Well, here goes, a very personal take on the NEC show.
My first visit ever, and I had volunteered to help out in some way on the Thursday (set-up) Friday and Saturday until lunchtime.
It was great to eventually meet some of the TDC members, thanks to you all for your warm welcome to myself and the missus.
We left Edinburgh about 05:20 and had no real problems on the journey down, stopping once at Killington Lake, arriving in the NEC area around 10:40, by the time we found our way to hall 12 and the TDC stand it was 11:00. If there's a next time we might find our way around easier.
Helped in a minor way with the setup, left for the hotel around 16:30 ish, I think. Checked in to Ibis Styles and headed out for early dinner at the Gourmet Burger Bar in the Resorts World complex, parking is £2 for 0-2 hours and £15 FOR ANYTHING AFTER!!! Won't be eating at GBK again....
In the hall for 08:45 the next morning, setting up again with final touches and the doors open at 10:00. Wow, that was quite a crowd coming through the doors.
Chris's lovely Toledo attracted a lot of attention, Mark's lovely 1500HL was also a great attractor, but star of the day was definitely Alun's 'new', Sprint, in all it's tatty untouched barn-find glory, mouse nests, mouse droppings, bootful of spares and all.
The punters - people from all over, Norman from the Isle of Lewis!!!!, yes, I thought I had travelled, he was overnighting in Glasgow the night before and after, that's some doing.
Ex racers from both track and rally, some of them very notable, standing around and chatting, reminiscing, sharing insights and divulging secrets. Owners, ex-owners, TDC members, people who had learned to drive in 1300 Dollys and Toledos, people who's Aunts, Uncles, Dads and Grandads had owned. People who were very knowledgable about the cars and some less so, but it was great to chat and meet all of them, managed to sell one postcard, one keyring and received a completed membership form.
Many people wanted technical knowledge - I have none, so passed them all on to others. One person wanted to know what a gearbox with a VE serial number was from - sorry, and I didn't think to take contact details, I'll know if there's a next time, there was no-one around to ask at the time.
Another trio of chaps have a 1500fwd which has lost all drive, all gears can be 'selected' and the speedo reads, but no drive. Again sorry, and I didn't think to collect a contact method.
I had time for a brief excursion next door to the TR Driver's standand met a lovely gent who owns two TR7s, one of them with a Rover V8 in it, he had a great story about driving to Kazakhstan. He was fitting a new dash.
My wife was struggling with the walking and discovered mobility scooters for hire for £15 per day. She saw ALL of the show, every single bit of it! We left aroung 17:15 and this time walked to the Resorts World complex for an early dinner.
Wetherspoon's for a couple of pints then TGI Friday's this time with an excellent gluten-free menu selection and several cocktails, brilliant service. Waddled back to the hotel!
On the Saturday the doors opened at 09:00, less of a rush this time but lots more people, and the star today was Mark's 1500HL - or rather the work being carried out on it by Rob and Mark. There was a great deal of interest in this, from people watching, people discussing, people offering advice, a chap from the TR Driver's club taking some video, Grandads with kids showing them what was going, the activity on the car really was appreciated by the public.
I did notice that one club's contribution ran to the extent of polishing what was already a very shiny car, this stand didn't see too many visitors.
Had time to keep an eye on a TR7 next door which was to have a head removal following a head gasket fail. This went smoothly and without a hitch, apparently the head was quite loose and upon removal had previously had some replacement studs fitted. No dramas then, good news.
I left around lunchtime (soon after James had extricated a deid moose fae the boot of the Sprint), so there aren't too many photo's of the progress on Mark's car. A bit of a faff on the way back with hold-ups on the M6 and then the sat-nav redirect was messed up by a road closure on the A500. Home by 19:00 though with two short breaks.
A good weekend.
Click on below for a video: