Behind the Scenes of the Abingdon Works Celebration
Its me, Mark Stone and in this special episode of the Backseat Driver Podcast is visiting the remarkable gathering commemorating the 70th anniversary of the British Motor Corporation’s (BMC) Competition Department, held at the National Motor Museum in Gaydon.
This extraordinary event showcased an impressive assembly of over 70 ex-works cars, including iconic models such as Mini Coopers and Austin Healeys, all of which collectively represented a significant chapter in automotive history.
I have discussions with various participants, including event organisers and automotive enthusiasts, who share their personal experiences and reflections on the legacy of BMC in rallying and motorsport.
I delve into the stories behind these historic vehicles, we recognise the enduring impact of the BMC competition department and the camaraderie that binds its passionate communit and a poignant reminder of the fragility of these classic automobiles and the importance of preserving their history for future generations.
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Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker A:Yes, it's me, Mike Stone and this is the Backseat Driver podcast.
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Speaker B:If you're going to celebrate the British Motor Corporation's famous Abingdon Works rally car and race car preparation unit and division, where better to do it than the National Motor Museum at Gaydon, which is exactly what happened the other weekend.
Speaker B:Over 70 EX works cars, genuine EX works cars, mini Coopers, Austin Healeys and very, very similar Riley Elfs.
Speaker B:Yes, they even officially raced and rallied.
Speaker B:Those all came together at Gaydon for a huge celebration celebrating 70 years.
Speaker B:It's just a great shame that British Leyland BMC call it what you will no longer exist.
Speaker B:They produced some phenomenal rally cars and had the world's best drivers and co drivers crewing them.
Speaker B:Imagine driving, driving from Liege to Rome back to Liege with about an hour stop in Rome and they did it.
Speaker B:They did it with ease, as did the big Bangor Heelys.
Speaker B:So down at Gaydon, major celebrations.
Speaker B:A lot of British Leyland Coys have also come to join in.
Speaker B:Well over 600 cars and some of the fantastic drivers, co drivers and people involved were all there.
Speaker B:So what more do you want?
Speaker B:Sit back and enjoy my chat with a whole variety of people who were involved with the BMC competition department.
Speaker A:With John McIntosh, one of the event organizers.
Speaker A:John, welcome to the Backseat driver.
Speaker C:Hello.
Speaker C:Thank you very much, Mark.
Speaker A:This must have taken some serious organizing.
Speaker A:When did you start with all this?
Speaker C:I'm sat here with my friend David Hucker who was involved right from the beginning with me as well.
Speaker C: for a show, I think it was in: Speaker C:Was it?
Speaker C:David?
Speaker C:Can you get David as well?
Speaker D:The idea has been in.
Speaker D: The idea started in: Speaker D:We had a little meeting room up in the museum building and said, well, how are we going to do comp 70?
Speaker D:So we've been at it a whole year.
Speaker A:How do you get these cars together?
Speaker A:Because, I mean, we know they exist, but they won't all exist in one place, will they?
Speaker C:The godfather of all of this was Bill Price.
Speaker C:And Bill had some contact lists of people with some of the cars.
Speaker C:They weren't entirely up to date, so that was a start.
Speaker C:And it was through contacts, through friends.
Speaker C:We had a lot from the Minis.
Speaker C:So the Mini Cooper register have an Ex Works register.
Speaker C:And so that was a good basis.
Speaker C:And I'd worked with Robert Young on shows I'd run previously, but the Historic Marathon Rally Group had their own contacts list and it sort of ballooned from there.
Speaker C:David did a lot of work on Facebook and we advertised in some of the club magazines.
Speaker A:So, I mean, it's been a tremendous success.
Speaker A:I mean, how many works cars or ex works cars are here?
Speaker D:We got close to 70 though.
Speaker D:The museum have three minis and the Metro that we know of.
Speaker D:So we wanted to do 70x works cars for 70 years.
Speaker D:So if we borrowed them for the day, we'll have achieved our target.
Speaker A:So what comes next with this?
Speaker C:We go home and get some sleep.
Speaker C:We're not part of a club.
Speaker C:We might individually be members of clubs, but we're a group of enthusiasts that came together to do this and there's no formal place to take it forward.
