P5 and smaller P6 cars on show

SPIREI was not at all sure what this is, but some research revealed that it is a Spire GTR, powered by a Kawasaki bike engine.

TRABANTAt least I think these two are!

TVR Another highlight of the event had to be the showing of 2 of the 4 (or 3 depending on what you read!) Typhon cars that were ever built. These are incredibly rare machines, and I do not believe I have ever seen a “production” car on the road. Both were finished in a paint that looked all manner of different colours depending on how the light caught it.

There were several other TVRs, including a couple of the “wedges” and plenty of Griffith generation models, as well as couple of the wilder Sagaris cars .