A great turn out for All British Day 2018
Sunday the 23rd of September, whilst a spring day, it felt more like summer and the sun screen was needed. It all meant a great day for All British, starting at 7.30 am with a great turn out of 21 Austin cars from club members.
With such a bright and warm day, first job was to erect the coverage for club members. Easy, right? Well, watch the video below, which provides the answer to the question “So, how many men does it take to erect a gazebo?”
2018 was the 38th year for All British. Rex Eaton told me that the only year there was no All British Day was 2011, when Brisbane had the floods. The sports ground was not firm enough to handle all the cars and so the event was cancelled. Rex has all the All British Day patches - here are several of them, plus some others that Rex has mounted for display.
We had many enquiries from the public who came along to see not just our Austins, but all the makes and models of British cars on display. Many recalled stories of when they or a relative had an Austin just like the one on display from one of our club members. I had one gentleman who recalled his first car was an Austin 1800 which he went out in, with his then girlfriend. Amazingly, even though is was back in the late 60’s/early 70’s, when he was around 19, he had photos of himself and his 1800 on his smart phone. We had a great chat and he told some stories of his 1800. At the end of our discussion he requested to once again sit behind the wheel of an 1800. Of course I obliged.
We also had a few members from other clubs with Austin spare parts, offering them our club members. Whilst the day ran to about 2 pm in the afternoon, it just didn’t seem long enough to catch up with everyone and walk around the sports ground looking at all the vehicles on display, from vintage to classic to modern day. Also, for the second year, we had an appearance from the crew from “Hire a Tardis” with their Tardis and of course, “Bessie”. Very timely, as the new Doctor Who series starts on October 7.
It was also President Ken’s first All British Day. At first he was disappointed as he only saw 2 or 3 jags near our area. However, once he was directed down the back of the sports ground, his disappointment was eliminated as he saw the many jaguars on display, together with the Roll Royces, Bentleys and a modern day McLaren.
The dismantling of the gazebos seemed much easier than putting them up (is was very easy for me as I arrive just after they had been erected - I only have the video to judge the level of difficulty). One again an enjoyable club outing and a great All British Day, together with metal grille badges this year! Thanks to everyone who came along, brought their Austin and contributed towards raising money for a good cause. See you there next year (unless you’re at AOA in Adelaide).
