To echo what everyone else has said - a great show, brilliant stand, good company and a memorable weekend (some for good reasons, some for bad!)
The good:
Meeting up with everyone and putting names to faces. Good to meet Gary, Mark, Paul, Graham and Des, and meet up again with Sandre, John (Jaba), Hilary, Dollywobbler (v.briefly!)....sorry if I've missed anyone out (my memory is awful).
Drumming up some PR for the cars, speaking to people with memories of owning one, hearing some people getting ridiculously excited over some old French crocks. Brilliant!
Big congrats to Sandre, Paul and Tim on the stand, the organising and mainly the fact we even had a stand in the first place, let alone one as good as that. There are certain points in time where people make something good happen that other people don't forget. By means of gratitude to Tim in particular, I've given him a BX as a gift (Paul and Sandre didn't want it
)
Special mentions have to go Gary for his assistance in tools and equipment, and for listening to me bleat on about how much I hated life, and of course to Mat Fenwick who really did ease the burden with all the troubles I'd been having. He was always there to help, nothing was too much trouble and for someone like me (who HATES relying on other people) he was there to provide used, but clean (he reckoned) socks. Top guys.
Singular special mention to Vanny though. The guy
seriously went above and beyond the call of duty over the last four days. Bowled over by your generosity and support mate, I really would have been stuck without your help. BXer of the year for me.
Oh, and the premier inn in Coventry (one near the park....old building). It was lovely (no joke, it was as nice as any hotel I've ever been to).
The bad:
Thursday - A34 being closed due to lorry fire. Having to divert across country (nice roads though) and not arriving until late with a misfiring 16v. Got home at 9:00pm.
Friday - The traffic on the M42(N) to the NEC taking as long to get through as I'd just spent on the M27, M3, A34 and M40 combined. And the estate throwing its coolant toys out of the pram sat in the queue and blowing steam sitting in the carpark at the NEC while onlookers in BMW X5s looked at me. Phone absolutely destroying its battery in the NEC, and charger socket not working properly. And Google maps not working, meaning I had no navigation and had to find the Premier Inn simply by driving around Coventry! And then for 30mins thinking I'd lost my wife's new camera somewhere and slowly dying inside over it. Arrived at Prem Inn at 11:20pm.
Saturday - Spending another 45mins in traffic trying to get in to the place. Hearing from home that my littlest boy Ryan was ill, and that Nat might not be able to come up with me Sunday (meaning I had two cars to try and get back home to Fareham). Then my phone dying again. Trying to find Vannys in the evening with no navigation, giving up and taking his car home to Fareham. No shops open selling street maps, driving home again only to find the A34 shut AGAIN and taking a diversion around Didcot. Then finding out I'd taken a wrong turn during the diversion, ending up BACK at the closed A34 and having to re-divert again. With no phone, and next to no fuel. At 10:30pm. Got home at 11:15pm.
Sunday - Changing all the spark plugs & dizzy cap etc over on the 16v at the end of the show, only to find the misfire present on the outbound journey was now WORSE. Liam throwing up in the NEC lobby, Nat having to drive the 16v to Vannys with said misfire, with the kids in the back, and then us leaving Vannys at about 8:30pm last night and heading back in BAH with a worsening misfire, kids asleep in the back under blankets all the while unsure if we'd make it or have to drag them out and stand in cold wet grass on the hard shoulder waiting for a tow truck. Luckily the 16v got us home, and annoyingly it drove to work this morning faultessly
Got in at 11:30pm, kids straight to bed and out to school this morning. They ran.....RAN to school. Freaks!
Shit weekend, cracking show and thanks to everyone who created the memory I'm sure many of us will hold for years to come.