There was an excellent turnout for Bromley Pageant of Motoring yesterday, despite the wet, windy and cold conditions that blew through Norman Park. Pick of the special club displays was a multi-million-pound selection spanning 80 years of Aston Martin manufacturing. Pride of place in the 33-car corral was a superb pair of pre-war models. Stanley Randall bought his 1934 MkII long-chassis tourer for £300 in ’54. The car was then left for 46 years until marque specialist Ecurie Bertelli began its restoration in 2007. Alongside was Keith Piper’s 1930 International Coupé, which was built for William G Headlam, a shipping magnate from Whitby, North Yorkshire. “It ended up in Australia in the ’70s and I first tried to buy it in the early ’90s but the deal fell through,” Piper explained. “I then came across it in a sorry state in Perth, Western Australia in ’99. Fortunately, the things that were missing were easy enough to replace and the rebuild was completed just in time for it to lead the St George’s Day Parade at Windsor Castle in 2005.”
The AMOC stand is fast becoming a Bromley favourite – much like the massive Renault Heritage centrepiece, co-ordinated by the Renault Alpine Owners’ Club, which once again featured some outstanding rarities such as a mint 15TS and one of few 20s that survive in the UK. Last year’s best larger club stand winner, the Elf Hornet Register brought a charming line-up of ‘the poshest Mini’ to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
More immaculate restored vehicles featured around the three-car club displays, too, such as a superb Fordson F7 lorry – powered by a 3.6-litre Flathead V8 – and Guy Maylam’s late-model Talbot Alpine in dazzling Sweetcorn. “It was only finished about 10 days ago,” he explained. “Just in time for the French Simca club’s main event, and it didn’t miss a beat on that trip.” Nearby, Police Car UK showed an exactingly restored Daimler SP250 sporting its Met accessories.
The weather didn’t put off an excellent pre-war contingent, either, including a superb American trio overlooked by an imposing array of ex-military vehicles. Bob and Lorraine Lucas from Maidstone sheltered from the rain in their magnificent 1933 Cadillac V12 five-passenger town sedan. As Bob recalled: “Last November, on ebay, I bought a ’33 SS Jaguar, then flew to Aberdeen to pick it up. It wasn’t quite as described but the chap also had this for sale; I wasn’t looking for a Cadillac but fell in love with it.”
As always at Bromley, though, there were some absolute treasures to be found among the dozens of rows of one-make parking. Raymond Sleep, 81, had driven from Hythe near Folkestone in the fabulous 1960 DKW Junior that he bought new. “I was in the services in Cyprus at the time, so it came with right-hand drive. It only has a 741cc two-cylinder, two-stroke engine, yet it brought us here fine – three up – along the M20.”
Former rallycrosser and ex-Spedewell boss John Clark, with wife Barbara, brought their ’71 Daf 55 Marathon ‘Dafney’ and the 8000-mile Volvo 66GL. “The previous owner called it Snowdrop,” he explained, “because it’s white and only came out in the spring. I only bought it last week and parked it on the drive yesterday as a surprise for Barbara!”
Further along the same line was a late-model ’85 De Tomaso Deauville, ordered new with a 500bhp Ford Motorsport Australia V8 by Charles Saatchi. Unfortunately, it had to be detuned not long after he took delivery because it broke its (uprated) automatic gearbox.
And if you fancied a low-mileage luxobarge, there was an immaculate, as-new Maserati Quattroporte III in the cars for sale corral that had done just 1500km!
See more photos here.
