Making a welcome return to the 2014 event listing was Caring for Cars”. First conceived and run in 2011 and repeated in 2012, but sadly unable to be held in 2013, this show is organised through the popular Pistonheads site, as a private members event, with the objective of enticing lots of people to bring and enjoy a disparate collection of cars and to raise money for a local children’s charity. It takes place at the Downs School, Wraxall, just outside Bristol, almost opposite the entrance to the Tyntesfield Estate, so it’s easy to get to. A limit of 500 display cars is set, and demand for places always exceeds capacity, but those who are on the “wait list” can usually find that more than a few last minute drop outs from those who booked early mean that they will still be allowed to include their car in the show. When the 2014 event coincided with a weekend of truly fantastic summer weather, with only a few clouds in the sky during the day, I guessed that almost everyone who had reserved a place would show up, but perusal of the entry list after the event suggests that there were a surprising number of no shows. Their loss, for sure, as those absentees missed an absolutely excellent event, with a vast variety of cars on show. Selected cars were invited to occupy a prominent position on the main lawn in front of the school buildings, and some other cars were parked in the adjoining courtyard, leaving a vast assembly of cars, where just about every one merited a photo or two, parked in neat rows the other side of a ha-ha, giving the enthusiast plenty to look at, and which kept TheMotor.net’s reporters interested until mid afternoon when everyone departed. Among many highlights were the vehicles featured in this report.

ABARTH

There were 4 locally owned Abarths present. All were 500 based models, with examples of the regular cars like mine and the 500C among them. As ever, they appeared to be generating plenty of interest as whenever I returned to the car, usually to get another drink of water, there was always someone having a good look, and the only comments I heard were positive.

AC

No genuine Cobra models from the 1960s, but plenty of more recent examples of cars bearing the legendary Cobra styling were present.

This Shelby Daytona replica was one of the cars on the main lawn.

ALFA ROMEO

There were not that many Alfa present, and nothing particularly rare, but even so there were some nice cars, and none more covetable than this fantastic Alfetta GTV.

I also liked seeing this 33 Veloce model, especially as it is not a car that you see that often, with few having survived.

Other Alfa included a couple of 147 GTAs, several of the 916 generation of Spiders and a MiTo.

ARIEL

Atoms are built not far away from this venue, in Somerset. This must have been a day with the weather to make driving the Atom to and from the event a lot of fun indeed.

ASTON-MARTIN

No surprise that there were quite a few Astons present, all from the relatively recent past, with DB7,  V8 Vantage and DB9 among their number.

AUDI

Bath Audi were one of the event sponsors, so that meant that they had an array of some of the sportier models from the vast Audi range on display. Pride of place went to an R8 Spider GT, the most expensive car that Audi has ever made, and very nice it is, too.

Parked up with it were a “regular” (if you can call any car that looks and sounds like this one by such a term) R8, an RS6, an RS4 and an S3. The Audi convoy left just before me, and I can assure you that the drivers appeared to be taking the long way home, and they absolutely floored the throttle in all of the cars when they got to the main road. The noise from each and every car was fantastic.

In the main car park there were a number of other S and RS Audis, ranging from a couple of the B5 model S4s like my old car, to the latest B8 model, as well as a last generation S3 and RS3.

AUSTIN

One of the oldest cars at the event was also the smallest, the diminutive Austin Seven.

BENTLEY

There were a number of the Continental GT models here.

BMW

It’s probably not a surprise that the M cars outnumbered the regular ones. Most of them were M3s, and there were examples of all  generations, with a particularly nice E30 model which is to be seen regularly at Queen Square Breakfast club events probably my favourite. We were shocked to spot that on one car – on an 03 plate – the rust that was bubbling through the paint around both front wheel arches looked like new wings were going to be required and soon. I thought such problems had long since been eradicated!

The 1M Coupe will surely become a classic pretty quickly as the car was well rated when new and not many were built in its rather short production life.

Of the non M cars, the E30 saloon is a rare example of a car that was once reasonable common on our roads.

