"Autumn in the Mountains" British Car Show

[pmhowe]

On Saturday I attended the 24^th annual “Autumn in the Mountains” British car show in Mills River, North Carolina. The show was open to all makes of British and European cars. It was put on by the British Car Club of Western North Carolina, who were also celebrating their 30^th anniversary. I’m sure their website will be posting pictures of all the cars and a thorough description of the event. Its website is:

 

https://www.bccwnc.org/

 

They haven’t had time to post their pictures yet, but say they will do so soon. In the meantime, I will post a few I took.

 

I drove my 1966 Morgan to the meet by way of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I put about 125 miles on my car. It ran flawlessly. The weather was great - about 70F - on the Parkway, with a few clouds but lots of sun. The Parkway is an ideal road for old cars; lots of curves, little traffic (this day anyway) and a speed limit of 45 mph. The views are spectacular. The combination of the nice meet and the drive to and from made the day really special.

 

There were 261 cars and motorcycles registered for the meet. In the next several posts, I will show a few that piqued my interest. My favorite is shown below. It is a 1934 20/25 Rolls, with body by Freestone and Webb. The pre-WWII small engine Rolls tend to be very boxy in my opinion, but I think this particular coupe design is very graceful. I guess it would fit comfortably into @Alsancle’s Victoria coupe thread.

 

 

 

[pmhowe]

The Morgan lineup, ranging from 1962 to 1966. All Plus 4s.  Mine is the white drophead coupe. It was the only one without a hood strap, and several people asked why I didn't have one. My first two Morgans had one. I guess I will have to get one for this car. The second car in is a four seater. You can see its rear-end in the previous post.

[pmhowe]

     A Ford Anglia. I believe it was 1934.

Edited Friday at 12:19 AM by pmhowe (see edit history)

[pmhowe]

There were lots of Austin Healeys and lots of Jaguars. So many Jaguars that they broke them into two classes; old and new. There was only one XK120 and no XK140s. The quality of restoration of some of the Austin Healeys and Jaguars was superb - far better than the original products. I will not curl my lip in disdain, however, as my Morgan is in a better shape of finish than new, also. However, My Morgan wears her dirt and grease and ... even a small oil leak with great pride. Some of these cars clearly are not driven. Beautiful to look at, however, and I would welcome any one of them to my garage. 

[pmhowe]

An Abarth.  First one I have ever seen.  Back in the days when I had my MGA and then my first and second Morgans, Abarth exhausts were the thing to have. Of course, then, I couldn't afford one. This Abarth car was very impressive.

[pmhowe]

Speaking of impressive, here is a spectacular Mercedes. It had an impressive factory suggested retail price, also. If I recall correctly that was over $300,000. The picture doesn't do it justice. It is an AMG GT 35.

[pmhowe]

Lotus was well represented. Here is a few I liked. If I recall correctly, the Europa had Renault engines. That's from memory from years ago, so please correct me if I am wrong. 

[pmhowe]

Some Aston Martins.

[pmhowe]

A lovely Rolls. I particularly like this body style. 

[pmhowe]

Here is something different: A Vincent motorcycle. I can't tell you anything about it, but it appeared to be a very high quality post - WWII British motorcycle.

Edited Friday at 01:01 AM by pmhowe (see edit history)

[pmhowe]

Sacrilege. To each his own, I guess.

[pmhowe]

Here is a restomod I really liked: a Morris Minor Traveller.  Look at the engine compartment. For comparison, I have included a picture of a contemporary Morris Minor engine compartment. I always liked the original Morris Minors. Please read the writeup about the Traveller.

[pmhowe]

A few more Morgan pictures.