Get your classic car out for breakfast this weekend

CLASSIC CAR owners will be showing off their vehicles at the first of a series of 2016 breakfast meetings in the Lancashire village of Wrightington this Sunday (3 April).

The meets at the Corner House pub – which follow the success of similar events last year - take place between 9am and 11.30am on the first weekend of each month. The pub's also hosted a New Year's Day meeting - pictured above - which attracted more than 100 classic car owners.

All the events will raise money for good causes.

New classic car show for Lancashire in 2016

CLASSIC car owners across the North West are being encouraged to get their entries in for a new show being held in May.

Mawdeseley Cricket Club has teamed up with car clubs based in the county to put together the new Mawdesley Classic Car and Motorbike Show, being held at the cricket club's ground on Bank Holiday Monday, 30 May. The show takes place between 1pm and 4pm, and is free for classic owners to enter. There's also a classic car run through the Lancashire countryside immediately before the show, which starts at 9.30am and costs £10 to enter.

To download an entry form head to Mawdesley Cricket Club's website. All the funds raised by the show will go towards the club paying for its newly-installed pavilion.

New venue for Lancashire classic car New Year show

A NEW YEAR treat for classic car fans in Lancashire has been relocated to a new venue.

Traditionally the January 1 show for owners of older cars took place at Briars Hall in Lathom, but it’s now going to take place from 10.30am onwards at the Corner House pub in nearby Wrightington.

The pub’s other monthly meetings for classic car owners have been suspended for the winter until 6 March next year.

In praise of proper, traditional car shows

WE LIVE in troubled times, if the seemingly constant threats of Greek financial meltdown, terrorist attacks and Katie Hopkins turning to Twitter are anything to go by. That’s why I’m glad there’s usually a car show somewhere nearby to escape the mayhem!

Regular readers will already know I’m a bit of a car show junkie – whether it’s a breakfast meet at a pub down the road or a continental juggernaut of a show like the huge indoor shows at Paris or Essen, I’ll happily wear my shoes out wandering around. Car shows are a petrolhead staple and they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but the ones I enjoy most of all are the ones are the quintessentially British ones where sea of Triumph Spitfires and MG Midgets is broken only by the burger bars and the fairground rides.

That’s probably why I thoroughly enjoyed wandering around the Riverside Steam and Vintage Rally, a stone’s throw from Tarleton, the other day.

Not only is it all for a good cause – since the event’s inception in 2009, it’s raised more than £200,000 for charities right here in the North West – but it’s also refreshing to look around a show that’s down-to-Earth, free of gimmicks and affordable to enter.

The cars, with the notable exception of a Land Rover Series III formerly owned by Fred Dibnah, aren’t the real stars of the show - that honour goes to all the lovingly maintained steam traction engines and William Hunter’s hugely impressive collection of classic trucks.

However, once you’ve finished looking at all the trucks, buses, tractors and motorcycles the show there are more than enough old cars to keep anyone entertained, and I actually enjoyed the fact there wasn’t a single Lamborghini Miura or Aston Martin DB4 within a ten-mile radius. Nope, it was just yard after yard of nostalgia for the sort of cars you’d have actually seen on the nation’s roads a couple of generations ago – Cortinas, Cambridges, Heralds, and so on. Wonderful!

It’s this sort of thoroughly old school approach to car shows I never get bored of, and why I hope Riverside keeps on raising the charity cash like this for years to come. The good news if you love these old cars is that the show season’s just kicking off and there’s plenty more of this sort of thing on the way – keep an eye out for the Hundred End, Lydiate, and Tatton Park shows for more of this unashamed nostalgia.

See you there!

Read a full review of the Riverside Steam and Vintage Rally in tomorrow's issue of Classic Car Weekly

New classic car show in Preston today

CLASSIC CAR owners in Lancashire might want to head to this new event, which takes place near Preston today.

The 10am-4pm event takes place at the Smiths Arms in Lea Town, and is open to all classic vehicles, and if it's a success more gatherings are on the cards at the pub later this summer.

