Brooklands 45th

[Taff50ish]

Morning all,

Had a Fantastic day out here, the convoys etc and meeting people from here. PeterS sorry I didn't see you by your car, I had had a good look round it and thought it was fantastic, I was only confused by the Q plate as it looked so good. (I'm not 100% sure! but if you take it a a DVLA office for an inspection, they can now give you a plate true to the original year, Andrew, over to you I think to confirm or not maybe?)

Great to see Andrew & Nick too, even though you kept your Bonnets up, but hey, when they look so good under there, why not, gives me the kick to clean mine up a bit now.

I loved ALL the cars here and every one who turned up made it a great day, do we have an official count of how many Capri's turned up yet, I'd love to know.

Now need to get a Nail in the wall to put the official photo up of arriving....

Right then, start cleaning under the bonnet for the 50th.....

Hope to see you all round n about, cheers,

John....

[Andrew 2.8i]

I'm not 100% sure! but if you take it a a DVLA office for an inspection, they can now give you a plate true to the original year

John,
I think that a car built from a bare shell can only have an age-related plate if it has been constructed using new parts. That's why so many kit cars have Q plates, as they have been built using parts from donor cars.
That's the way I understand it, anyway.
I'm sure Peter has looked into this thoroughly and can explain in more detail.

Nick,
Great photo's there. You've given us a taster of some of the ones you took, and I can't wait for you to post some more as soon as Mrs F. allows! I will post some myself later on, when as I've had a chance to plough through them.

All the best,
Andrew.

[stevemarl]

However, they can only be museum pieces. They cannot be used and enjoyed. The owners had to sit alongside the cars for the whole duration of the event, and who can blame them?
I'm happy to own a car that, to most show visitors, is in decent enough condition to be complimented, but one that I'm not scared to leave alone while I have a wander around the show. I certainly get an equal pleasure, if not more so, driving the car to exhibiting it at events.

As much as I would love to have a truly immaculate car, it would mean having to own another Capri to actually use

Ultimately you`ll end up like the MG/Triumph etc people who trailer the cars to shows, for fear of getting dust on the suspension. I get the car out as often as I can, `cos I love it & love driving it; if someone wants to chat about it, that`s great - but.... pointing out defects??? No, I`d feel that was a bit intrusive. You drive on motorways - you get chips - c`est la vie!
Glad you all had a great day!

[Peter-S]

Thanks for the comments on the car guys, much appreciated. Yes DVLA did say an age related plate was possible but wanted to see the car but when I inquired it was in bits in the garden! Yesterday was the first time it had been anywhere apart from a local test drive as it had one or two teething problems after the July mot but now it seems OK I'll try and look into the plate again.

Returning to Mick, I'm biased but he is a good bloke. For those who hadn't realised he was the guy who sold the 2.8 to me three years ago and has been interested enough to keep in touch and help out with odds and bits on the car so I brought him along as he is an enthusiast albeit not an owner but if you ask about body work, as Andrew found, he knows quite a lot and is happy to share. Sometimes though it's a bit like asking a mate if he fancies your wife - there is no right answer

[Fordoholic Nick]

Great to see Andrew & Nick too, even though you kept your Bonnets up, but hey, when they look so good under there, why not

Hey thanks John

But I was only trying to hide a stone chip on my bonnet...honest

Like I already said mate your 2.8i is superb. Thanks for holding back with your right foot on the convoy too

do we have an official count of how many Capri's turned up yet, I'd love to know.

Yes it would be fantastic to know. Certainly seemed a very big turnout on Saturday. Cant wait to hear final figure if at all possible.

Now need to get a Nail in the wall to put the official photo up of arriving....

Already done mine John



By the way thanks for the sun cream fella, lifesaver...I was just starting to burn up a bit

All the best

Nick

[Andrew 2.8i]

Nick,

Fantastic photo, it really captures your car in all it's glory.

What's happened to the photo you posted earlier of the blue and white Mk1 with the plane in the background?
I was just about to, ahem, "borrow" it for my own collection. With your permission, of course!

Andrew.

[Fordoholic Nick]

Nick,

Fantastic photo, it really captures your car in all it's glory.