Speaker C:I'm not sure whether all of us would be prepared to do another one.
Speaker C:So this could very much be a one off.
Speaker A:Would there be any chance?
Speaker A:I mean, Gayden is a fantastic place.
Speaker A:I've been many, many times.
Speaker A:The one thing it doesn't have, or not to my knowledge, is anywhere where the cars could be driven, where spectators could hear them in.
Speaker A:I don't mean driven at rally speed, but just to be able to hear them.
Speaker A:Is there a possible venue, is there anywhere at the museum where they could be just driven so people could actually hear them doing what they do?
Speaker D:Gayden hold what they call the Gaydon Gathering, which is on the first Tuesday or second Tuesday of each month during the summer, and they bring one car out from their collection and, and drive it up the hill, up the access road at maximum revs and maximum volume.
Speaker D:But that's really a one off because the museum's constrained by the environment in which it's situated, so noise levels are quite important and they really can't have an event that's going to have a lot of noise emanating from a group of cars.
Speaker A:70 odd works guys would be impressive, wouldn't they?
Speaker D:You would notice them, they were there, that's for sure.
Speaker D:I mean, I think going back to your question about what do we do next?
Speaker D:John's quite right.
Speaker D:I think we go home and go to sleep.
Speaker D:But we photographed every single car here in this display and also we will be distributing a list of all the cars that appeared.
Speaker D:So we've got to sit down with Robert, who's our photographer, who's just sitting beside me pretending he's not hearing and hoping he's not going to be asked to do yet another job.
Speaker D:But Robert and I over the next couple of weeks will be sifting through all the photos he's taken and I know all the owners would like a copy of their photo of their own car, if that's possible.
Speaker D:So we've got to decide how it's best to store them and how best to distribute them.
Speaker D:And I've got some magazine articles to finish off as well and we will choose the photos to go with them.
Speaker D:So we're not going to wrap up for probably a month, but in terms of, you know, will there be another one of these?
Speaker D:So certainly if anyone thinks of doing Abingdon75, I won't be involved.
Speaker D:I'll be 81 by then and that won't be top of my list of jobs to do.
Speaker A:But no, I mean it's a fantastic value and a fantastic event to see all these cars together.
Speaker A:Plus further down nearer the museum, there's a lot of owners clubs.
Speaker A:So I mean, have you any idea how many cars in total are here?
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:And I haven't actually left this car park since we've been doing this.
Speaker C:I spent six hours on here yesterday and I've been here since 8 in the morning.
Speaker C:So yeah, another six hours so far.
Speaker C:So I haven't ventured off it.
Speaker C:No idea at all what there is beyond the bounds of the hedges where we are.
Speaker A:But once again it's another event Gaydon can be justly proud of.
Speaker A:So, John McIntosh, David Hooker, thanks very much for joining me on the Backseat Driver.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker D:Pleasure.
Speaker D:Thanks very much.
Speaker A:Abingdon Day here at Gaydon with the one, the only Pablo Raybould.
Speaker A:Author Pablo, welcome back to the Backseat Driver.
Speaker E:Hello again.
Speaker E:Hi.
Speaker A:Are you having a good day?
Speaker E:Yes, yeah, it's lovely.
Speaker E:It's not too hot and it's not too windy at the moment, which is good for everyone.
Speaker E:I mean it's cooled down a little bit.
Speaker E:It was, it was terrible yesterday.
Speaker E:But you know, everyone's out in the sunshine, there's no cover, so it's good.
Speaker A:And it's a bit of a captive audience for you in your books because a lot of your books do tend to center around BMC cars, don't they?
Speaker E:Yeah, BMC cars, BMC personnel, drivers.
Speaker E:So yeah, they're all here.
Speaker E:Everybody that really counts, you know, they're all, all the cars.
Speaker E:It's the biggest gathering that's ever.
Speaker A:That could be why I'm here.
Speaker A:Anybody who count.
Speaker E:It could be, yeah, but it's the biggest gathering ever there's ever been and probably will ever be.
Speaker E:Because of course when BMC were operating they would have, I don't know, 15 or 20 competitions cars in their stable at any one time.
Speaker E:Of course they would go say the Minis moved out the way for the.
Speaker E:Or the Heely's moved out the way for the Minis and the Minis moved out the way for something else.
