Ryhope Classic Car Show, 30/10/2011.

[JPB]

This last big event of the local round grows by the year. Today the cars were so quickly spilling over from the grass around the lades at either side of the pumping house that many more cars were displayed across the road, on the lawn of Cherry Knowle Hospital, so thanks to the NHS for that!

Some pics:
Riley. Arceye, I thought of your big project when I saw this near-perfect example of a similar car. Feel free to be inspired:

Wolseley 4/44 had lost its original, XPAG engine to the MG brigade at some point in its history, so the logical alternative engine went in:

Did it have a 1500 B-series, as found in the later and similar-looking 15/50?
Er, no, not exactly:

Yeah, another engine sometimes found in MGs!
Car was beautifully subtle, though the twin tailpipes and enormous rear tyres were clues to its potential:

Something newer, this 4000 miles from new, RWD Datsun Bluebird was utterly perfect and its owner was surprised that so many people were standing around dribbling all over its factory-fresh body and interior:


Singer should be familiar to PC readers as it was once Peter Simpson's car and featured in the mag quite a lot over the time he owned it:

Brooklands Green Dolomite 1850HL was very, very tidy, shame the guy who'd obviously thrown loads of time and effort at the car couldn't find the right wheels or at least something less clichéd :


Every show has a mini that I haven't spotted before, today it was this gorgeous, 1961 Morris flavoured one in Almond Green:

Nothing wrong with my phone, this Viva HA really is this colour :

Bright!
Now, every so often, something stands out and makes me want to pop the smart in its boot and drive home in something older. Today, it was this Auto Union with pinger power:

Brrrrr, ring de ding ding, etc.
There was a bright orange, four-wheeled Reliant:

And a 1972 Maxi 1750 HL, a lovely car that suggests that Harvest Gold looks OK when it's been washed recently:

A few more of the 300+ cars that must surely have turned out:











The rest are in the link at the "Brunton 2011" thread as I accidentally uploaded today's pictures to that set.

[arceye]

Some great pics John, and that Riley, LOVELY. Though mine will never look as nice as that one it certainly does inspire.

Looks a nice day for it too, our seasons short up here with only two or three proper classic shows / runs that are easy enough to get to so fair makes me envious when folks are still doing the rounds of shows at this time of year. Still, would only tempt me away from the garage and then I'd never get it done.

[Martin Evans]

Why wasn't it raining Tell me the secret I like the Riley and I bet the 15/50 has surprised a few people

[JPB]

Not only was it not raining, there was no wind to speak of and the temperature was in the mid 60s all afternoon, just as it is today! So much for our getting that late October freeze.
Surprised a few people? Yes, according to the 4/40's (XPAG originally, not a 15/50 ) owner, he enjoys letting kids in hot hatches think they're going to get past him, then he boots the thing and gives them a nice number eleven on the road so that they know which way he went.

I heard it running but only as he was leaving at the end, he probably didn't want to start it where it stood in case the rumbling caused a tsunami in the lade and flooded the entire showground. That noise was awesome and until I learnt how much fuel it was capable of using, I wanted it badly.

[Martin Evans]

Twin exhausts give a V8 a nice sound. The Morgan Plus 8 had more of the V8 sound than the MG, despite having more or less the same engine. Now if he were to fit a Holley or four Dellortos........... Apparently only V8s, with multiplane crankshafts, make that V8 sound and if you think about it, Ferraris and things like the Ford DFV (Flat plane cranks) don't sound like V8s.

My MG V8 isn't the most economical car on the road (At least if you cane it), though in standard form, they were actually a bit more economical than the 1.8 B, basically because the V8 was so unstressed. I recall some people, who drove to the south of France, during the 1980s. One lot were in an MGB GT V8 and the others were in an MG Metro Turbo. Cruising down the French motorways, at 90mph, the V8 gave noticeably better economy than the Metro. At that speed, the V8 would have been doing just over 3000rpm.

[Talking Hoarse]

Something newer, this 4000 miles from new, RWD Datsun Bluebird was utterly perfect and its owner was surprised that so many people were standing around dribbling all over its factory-fresh body and interior:

Thank you so much for those kind words about my Datsun. I was pleased /indeed astonished by all of the attention it received! First time the Datsun & I have been to such a show - we are more usually marshalling on the other type of car rallies. I enjoyed the day, looking at all of the other cars, chatting to the owners too.
The Datsun has done 41,000 miles and is in regular use, having done about 3500 since it was recommissioned in March 2011. It was very little used for the last 10 or 12 years, and SORN'd for the latter 4. However it benefitted from London's lack of salt and a draughty lockup garage, and a puzzling layer of (maybe protective?) London tar-like grime all over it and inside it. It has also suffered from London motoring as it has a scrape or dent in every panel, the photos do flatter it.
Love to see the other pics you took - I cant find the link mentioned above.

[JPB]

Hi, sorry I got the mileage wrong, but in my defence, it did look much more like a 4000 mile car than one that's done ten times that amount. Stunning, and I'm wishing that I'd not left home without a "proper" camera as the phone pictures really don't convey just how amazingly clean and original that Datsun is. The phone cam isn't too bad an example of its type but my old Fuji does the job so much more effectively. Next year I'll remember to bring it.
Here is the link to the rest of the pics. I had intended to create a separate set on flickR to accommodate only the Ryhope shots, but they somehow became mixed in with the photos from the Brunton event a fortnight before.

It was good to meet you and the car, definitely one of the highlights of this year's Ryhope and an encouraging sight as far too few people are appreciating these early '80s Japanese cars which, let us face it, changed the whole UK motoring scene by presenting buyers with a reliable, value-packed and invariably better equipped alternative to the domestic and European products of the day.

The only evidence of a London traffic injury that I was able to see on the car was the very slightest of dents towards the front of the driver's side front wing but it really needed a close look to see that and IMHO, it didn't detract from the appeal of the car one little bit so it's my belief that far from flattering the car, those phone pics simply make it appear rather bland, the reality being shiny, clean and beautifully presented, hence the volume of spectators it drew.

The show scene is all the better for the presence of these once commonplace, '80s cars so please, make sure that we get to see it at least a few times next year too.

[Mrotwoman]

What's a lade ?

[JPB]

A small reservoir built at either end of a mill stream or, in this case, a pumping station which effectively evens out the water flow much like a dam on a river or a lock on a canal. but without affecting the mean level, so preserving the throughput of the water feeding the machinery.

Origin: before 900; Middle English laden, Old English hladan to load, draw up (water); cognate with Dutch laden, German laden, Old Norse hlatha to load. Compare ladle

There, now do you "get" lade?

[arceye]

I just didn't say anything presuming the D was meant to ne a K

(runs off to get a dictionary )