MR2 Drivers Club North West Region

August 2002

Written by Karen Farrimond

The Tatton Park Vintage Classic and Sports Car Show on August 17th & 18th was the venue for the tenth anniversary of the North West region of the MR2DC...

We've been attending Tatton Park for a few years now so when we rang the organisers and asked for a large plot they were happy to oblige. We needed a large plot for two reasons. Firstly because we invited lots and lots of people, but mostly because Toyota GB had lent us (free, gratis and for nothing) their second largest hospitality trailer, and we needed somewhere to put it. At this stage I must say a huge thanks to Toyota GB for their generosity in not only supplying the trailer but the man power to put it all together on the Friday and take it all down again on the Sunday evening. The trailer was very much appreciated by all who attended, supplied as it was with a generator that allowed us to run a PA system and also use the complimentary tea and coffee facilities.

Quite a few people arrived on the Friday night and camped over. Gras was mown (again!), tents were pitched, flags erected and yards of bunting stretched from pillar to post and back again. A large white dustsheet and a bit of electronic wizardry with the PA equipment, a projector and a DVD player allowed our happy campers to enjoy The Fast and the Furious in comfort.

Saturday dawned with very un-Tatton like weather. It was sunny, and stayed sunny all day! We counted about 55 to 60 cars on the stand on the Saturday and we had everything from people's everyday cars to people's prized possessions, from MK1's rebuilt from scratch to a brand new MK3.  We had visitors from all over the country. Club MR2 from Devon probably travelled the furthest distance. Malcolm, the owner, and one of his crew drove up in a MK2 converted to run on LPG, By the way, if anyone thinks LPG cars don't give the same performance ask Malcolm about the speeding ticket they got on the way up when the policeman "let us off with 95mph" instead of the speed they were actually doing.

Also visiting were Karmeleon, first encountered at the CCC day at Castle Combe, and makers of a completely outrageous bodykit for the MK1. Their car caused something of a stir when it arrived and not just because of the bodykit. Being painted bright purple probably helped as well. In all, on the Saturday, we had so many cars that we had to ask the Toyota Enthusiasts Club on the next plot if they wouldn't mind "budging up" a bit and letting us extend into their territory and they were generous enough to oblige. Oh, and we also had a Ferrari on the stand for some obscure reason not fully explained to me. I think someone said the owner was also a MR2 owner but the link seems a bit tenuous to me. Friday night's DVD gave way to Saturdays night's karaoke, led by one of the main show organisers. Lucky really, while he was there no-one else could complain at the noise.

Sunday morning gave us a few anxious moments with the weather when it looked like it was going to rain but then it cleared up and the sun came out for the second day in a row. I have to say that if readers don't understand why I'm going on about the weather then they haven't been to Tatton Park before. Usually it rains a lot. Trust me on this. On Sunday we had even more cars on the stand, and event squeezing the Toyota Enthusiasts again, and taking all the tents down early to create more space, we were having to use a shoe horn to get everyone in. We had over 60 cars on the Sunday and we were definitely the biggest stand at the show. We also had club Regalia on sale both days and that went down extremely well. Thanks are due to Caroline who runs Regalia for the club and Helen back at the office for a smooth and trouble free supply and ordering service.

Again on the Sunday we had visitors from all over the country (big hello and thank you to the Northern region for their support on both days). We also signed up several new members, and here I have a confession to make. I didn't realise (because nobody told me) that we could sign up new members at the show. I did give out quite a few membership forms on the Saturday before I was corrected so I apologise to anyone who only received a form who wanted to sign up there and then. Hopefully you all applied by post and you are new members by now anyway.

We had prizes on both days. The Tatton Park organisers offered a first and second place on the Saturday and a first, second and third place to best MR2 on the Sunday and, as a region, we decided to award our own trophies for first, second and third place on both days. Our trophies were judged by outsiders to ensure fair play and on Saturday our prizes went to Nigel for his MK1, rebuilt from scratch and all shiny and galvanized, and to Richard for his MK2 that the judge liked because it was a practical car. They could tell this because of the tow bar on the back. (A tow bar on an MR2 for goodness sake!). Show prizes on the Saturday went to a visiting MK1 (apologies to the owner because I forgotten your name) and to Kevin in his MK2.

On Sunday our club prizes were won by Kevin "Knight Rider" Rawstrone in his black MK1 all kitted out to look like "KITT" and to Terry in another MK1. The show prizes for the Sunday went to Ian in his black MK2 with the exotic air scoop and the nitrous oxide (definitely worth travelling 290 miles for), Paul fir his white MK2 (fix!!) and Stuart (chairman of the Mk1 Club) visiting in his MK1 (obviously). Also on Sunday we won second prize for the best stand in the show. We lost out to a special display of vintage Rolls-Royces so we didn't do to badly.

As I mentioned, the weather was great on both days, right up until about half past three on Sunday afternoon when the heavens absolutely opened and we had thunder and lightning for about 15 or 20 minutes, and then it stopped and the sun came out again. After that it was team photo on the top step of the trailer with Stuart taking the photo and getting completely splattered in mud by a car that drove past him after the downpour had finished. still it serves him right for turning up to an MR2 show in a Ford Mondeo! oh, alright, we'll let him off since he was collecting flags and displays to take to the next show at Stoneleigh and they wouldn't all have fitted in a '2.

Thanks to everyone who attended the show over the weekend and helped to give us a great anniversary party. Look forward to seeing lots of new faces alongside the regulars at the monthly meetings at the Manor in future. Thanks to Paul and Allan for the organising and the precision parking and thanks to everyone who helped out in any way, there are too many to mention individually. We hope everyone enjoyed themselves, we know we certainly did, See you all in June next year.