It all started at 4am in the morning for me when I meet Richard and Beth at Northampton Services for the trip up to EventCity for the show. We arrived just on 9am to be greeted by Vince Poole and Keith and Janet Richardson. We were then welcomed on the door to the hall and advised where about’s our stand would be located. Once in we set about unloading the carpet for the stand. Soon the stand was taking shape and Craig Wood and his soon turned up with their Rally Chevette. The stand was then completed and Richard, Beth, Vince and myself had a walk across into the Trafford Centre before heading to our B&B. Latter that evening we had a trip down to Salford Key’s which has had a lot of re-development over the years. We also had a walk up to Old Trafford. Saturday morning we arrived at the stand at 8am ready for the first day. Janet and Keith arrived as did Jack Dawson and his son. The show opened at 9am and by 9.15am David Simister from Classic Car Weekly was on our stand taking details of the cars and a photo of everyone on the stand for publication in the following weeks classic car weekly. Though EventCity is a lot smaller than the NEC that did not put people off and the halls filled up nicely. The three Cavalier’s from James’s Mays Cars of the People BBC2 (Richard Cavalier Mk1 LOU, Keith Richardson’s Cavalier Mk2 Saloon and Kevin Bricknalls Cavalier Calibre) attracted a lot of attention as did Vince Poole’s Cavalier Mk1 LS Chalkie and Craig Woods Rally Chevette which is more powerful that a Chevette HSR Rally Car. Everybody took time to walk around the event and taking in the other stands. There was some really stunning cars on show (and not just on our stand). There was also a live Rally stage outside the hall where Historic Rally Cars were carrying out demonstrations on both days of the event. Tied in with this was a completion that was being run by the event sponsors Footman James that was being drawn at different times of the day. This was to win a trip in one of the rally cars on the rally stage during the day. A few members entered this and Beth Watt was lucky enough to win a trip out on the stage in a 1978 Mini Cooper which competed on the Lombard RAC Rally in 1981. The event closed and after saying goodbye to Craig. Beth, Richard, Vince, Keith, Janet and myself made a trip into the Trafford Centre to eat before heading home or back to the B&B. T he second day was even busier than the first and we had as steady stream of people on our stand. Jane Miller visited the show on Sunday and spent some time on the stand. We spoke to a lot of people who said that they had Cavalier and Chevette’s in the past and said they were the best cars they had owned. I also spoke to a chap who had a Cavalier Calibre from new and he said it was the best car ever owned. I also found out something I did not know about the Mk2 Cavalier. I some countries in Europe the car had an option for heated seats and if you remove a blanking panel on the dash board you can find the icon for heated seats hidden behind it. Keith and I had a look on Keith’s car and can confirm the icon is there. We also assumed that the wiring was all in place in the loom so you could in theory retro fit the seats to a UK car. A bit more digging has also un-earthed that the car was also available with aircon in Europe as well. A visit was also paid to Dream rides by some members. There was also some autojumble and a few club members picked up some useful items. Soon the show was over and we were packing up the stand and saying our goodbye’s. However there was one final thing to happen on the way back we were following Vince from the Trafford Centre to the M6 and somehow Beth and I lost Vince and Richard. We caught up with Richard at the Services south of Birmingham. Vince having carried on over the M6 to make his way home. This was a great event and I would like to thank everybody for attending (Club Members and General Public). Members present at the event in no particular order were as follows:- Vince Poole - Cavalier Mk1 "Chalkie" Kevin Bricknall - Cavalier Mk2 Calibre Richard Watt - Cavalier Mk1 "LOU" Beth Watt Keith Richardson - Cavalier Mk2 Janet Richardson Craig Wood - Vauxhall Chevette Rally Car Jack Dawson Jane Miller My apologies if I have missed out anyone. Kevin Bricknall (602)

Footman James Manchester Classic Car Show 2015 Report Footman James Manchester Classic Car Show 2016 Report