From the top end of the range were E24 6 Series and the E31 8 Series that replaced it.

One of the smallest cars at the event bore BMW badges, as well as the Isetta marque that begat it. The BMW Isetta 300 was a popular bubble car in the 1950s which literally kept BMW in existence when the rest of their range consisted of very expensive and not particularly well regarded large saloons of the 501/502 range and the spectacularly costly 507 sports car.

CATERHAM

A couple of the ever popular Caterham cars were here.

CHEVROLET

When we were admiring this Camaro SS, the owner’s wife called over her husband who came to talk to us about his car. It turned out that in two years it has covered over 40,000 miles, including a trip to Roumania which covered 14 countries in 9 days. This car has been modified, making it far more powerful than standard, and indeed more potent than Chevrolet’s own ZL1 model, and as it is also lighter, it really does shift. I was particularly surprised to learn that the standard one piece exhaust system weighs over  150 pounds, so one way to take bulk out of a heavy car is to replace it with a much lighter set up.

Nearly sixty years its junior was Chevrolet’s first venture into the world of sports cars, a first generation Corvette. The early cars were all show and precious little go and sales were pitiful, but a program of continuous improvement rescued the model from what was nearly a premature death such that it celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2013.  Fittingly, there was a C6 generation Corvette here as well.

It is the 1957 model years from the “Tri-Star” Chevrolet range that lasted from 1955 for three years which are the most sought after, and the Bel Air badge is the one everyone wants. This is the Wagon version of the 1957 Bel Air.

DAIMLER

A nice example of the DS250 “Dart”, this one clearly had a non-original looking gearlver. It turned out that this is because it features a Toyota Supra gearbox, which apparently makes the car far easier and nicer to drive.

DODGE

Apparently this is the only yellow painted first generation Viper in the country. Still a bold looking car, and with a massive engine under that enormous hood, the finish does look rather crude in too many places, but I guess that 20 years ago it was more or less acceptable. No question about the styling or the noise, though. The world would have been a poorer place had Dodge not built it.

There was a later Coupe model present as well.

DRAGSTERS

DUCATI

There were not many bikes at the event, so these three Ducati models stood out.

FERRARI

A couple of 458 Italia models graced the main lawn, and these attracted plenty of interest.

In the main parking area, a third 458 car, also not the now more popular Spider was parked up as one of a trio of yellow painted cars, with 430 and 360 alongside it.

There were a couple of California cars on show.

The 360/430 generation was well represented, which is not a surprise as this has been Ferrari most popular car to date and there are lots of them in the UK.

Also here were some of the earlier V8 cars, with the 308, 328 and F355 in evidence.

I’ve included this car under Ferrari, although it is not. It certainly looks like a 330 P4, but as Ferrari only built 4 of those, you can be pretty sure that if you wee what looks like one, it is some form of replica. This one said “Renault” on the tax disc, which really surprised me, especially as I was sure that I had heard a V8 rumbling as the car was parked up. That bit proved correct as it features a Rover V8 in the middle of the car and the chassis is a sort of mix of Noble and Renault. So, not original, but still very appealing, and it looked well designed and assembled.

FIAT

There was just one the striking Chris Bangle styled Coupe models on show.

FORD

Largest Ford, by some margin, was this monster F750 truck. It is the same one that appeared at Queens Square a couple of months ago., Even allowing for the lower fuel cost of LPG which it proudly advertises on the side, it will be a costly machine to run, and finding places to park it must be quite a challenge, as it is far too tall for any garage,  multi-storey or place with a height restrictor on it.

Continuing the American theme, there were a few Mustang models on show, all of them from the about to be superceded generation and its predecessor.

The oldest Ford present was also an American model, a 1930 Model A

This Consul Classic is a regular at the Queens Square Breakfast Club meets.

Dating from later in the 1960s was this well turned out Mark 2 Cortina 1600E.

Although far from pristine, it was nice to see this first generation Granada. Once the staple of the management part of the corporate car park, these are rare cars indeed now.

