going underground

picture a lovely Sunday afternoon filled with the following:

sun shining. slight breeze; summer's last gasp.

an approximately five-mile stretch of two-lane road with a 50MPH speed limit and actual passing allowed, along with Hockenheim-esque trees lining either side. a large lake to the south, freaky nests of winged, stinged things hanging from a few of the trees---but none out to play with motorists out enjoying the day, thankfully.

this was the road to Moraine Valley Community College for the British Car Union's 2003 British Car Festival.

your players:

a brief synopsis of the day:

(click the link below for more; as always, click on any and all thumbnails to view larger versions of the photos. some were taken by Spaz, and some were taken by me. yay, we've mastered the art of sharing. XD)

where do i begin? apparently, last year's show had well over 700 cars in attendance. i've no idea whatsoever how many were in attendance this year; the only thing i can say for sure is that we definitely didn't get to see everything. a show of such sheer magnitude as this really ought to last more than one day, in my opinion. there were parts vendors, book, model, and t-shirt vendors, and of course food vendors as well. apparently this was the BCU's 17th annual such festival, and it showed---the mind boggles to consider the sort of organisation which must go into pulling together such an event, but it seemed that they did it wonderfully. (i of course might feel differently had i been someone with a car actually in the show, but as a mere showgoer, it seemed really quite nicely organised---i wish more shows we went to were like this.)

as neither Spaz nor i are experts on all the things we saw today (we've got specialised areas of expertise, and some things one or the other of us knew more about and could inform the other thusly), we were quite shocked that we remembered as much as we did about the photos we took. admittedly, some of the photos themselves helped us out---some people thoughtfully had license number plates which bore out some aspect of the identities of the cars to which they were attached.

we started to get a bit sun-sick towards the end; it really was quite bright and hot out. but all in all, it was unbelievable---and probably not much short of a nasty stint in traction could keep me from going next year. ^^ without further ado, more photos!

the pixie-esque hood ornament on a lovely blue-and-white 1957 Austin-Nash Metropolitan.

the same ornament in profile.

the Metropolitan itself. ^^

the interior of the Metropolitan. wish this weren't quite so dark; i really liked the dash. ^^

a fine selection of Austin-Healey Bug-Eye Sprites lining up in line.

one on its own.

if you drove one, you'd see this every day.

what makes a Sprite tick...?

and of course, one would never expect to see me take a photo of a 1966 Mini Cooper S, would one? ^^

nope, not me. i should also mention that there were a number of new MINIs at the show as well (mostly Cooper S models), and although i've seen photos of old and new together before, it's really impossible to appreciate just how much larger than the old Minis the new ones are. the new MINI is very small compared to other modern cars, but it positively towers over the classic ones. O.O;;; even the Mini pickup truck and the Clubman wagon still seem, well, miniscule by comparison. amazing.

interior of the '66 Cooper S from above.

and right next door was this lovely 1969 Cooper S, complete with rally lights.

nearby, just waiting to go slogging off into the wilds of Palos Hills was a menacing Mini Moke.

not far away was a Jaguar XK-120. largely meant to build up excitement about the Jaguar marque following WWII, wouldn't you say it fits the bill quite well? ooh.

aaah. ^^

there was also a selection of Jaguar XKEs on hand, such as this one.

and these two, which had their bonnets flipped up and engines on display...

here's a closer under-bonnet view of the red XKE from the last photo.

Morgan was also well represented; amongst those gathered was this 1974 Plus Four.

...lest one should have doubts, it proclaims its identity quite clearly.

a Morgan 4/4 to make you giddy.

the 4/4 from the rear. i particularly love how nicely and neatly the three seats not in use can be covered up.

a Morgan 3-wheeler...

...and its interior. (surprise; it's a two-seater!)

more from Morgan.

a nice under-bonnet peekaboo at another spectator.

nestled neatly in the dash of this particular specimen was a bottle of water...

...which the owner informed us he'd placed there to see if anyone would notice. ^^ he also pointed out that yes, it's very appropriate.

of course, what would a British car show be without some Triumph? Tea for four is served!

the back end of a 1968 Triumph GT6.

with the weather being so lovely, it would have indeed been a crime to be without a Sunbeam. or 8. or more.

Lotus was represented as well; several Elans and Elises and also a few Europas. (they do seem to like their Es, don't they?)

the back of that same Europa, which i certainly wouldn't mind sitting behind.

the event was also graced by the likes of what is apparently one of only thirteen Lotus Exiges to be imported into the US. it's even more impressive in person.

(hee, and i think that's an MG of some sort on the road directly behind it. ^^)

there was also an unbelievable Shelby Cobra. i think you'll agree that fangs really aren't necessary with a mouth like that.

the Cobra at rest.

finally, a flock of nine DeLoreans came in to roost; a tenth was spotted in the parking lot not actually being shown.
(perhaps you wouldn't count them, but they were built in Ireland, so technically...and really, who'd complain about any opportunity to see a bunch of one of the coolest cars ever together in one place? i nearly had to haul Spaz away bodily from the DeLorean cluster, else i don't think he ever would have left.^^)

revel in the beauty of brushed stainless steel. ^^

(incidentally, one of these lives in Arlington Heights; we saw him a few weeks ago while driving around. followed him for a short bit in the STi, too---just long enough to snap this photo....)

now, back to the DeLoreans from today. quite literally.

here's where the power is. mwahahaha. power. it isn't just for time travel, uh-uh.

last but not least, isn't that a lovely shade of yellow?

as stated earlier, there's no way i won't be here again next year. still a long way off from having anything at all that would qualify to be shown here, but it's more than put a gigantic smile on my face just to have witnessed all of these in person. this show was really and truly spectacular. ^^