A CLASSIC DRIVE

It was the annual Boston Classic Car Show on Sunday – a big event and well supported; actually the 30th put on by the local Classic Car Club. In complete contrast to last year’s which took place on an extremely wet day, this August we are all in the midst of a heat wave and the temperature was very high in an open field with only a little shade around the edges. Plenty of sunshades, umbrellas and awnings – it looked almost like the seaside!
To me, Classic car shows feel like a nostalgic trip down the A303 or up the A1, (my 2 favourite main roads) about 50 years ago – the trouble is, I never appreciated all those beauties on the road at the time! Of course, there were some cars on display at the Show that dated from well before the 1960’s, and others were quite recent models and hardly seemed like proper Classics at all… I’m always amazed by the breadth of design and style, the boldness and individuality – now the roads are mostly filled by a rather similar looking bunch of vehicles, albeit having far greater capabilities and far more sophisticated gadgetry.
The first car my father owned that I can remember vaguely as a child was a baby Austin Seven – with a leaky floor and dodgy brakes. From her we progressed to a Standard 10, and I attach a photo of me proudly standing in front after a picnic on the Hog’s Back. Goodness knows how five of us used to fit into these cars and travel long distances – with Daddy in the driving seat, Mummy beside him and my sister, grandmother and myself in the back…
I attach a couple of photos from the recent car show – one of me next to a Wolseley 1500 – a car as near as I could find to our family model of about 1963. Ours was originally maroon in colour, but the paint work sadly faded shortly after my father bought it, and he chose to have it re-sprayed a rather smart dark green. For my final choice I’ve selected something completely different – a sleek Chevrolet Corvette – worth reading up about as you can see!

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