Speaker E: se you've got everything from: Speaker E:So you got those 15 from that period, you've got those 20 from that period, you've got.
Speaker E:And of course before you know it, you got, I think there's about 120 cars here.
Speaker A:So yeah, the other thing was at the end of the rallying life a lot of the cars were disposed of or whatever because I mean at the end of the rallying life they didn't mean anything to the factory.
Speaker A:It was.
Speaker A:That was last year's stock, next new model.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:And of course back then, of course, you know, you.
Speaker E:But they say you rally at the weekend and it's in the showroom on Monday, very much like today, I suppose, you know, it's in essence a great big marketing thing to sell the new Toyota Yaris or the new Citroen whatever, you know, because there's no way any customer is going to get anything like what they've seen rally, nothing.
Speaker E:The Shadow might be this, in fact even the Shadow is not the same, you know, but these back, back in the day were you.
Speaker E:They were breathed on but they weren't that far from the standard cars, you know.
Speaker E:So yeah, so when they were disposed with, they were finished with people to have rally cross or privateers and slowly they got put in barns or they got rolled and destroyed.
Speaker E:But as you can see, there's not one in bad condition here, is there?
Speaker E:They're mint.
Speaker E:All of them are mint.
Speaker A:Pablo, have A fantastic day and thank you very much.
Speaker E:Thank you very much.
Speaker E:Nice to see you again.
Speaker A: eth and his famous Austin Ely: Speaker A:A bit a proper big bagger Ely.
Speaker A:Les, how's it going?
Speaker F:Oh great.
Speaker F:I mean to be here today with all these other cars it's excellent to see the collection of Minis, a few Healeys, Sprites, Metro 6R4s, TR7V8s.
Speaker F:Great day.
Speaker A:I mean when you look around here you realise just how prolific BMC and Abingdon competition department was.
Speaker F:Yes, I think people that don't know anything about rallying in the 60s probably don't realise and as we say 120 cars here on behalf of BMC.
Speaker F:Would you get that with Ford?
Speaker F:Would you get that with most other works teams?
Speaker F:Probably not nowadays I think the shame.
Speaker A:Was, and it's like I said to somebody else, when they finished with the rally cars they just disposed of them so it's nice to see so many have actually survived.
Speaker F:Yes and I was talking to somebody earlier on that got given an X works Triumph Dolomite Sprint.
Speaker F:Unofficially he couldn't use the number plates, he ran it, he rolled it after his second event, reshelved it, his friend bought it off him and turned it back into the works car and it's now out and about as an ex Works Dolomite Sprint rally car now I.
Speaker A:Mean you're Healey though I'm not being funny, it's not an out and out works car.
Speaker A:I mean it's done some serious events as this, hasn't it?
Speaker F: it coming back on the road in: Speaker A:Pampered and yeah, because I know it's it's next little job's engine out, isn't it?
Speaker F:Next year.
Speaker F:Yeah, we'll have two, three more events this year then take the engine out and have a good look at it and make sure the bearings are nice and the compression's right.
Speaker F:But yeah, bit of tlc.
Speaker A:But it'll never stop being a competition car, will it?
Speaker F:Not when I own it and I don't think anybody else that owns it after me because we're just caretakers for cars like this.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah and I mean, the one thing about these is.
Speaker A:I mean, they were always known as the big banger es with Pat Moss.
Speaker A:You've got to be able to know how to drive, haven't you?
Speaker F:Yes.
Speaker F:Especially the early cars.
Speaker F:It wasn't until about 63, 64, they put slippy diffs in.
Speaker F:So you got to learn how to throw it around, drive it on the torque.
Speaker F:So get the back end round.
Speaker F:Yeah, they're not like cars, heavy cars at the front.
Speaker F:So.
Speaker F:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker F:It's not an Escort or.
Speaker F:I mean, it's a. Yeah.
Speaker A:Makes you wonder how the modern rally driver might caught with one of these.
Speaker F:Probably with difficulty.
Speaker F:No power steering, manual gears.
Speaker F:What's that sort of thing to do?
Speaker F:A clutch pedal.
Speaker F:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker F:Be very interesting.
Speaker F:Yeah.
