Wiltshire Region now have a new deputy RO;
Mark Emery
Telephone: 07740 537644
TVRCC Forum name: PistonBroke
Mark Emery
Telephone: 07740 537644
TVRCC Forum name: PistonBroke
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For details of our 2019 events please contact the Ro Colin via the contact page.
What a day for our open day !!!. The weather could not have been any better for late September with full sunshine all day. Planning and organising this event starts some six months prior to the date and takes numerous hours on the phone/email to get traders to come along, people to donate - hit rate about one in twenty. The most difficult bit is to get people to stand up and give a presentation.
Then there is the preparation on the Friday before, with David and myself reminding the owners of the business park again of our event and not to park out front, but still on the day there are cars not where they should be! At around 5 o’clock other helpers turn up to assemble our makeshift theatre on a trailer complete with a lovely TVR club backdrop this year, assemble tents, blow up balloons – for guess the number of balloons in Terry’s Tuscan - put up road signs and generally tidy up the business park, we finally depart at dusk. We make a very early start on the day itself, with David, Neil, Ollie, Mark and myself turning up at seven to open up for the traders to arrive. It’s organised chaos for a few hours! Although you might think you have all bases covered there is always some last-minute hitches that have to be sorted out on the day, which visitors hopefully don’t see. After the event tiding up meant David and myself didn’t get to leave for home until 7.30pm – just in time for a strong G and T or whisky in the case of David. One of many highlights was Ben Coombs starting off on his latest adventure – Eagle Rally to Bavaria. They topped up with food from our cake stand just before they set off. After a lot of agonising the we judged the best car in the show to be a yellow Vixen, owned by Neil Sangster from Bristol for 31 years (that’s right, 31 years). He had just fitted a Ford Zetec engine and gearbox and the installation looked so professional it could have come direct from the factory. The runner up was Glyn Storey from Brecon, who has owned his very early Griffith for 18 years, keeping it in very original condition - no respray with a lovey patina to the burgundy interior. Once again, thanks to our professional auctioneer, Richard Newsome, who donates his time free. As ever, he did a splendid job of getting people to bid and encouraging the bidding upwards. My highlight was crashing into a group photograph from a member who had come from Belgium – Stephane De Smedt - staying with some members in Bristol. He wins the distance most travelled. Junior star of the show was Mark Harris’ daughter Imogen, who helped out in our regions tent by folding all the tickets for the raffle - nearly 5,000!- and looking after two dogs that Belinda had brought along - Dot and Dan. Last years total of £2,600 for Wiltshire Air Ambulance will be exceeded, but it will take a few weeks before a final figure can be released as there are a number of bills to pay. Well done and thank you to all who helped out on the Friday or Saturday, too many names to mention and those who attended and kindly donated, not forgetting our traders/members who contributed to our raffle or auction. Finally, a big thank you to Steve Guest for bringing the TVR van down along with some lovely back drops for our stage and various other bits and pieces to make the day go smoothly. See our gallery - pictures taken by Art Tatchell Devon RO. Its only a few days before our very own open day and we have just managed to secure two last minute auction prizes that I sure you would want to know about:
Firstly HRH The Duchess of Cornwall who is patron to the WAA has kindly donated a bottle of champagne and some flutes which will be in our auction and secondly Cotswold outdoors have donated a very expensive bike worth £499 again for our auction. You can find details at https://www.cyclesurgery.com/p/cube-sl-road-2018-Q3214260.html?colour=3609 At the moment we don’t know the frame size, but don’t worry about trying to get it to fit in your TVR on the day as Neil will keep it until you can come back with a suitable car, or you could ride it home. Note we will have a card machine at the ready to accept winning bids for all auction items If you are selling your TVR we have a area reserved for TVR sales. All we ask is a donation if you find someone who purchases it - please get in contact asp. Finally we are after a TVR to display which has had wheels refurbished by Platinum Alloy Wheels Swindon - again please get in contact asp. It’s very nearly time to dust off your TVR for one final outing this year. The long term weather looks great for our 5th TVR Wiltshire Open Day in conjunction with Neil Garner Performance Engineering at Kemble Business Park SN16 9SH , so what have we got for you?
