We had two 1959 cars on display at the NEC this year.
Many thanks to everyone who came to see us. 1 Photos Trevor Ripley and Keith Woodfield flew the flag at Malvern Mini Show. Despite the lovely weather we had, which is pretty unusual for Malvern, it seemed to be poorly attended however Mr.Bean was there, although he didn’t look very happy.
Some people were starting to pack up at lunch time, including a lot of the traders. We left at about 2.00 pm.
2 Photos Our stand was in a good position next to the Mini World stand in the middle of the show area.
We had 9 cars turn up on the day which made a nice display. Usual good interest in the cars. Someone showed us pictures of a 59 car he saw in Cyprus last week. He is intending to buy it and ship it back. Lets hope it all works out for him. 8 Photos This was a new venue for British Mini Club at Uttoxeter racecourse. It proved to be a very successful day with The 59 Register having 10 cars on our stand, including 2 new additions that we has not seen before. ( Thanks to Bob and James). 6 Photos British Motor Heritage Centre, Gaydon.
We were invited to set up a display of 1959 cars in the museum as part of their Mini Festival on August 11th and 12th.
We had a long discussion with Peter and Roy who were both highly involved with Alec Issigonnis at the beginning of the Mini conception. 6 Photos IMM 2009, Cofton Park, Longbridge, Birmingham.
We arrived at Cofton Park on Friday 7th to set up our stand. The weather had been terrible all week and it was looking like it was going to be a wash out.
As we got the stand sorted out several 59 cars appeared from our overseas friends who had already arrived to camp. As the day passed the sun came out and gradually the ground started to show signs of drying up a bit. The weather forecast for the weekend was promising so things were looking good.
We arrived early on the Saturday morning and although the entrances were still a bit muddy the rest of the cars started to arrive. In total we had 27 cars on the stand from as far a field as Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Holland as well as U.K. cars from Scotland, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland and everywhere in between.
We would like to thank all the people who brought their 1959 built cars along to make what was the biggest display of these cars that we have had. 11 Photos We had a joint stand with the Mini Cooper Register at Oulton Park Gold Cup event on Sunday 30th August. A great day out with plenty of historic racing to watch. 10 Photos
Kate Perrins had her Clipper Blue Morris, 316 GHW on the Mini Cooper Register stand and Trevor Ripley had his Tartan Red Austin, VCE 7 on the British Mini Club stand.
It worked out very well as both stands were next to each other. As usual the show was very interesting with some very unusual exhibits.
The Citroen stand in particular was fascinating with several prototypes on show.
During the day we had Peter Tothill, who was heavily involved with producing the first ever Mini at Cowley, giving a talk on the early design and production days and an insight into the work of Alec Issigonnis. As usual we had a lot of interest in the early cars, some of which are now over 50 years old.
We had 7 cars on display on the upper gallery.
There were various lectures throughout the day about the history of the Mini and Alec Issigonnis.
We met some very interesting people over the 2 days including Paddy Hopkirk, Peter Tothill and Roy Davies.
We also had another visit from Kazuo Maruyama from Japan who we previously met at the IMM. A very interesting man to talk to.
Some very interesting things came to light regarding the first initial built production cars.
When we arrived a lot of the ground was awful, mud and water everywhere. Vehicles were getting stuck in the mud with many having to towed in. A lot of the ground was water logged and it became a bit of a free for all to find a suitable place to set up. The pre-arranged plans seem to be abandoned.
Luckily we were allowed to set up our stand at the edge of the concurs area which was relatively dry for which we are extremely grateful. ( Thanks Kate ).
As the weekend progressed the weather just got better and better. It is reckoned over 5000 minis in total attended the event. There were so many interesting cars to see.
We met so many interesting people from all over the world and had several cars added to the register.
With it being the 50th anniversary of the Mini there was a parade of all Minis around the circuit.
There were approx 180 cars taking part.