Britain’s Best Classic Car Club: The Tour
Ten amazing clubs, nominated by you, one big judging trip. This is how we chose Britain’s Best Classic Car Club
We teamed up with Footman James for an epic road trip around Britain to find Britain’s Best Club. Now we can reveal the winner…
It has taken the best part of a year but, after you told us which of Britain’s local clubs we should visit, we set off to find the answer to the question: which is best? We’re now ready to reveal the winner.
But before we do, join us on the giant classic car run around Britain that meant we could make an informed decision. Along the way, we discovered some incredible cars and great stories. We also realised that the classic car hobby is evolving. The thriving clubs, the ones which are growing, are the ones that make fewest demands. They are informal, fun and
give those who turn up the freedom to do their own thing. They are welcoming, multi-marque, don’t discriminate on age or condition and they are all typified by a distinct lack of snobbery. We would have happily joined any of them. They are, quite simply, all winners. The journey itself was a proper blast. We met friends old and new, overcame obstacles, were introduced to some fantastic driving roads and, of course, were wowed by the cars. We also had a a yearning to head further north and west in particular. If this had been a trip to visit the top 15 clubs voted for by you, we would have been heading deep into Scotland and Northern Ireland. So we start with a picture of us looking west from West Wales… we promise to cross the Irish Sea soon.
JAMES WALSHE DAY ONE PC Workshop to Pembroke Dock
The hours leading up to our trip are spent carefully preparing our classics – Danny’s TR7, Tomkins’ MGB GT, Matt George’s recently-restored TR6 and my Citroen CX – all of which are overdue a damn good run. Our plan is to cover 2000 miles in ten days, so I reckon they’ll get just that!
All this fettling takes place under bright blue skies, so as our first leg takes us into Wales and the M4 narrows near Swansea, it’s a little disappointing to join the A48 and be greeted by the sight of a whopping great Welsh weather front. The heavens open and our convoy slices through the summer rain, dirtying freshly polished bodywork but not dampening our high spirits. Arriving in Pembroke Dock for our very first visit – the Pembrokeshire Classic Car Club – the sun breaks through.
We are at the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre, where we’re welcomed by a substantial group of friendly club members. Among them is David Esmond, who has spent the past few years actively taking the role of club ambassador. ‘We’ve got more classic cars in this part of the world than you’d ever imagine!’ David is quite right, given the remarkable attendance to their annual show which – despite heavy rain this year in June – still managed to attract 500 classics from across the region.
The mix of cars here at Pembroke Dock is bonkers. Laura Slack’s Nissan Figaro and David Mayled’s Delorean sit beside Graham Burn’s Corvette Stingray and a hyper-rare Wood & Pickett Mini, with its sumptuous Aston Martin interior. Inside the heritage centre itself we enjoy a mooch around the exhibitions dedicated to a shipbuilding past and strong ties to the Royal Navy and RAF.
Local club members recount the times they would watch the giant Sunderland flying boats lumbering into the air. One of Pembroke Dock’s Thirties flying boat hangers is also where George Lucas built a full-scale Millennium Falcon for filming of The Empire Strikes Back. We say our goodbyes to the fine people of the Pembrokeshire Classic Car Club. May the Force be with them. We depart with the sun setting behind us.
DAY TWO Pembroke Dock to Somerset, via Brecon Beacons and Cardiff
Following breakfast and an oil check, our journey out of Pembrokeshire officially begins at the home of the UK’S land speed record attempts, Pendine, where we take gulps of sea air, soak up the vibes and drink tea from Bab’s Diner before heading for the A4069 Black Mountain Road.
A party of enthusiasts from the South Wales Classic Car Club await us in the village of Garnant with everything from pointy little stunners like a Fiat X1/9 and a Lotus Excel to a fine Rover 800 coupé. Best and most appropriately of all, there’s
a Gilbern Invader. It’s a thrill to watch it in my rear-view mirror as we ascend this majestic landscape, its exhaust barking as it darts in and out of the tight bends of its beautiful Welsh homeland.