Speaker A:Thanks for joining me.
Speaker A:On the backseat driver again, Les McGuffer.
Speaker F:Cheers, Mark.
Speaker F:Thank you very much.
Speaker A:Here with Tim Reynolds, the man who was European service for Bromborough, Tina Kerridge and Tish Ozan on the London to Mexico.
Speaker A:And the Maxis sat here today.
Speaker A:How was it back then?
Speaker G:Looks the same now as it did then.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker G:There's not much difference to it.
Speaker A:Did it need much doing to it?
Speaker A:Because, I mean, it was surprising in many ways back then how many coys fell by the wayside on the European section.
Speaker G:We just had a drive shaft break which we were managing at the end of the stage and just brake pads and stuff like that, the normal servicing.
Speaker A:So it didn't need a lot of looking after.
Speaker G:No, not in Europe, no.
Speaker A:And you left it in Europe, didn't you?
Speaker G:Really?
Speaker G:I left it in Lisbon, yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker H:Is that right?
Speaker A:Did you wish you could have carried on to the rest?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker G:I think we could have probably got it to the finish, I think, because it.
Speaker G:It cracked a manifold in.
Speaker G:In Argentina.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker G:And the works team didn't have time to repair it and they found a spare one which didn't fit.
Speaker G:So by the time they welded it all up, it was.
Speaker G:They couldn't get through to the can.
Speaker G:Get through the staging time.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker G:Just bad luck, really.
Speaker A:But I mean, they were.
Speaker A:I mean, it was basically a hatchback land crab in many ways, wasn't it?
Speaker G:Oh, yes, yes.
Speaker G:The back's probably welded up, so there wasn't a back.
Speaker G:Back door on it.
Speaker G:It was just.
Speaker G:Just a normal boot like a normal most cars have.
Speaker A:But if you think about it, it was a hell of a event, wasn't it?
Speaker G:Oh, yes.
Speaker G:Really tough on the car as it was.
Speaker G:But it's incredible how strong the maxi is and it still hasn't had a lot.
Speaker G:A little bit of welding here and there.
Speaker G:It's had done but not much.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker G:Still, as you look at it now, it's is when it started.
Speaker G:It's just brilliant.
Speaker G:She's done more damage to it since hitting store bales.
Speaker A:Who sat over here?
Speaker A:You've just been.
Speaker A:We've just been told you do more damage to cars than they ever got on London, Mexico.
Speaker A:Do you still do much with the kite it?
Speaker G:I don't have anything to do with it now, no.
Speaker G:But Bonwin got some people to service it in Pista and they look after it for her.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:And what's it like being here surrounded by a lot of the cars you would have seen?
Speaker G:Oh, it's lovely.
Speaker G:It's amazing.
Speaker G:See the cars you haven't seen for years.
Speaker G:You know, I do see a lot of that car.
Speaker G:We do see it from various shows but don't see all these other ones.
Speaker A:But no.
Speaker A:Thanks very much for joining me on the backseat Driver here with Philip Ambrose with all these X works cars.
Speaker A:Philip, welcome back to the Backseat Driver.
Speaker I:Thank you very much, Mark.
Speaker I:It's good to be here in a sunny Gaydon.
Speaker A:We're just saying before we went on air there'll be quite a lot of cars here with family connections, won't there?
Speaker I:I reckon about half a dozen.
Speaker I: There's the: Speaker I:There's the Tulip winning car in which Tony navigated for or co drove for Timo Makinen.
Speaker I:64 Tulip.
Speaker I:And there's various others as well.
Speaker I:Yeah.
Speaker A:Does it make you wish or look like to get behind the wheel of them or in the co driver's seat of them?
Speaker I:I think they're too valuable to go out in anger nowadays, aren't they?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:There are some people who will still take them out and really that's what they were built to do.
Speaker I:Oh, indeed, yes.
Speaker I:It's good to see them out in action.
Speaker I:Certainly it's not beyond the possibility you still see one or two occasionally.
Speaker I:Goodwood, for example.
Speaker A:Now, when you wrote the book, well, it was very strange.
Speaker A:Was the book.
Speaker A:Because it was written in many ways, wasn't it?
Speaker I:I didn't write it.