For more information call John Deuce on 01772 760555.

New classic car gatherings planned for the North West

CLASSIC CAR owners from across the North West are being invited to a new series of monthly meets which begin this spring.

The meetings will be held on the Sunday morning of every month between 9am and 11.30am at the Corner House, a pub and restaurant in Wrightington.

The events are being organised by David Morgan, who is also involved in the long-running New Year classic car meet at Briars Hall in nearby Lathom. Clubs and individual classic owners alike are encouraged to bring their cars along to the inaugural event, which takes place on 1 March (EDIT: incorrect date published on event flyer).

For more information email info@cornerhousewrightington.co.uk or call 01257 451400.

 Click on either of the images to enlarge them for more details

Not one, but two great Lancashire car shows

THAT bit of the A59 between Burscough and Maghull was my passport to petrolhead joy over the weekend. For a change I had not one, but two great car shows right on our doorstep to check out!

Yet – even if you’re someone with Castrol R coursing through your veins – these two events couldn’t have been more different. If you’re a car-loving Champion reader they were both within easy reach, but they’re emphatically the chalk and cheese of motoring. That’s why – even though I only had a day to do it – I had to go to both.

That’s why last Saturday morning you’d have found me wondering around the golf course up the road from Aintree Racecourse, with the grandstands where I’d lost a small fortune on some horses just a few weeks earlier still fresh in my memory. I was, however, totally in my element with the horsepower Aintree was offering up this time around – lots of it, under the bonnet of just about every racing car imaginable, at the same place where Stirling Moss won the British Grand Prix for the first time.

If you’ve never been to Liverpool Motor Club’s sprint events at Aintree Circuit then get the next one in your diary, because it’s seriously underrated full-throttle fun. For next to nothing, you can spend the day watching Lotus Elan 26Rs, track-prepared Caterhams (pictured) and single seater racing cars screaming and screeching their way through the corners in an effort to eake out the quickest lap time possible. It’s fast, frantic and always good for a few dramatic helpings of oversteer, and last Saturday’s event proved no exception.

I’d have loved to have hung around simply to see how quickly an Aston Martin DB6 could be hammered down Sefton Straight – which might sound like a bit like seeing how quickly you can throw a priceless painting down a flight of stairs – but I had a second car show to get to before the afternoon was out.

The Riverside Steam and Vintage Rally also had scores of beautiful classic cars to check out. It was just nice, after hours of wheelspin and full-throttle starts, to chill out and chat with their owners about why they loved their automotive antiques. If you’re sort of person who knows what an Austin A55 Cambridge is without having to punch it into Google – or why it’s nicknamed the Farina – then you’ll have loved the laid-back, nostalgic vibe of this two-day event, a stone’s throw from Tarleton.

Yes, I know the main attraction is all those steam-powered traction engines beloved of Fred Dibnah types but I was more than happy just to immerse myself in a world of Morris Bullnoses, Ford Populars and Triumph Spitfires for a couple of hours. I don’t know how – especially considering how long I’ve been doing these columns for – I’ve managed to miss the Riverside gig every year since its inception, but after being hugely impressed by the variety of cars on show it’s definitely one I’ve got into my diary for next year.

All this and it’s only the start of a great season of car shows. Roll on Lydiate, Hundred End, Bank Hall and Ormskirk! Keep an eye for my full reports on both shows in Classic Car Weekly

Fantastic car, awful weather

IT’S not often I get an entire afternoon to reacquaint myself with an old car. Even when the afternoon’s as wet and unwelcoming as this one’s been.

The old car in question is one you’ll be familiar with if you read these pages regularly; my 1972 MGB GT , which despite being one of my most treasured possessions hasn’t done any meaningful driving since its appearance at the Ormskirk MotorFest back in August. With the weather turning increasingly cold and miserable, the tougher driving tasks have been assigned to the MX-5.

Until now.

