The Hills are Alive
We attend the first Land Rover event of the show season
THE massive Malvern show grounds were the venue for the first Land Rover event of the show season, the Malvern 4x4, Land Rover & Vintage Spares. For only £30 anyone and everyone could get a stand to sell anything they wanted to.
Some traders who were coming from far away arrived on the Saturday evening before the event while most came early on the Sunday before the 09.30 am opening of the gates. I am happy to report that there was a very long line of eager people waiting to get into the gates. Those that registered for the special Land Rover VIP parking were able to sneak in a few minutes earlier. Definitely worth keeping in mind for future similar events.
There was a great turnout of stalls with about 200 in attendance while they had nearly 1500 people through the gates. Understandably some people are still rightly nervous about travelling and attending events.
Judging by the bits people were carrying
away such as a grille for an early Series I or Pink Panther seats, it was a very successful event. Gloucester Land Rover 4x4 Specialists had a few top end old Defenders on their stand and managed to sell one of them on the day. Who said these spare days are only for buying bits of tat?
It was not just all about selling Land Rover parts, there was a display of classic vehicles including several old Land Rovers in need of restoring, that were going under the hammer in a few days. It was definitely worth a walk around. So too was the VIP parking area which was packed with hundreds of fine examples of much-loved Land Rovers.
One of the advantages of these spare days is that they don’t last all day. They take a few hours to browse around and then after lunch the traders start to pack up. The highlight for me was just to be out and about amongst other Land Rover enthusiasts and to catch up with friends. It was as if just for a few hours life felt normal again as I strolled around in the shadows of the imposing Malvern hills.