Classics in the Walled Garden 2011

With all the rain that we have had recently we were very lucky to have had a brief respite last Wednesday evening - just long enough to allow for a more or less entirely dry Classics in the Walled Garden at Luton Hoo. The event is only a couple of miles down the road for me so there isn't a great deal of driving pleasure to be had in attending; however, what I do enjoy is the sheer range of vehicles that turn up, some of which have come from pretty far afield. What also marks these types of event is the friendliness of the visitors, whether participants or spectators. Not long after I arrived I found myself chatting with the owner of a very well used Jensen Interceptor, a car that I lusted after as a boy after picking up a beautiful promotional booklet at an Alexandra Palace motor show. Having made all sorts of modifications to the car he told me that he was using it more regularly than his modern.

I also came across the car that my parents were married in, a car that forms of part of the Vauxhall Heritage Collection. It was great to see it out, especially as it spends much of its time on static display. There were a number of Vauxhalls at the event as well as a surprisingly large number of MG As and E-Type Jags, although it is their 50th anniversary this year so they're obviously keen to celebrate... I also saw my first ever 'live' Aston Martin Lagonda, which up close is a really rather impressive car.

As usual there were lots of modern Ferraris, which I have to confess don't do a great deal for for me, but there was a very special looking Daytona Spyder bearing the registration plate '365 FER'.

In comparison the Marcos that I took along might have seemed rather brutal, especially once running (it is very loud) but it does evoke a similar era - late 1960 - the period when the 'swinging sixties' began to give way to the 'glam rock' seventies... By eight in the evening the early arrivals began to leave for the journey home and so I managed to navigate my way out past the many who remained, as the beer and food continued to be enjoyed. Once again a very pleasant event, helped hugely by a window in the wet weather...