I would’ve loved to point the MG’s nose onto the motorway and go hunting for the hills of the Lakes or North Wales but with just a few hours of meaningful daylight I play with I went to a place surprisingly few motorists outside the Sefton/West Lancashire area know about. The shots you see here are taken on Cleaves Hill, which is a stone’s throw from Aughton. Normally, it affords some great views across to Liverpool and even to the Welsh coast, but today just about the most it could do were these moody countryside shots of the MG.

The weather was cold and miserable, the amount of water involved was playing havoc with the GT’s indicator relay and the light was fading fast, but I absolutely loved my afternoon with it. It’s a proper sports car in the old fashioned sense; heavy, noisy and not especially easy to drive, but tinged with a romance and a nostalgia which make its sound, handling and style ever more enjoyable.

I just can’t wait for it to be summer again, so I can enjoy it properly.

Southport mechanics restore couple's classic Morris Minor wedding car

Pictures by Martyn Snape, Champion Newspapers

A COUPLE who used their beloved classic car as their wedding transport have just had it lovingly restored to its former glory by a West Lancashire firm.

John and Jean Fagan, of Snape Green in Scarisbrick, told The Champion this week they were delighted that Molly, their 1963 Morris Minor Convertible, had been restored by mechanics working at the Southport branch of West Lancashire car repair specialists Karl Vella.

The car holds a special significance for the couple because John originally bought it for Jean in 2008 as a wedding present, and the couple used it as their wedding car at a ceremony at Briars Hall in Lathom.

Jean told Life On Cars: "She made an excellent wedding car - the little car has given us so much pleasure and happiness. Wherever we go in her, people wave and smile and want to know her story.

"Molly was in good condition when we bought her but more recently we noticed a bit of rust and some of her paint was starting to crack. We made the decision to have her paintwork completely renewed, and some of the metalwork has been replaced. She looks absolutely magnificent now thanks to the work of John, Peter, Darren and Kieran at Karl Vella in Southport."

Jean, a lifelong Minor enthusiast, added that although she didn't drive at the time she learned and passed her test just so that she could use Molly as her own car after the wedding. The couple brought the car into the company's site on Cemetery Road last December, and during quieter periods at the garage the car has been brought back to its former glory using new paintwork, improvements to the metalwork and a restoration of the interior.

Karl Vella MBE, Managing Director of the Karl Vella Group, said: "I'm delighted John and Jean are happy with our work. The lads have done a cracking job - I was really impressed at how they pulled out all the stops to ensure the car was restored to its former glory."

 Do you have a story you'd like to share with Life On Cars? Get in touch by sending an email to david.simister@hotmail.co.uk or leave a comment below...

Hundred End Festival of Transport 2012

 

A FEW pictures from the Hundred End Festival of Transport, which is taking place near Banks, in Lancashire this weekend:

If you've got a motoring event or bit of news you'd like to share with Life On Cars get in touch by sending an email to david.simister@hotmail.co.uk or simply leave a comment...

Events: Lancashire Classic Car and Bike Show 2012

FROM the organisers of the Lancashire Classic Car and Bike Show, taking place at Hoghton Tower on Sunday, June 24:

The Lancs Classic Car and Bike Show will be a stunning gathering of classic vehicles assembled at Hoghton Tower near Preston, Lancashire.

There will be an array of vehicles ranging from pre 1950 Singer, Morris, Riley, Rover & Humber to modern day classics such as the MG, Porsche,TVR, Mercedes & E-Type Jaguar with BSA and Velocettes in the Classic Bike Section. Hoghton Tower is a well known local venue ideally suited for a classic vehicle show.

Vehicle events have been running there continuously for almost two decades and continue to be a very popular feature on the classic vehicle calendar in the North West. We always get around 400 classic cars, a good turn out of classic bikes and around 25 autojumble and trade stands. There are 14 clubs booked in to the show, travelling from the surrounding area such as Wigan, Cheshire and other parts of Lancashire these include the Stag OC, Cheshire Classics OC, Merseyside MG Club, Liverpool and Cheshire Capri Club to name just a few.

