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Uxbridge Auto Show

18^th July 2004
Middlesex Showground

by Nige Warner

This year, on July 18th, the Rotary Club of Uxbridge had it’s 21st annual Uxbridge Autoshow on the Middlesex Showground and my friend Mike and I usually try and go every other year. This year we went in Mike’s Vitesse Convertible and we were hoping for some nice open top motoring. Unfortunately at 8:30am when Mike arrived to pick me up it was spitting with rain and the forecast wasn’t looking good so we set off with the roof up.

When we arrived it had left off and although there were some dark clouds on the horizon we were hopeful of some dry weather. We found our parking area and parked up next to a very nice Humber Sceptre and chatted to the owner who was polishing it. It was in very nice condition and he had owned it from new.

We decided to wander over to see the cars arriving as it’s always nice to see and hear the cars when they are moving. Unfortunately this is when it started raining. It did create a few sights though such as people driving in with their roofs down and umbrellas up. Quite a queue built up and a young couple in an early MR2 had some fuel problems, probably due to heat, and stopped and couldn’t get it started again. The cars arriving ranged from the very common, MGB’s, to the very rare, Aston Martin DB4. There was even a bright pink Rolls Royce. Any way after a while the rain left off and held off for the rest of the day.

In previous years there have been over 2,000 vehicles on display and I would guess a similar number this year so there was plenty to see. There was a wide diversity of vehicles including Vintage, Veteran, Classic and even some Modern cars, Motorcycles and Commercial Vehicles. So there is always something for everyone. There was also a large autojumble, a craft and collector’s stalls and general trade stands. A few of the stalls did seem expensive and some were selling things that I considered to be on the naff side. One stall selling motorcycle helmets had a visit from the trading standards officers and the stall was shut down and the person(s) on the stall arrested by the police. So it was nice to know the public’s welfare was being looked after. The police also had one of their Crime Prevention vans that they take to shows present and quite a few officers were on duty which is probably needed at a show of this size.

The American Contingency

Some unusual British cars

In the middle of the showground there is a display area where lots of different activities went on through out the day including a motorcycle stunt/display team. Also this year, in one of the side fields, there was a small autocross type circuit laid out where there were mostly Minis racing round together with the odd Smart car.

The TVR Car Club Display
The Ford Consul Club	The Lotus Club

We had a really good day wandering round. There were quite a few club stands present. The biggest probably being the Mini’s. The Landcrab club was also there with probably about 20 cars, the most I’ve seen together for quite a while. There was a good turnout for the Gilbern owners club considering the amount of cars made by the manufacturer.

A Scimitar Sabre (a rare sight)

By about 5:00pm we had seen most of the show so we decided to head back to Mike’s car, and as the sun was out we put the roof down, and left for home.

I found, on the whole, this was a very good large show with fair ground rides and stalls to keep the children entertained. There was a large and varied selection of vehicles, so there was something to please everyone.

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