Nationals 2006: Day 2, 21st March
Show Day
Tuesday was a public holiday, and as we lined up for the convoy to the concourse event - everyone's car looked like they were brand spanking new (except for one exception which was more rust than paint - but that's another story).
Where did that yellow one come from?
It was a sight to behold - over 70 cars of the Triumph marque all decked out in their finest livery, sparkling and shiny in the morning sun. I revelled in the police escort we had, going through all those Stop streets without having to stop. It was great - and totally legal. And all the admiring looks and waves we received along the way.
Spitfire bonnets:
The smoothness of entry into the school grounds with super efficient parking marshals was a welcome pleasure. No-one had the embarrassment of having their engine cut out because there was no need to queue up at the gate. The unique arrangement in the shape of a wheel was very appropriate for our event, and drew several admiring comments. It would have been nice if we could have managed to get an aerial photo taken of the set-up.
Sevens:
It didn't seem to be very busy as far as public attendance was concerned, but in fact there were about 200 paying visitors that day according to the takings. The event was run as a fund-raiser for the schools rugby team and they catered for all the hungry and thirsty contestants, (though I noticed some members disappeared off to the town in search of a decent cup of coffee).
Threes with tyres:
Birkenhead Brewery was also in attendance, selling their popular lager by the glass, much appreciated by many of the thirsty judges. I got involved in the judging towards the end as my hubby and Gian were taking over two hours to check their cars. They had been given the mechanical section for both D'etat and D'elegance cars which was a huge task. So for the last half-an-hour I squatted behind each vehicle checking rear lights etc. (Great exercise for the gluts!) This was a very efficiently run event, managed superbly by Geoff and Gill Davis, two very capable people.
Nationals chief Jamie Hart's TR3, finished with two full days to spare and looking fabulous:
That same night, another very well-run event was handled by the very same couple. How they had the energy to run two events in one day I don't know. The trivia quiz night was a great success. There was a bit of a problem at first due to lack of space, but we all squeezed in somehow, some of us on the laps of our partners! Geoff called out the questions while Gillian did a sterling job with the scoring. I actually enjoyed the quiz as there were lots of general knowledge questions as well as Triumph questions. I'm a bit hopeless when it comes to car trivia, but I managed to answer a few of the other questions correctly.
Engine bay of (now ex) National Chairman Gino Casieri's TR6:
The table quiz was quite challenging, and we didn't score very highly on it. But our table of eight had the highest score at the end of the night and we won the first prize which was two cases of rather nice wines! There were spot prizes too and Tim got two of them also - a year's subscription to Classic Car magazine and 2 Castrol caps! Clever man hey! Ronan Sanderson displayed his model cars in the clubhouse that same evening and had a lot of interest in his collection. He made several sales, including a couple to yours truly. I've been interested in buying a model of my GT6 for a while and Tim succumbed to buying himself a model of his old TR3 too.
