Well, The Classic 2022 was quite the event, after all the chaos that ensued, with messed-up logistics and ticket pricing and availability, but I must say that a large part of the positivity that came out of attending the event was due to the fabulous weather we experienced on all 3 days and the interactions with like-minded individuals, both young and old.
We managed to muster 9 cars (eight Vees and one R8 Gordini) on Saturday (27th), but the overall mix of cars, their colours, and the owners who went the extra mile to be at the event was commendable. Well done to you all.
It was good to meet everyone at the event. Sam (@Kett), glad that you and David enjoyed the drive round the GP circuit, albeit this time it was a rather sedate affair since we had to follow those Mercedes’. Look forward to seeing your restored Vee in all its splendour at The Classic 2023. Ben (@BREMBO), glad you and your brother got a taste of what it is like to be at Silverstone Classic. Hope to see you both in the coming next years.
A big thank you to Simon (@rustedandrotten), and his son Tony, for transporting our club marquee to and from the event, getting the structure up before I managed to get there, and Tony (@REM13) and Simon (@Sunbeam Lotus) for helping to take down and pack everything away on Sunday.
As others did, I engaged in some fascinating conversations with other car enthusiasts, two of which left quite the impression on both them and I. One was a longish conversation with an enthusiast who lives not far away from me and owns a number of cars, including a Cateraham and 996 GT2 (for a number of years), so he ‘gets’ the Vee. He had flirted with the idea of buying one a few years ago and now regrets that he didn’t. He is now looking for one. I did hand him the write-up we did for Phase 1’s 20th Anniversary (attached below), which I think had quite an effect.
View attachment Developing The Clio V6 Road Cars v3.0 (18 Jul 2021).pdf
The second conversation was with a young enthusiast (from the US but working in the UK) who loves his Renaults! Kalib, if you have signed up here, it was a pleasure talking to you and thank you for capturing the essence of the Vee in your photography – the photographs (attached below) are fantastic, and to point where one would question whether they were taken on site at Silverstone at all.
I will upload a few other photographs that I captured to the gallery that James set up, though be warned, they are nowhere near the quality of the above!
Roll on 2023 – the dates are now known (see below), so no excuses for not getting these dates in your diary! The Phase 2 will be 20 years old next year, so there will be yet another anniversary to celebrate.
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I will set up a new thread to gauge interest and get a provisional list going. Hopefully, that event will be better organised.