What's happened to the photo you posted earlier of the blue and white Mk1 with the plane in the background?
I was just about to, ahem, "borrow" it for my own collection. With your permission, of course!

Andrew.

Thanks Andrew,

Mate my photobucket page crashed earlier and looks like photos I loaded up all got deleted from this forum somehow. How weird is that. I certainly did not delete them fella. I will reload them back onto photobucket and re post that photo. I think its gotta be one of my favourite pics I taken. Took about 6 to get the best angle !

Just grabbing some dinner now so will do this in a short while mate...

All the best

Nick

[Fordoholic Nick]

What's happened to the photo you posted earlier of the blue and white Mk1 with the plane in the background?

Here you go Andrew...



All the best mate

Nick

[Andrew 2.8i]

Thanks mate,
That's a really good photo.

Andrew.

[2litreScapri]

Well guys that is that for another 5 years! I didn't get the chance to get round to anyone & have a chat about their cars in great detail but every single one of them deserved to be there, whatever the condition, perfection or not! I'm so glad you guys all got behind the event before - that was our day to shine!

A full set of pics will be available from Calvin (many thanks to Alan Burns and Michael Ware) but for now here is my initial report on the show, and from my perspective as an organiser.

Firstly, I have to don my hat off to every single one of you that turned up, I was enjoying the enthusiasm that we were able to charge up before the event, and I respect the dedication and effort some people made to actually attend. This certainly goes out to our Dutch and Belgian friends who travelled over & were a very friendly bunch of people with some very tasty Capris! Not to mention the guy who travelled all the way from Lockerbie, with a diamond of a Brooklands which looked virtually immaculate, massive credit for the travelling & the maintaining that car takes! Other special mentions include Ant, an SCC member, who was still in the garage at 3am getting his Xpack'd V8 Capri there. Unfortunately it didn't run right & arrived on the trailer but it is some dedication to get it there, the only advantage is that he is fairly local to Brooklands. Also very pleased to see everyone was pretty well behaved, no burnouts & no arguments, Brooklands were very happy that it was a relaxed atmosphere. For those that were there heard me when I jumped on the mic in the afternoon and said that we couldn't have done it without you guys, long live the Capri, long live the 50th. More on that later....

So, I set off and arrive at Campbell Gate entrance at 8am. Our other marshal, Suzanne from Kent Capri Club, arrived around 5 minutes later. We were allowed in & parked up. No sooner had we gone through basic safety info & given walkie talkies the Kent guys show up a little earlier than planned, and due to the problems with the adjacent buildings and possible traffic congestion, they had to be let in. Well no going back now, nerves were kicking in but had to hold back, we're doing this. So between me, Calvin & Suzanne we assumed marshalling positions, and it was a steady stream of Capris, which after my initial nerves, started to excite me when I could hear or see them coming down the hill, especially when I started seeing familiar faces.

So, most people arrived before 11:30 with only a couple of late arrivals, so I started to leave my post, have food & a wander round. Noon came round far too early but off I run to join Calvin at the PA system for the banking raffle. I think most people saw the funny side of what happened; you can't really have an event without something going wrong! However, just before 1pm those who had won the raffle went up onto the banking, and of course we have seen many pictures, I'm sure even those that didn't have their car there were more than happy to see such a great spectacle. Many thanks to our judges I pulled to help decide on the best cars in each model, each car deserved to win for different reasons.

2:30pm & the awards were given out, sorry for not introducing them, but for those who were not sure who was handing out the awards to the winners, they were Mike Crabtree & Les Blackburn from the Holman Blackburn race team of the 70s. These guys raced Capris in the late 70s against Gordon Spice, also competing in such events as the Spa 24 Hours. The Crabtree family are still connected with Ford, and Les Blackburn still has his Capri. We asked them to attend and we were very pleased that they also agreed to hand out the awards to our winners.

So it was then finally time to relax & chill out. Most of you realised I was talking to people all day about one thing or another. Nick your car looked amazing as it was coming down, JC, loved yours too, the rear lights made me do a double take, looked just right! My slight disappointment about not having time to view the museum, talk to our traders, or take loads of pics was overridden by the rest of the day - it has been one of the best days of my 33 years. These are my pics of the day.















