Lancaster Classic Motor Show 2016

NEC Birmingham November 2016
Welcome to the Cavalier and Chevette Club
Your friendly Vauxhall - Opel Club since 1994
© Cavalier and Chevette Club 2023 We acknowledgement to Vauxhall Motors Ltd
The build up to the show started for me on the Thursday morning, the Cavalier Mk3 SRi 16v packed, I left at 6am to meet the stand crew at the Toby Carvery near to the NEC. Richard, Beth and Brandon Watt were there ready to meet me in their Land Rover Discovery. Keith Gooch arrived a little later in his Cavalier Mk1 1600 L with his brother. We went into the carvery to sort the paperwork out for the event. Peter Norrish with his Chevette 1300 L was joining us later at the NEC as he had been delayed by weather. We then headed into to the NEC Hall 5 to set up the Club Stand. The cars on the stand were Peter Norrish's white Chevette 1300 L, Keith Gooch's Cavalier Mk.1 1600 L and my Cavalier Mk.3 2.0 SRi 16v. Vauxhall had kindly once again supplied us and the other Vauxhall clubs with red carpet this year and Vauxhall flags were also dotted around the Vauxhall Zone, so a big thank you to them for this. Footman James also provided us with a Footman James flag so thank you to them as well. The Club stand was adjacent to the Cresta Club, Mk.2 Astra Club and Vauxhall Heritage. Once we had set up we had a chance to have a quick look around before we made for the Hotel, and in Keith's case headed home.Day 1of the show arrived and we arrived at the NEC in good time to be ready for the press who come into the show early on Friday before the public are allowed in at 9am. We were jointed this day by Keith's wife Jill and son Steven. The Friday seemed busier than ever this year, we had a fair few members of the press come around and look at our cars, not just at the start of the day but during the day as well. Andrew Roberts (a freelance journalist) visited the stand on Friday and took details of the cars on the stand as well as photographs. At 11am on Friday we (and the whole of the NEC crowd) observed the two minutes’ silence for Armistice Day.A nice surprise at the show was to see Dave and Kate Cheal's Cavalier Mk.1 Coupe in the entrance to Hall 3. Dave had been called in at the last minute as a car had dropped out, it really was last minute as I believe it was the Tuesday of the week of the event. Hats off to Dave for getting the car there on Thursday. Of special interest about the three cars that were on the stand - as Peter rightly pointed out - they were all un-restored original examples of the Cavalier Mk.1, Mk.3 and Chevette. I also managed to win a car cleaning kit on the Classic Car Weekly stand and Beth managed to win a prize on that stand as well. The end of Day 1came and we headed off for a meal at the Harvester at Coleshill as Friday was Brandon's birthday and we had a table booked. (Buses 22 and 23 don't leave from Coleshill, Peter!!).The second day arrived and we headed for the NEC again looking forward to another great day. If you thought Friday was busier than last year then Saturday was even busier, there was still a large quota to get in the halls at 11am, which I have never seen before. Just before the show opened I had an idea about putting some LED battery powered lights in the engine of my car so people could see it better as with the bonnet up it was causing a shadow. I purchased this from a stand in the show, this worked well so I tried one inside the car and this made it easier for visitors to see in the car. As this had worked well on mine, Peter and Keith decided they would like some in their cars as well, plus I wanted two more so we hot-footed it over to the auto-jumble to purchase some more. These worked really well in all the cars and when the show opened it didn't take long for people to start looking in the car. Also at the show Club member Karl Hobbs was on the FD Register Stand and Martin and Helen Holloway were on the Opel GT Club Stand. Bryan's friend Bob from Coventry also visited our stand on Saturday. At times on Saturday you were not able to move around the aisles due to the volume of people. The show closed at 6.30pm on Saturday and Friday, the opening hours having been extended. We then made our way back to our accommodation. The third and final day arrived and this was the busiest of the three. We arrived at the NEC in good time. The show had not been open long before we had a new member sign up who owns a Cavalier Mk.3. We had lots of people express an interest in joining the Club over the three days, and hopefully these people will join the Club via the Paypal system on the website. At 11am on Sunday we again observed the two minutes silence, along with everyone else in the NEC. Richard had a good day collecting registrations of Cavalier Mk.1s to add to his data base of Mk.1 Cavalier registrations. Peter spotted the Stig on Sunday a few times (not the BBC one from Manchester I should add) but we were not quick enough to try and entice him on to the stand. Hopefully we will have better luck next time. I picked up some interesting photographs on Sunday, two interesting ones being Swimmer Sharon Davis pictured with Jimmy McRae and his Opel Manta 400 Rally car and Lewis Collins from the ITV Series The Professionals also with Jimmy McRae and his Opel Manta 400. I wonder if he was assessing a Manta as a replacement for the Capri? The show came to an end to the traditional sound of car horns at 5.30pm. We then packed up the Club Stand, said our goodbyes and made our way home after a tiring but thoroughly enjoyable Lancaster Classic Motor Show 2016. We hope to be back again in 2017!Big thank you to all the Club members who provided cars, helped on the stand or visited the stand at the Lancaster Classic Motor Show this weekend. Without your help and dedication, we would not be able to put a stand together at this event. Thanks again to all of you. Club Members on the stand, visiting the stand and friends of the Club visiting the stand during the three days were as follows. In no particular order:Kevin Bricknall, Richard Watt, Beth Watt, Brandon Watt, Peter Norrish, Keith Gooch, Jill Gooch, Steven Gooch, Keith's brother (Sorry, I missed his name), Andrew Roberts, Martin Holloway, Helen Holloway, Karl Hobbs, John Jones, Richard Gelder, Ian Kimpton, Simon Downs, Dave Cheal, Kate Cheal, Fred Coombs, David Brown, Ian Vireo, Kevin Vincent, Greg Stringer and his son, Phil Wright and Claire Wright and their two Children and finally Denis Chick, Andy Body, Terry Forder and Simon Hucknall from Vauxhall Motor/Vauxhall Heritage. Apologies if I have missed anyone out. Kevin Bricknall (602)