Saturday morning and it's the day of the car show. This time, after 12 years, we're actually going to experience a real invasion of a British car show. This was the original idea when Ian and I dubbed it an "invasion", so I was anxious to see how this would really work. Needless to say it was fantastic, as once again we were treated "like rock stars" given the prominent space on the show field, in front of the Parthenon. I believe we had over 30 Sunbeams. 1 Series II, 2 Series 3's including the Smith's freshly restored Primrose Yellow Series 3 GT (beautiful car), bunches of Series IVs and Vs, including a 16,000 mile all original Series V, Tigers, a Harrington Le Mans, and a 1969 Sunbeam Alpine fastback. Lots of oohs and ahhs from the crowd who probably had never seen so many Sunbeams in one place. Great day, beautiful weather, and fantastic company. My son commented that whenever a hood (bonnet) went up we were drawn to it like moths to a flame. Surprisingly he was bit by the car bug during this trip and I caught him explaining the differences between Series to the casual observers. Good boy, there's hope for you yet!
Saturday evening we drove to a nice restaurant on the Cumberland river and enjoyed cool weather, good food, and hilarity as the raffle prizes were handed out. Folks, even if you don't have a running Sunbeam you still need to come to these Invasions because it's really about the PEOPLE. My son gets it now - he really enjoyed hanging out with "the boys" and had a great time. That made it worth it for me. Every year I look for certain faces and am always glad to see them. We have a great group!
Spent some time after dinner in the parts room then said good night. This morning we woke early to check the weather, and with a cold front coming fast, promising severe weather and high winds, we took off. Had a bit of a scare during our 5 hour drive. The crosswinds were fierce, pushing the car back and forth as we drove through the hills of Kentucky. I started to hear a rattle develop, and as you know, we always listen for new sounds in our cars. This went on for about an hour and I couldn't figure out where it was coming from until I lowered the sun visor and discovered the hardtop latch had already dropped one bolt and was working the other loose. I wonder how long the hardtop would have held on in these winds if I hadn't caught that! Quickly pulled over, found the screwdriver, and tightened everything down. The car ran great all the way home.
I want to thank my friend Steve Silverstein for all his hard work, organizing an invasion to be held in Tennessee from his home in Massachusetts. Great job Steve!
I'm already looking forward to next year in Columbia, SC. Tom and I have decided that since the invasion will take place during the Scottish Games, Clan Sunbeam will have to appear in full force - and dress. Stay tuned.
See you next year!
Scotty MacChristie
P.s. guys I got the message - I need to have the Sebring car finished for next year
Saturday evening we drove to a nice restaurant on the Cumberland river and enjoyed cool weather, good food, and hilarity as the raffle prizes were handed out. Folks, even if you don't have a running Sunbeam you still need to come to these Invasions because it's really about the PEOPLE. My son gets it now - he really enjoyed hanging out with "the boys" and had a great time. That made it worth it for me. Every year I look for certain faces and am always glad to see them. We have a great group!
Spent some time after dinner in the parts room then said good night. This morning we woke early to check the weather, and with a cold front coming fast, promising severe weather and high winds, we took off. Had a bit of a scare during our 5 hour drive. The crosswinds were fierce, pushing the car back and forth as we drove through the hills of Kentucky. I started to hear a rattle develop, and as you know, we always listen for new sounds in our cars. This went on for about an hour and I couldn't figure out where it was coming from until I lowered the sun visor and discovered the hardtop latch had already dropped one bolt and was working the other loose. I wonder how long the hardtop would have held on in these winds if I hadn't caught that! Quickly pulled over, found the screwdriver, and tightened everything down. The car ran great all the way home.
I want to thank my friend Steve Silverstein for all his hard work, organizing an invasion to be held in Tennessee from his home in Massachusetts. Great job Steve!
I'm already looking forward to next year in Columbia, SC. Tom and I have decided that since the invasion will take place during the Scottish Games, Clan Sunbeam will have to appear in full force - and dress. Stay tuned.
See you next year!
Scotty MacChristie
P.s. guys I got the message - I need to have the Sebring car finished for next year