In addition to the 100+ Club vehicles on display, there is a further 200+ private entry vehicles booked in that will display in categories divided by decade. Visitors can enjoy the show and have the opportunity to walk around the beautiful house, grounds and gardens (entrance by separate admission). There will be an all day concours competition with live commentary and prizes plus catering options within the show, providing an enjoyable day out.

For more information visit the Andrew Greenwood’s Classic Shows website at www.classicshows.org or call 01484 667776.

Military vehicle fans plan second invasion of West Lancashire pub

MILTARY machine enthusiasts are drawing up plans to invade a Scarisbrick pub for the second time at a special show later this summer.

Members of the North Lancashire and South Cumbria Military Vehicle Trust said that a showcase at the Heatons Bridge Inn of vehicles going back to the Second World War had been such a success that they are now planning a second event on August 4 and 5, and are teaming up with their comrades at the West Lancashire Military Vehicle Trust to make the show even bigger and better than before.

Organiser Mark Lancaster told Life On Cars: “Due to the great success of the first military vehicle weekend at the beginning of April at the Heatons Bridge, we are going to hold our ‘Second Invasion' in August.

"This time we are teaming up with The West Lancs trust to put on what will be a bigger more impressive event with a more diverse selection of Military Vehicles for the public to see. It will be free admission again to the event, but we will be collecting again for Help For Heros and any voluntary donations would be appreciated."

Among the exhibits being planned for the show at the West Lancashire pub are Ferret armoured cars, army Jeeps, Land Rovers, trucks and tracked vehicles. The trust are also planning to bringing back the tanks which provided an eye-catching sight to visitors during the first show in April, and to host another road run on the country lanes of West Lancashire.

The event, called The Second Invasion, will also take advantage of the pub's own links to West Lancashire's wartime past, and will once again incorporate an original World War Two pillbox at the rear of the site into the military displays.

For more information about the event send an email to Mark Lancaster at lancaster798@btinternet.com

Buses galore at Merseyside Transport Trust open day

THERE'S an old proverb that says "Never turn down a chance to get your MG in front of some old buses". Probably.

Joking aside, if you're into your old buses as much as your automotive antiques then this event would probably have been up your street. The Merseyside Transport Trust keep a selection of buses going back decades at their hangars in Burscough, and although they're usually kept under wraps just once in a while they venture out into the public eye, giving passengers rides around the country lanes of West Lancashire.

 

Not only did visitors get the chance to check out gems like the Leyland Olympian, but the trust's members managed to incorporate another of my passions - beer - into the day, by coming up with the ingenious idea of offering rides out to several of the nearby pubs using their exhibits!

If you're a fan of buses - and there are plenty of petrolheads who are - you might like to check out their website or send an email to enquiries@mttrust.co.uk

P.S: I was also approached, as I was taking pictures of my MGB GT, by a man from the North West Museum of Road Transport. The St Helens museum is holding a Classic Car Spectacular on Sunday, August 12 at their base in the town's former bus depot, between 10am and 4pm. For more infomation or to enter your classic send an email to matt@nwmort.co.uk or call 01744 451681.

Car and bike fans urged to check out Cleveleys Classic Vehicle Show

FANS of classic cars and bikes are being invited to Cleveleys later this summer for a full-throttle show in the seaside town.

The Cleveleys Classic Vehicle show will see the one of the main streets in the Lancashire resort, Victoria Road West, closed off from 10am on Sunday, August 19 for a gathering of classic cars, sports cars, American automobiles, hot rods, modern classics, kit cars, motorbikes and specialist vehicles. The entrants, of which there are more than 100 registered for the show so far, will be parked along the main street up to the town's promenade.

Russ Larcombe, one of the show's organisers, told Life On Cars: "The show's aim is to draw people back to the town to enjoy a great day out amongst the displays and entertainment and visit the impressive and modern sea front promenade at Cleveleys.

