During the latest Queens Square Breakfast Club meeting, I was talking to David Roots, whose Alfa Special has starred regularly in reports from this event, when someone overheard what we were saying and asked us if we were “organisers”, as he wanted to talk to them. We explained that apart from a thread on Pistonheads which is updated by about 3 regulars with a few pictures and a couple of comments each month, this event is largely self organising. As the months go by, it seems to have become ever more popular, so if you want to be sure of getting a parking space on the inner side of the Square, you probably should aim to arrive no later than 9am. There are plenty of comings and goings all morning, though, and the real beauty of the gathering is that whilst there do indeed appear to be quite a group of event regulars, there are always plenty of surprises among the assembled vehicles as well. That was certainly the case for this September 2013 meeting which entertained me for the first part of the morning, before moving my car to the second event of the day, a full report on which is presented separately. The two were close enough together that I did wander back to see any late arrivals at this one. Here are my highlights:
ABARTH
Four Abarth 500s again this month. Not entirely a surprise, given that all are reasonably regular attendees and that the second event of the day was for Italian cars, though not all of them made it over to M Shed for that.
AC
Also a predictable presence from a number of AC Cobra, or rather from replica and recreation Cobra. These cars still attract lots of attention even when parked up. Fire the engine though, and the crowds come literally running.
ALFA ROMEO
Another “regular”, a 156 V6 in the rarely specified colour of white.
AUDI
A nice ur-Quattro.
AUSTIN
This lovely 1930s Austin Ripley is believed to be one of just six such cars surviving. This one started out life serving the Derbyshire Constabulary, which I found quite surprising, as it is not the sort of bodystyle I would have expected to find favour as a police vehicle.
This Mark 3 1800 is an event regular
AUSTIN-HEALEY
A couple of Big Healeys were present.
BMW
Another outing for this fabulous E30 model M3.
CADILLAC
The Allante was an ill-fated attempt to try to change Cadillac’s image in the late 1980s with an Italian designed (and built) grand tourer (I could not in all honesty call this a sports car!). With bodies built in Italy and mechanicals in America, this venture was too costly which sealed the fate of a car that was not even that good. Nice to see one in the UK, though.
CITROEN
Not one, but 2 BX cars present this month. Lighting challenges from the sun, clouds and leaves on the overhanging trees meant that I intended to return to take photos of the navy blue hatchback, but then never did
DODGE
The Viper GTS Coupe proved to be a crowd puller, even before the engine was fired.
FERRARI
Fewer Ferrari than some months, perhaps, but these red Italian sports cars are still very popular with the crowds.
FORD
Lots of old Ford models, many of them stalwarts of the event, such as this Mark 2 Consul, a 100E Popular, a Capri and a one-off Pilot based Special.
GTM
HILLMAN
Another appearance for this Avenger GLS
HUMBER
The Sceptre was an upmarket version of the prosaic Hillman Hunter. They rusted just as much as the humbler cars, though, so survivors are rare.
JAGUAR
A very nice Series 2 E Type Coupe.
LANCIA
I’ve seen this lovely Appia Coupe several times before at the event. Surprisingly the owner did not transfer over to the Great Western Italian day, but simply drove away completely once he had had enough of this event.
This Delta 1300LX is the same one that I had seen the previous weekend at Haynes’ Rare Breeds event, and it was to stage another appearance later in the day. Nice to see a Delta that is not an Integrale as very few of these survive.
LINCOLN
By some measure, the largest car on show, this vast Lincoln Continental measures over 20 feet in length. It is wide as well. Very imposing and an interesting display car.
LOTUS
An Elan Sprint.
MAZDA
This event is popular with local MX5 Owners, and as ever, there were plenty of this little sports car present.
MG
A very nice M Type Midget, not a car that I have seen at this event before, and parked next to it was the later TC.
This early MGB GT was rather nice, too.
MINI
Early Minis have become extremely valuable. This was not a 1959 car and it was not as pristine as some, but still a nice period piece.
MITSUBISHI
This Colt Sigma was another of the rare cars that was staging its second consecutive appearance at the event.
NISSAN
This Figaro was making another appearance at the event.
There are always plenty of “fast” (and extensively modified) Nissan, mostly 300ZX cars, but this month there were also some Skylines of various generations.
OPEL
A trio of interesting Opels: Manta B, Ascona B and a very nice Monza GSE. The Monza must have been one of the first cars on site, but when the Manta and Ascona arrived and parked around the other side of the Square, I noticed that the Monza moved to join them.
PARAMOUNT
Last month I came across the Paramount, and presented a short summary on this little known marque in my report. The same car was present again.
Only 8 models survive and just 3 of them are currently roadworthy, so imagine my surprise when a second Paramount arrived at the event.
PEUGEOT
Nice to see one of the “cooking” 205 models rather than a GTi.
PLYMOUTH
Another appearance for this rather fabulous Plymouth de Luxe.
PORSCHE
Porsche 911s are popular even when it is not their 50th anniversary year, so no surprise that there were several of these much loved cars at the event.
RELIANT
This bright orange Scimitar GTE is another of the event regulars.
‘RODS
Plenty of these, as ever.
ROLLS-ROYCE
Silver Shadow Mark 1
ROVER
A late appearance from this P6 model Rover 3500.
SUNBEAM
This 14/40 dates from 1925, and is one of nearly 3000 such cars that were built over a 3 year period.
TALBOT
The Sunbeam Lotus
TRIUMPH
This duo of TR6 and 2500PI Saloon arrived and departed jointly. Both nice cars from this much missed British marque’s heyday.
TVR
TVR models were much in evidence as ever, with an S, a Tamora and a Tuscan.
VOLKSWAGEN
Really nice mark 1 Golf GTis are not that easy to come by. This one looked well up to scratch.
There was also a second generation Scirocco.
ZASTAVA
This little 750 was a Serbian built version of the Fiat 600, and seemed to appeal to lots of the event attendees judging by the enthusiastic comments I heard.
As ever, I enjoyed this event. As well as talking to David Roots, it was good finally to meet Ralph Colmar, prolific author of a fascinating daily blog which you can find at http://www.psychoontyres.co.uk/ My current diary shows that I will miss the October event, as I will be elsewhere in the country that day, but November will be upon us sooner than we think and I look forward to seeing what vehicles are brought along.
