Showtime!

This weekend saw the annual Darling Buds Classic Car Show near Bethersden in Kent at the farm where a lot of filming took place for that classic TV show with David Jason and Catherine Zeta Jones. The owner of the farm is a former Chairman of the P5 Alive club and puts on this show every year in aid of the Kent Air Ambulance Trust. I have been to this show a number of times before and it is always guaranteed to have a good turnout, last year was particualrly good with over 1000 cars, this year the turnout was down a bit, probably due to the weather which was a typical english summers day, wet and windy with the odd sunshine break!

This was the first time I'd experienced a change in the way they organise the cars, when I'd been previously they'd been organised by Manufacturer, this year it was by period, so I found myself initially sandwiched between a W reg Fiesta and V Reg Mercedes Saloon in the 1976 to 1980 Class in my 77 Stag. Fortunately a fellow TSSC member turned up in his 78 Sptfire and I moved next to him. All together there were 5 of us from our local area but we were dotted around the show field - must get a Club Stand next time!

My Wife, Daughter, Son in law and Grand Daughter were due to join me during the morning for a picnic, but they elected to stay at home until the early afternoon due to the poor weather. Consequently very few photo's were taken until they arrived, so I have posted some of my Grand Daughter Maia whom as you can see is already taking some interest in Classic Cars!

Ahh - This must be Grandpa's Triumph Stag












Now there's the Handbrake and Gear Lever - where are the pedals?












When can I have a go Grandpa?













Now this is much better, I can reach the pedals!













I know it rained a lot, but this is ridiculous!















The Stag ran well there and back in the rain - the windscreen wipers worked, it didn't leak - but the cigarette lighter socket has now stopped working. I suspect this may be something to do with taking out the carpeting last week to vacuum it out as the interior was getting a bit crabby.

So when the rain stops I'll get this sorted ready for the multitude of chargers need for the 10 Countries Run! I also fitted a Mountney 15" Leather steering wheel I won on the bay last week which is a great improvement over the standard wheel and more comfortable than the 13" one I'd transferred from the Spitfire.

Next job is to mount a backup Kenlowe fan currently winging it's way to me from a fellow TSSC/CT member. This will be fitted with a manual switch rather than a thermostatic one for the moment as the main fan is on a newish Viscous Coupling and does a good job in hot weather (when we have it!).

Other than that the car is pretty much ready for the 10CR pending fluid checks - I have have some VR1 Oil coming my way courtesy of a very good July offer in Eurocarparts so will do an oil change nearer the departure date.