"The event is being managed by The Thornton Cleveleys Association of Trade and commerce assisted by ukwheelsevents and the Lancashire Vehicle group. It is supported by several local businesses."

In addition to all the automotive action live music from a variety of bands will be performed throughout the day, while over the beach and weather permitting there will be an air display of radio controlled aircraft .

To register your vehicle or to find out more about the event go to the show's official website at www.thecleveleysclassicvehicleshow.com

Classic car fans invited to Bispham show

CLASSIC car fans are being invited to head to Bispham to check out a mouthwatering selection of motor cars from years gone by next week.

Hilldale Community Association said it was urging enthusiasts of all things automotive to head to the Farmers Arms, on Chorley Road, next Tuesday (June 5) as part of a series of events being held in Hilldale and Bispham, in West Lancashire, over the Diamond Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend.

A spokesperson for the event said: "There will be a fantastic display of motor vehicles from all eras. On show will be vintage and classic cars, vintage and classic motorcycles and classic mopeds. "There may well also be displays of racing cars and racing motorcycles from throughout the years. Why not take the opportunity to admire the many fine examples of automobile engineering?"

In addition, there will also be an auto-jumble sale on the day, with pitches costing £5 in advance or £10 on the day. For further details, ring Ian Smith on 01257 464640 or e-mail Ian at iangsmith@msn.com Entry to the show is free for visitors.

Panic buying hits petrol stations across Sefton and West Lancashire

IT'S a curious contradiction. Petrol is, most motorists would argue, too expensive, and yet this week scores of them have been queuing up to buy as much of it as they can.

Over the past few days we've been keeping a close eye on threats of a strike by fuel tanker drivers - and the panic buying it's prompted right across our area and other parts of Britain. It's one of those stories that affects almost everyone - even if you don't run a car yourself - and unsurprisingly plenty of you have already got in touch to share your experiences.

The thing is, of course, that panic buying is a self-fulfilling prophecy, because it'll happen as soon as you - or rather, cabinet ministers - allude to it. At the time of writing no strike has actually been confirmed, but if you'd just emerged from a cave and taken a look at the number of "SORRY, NO FUEL" signs out at the moment you'd draw a very different conclusion.

It'll also be interested to see what effect the Twitter generation has on the course of events; the last time there were widespread fuel shortages, way back in 2000, it and Facebook hadn't even been invented. It, is, in many ways, a bit like last summer's riots. Social networking is simultaneously its best mate and its sworn enemy.

Without wanting to, er, fuel the panic, we'd be interested to know how you've been affected. Get in touch via all the usual Life On Cars channels...

West Lancashire pub to host military vehicle weekend

MILITARY machines from as far back as the Second World War will invade West Lancashire this spring for a major public display.

The event is being hosted by Heatons Bridge Inn, near Scarisbrick, on the weekend of April 14 and 15, with enthusiasts from as far afield as Cumbria bringing machines to display on a field behind the pub.

Steve Flitcroft, secretary of the South Cumbria and North Lancashire Military Vehicle Trust, which is organising the event, said: “At other events in other parts of the region we see a lot of people turning up to take at look at the military vehicles because they generate quite a lot of interest.

"We are the largest military vehicle trust in the UK and Europe, with vehicles going back as far as the First World War, so we're hoping that over the weekend we'll be able to show off quite a good cross section of military vehicles from conflicts going right up to the present day."

Although the exact details of the displays included in the event have yet to be confirmed, the public can expect to see vehicles Willys Jeeps, Ferret armoured cars, Saracen personnel carriers and larger ex-military machines.

The club will incorporate a second world war pillbox, which still stands near to the pub, into their display.

Steve Winrow, manager of the Heatons Bridge Inn, told Life On Cars he was looking forward to seeing the event taking place in April and to seeing the variety of vehicles expected to attend.

"It's not something we've ever done before, but a couple of the trust's members approached us and asked if the big field at the back, and the pillbox, could be used to host the weekend show.

"I'm really looking forward to it - it should be a brilliant event which will offer the people of West Lancashire something a bit different."

