Willington Classic Car Show

The late May bank holiday weekend can be a busy time for classic car owners, with no shortage of events throughout the country. My friend Mervyn organises a biannual show in his home village of Willington, near Bedford, so this was my destination yesterday. It is an informal event with no admission charge and no pre-booking, except for commercial vehicles to ensure space is available, so cars came and went throughout the afternoon and there was always something new to see. He estimated there was a record attendance this time of over 200 vehicles, and it was a very pleasant way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon.

 



This show featured something for everyone, from a 1904 Ford to 21st century sports cars. The usual classic show fodder such as MGBs, Morris Minors and Minis were naturally there in abundance but there were plenty of more unusual things to see too  I had attended the last event here in August as a spectator, just before buying the Maxi, so it was pleasing to return as an exhibitor. Unsurprisingly there were no other Maxis present and it attracted a lot of attention as it always does.

French cars were quite abundant thanks in part to a Citroen club display. Alongside several 2CVs was a rarity, a fibreglass-bodied Bijou built in Slough and styled by Peter Kirwan-Taylor of Lotus Elite fame. This model was very unpopular as it was much more expensive, heavier, slower and less practical than the 2CV on which it was based. The owner of this green one also has another yellow Bijou that he brought to last August's event, so seeing two different examples of such a rare car at a small village show is quite remarkable.

Next to the Bijou sat a Citroen Ami 8 that had featured in the film 'Never Let Me Go' with Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield, while another French oddity was a Panhard PL17, believed to be one of only 18 in the UK. Thanks to punitive import duties, this little flat-twin saloon would have cost almost as much as an Austin Westminster when new so its rarity is not surprising and it attracted a lot of attention from people who had probably never seen one before.

There is something fascinating about American cars that were supplied new in the UK, especially in right-hand drive form, and it is surprising how many were officially imported. Two such vehicles were here, a Cadillac Eldorado in LHD and a possibly unique Plymouth Barracuda that had been converted to RHD by a firm in Brighton when new. Many American car enthusiasts look down on these RHD models as not being 'proper' Yanks for some reason, even though they were built in the USA on the very same production lines.

 

BMWs are a fairly common sight at classic shows nowadays but it was unusual to see an unmodified base-model 316, especially as this wasn't actually intended to be an exhibit at all. It is the everyday transport of an elderly couple who had just come to visit the church but were directed into the show. Its owners may not have thought it particularly interesting, but it is older than several of the cars on display and fully deserved its place in the show as a newer 3-series was also in attendance.

The Volkswagen Golf is another show staple but usually either in the sought-after GTI form or with 'Dub scene' modifications such as chopped springs and rat look. The example here stood out as it was a basic-spec diesel, which according to the owner had been built as a van and was converted into a car by its previous owner, so it must be a rarity.

 

Appropriately for a show in Bedfordshire, Vauxhall enthusiasts were out in force with no fewer than four Cavaliers on display, along with an Omega, a couple of Crestas and a pre-war Light Six. Everyday cars of the eighties and nineties are now becoming appreciated as classics and other highlights included a Honda CRX, a Renault 11 complete with talking dashboard, a Citroen BX and an Alfa Romeo 164 that appears to live in the village.

 

As for my favourite, that is hard to choose but I think it would have to be a 1971 Vauxhall Cresta. A barn find with knackered paint, underseal tidemarks, battered numberplates and stick-on bullet holes, it looks every inch a 1980s banger and the very antithesis of the usual concours restorations. The owner intends to preserve it just as it is, an idea I wholeheartedly approve of.

Thanks to Mervyn and his helpers for organising such a great event in a very pleasant setting of the historic National Trust dovecote and stables that provided a far more interesting backdrop than the usual windswept field full of cars. It continues to amaze me just how many classic cars there are in a fairly small locality; after a few years I would have expected to have seen most of what was out there but new things I hadn't seen before seem to keep turning up at every show I visit.