11:30 Lloyd Specialist Developments ‘Tuning Rover V8’s 12:15 Str8six Q & A on Speed Six and AJP V8 13:00 Professional Detailers & Valeters Association 14:00 Auction & Presentation of prizes – Concours & Rolling Road Raffle prizes ready for collection So what’s in the auction and raffle? it’s the best yet: Raffle
I’ve probably missed something as there is so much on offer this year so please give generously as all profits go to Wiltshire Air Ambulance. It takes £3,000 per mission to keep the helicopter in the air and its one service you do not want to have a ride in! Finally, please do not turn up too early as you will not be able to access the stands and displays until 10am, as the traders need time to set up. On arriving, you will find the main entrance to the Kemble Business Park blocked, but there will be TVR road signs directing you to the side entrance. Please park neatly in the clearly marked parking bays as directed by the marshals, enjoy your day and give generously as we don’t charge any entrance fee. This will be the 5th Wiltshire Region TVR Car Club open day at Kemble Business Park, near Cirencester, raising money for Wiltshire Air Ambulance. This event coincides with Neil Garner Performance Engineering a TVR Heritage Dealer opening his workshops. The big news this year is Ben Coombs fresh from his Pub2Pub adventures has now organised another event which is going to start from Kemble Business Park on our open day at 11.00. This time there will be around 12 cars,mostly comprising of TVR’s travelling to Bavaria under the Pub2Pub adventures banner. Be there to give them a good send off. Some further good news - the following traders have confirmed:
Then there is our superb raffle run by the ladies in the club with lots of prizes and the not to be missed auction of TVR related bits and pieces and other goodies by professional auctioneer Richard Newsome. During the day there will be a mystery concours event, so make sure your TVR is sparkly clean as it will be closely inspected - don’t worry if it’s not fully original you are still eligible, plus there are prizes for the top two TVR's. Finally, please do not turn up too early as you will not able to access the stands and displays until 10am, as the traders need time to set up. On arriving, you will find the main entrance to Kemble Business Park blocked, but there will be TVR road signs directing you to the side entrance. Please park neatly in the clearly marked parking bays as directed by the club marshals, enjoy your day. We don’t ask for a entrance fee, therefore please give generously as all profits go to the Wiltshire Air Ambulance. David and myself along with Neil have been very busy with preparations for our forthcoming open day. It’s not easy to get people to stand up in front of an audience and give a presentation as both David and myself know from when we have been working. But we have managed to get some special speakers this year from Lloyds Specialist Developments more to follow, plus traders, rolling road, mystery concours competition, food and drink stalls plus lots more. As previously mentioned our display this year will be focusing on the Griffith though the ages, so we are on the lookout for the following ‘hard to find’ cars to display on the day.
We have also been contacting all the people we know to donate prizes for the raffle and auction, so here is a sneak preview of some of the prizes that will be on offer for the auction or raffle more to follow:
If anyone would like to donate something suitable to help raise money for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance please get in contact, with David or myself. More details are in this months Sprint Magazine on page 7. If you haven’t been before click on this link to see what happened last year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy8RIR2Qvpg Finally please don’t arrive before10am as it diverts our scarce resources in getting the traders in place before the event opens. If you do arrive early you will be asked to remain in the car park to ensure your safety. Please park where directed and neatly as car parking is at a premium this year. Our first drive out this year is on National Drive It Day is on 22nd April this year. This coincides with a scramble day at the old RAF station at Bicester, which is now a hub for historic vehicle restoration and car events throughout the year. It has been our first run out of the season for a few years and always provides a good opportunity to see lots of other cars as well. You can get a flavour of this event by clicking on this link http://bicesterheritage.co.uk/
Please contact the RO for a discount code before 15th April. We will meet up in Sainsbury car park on the A420 Oxford Road, Swindon SN3 4EW for a social drive leaving at 8.15 prompt. Please let me know if you intend to come. If you want to make sure your TVR is in tip top condition for the new season. Neil Garner Performance Engineering is offering an early Spring TVR ramp inspection free of charge. You will be able see and talk through with one of Neil's mechanics what's good or maybe something that needs a bit of attention. Neil and David (DRO) will be at the AV8 Cafe (GL7 6BA) from 10am on the 7th April, for coffee or a big boys breakfast, with a rumble around the airfield to Neil’s workshop at about 11ish. Neil has plenty of ramps so you don’t need to book, just turn up. David has kindly put together a review of 2017 of what we got up to.