There were a couple of Sierra Sapphire Cosworth cars, both of them in splendid condition.

They were trumped by two real show cars, though. I don’t seem to have a picture of the Escort RS1600i which looks like it has never been used (it hardly has been!), but I did photograph this RS200, This is the same car that we saw at Stoneleigh a while back where the owner pointed out how everything is original and looking like it is factory fresh. It seems a shame that neither car is actually enjoyed for anything other than its static qualities.

It was good to see a nicely presented Fiesta XR2 here, too.

Other sporting Fords included an Escort RS2000 and an RS Cosworth, as well as the more recent Focus RS.

A replica GT40 was on the main lawn, and a big attraction, as these cars always are.

GINETTA

The G33 sports car promised much when it was revealed in 1991, but few were made before the company folded.

HONDA

Nice to see an NSX. This is a late model car lacking the pop up headlights that featured on the first models.

JAGUAR

Jaguar really was the marque that stole the show for me. And the absolute highlight was to see one of the uber-rare XJR15 road cars.

That was not all, though, as there was also the XKR-S GT to have a good look at. Jaguar have only made 30 XKR-SGT cars. 20 of them were in US spec and have been shipped over the Pond, leaving 10 for the UK. Except 3 of them have been retained by Jaguar, so there are only 7 that are privately owned, so to see 2 here today was amazing. Chatting with the owner of the red one, he told us that Jaguar had planned only to make them in white, but following extensive dialogue, lobbying and whatever, he managed to get his in red, and very smart is looks. He did say that he recently took to Castle Combe and it is right on the noise limit for track use even though it is of course perfectly road legal. The white car, it turned out, belongs to the same guy who owns the XJR15.

And there was more, as local Bath dealer had brought along a pair of F Types, a V6 Convertible and a V8 Coupe. Choosing between the two would be a pleasure and a pain, as I think I would want both. On a day when the sun shines, the Convertible would be particularly wonderful, but the Coupe does score on better practicality. Both of them look fantastic and sound equally epic.

It hardly seems fair to call some of the other models more prosaic or ordinary, as they are also really rather nice. There were several XK and XK8 cars, as well as the predecessor XJS at the event.

The much loved E Type model was also well represented.

This C Type (replica, I assume) was parked up near the entrance gate.

Also very nice was this XK150 Drophead.

K1

Another showing for the bold K1 Attack sports car.

KTM

This was one of the few days in the year when the driver of the KTM X-Bow might just avoid the need to wear 6 layers of thermals to keep warm when piloting their car out on the open road. X-Bows remain quite a rare sight, as not only they are really intended as a track car, but they are far from cheap to buy.

LAMBORGHINI

There were only a  couple of Lamborghini at the event. A rather nice Jalpa was one of the cars chosen to reside on the main lawn. Surprisingly, it did not generate that much interest.

People seemed more taken with the less rare Gallardo, though this was in fact a very rare version as it was an LP560-2, the rear wheel drive only model.

LANCIA

Not strictly a Lancia, as it is a hawk replica, this car still says “Stratos” to you loud and clear.

Rather than the more common Delta Integrale, the show contained an example of the cooking model, the humble 1300LX.

LOTUS

This trio of Elan models were all parked in a neat line. All bore S2 badges and closer inspection revealed that all had a plaque on the dashboard proclaiming that they were part of a limited edition and giving their number. I would guess that 1000 were made before the model morphed into the Kia Vigo.

The Giugiaro designed Esprit remains a striking design, and one which I prefer to the “smoothed” out Peter Stevens styled facelift. Both body styles were represented.

In contrast, the evolution from Eclat to Excel -and it is the latter which you see, the former being very rare indeed – was probably an improvement in the looks department, and certainly mechanically.

More recent Lotus included Elise, Exige and Evora models.

Looking particularly dainty was this fabulous XI model

MARCOS

Both the Marcos on display were from the wilder end of the range offered in the 1990s, an LM600 and a Mantis GT.

