Stand 2C270 in Hall 2 placed us in the center of the Vauxhall Clubs gathering.  This Motor Show organized by Clarion Events Ltd, is the event to be at for all car clubs and enthusiasts, and of course provides the opportunity to promote our Club.  On this occasion an unexpected piece of good publicity came our way by means of The Sun newspaper on the 12th November.  Two of our cars were the subject of an article in the motoring section under the heating "Britain's favorite family car".  The cars they "interviewed" were Richard Watts Cavalier Mk1 "LOU" and Peter Norrishs  Chevette "JAR".  The Club itself was not mentioned, but it's not difficult to put two and two together.

The Club Stand exhibited the above-mentioned two NEC favorites, which always create a lot of interest.  Their credentials of course speak for themselves; the 1975 rare Luton-made Chevette is the oldest road-going one know.  Richard’s celebrity-status Cavalier was the first to be blessed with a Signal Yellow paint job, and is also the oldest Mk.1 in existence.

Kevin Bricknall's 1987 Cavalier Mk2 Calibre made it's first appearance at the show, standing out in its red livery, the only colour the cars sported in the UK.  The guise of the Ascona C i200 and Sprint, the model sharing this platform ventured abroad not only in red, but in blue and white.  This particular Calibre is one of the thirty three remaining models out of a Limited Edition of 500.  It sold originally for £13,127.35; Kevin, is its seventh owner and paid the princely sum of £350.00 to own this lovely example.  It carries the highest specification of any Mk.2 Cavalier to roll-off the production line.  The 2-litre 8-valve overhead-cam engine delivers a very respectable 130bhp at 5,600 revs, allowing the car to hit 0-60mph mark in 6.2 seconds.  It sleek sculptured lines were produced by Irmshcer Cars and Aston-Martin-Tickford; says it all.

The fourth car in our group did visit the NEC a few years ago, but this time came with it's new proud owner, Vince Poole.  This white four door saloon is one of three LS Cavalier Mk.1's remaining; one belongs to a non-club member, the other (OMY) to Marine Wilcox.  The number plate shows "IOW" as part of its registration number; it doesn't take a lot of working out to understand why Vince applied the name "Chalkie".  Vince's LS is a sole survivor in its own right, being not only a 2000 LS, but an automatic into the bargain.  The others are 1600s with manual box, but nevertheless are very special and rare.  The LS was introduced towards the end of the Mk.1's six-year production run to fill in the gap between the basic 'L' version and top end GL and GLS models.

The stand layout worked very well and for that our thanks goes to stand crew Kevin Bricknall, Vince Poole, Richard Watt and Beth Watt, Peter and David Norrish with a little interaction from me, Bryan Wilcox.  It should be appreciated that not only do these members give their time, but they also participate in the Show at considerable personal expense.

As last year we were kept busy - resulting in signing up new members - along with various offers of spares and paid adverts on our website.

The NEC Club Team offer a sincere thanks to Claire Wilcox for all her help during the show, taking in reports for the Newsletter publication by text and the promotional items which proved to be of great assistance to our presentation.  Not forgetting Jane Miller for last minute proofing, much appreciated ladies.

Also, thank you members who visited the show, I spent time having a good chat to Mal Docherty who was enjoying the day.

Richard, we trust you enjoyed your birthday on 25th November and celebrated with Beth and LOU, CONGRATULATIONS!

A video of the stand is also in the News section.

At eleven a.m on Thursday 11th, all exhibitors ceased, all stand preparations to observe the Two Minute's Silence of Remembrance; the same was done on Sunday 14th; including visitors at the show, respect was shown without exception.

"Proud to be British"

Bryan Wilcox (041)