Full report with pics soon. There will also be a video for download which will be available for free of the day soon. We are also pleased to announce that Jon Hill from Classic Ford was in attendance snapping away for a feature spread in the next few months, and a small report will also be in this week's Classic Car Weekly. So buy a copy & see if you're in it!

So just before I've bored you to sleep, let's talk 50th celebrations. Both me & Calvin are happy to report that we will be holding it at Brooklands. We know what we have to correct & we shall ask for your input very soon.

I am still buzzing & probably will be for many weeks to come.

The final attendance figures? According to Brooklands, 217! That's an amazing figure despite this being our first major event that we've organised (Capris at the Ace is in no way comparable to organise). Again, thank you to all who were there to make the day special!

Kris

[-JC-]

Thanks Kris! Was a well run show though, hopefully by the time of the 50th by car will be presentable enough for me to want to get a ticket for the photoshoot on the bank raffle!

Keep meaning to try and get down to the monthly meet, but never remember at the right time! Trying to avoid driving the capri too, dunno if it was obvious but it's still burning oil and smoking a bit much for my liking!

[Fordoholic Nick]

I am still buzzing & probably will be for many weeks to come.

The final attendance figures? According to Brooklands, 217!

Hi Kris,

Yes mate I still buzzing myself, and like yourself will be for a while to come !

Thanks for the final figure, according to Brooklands. 217 Capris. Simply outstanding !

All credit due to you guys, the organisers of this truly tremendous event, one I will be thinking of for a long time to come, Thank you so much...

You deserved to get good weather for all your hard work you put into organising this day and boy did you get it... I actually started getting sunburnt at one point

And thanks very much for your very kind comment you made re. my arrival, very much appreciated indeed...even though I wanted to drive the completely opposite side of the gate that I was clearly been marshalled through by Suzanne My apologies Suzanne

What a simply superb venue for the best show I certainly been to myself to date. Like you said it was a really nice atmosphere all day. You got some great photos. The "bank" photo is brilliant. Cant wait to see more and the video too.

So once again Kris thanks to you and everyone else involved in organising one of the best days out I have had in a very long time.

You really are helping to keep the legend alive with days like this.

What a dam good day...... ...sorry I cant stop smiling

Roll on 2015...when can I book my place please...

All the very best now

Nick

[Fordoholic Nick]

Andrew,

Just been going through the photos I also took on my mobile phone and seen this one I taken from a slightly different angle to the other one I took on my digital camera and hey presto not a single human being anywhere to be seen. Thought you might be interested in this too fella



All the best

Nick

[ThatGuy]

Better late than never for me to reply, but it was a fantastic day and great to meet everyone from both this forum and capripower. Some amazing pictures aswell, really can't wait until show season next year and hopefully bring my car along

[Andrew 2.8i]

Kris,
I agree with the sentiments expressed in the posts above. It was a wonderful event and was thoroughly enjoyed by all the people I spoke to.
Thanks go to everyone involved for organising such a great exhibition of so many fantastic Capris. You even managed to arrange for decent weather, despite the gloomy forecasts!
I'll definitely be attending the 50th anniversary celebrations!

All the best,
Andrew.

[2litreScapri]

Better late than never for me to reply, but it was a fantastic day and great to meet everyone from both this forum and capripower. Some amazing pictures aswell, really can't wait until show season next year and hopefully bring my car along

Found this pic of yours on this Flickr account

https://www.flickr.com/photos/27487434@N04/15195693457

[ThatGuy]

It makes my car look so much better somewhere like that than it does on my drive :p

[Quonut]

Kris-Sod waiting for the 50th, let's have another day like this next year

[-JC-]

Oh that's yours ThatGuy? I liked that one! Nice and low

https://www.flickr.com/photos/27487434@ ... otostream/

Heh, that's me on the right in that pic! Caught on camera!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/27487434@ ... otostream/

I swear that this woman was sat in the car all day long. I was waiting for a chance to get a shot of the car with no-one in it but no such luck

[ThatGuy]

[quote="-JC-"]Oh that's yours ThatGuy? I liked that one! Nice and low

Why thank you very much I'm still planning on going lower, gunna reposition my exhaust and probably get another inch or so off the front on Thursday