Speaker I:I edited was my uncle's autobiography which was.
Speaker I:I managed to track it down.
Speaker I:It was in handwritten form in a ring binder that Stuart Turner had at his house and he was about to chuck it out.
Speaker A:Nobody will want this.
Speaker A:And it's turned into a good little book, hasn't it?
Speaker I:Yes.
Speaker I:I only did a small print run 500 but it seems to have been well received.
Speaker A:Yes and for that book you'll have a lot of period photographs of which the cars will be sat here today.
Speaker I:Well indeed.
Speaker I:I mean people like the late Bill Price, God rest his soul, he provided me with a lot of material and Stuart Turner also so it's a bit.
Speaker A:Of a indirect walk down memory lane is this, isn't it?
Speaker I:Oh quite direct really.
Speaker A:And they were saying you probably won't see all these cars together again either not for a long while or ever again.
Speaker I:I think it's a fantastic effort that the organizing team have put together.
Speaker I:Apparently there are about 70 ex works cars here today and yes you're right, it's unlikely we'll ever see.
Speaker I:Well maybe everybody will be around for a 75th I don't know but let's hope so.
Speaker I:But there aren't going to be many.
Speaker A:More occasions I mean that is one of the problems.
Speaker A:It's something I've tried to do is interview a lot of old rally drivers and it's a terrible thing to really say but they ain't going to be here forever are they?
Speaker I:Indeed not unfortunately.
Speaker A:Philip Ambrose, it's been a pleasure chatting to you.
Speaker A:Thanks very much indeed.
Speaker I:Thank you Mark.
Speaker A:Bradbury, Historic Marathon Rally Group here at Abingdon.
Speaker A:This must be one serious day for you guys.
Speaker H:It is and to be fair to bit to be fair we are an add on.
Speaker H:HMRG are an add on.
Speaker H:It's all about Abingdon cars where we're the marathon cars but there is a crossover with the Land Crabs, the Triumphs.
Speaker A:So yes it is and I mean how many cars are here, Abingdon cars that did the big marathons as far.
Speaker H:As I know there's about six.
Speaker H:Yeah, but so not a vast amount because obviously we've got the Hillmans, the.
Speaker A:Fords which aren't technically allowed here.
Speaker H:No they're not but because we're a marathon group then yeah, we get away.
Speaker A:With it and what's interesting also the marathon cars, especially the BMC cars is still active, aren't they?
Speaker H:They are.
Speaker H:Most of them are still used or until fairly recently have been used on historic events.
Speaker H:Some now the cars are getting a bit old, getting a bit fragile, they get expensive if they get broken and some of the owners will argue they're getting the same way.
Speaker H:Yeah, so they're not.
Speaker H:I know the feeling they're not being used that as much.
Speaker A:Yeah but I mean besides the, I mean I conclude they are actively preserved as well of these cars, aren't they?
Speaker A:Besides Being used.
Speaker A:They do preserve them to the best of their abilities.
Speaker H:Oh, they do.
Speaker H:They're all roadworthy.
Speaker H:There's nothing.
Speaker H:I think there's one being trailered but purely because the engine isn't finished.
Speaker H:So there's no engine in it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker H:But everything else is all.
Speaker H:They're all legal road worthy majority, even though there's no.
Speaker H:MOTs are MOT'd, although they don't have to be.
Speaker H:I think majority of us realize that's a bit of a daft idea, you know.
Speaker H:So yes, they're all road.
Speaker H:They're all road legal.
Speaker A:And what else is coming up for the Historic Marathon Rally Group?
Speaker H:Hopefully the NEC in November.
Speaker H:A little bit of a question mark as to whether we've got a club area because they're putting on a big VE Day 80th so it's taking a lot of club space if that comes off.
Speaker H: ur surviving escorts from the: Speaker H: ve got the Escort, what was a: Speaker H:So we've got the four survivors.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker H:And then next, next April we've got here we've got a reunion again of all the Marathon rally cars.
Speaker H: ther as we can like we did in: Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker H:But we'll expand that into the reruns.
Speaker H: event, the: Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So in many ways the, the group is still getting cars added to it.
Speaker H:As best we can.
Speaker H:A lot of the reruns, the cars are much harder to track down because they've been used in other events they've sold on.