The event, which will also include a road run, takes place throughout the day on April 14 and 15 at the pub, situated on Heatons Bridge Road. For more information contact Mark on 01704 545514.

The north west's motorsport stars of the future

A LITTLE Lewis Hamilton from Westhead is proving so successful he's now taking part in a tougher series of races designed to help his talent go full-throttle.

Ben Deeming (pictured above, front left) might be just seven years old but he's already tipped to be a motorsport star of the future after grabbing the lap record in the Formula Bambino at the Daytona kart track in Manchester - and to keep up with him and his racing rivals the track's managers have revised the race series to ensure it keeps up to speed with their talent.

“The quality and continual improvement they have shown has surpassed any of our expectations. It is rare to see children this young posses such drive, ambition and dedication,” said Nick Hughes, general manager.

“They are qualities we want to continue to nurture, not put on hold, hence the changes to the Formula Bambino structure.”

Ben Deeming became one of the stars of the Formula Bambino series, which was instigated in 2009 and is aimed at youngsters aged between five and seven years old, after he took a lap record at the circuit and impressed much older and more experienced racers with his pace behind the wheel.

In a series of changes aimed at nurturing the youngsters' talent further still Daytona has introduced a brand new points-scoring championship with leaderboard and podium presentations included, with racing is conducted solely against each other’s lap times and any overtaking is controlled by track marshalls ensuring optimum safety for the Bambinos on the 450m adult track. Only Bambino drivers who have advanced through all the introductory levels are eligible to take part.

“Daytona has given kids like Ben the opportunity to take part in something that’s exciting and that allows healthy and safe competition at this age,” said Jeff Deeming, Ben's father.

“Ben has grown as an individual as he takes lessons learned on the track into his everyday life. It’s fantastic to see and something we will continue support him and Daytona.”

For more information on Daytona Manchester’s Bambino Karting visit www.daytona.co.uk/venues/manchester/juniors or call 0161 876 0876.

Feature: Driving improvement, Lancashire style

THIRD gear is my new best friend, I've learned out on the roads of West Lancashire.

This is one of the handy tips I've picked up by taking part in Drive On, a series of car and motorcycle courses aimed at helping to cut the region's accident rate by giving residents the chance to sharpen their skills. Lancashire County Council, the programme's providers, say it will help you improve the way you drive, but what I wanted to know is whether it works.

That's how I found myself heading through Halsall at exactly 30mph - no more, no less - with talented instructor Mike Hesp keeping a careful eye on exactly what I was doing, which was using fourth rather than third on the clearer bits of road.

Even though it seemed second nature to me, it got me a stern “requires attention” in Mike's books. It's amazing how much worse your driving can be compared to what you believe it is, no matter how many years of crash-free commuting you can claim.

More depressing still was a simple test Mike got me to do to test my reaction times once I'd parked up - he'd drop a marker card between my hands, and all I had to do was catch it. No matter how hard I tried, my fingers clasped the “slow” marker every time, meaning that out on the open road I'm closer to Driving School star Maureen Rees than Michael Schumacher.

“The aim is to give individual drivers the opportunity to address their own particular driving concerns and be able to address these effectively, safely and to build confidence,” a spokesperson for Lancashire County Council said during the launch of the course.

“At the end of the course drivers should have received appropriate training and information to help them deal with their own particular concerns.”

The course, which costs £65, takes place over two hours with an approved driving instructor at your side, but for a change there's not an L-plate in sight, and the lessons are largely dictated by what you want to learn. For me it was mainly about trying not to charge through the busier bits of the borough at slightly optimistic speeds, but whatever your driving worry is, the county council reckons its scheme could help you.

Does it work? Only if you take what the instructors say into your own drive home, but if I found car parks painful and motorways miserable, I'd rather take advantage of their tips than get it wrong the hard way.

For more information about Drive On contact Lancashire County Council's road safety group on 0800 328 1635 or visit the group's website at www.lancashire.gov.uk/roadsafety.