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J40’s
at Longbridge - July 2005
Ian Nelson did a great job
of organising our participation in the event especially as he was
organising the Austin 7 rally (which was slightly more demanding) at the same
time. We did wonder if we would be able to attend as the regulations
specified that marquees had to be made of a fireproof material and
exhibitors also needed to supply a fire extinguisher. The extinguisher was
no problem but our diminutive Gazeebo was hardly fireproof. Luckily the
organisers agreed that in our case the regulations could be relaxed.
Ian collected our J40 early
on the Thursday morning and delivered it to Tony Key. It was to ride on the
back of his stunning Austin A40 pickup in the cavalcade from the centre of
Birmingham to the park. Tony has a J40 but it hasn't been restored yet. If
the pickup is anything to go by the J40 will be a sight to behold when it
is finished.
The
day of the event started early with the Smith family, Jan, Stuart, James
and Ben leaving home before 8am in a convoy of two cars. Anyone who has two
children under 4 will know this was quite a feat!. The Pathfinder had been
loaded into the back of the car the night before together with the Gazeebo.
We met Ian at the Gaydon museum to collect JOY 1 which had already been
delivered to the front door by the time we arrived there at 9am. This was
loaded into the back of Ian's car and we then retired for coffee in the
museum cafeteria. Well, we knew it was going to be a long day so we needed
to pace ourselves!
Having
arrived at the entrance of Crofton Park we had a little trouble persuading
the guy on the gate to let us in. Ian with JOY 1 had little trouble but
then came Jan with no pedal car on board (she was taking the J40 home that
was already on the back of the pickup) and she had a little more explaining
to do. I hope the guys toes (and ears) are better now! A tired
mother-of-two in a large 4x4 should not be meddled with! I then had no
problem getting in just by pointing to Jan in the car in front and then to
the Pathfinder in the back of my car and not stopping. I think the fight
had been taken out of him by then anyway!
The
stand was set up on the edge of the Austin Counties car area so that people
could view the real A40 and then see the J40. Once the stand was set up we
were then able to relax a little.
We
had many visitors during the day and we often heard “I used to have one of
those”. Even the guy running the fairgound rides came over and said that
his father used to have a J40 ride but they eventually took the J40's off
and replaced then with more modern cars. James, aged 3, was a very
enthusiastic demonstrator of the Pathfinder, and more than willing to let
passing children sit in his car! Ben, his younger brother,
was also willing to sit in the car but unfortunately his feet couldn't
reach the pedals. Still it kept Jan entertained pushing him around the
field!! We also had a display of J40 magazines, and club information
available on the stand.
We
were delighted to see Alf, Mary and Roy at the event. They spent a long
time with us on the stand with Alf holding court with many of the visitors
despite the hot weather. Ian then took Alf on a motor tour of the event.
Thanks
to Ian for organising our attendance and Roger Payne for making an
excellent job of the platform to support the J40 in the back of the pickup.
Also thanks to Tony Key for carrying the J40 on the back of his pickup. It
made a splendid sight and must have been the most photographed car at the
event. A photo even made it into Classic Car magazine .
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