MASERATI

There were plenty of the 3200/4200 generation cars present. Seeing them side by side reminds me yet again how good those boomerang lights like on the 3200GT car and how bland the square lights on its follow on appear!

MAZDA

Think Mazda, and you will probably conceive an array of the popular little MX5 sports car, and sure enough there were a goodly number of all three generations of what is now the biggest selling sports car of all time.

Think a bit more, and you would probably say “RX7” and indeed there was a nice second generation one of those present, too.

What there was in addition was a first generation 3 MPS. I always rather liked these, and the America press raved about them, rating as best in class but they never found much a following in the UK when new and are largely ignored now, which is a pity.

McLAREN

Not sure that the wrap on this one is quite to my taste, but I am still a fan of the 12C, so it was nice to find one present at the event.

MERCEDES-BENZ

Starting point here has to be Mr Grazier’s recent acquisition, the C350 CDi Sport. He did decline to enter in the contest for noisiest exhaust for entirely understandable reasons, but I can assure that it is pretty urgent, as he demonstrated more than once on slip roads and pulling away on the motorway. There are still plenty of C Class on the road of course, but in years to come when the numbers have dwindled, I am sure we will look at the remaining cars, with slightly misty eyes and remember them with affection.

A local Mercedes dealer was another of the event’s sponsors, which gave them the opportunity to put a selected array of current models on show. These included the recently launched GLA, an SL and a couple of tasty AMG cars, a C63 Coupe and an E63 saloon. The latter was being used for passenger rides in exchange for a charitable donation, and it was in and out of the event a lot during the day.

The press raved about the A45 AMG at its launch last year, though they did wince at the price, and their enthusiasm for the car seems already to have waned. It really does not hit the spot for me, but someone must have liked it and bought this one.

Looking very elegant was this nice R107 model 350SL.

There were not that many other Mercedes present, but among those which were, I did spot this R230 model SL55 AMG.

MG

I was surprised to learn that 84 of the MG SV cars that were built were finished in this rather nice deep red colour, as I don’t recall ever seeing one in this paint finish before.

The popular MGB was ever present, as you might expect.

There was lone example of its more recent recreation, the MGR V8.

There did not seem to be many more of the F and TF cars, surprisingly.

MITSUBISHI

Lone Mitsubishi was this Evo Saloon.

MORGAN

The reborn Three Wheeler has been a surprise hit for Morgan, with sales still exceeding the rate at which the Malvern Link factory can build them.

NISSAN

It was a bit of a surprise that there were not more GT-Rs present than there were.

There were a couple of earlier Skylines present as well.

Also in evidence was the Z Car with 350Z and 370Z both represented.

NUFFIELD

This Nuffield tractor was on the main lawn and was attracting a lot of attention. Although much of this was from the kids, the adults seemed fascinated by it, too.

PARAMOUNT

Both these cars are regulars at the monthly Queens Square Breakfast meetings. Unless anyone has read up on the marque, they are unlikely to be familiar with this short-lived British brand. The company was founded in 1950 by WA Hudson and S Underwood from Derbyshire, and the car they produced, the Paramount, had an aluminium over wood frame body with a BMW like grille, mounted on a separate tubular steel chassis with front transverse and rear semi elliptical leaf springs. It was originally intended to use Alvis engine and suspension but to reduce cost the production versions used Ford 10 components including the 1172cc side valve engines, but fitted with twin SU carburettors. Not surprisingly, performance was poor. The car was however well built and equipped and was listed in both 2 and 4 seat versions. In 1953, the company was bought by Camden Motors and production moved to Leighton Buzzard and the Ford Consul 1508cc engine was an option in a longer chassis as also was a Wade or Shorrocks supercharger. Unfortunately, the price had increased to a now uncompetitive £1009 and production ceased in 1956 after about 70 cars had been made, of which it is believed that just 8 survive and only 3 are roadworthy. The red car here dates from 1956 and is a 1.5 litre Roadster. The blue one is even more unusual, as it has a unique body which shares elements (so the blurb on the car said) much with the contemporary Doretti.