What a busy and successful year it proved to be for the TVRCC Wiltshire Region. With meetings right throughout the year we kicked 2017 off with: January - Scalextric Night: Chaz and John Alder fought it out for 1st prize with two extra run offs when they couldn’t be separated Chaz eventually taking the honours. February - An ‘Interior Make Over’ was the subject of the evening with RO and DRO holding stage on how to get your interior back to scratch. March - John Halstead entertained us with his brilliant talk on his trip to the Andes. April - Our first Run Out of the year was to ‘Drive it Day’ at RAF Bicester. 100’s of Classic Cars on a period RAF Air Base. May - A Treasure Hunt to remember with lots of laughs and plenty of throttling. June - Sunday at Rick Steins in Marlborough, a run out with good food and nice cars. July - Atwell Wilson Motor Museum Annual Classic Vehicle Show where we had a good number of TVR’s in Wiltshire’s finest Motor Museum. August - Beaulieu Supercar Weekend. Free to enter for TVR’s on display and enter all areas with free refreshments a great day out. Weekend in Wales organized by Colin with lots of driving up to the EVO triangle and a Penderyn Whisky Distillery tour. Don’t decry Welsh Whiskey it’s right up there with the best. September - Two very big events were held in September and confirmation of awards to one of the fastest TVR guys in the Country. The real biggy was the launch of the new TVR Griffith. RO and DRO Colin and David hacked down to Goodwood dressed in period costume to drool over the new Griffith. Paul W Dave Hinns, Ollie and former DRO Mark were also there and we all agree the photographs didn’t do the car justice. DID WE MEET ANYONE ELSE??? At the end of the month Neil hosted the Wiltshire Region/Neil Garner Open Day organized as usual by the regions organizing committee and from the feedback we got it could have been the best ever, raising over £2600 for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance. Even before the TVRCC Speed Championship was over for 2017, our Speed Freak Mark ‘Captain Chaos’ Everett was crowned Championship winner whilst also taking the coveted ‘King of the Hill Climb’ award. Well done Mark, now if only I had the B…s to have a go but for now watching is enough. October - This was the last run out of the year and we had an assorted collection of Chimaeras, Griffith and Tuscan winding our way through Avon, North Wiltshire and South Gloucestershire roads ending up in Tetbury for an afternoon tea and Chinwag. November - The Classic Motor Show at the NEC is always another highlight of the calendar with this time TVR having the biggest Club Stand and the new Griffith in pride of place at the front. There was a bonus for us with the club being awarded the Classic and Sports Car Magazines ‘Club of the Year’ sponsored by Lancaster Insurance. A fitting tribute to all those hard working members of the club especially the Main Committee, the Office girls Ali, Linda and Ann and all those RO’s and event organizers who keep the name of TVR alive. December - Our monthly winter Wednesday evening meeting replaced by our annual Christmas Dinner this year, was held at the Bella Vita Italian Restaurant in Wootton Bassett. A good night out with good food and even better company. We all got presents courtesy of all of us and Secret Santa. A fitting end to the year. Now for 2018 what will that bring? With the Welsh Government just this week before Christmas having approved the proposed leasing of the old 200,000sq. ft. Techboard Plant at Ebbw Vale and TVR Manufacturing getting ready to take it over, we will be seeing TVR’s being made again - Hurray! Thank you to the 250 plus TVR's who attended our Open Day to help raise money for Wiltshire Air Ambulance, TVR manufacturing for bringing along the Cerbera mule car and not forgetting Neil Garner Performance Engineering for hosting the event. It was a great day for all TVR fans and our sponsors who have been thanked for their generous donations. In the photo gallery you will find some photographs by Dave Hinns and Paul Stallard.
You will be able to read about our open day in the next edition of our local news letter and hopefully in a future edition of Sprint - Thanks David (DRO) for spending the time to do this and take the lead on organising this fab event yet again. |
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