Not untypically, the Brecons are shrouded in mist and so the higher the altitude, the darker the skies. It doesn’t detract from our enjoyment of this incredible stretch of road – Sam Glover’s Corvair inexplicably disappearing into the distance and towards the breaking point of adhesion where nobody else dares follow. The fast sweeps and jagged undulations don’t phase the CX’S hydropneumatic suspension either, allowing me to get some distance ahead of the others so I can pull over for a quick wee in the mist. The timing is fortunate – I’m lucky to avoid the attentions of a group of ramblers who appear through the fog.
The exciting woofle of James Bacchus’ Austin-healey 3000 breaks the silence and we begin our exhilarating descent towards Brecon. Lunch and a quick oil level check is followed by a blast past Merthyr Tydfil and south to Penarth, near Cardiff, where we meet members of the South Wales Classic Car Club in a school yard. Called Ysgol Y Deri – it is a centre for disabled children that has directly benefited from the club’s charitable work. ‘Charity has become the backbone of what we do,’ says Chairman Ian Thomas. ‘Our main recipient for the past 30 years has been the Bobath Children’s Therapy Centre, but we donate to numerous other charities each year, too.’
Among the cars gathered in the school grounds is Ian’s own Toyota MR2. ‘It’s a very eighties classic but if you look around, what you see here is typical of the cars cherished by members of the club.’ On cue, a 1990 Nissan Prairie pulls in alongside an exquisite 1928 Rolls-royce while a Ford Anglia and Austin 1300 park up between a Capri MKIII, P5B and a brace of immaculate Jaguars. It begins to spit with rain but nobody dives for cover. The active club calendar proceeds whatever the weather and Ian demonstrates that Welsh spirit once again. ‘If we were worried about the weather, you’d never see any classic cars in South Wales!’
We leave, well fed and with the knowledge that if we lived in the area, we would all be members. The M4 and M5 take us to the start point for the following day – Bridgwater.
MATT TOMKINS DAY THREE Bridgwater to Paignton, via Lynmouth
I’m woken Wednesday morning by the sound of burbling classics. We’re only on day three, but I am already overwhelmed by the quantity of cars, the enthusiasm and the wonderful reception we’ve received at each stop so far.
This morning’s dawn chorus is from members of the Bridgwater Classic and Vintage Club who have come to join us on the scenic drive along the A39 coast road to Lynmouth. Photographer Matt Howell and I strike out ahead in the MGB, aiming for a lay-by on Porlock Hill, the ominous 1:4 incline between us and the edge of Exmoor. The rest of the group aren’t far behind us and soon we’re treated to the sound of a vast array of classics at full chat as they appear around the final hairpin.
With the last car through, Howell jumps aboard the ’B and we give chase, for a couple of hundred yards until we drive straight into a sea mist. I’m grateful for my LED tail lights and aware that the classics ahead don’t all have fog lights. Gingerly, we trundle forth, barely able to see the end of the bonnet until, finally, we begin to descend below the cloud and down the breathtaking Countisbury Hill to Lynmouth where we are greeted by an outstanding selection of cars from members of Lyn Valley Classics. After an ice cream and a tweak of the MGB’S fan belt tension, we press on – a blast across Exmoor follows with a good number of classics in tow. A pause for lunch, then south, on to Paignton and the next nominated club – Torbay Old Wheels. As we arrive at the Blagdon Inn, I’m treated to the Devonshire sunshine bouncing off the bonnet of Peter Court’s beautifully restored iris blue MGA coupé. It’s a dream car of mine, and talking to Peter about his restoration reaffirms my love for this most beautiful of all British sports cars. Devon scones demolished, I find myself meandering contentedly around the car park, chatting with owners, listening to their stories and hearing them enthuse about the club. A truly superb way to spend an evening with a great bunch of people – it’s like being on holiday with all the boring bits removed.
‘We blast across Exmoor with a good number of classics in tow’