PONTIAC

There were a couple of Pontiacs on show. Both were Firebirds, with an example from the last generation of Firebird that was sold and its rather more angular precursor.

PORSCHE

The 911 was very well represented, with examples of every model type from the original bodies through the 964, 993, 996 and 997 generations to the latest 991 cars. Among them were Turbos and GT3s as well as the “regular” cars.

There were several Boxster and Cayman cars, too.

Older models included a few 928s and some of the smaller front engined 924/944 generation models.

RELIANT

There were a couple of Scimitar GTE cars on display. Both were SE5 cars, and the orange one belongs to one of the event organisers, another Queens Square regular.

RENAULT

The Clio V6 remains an utterly bonkers looking machine even though we have had nearly 15 years to get used to the concept and the looks of putting a large engine where the rear seats used to be in what was once a family hatchback.

ROLLS-ROYCE

A very imposing 40/50 Phantom I, the only Rolls-Royce at the event.

SUBARU

A few years ago, an event like this would probably have been packed with Subaru models, but it is a measure of how the brand has been repositioned from something for the enthusiast building on a successful rallying pedigree to one that has gone back to its roots of practical cars with all wheel drive for those who need it. There were a few Impreza cars, including 1 of just 10 first generation Impreza Sport limited edition cars in pale yellow.

SUNBEAM

This pairing of Series 2 Alpine models were parked next to each other. A rival to the MGA and MGB, the Rootes Group never captured the public’s imganiation (or wallet) in anything like the same way, yet I find it at least as appealing.

TOYOTA

Another monster truck was this one. How you even get in to it, I cannot imagine, as there did not appear to be anything to help!

There were a couple of MR2 models, from the second and third generations of Toyota’s venture into mid engined small sports cars.

TRIUMPH

There were a quartet of Stags, but they were parked in a place where there was a mix of sun and shadow and not conducive to decent photos, so they remain undepicted, sadly. I did snap this nice TR4, though.

TVR

I did not count, but it would not surprise me to learn that there were more TVR than any other marque represented here., as there were an awful lot of them. Almost all were from the 1990s or more recently, and whilst some were parked up by themselves, there were plenty that had clearly arrived in small convoys and were grouped together. The Chimaera was, unsurprisingly, the most numerous individual model.

There were far fewer Griffiths and Cerbera.

Several of the Tuscans had not just the roof panel off, but also the rear window removed, and we spend quite a few minutes looking at one car trying to figure out how it was attached. It would seem that velcro is the answer!

There were 4 Tamora cars, with the earliest plated 02. I did not realise the car was on sale for that long.

The two oldest cars on show were “wedges” with a 400SE joined by the much rarer 420 SEAC.

Bridging the gap between the wedges and the later cars was the S and there were a couple of these as well.

ULTIMA

This Corvette V8 engined Ultima GTR made quite a throaty sounding entrance when it arrived and was manoeuvered into position on the main lawn.

VAUXHALL

There were a number of the Australian built cars here, with Monaro and later VXR models on show.

Oldest Vauxhall was this Magnum Coupe. Dating from the mid 1970s, the Magnum was an attempt to match the appeal of Ford’s far more popular Capri which never really managed to conceal the humble Viva origins of the car.

I’ve seen this hot Nova at Queens Square a number of times. UK market cars were badged GTE, but this proclaims itself to be a GSi, the nomenclature adopted by Opel models, so I wonder if it started out life in Ireland.

There were a couple of the VX220  sports car as well.

VOLKSWAGEN

A nice example of the long lived Mark 1 Golf Cabrio.

AND FINALLY

The same pastiche replica Mercedes in the 500K style that had been at Queen Square the previous weekend was here. And yet again, the owner seemed like he was glued to the seat, as he never seemed to get out of his car all day!

This was a splendid event, helped in no small measure by the glorious weather. At the time of writing, the total raised for charity was still being calculated, so for bring so much joy to the enthusiasts who attended and to be able to help out disadvantaged children as well, the event organisers are to be particularly commended. Let’s hope that they are able to repeat the experience in 2015.