Speaker H:If anybody comes, we've had a few couple come today.
Speaker H:The MGC is one we haven't seen before so yeah, we just keep adding to it.
Speaker A:All the best and thanks for all your hard work with all this because it truly is fascinating to see them all.
Speaker A:Andrew Bradbury, Historic Marathon Rally Group, thanks very much indeed.
Speaker H:Thanks Mark, nice to see you again.
Speaker A:Gaydon with two Gayton first timers, much to my surprise, Malcolm Graham and Keith Dosworth here at Abingdon Day.
Speaker A:Malcolm, have you enjoyed yourself?
Speaker J:I've absolutely loved it but makes me ride for to be teaching when I see them.
Speaker J: Early: Speaker J:All EX factory cars, gonna want another.
Speaker A:Go does it make you wish that you'd been born a bit earlier, so you could have been involved in rallying from this era?
Speaker J: m, from the Pictures of Ailey: Speaker J:So I was born about right.
Speaker A:And you've had the pleasure of looking at the ex London to Mexico Ford Capri and the story behind it.
Speaker A:Because you used to rally a Capri, didn't you?
Speaker J:Yes.
Speaker J:And a very nice man he was, too.
Speaker A:Michael Ryman.
Speaker J:Yeah, we shared a lot of stories about Capris and it was quite interesting to know that I think, along with five or six others, that I was the first driver to win a national rally outright in the entire world.
Speaker A:Nothing like modesty.
Speaker A:You can't.
Speaker A:You can never accuse your Malcolm of being modest, can we?
Speaker J:No, thanks.
Speaker J:I just tell it as it is.
Speaker A:And, Keith, have you enjoyed it?
Speaker J:I certainly have.
Speaker J:It's actually nice to see vehicles that are actually older than you two for a change, which.
Speaker J:Yes, I know, Malcolm.
Speaker J:Yeah, it's all right.
Speaker J:Yeah.
Speaker J:No, I mean, it's totally different.
Speaker J:I mean, there is place for the modern cars, there's place for the historics.
Speaker J:And the Historics, the history that's behind them, the people that you talk to, the people you meet, and it's just open, it's friendly, and again, anybody that has any interest whatsoever, or even if you haven't really, just to come and speak to these people, because they're all genuine, nice people and they will give you the stories and their time without question.
Speaker A:And as the old saying goes, they don't own these cars, they're custodians.
Speaker A:I mean, these cars just drip history, don't they?
Speaker J:Oh, yeah.
Speaker J:I mean, it's like sort of Saw Brom Burrell with her London to Sydney Landcrab.
Speaker J:You know, the history behind that car again, the history behind the Capri, the history behind the Healey, the Minis, all the works Minis that are out there.
Speaker J:I mean, we're sat next to the British Leyland service barge, for want of a better word, which it is.
Speaker J:And to see the way it's kitted out.
Speaker J:Yes, there is space for the modern stuff, but the feats of engineering and the vehicles that are here, it's just this is how it all started.
Speaker A:And the other thing is, a lot of them, besides the marathon rally cars, a lot of the works rally cars.
Speaker A:The rallies they did like Liege, Rome, Liege, in a Mini.
Speaker A:I mean, what a phenomenal undertaking compared to a modern rally.
Speaker J:It was hard, you know, I mean, you should know, you two are old enough to remember it.
Speaker A:But some right grief here, I think.
Speaker J:Well, it's true though, isn't it?
Speaker J:I mean, you know, I'm younger than the pair of you, I think, or at least I feel it after walking around with a pair of you.
Speaker J:You know, it's.
Speaker J:Nowadays there's a lot more preparation.
Speaker J:Before it used to be a shoestring and a spare spark plug and, you know, make it.
Speaker J:And if you broke down, people stopped and helped.
Speaker J:Nowadays you're not allowed to touch them.
Speaker J:If you break down, it's only the one person.
Speaker J:So part of me wants to go back to that way and part of me says, yes, we have to go forward with all the, you know, the hybrid cars, the, the hydrogen cars, the competition cars.
Speaker J:But there's such an era about the historic and that's something gives you a chance to relive when you're here.
Speaker J:Like doing the Rally Monte Carlo Historique, like doing a lot, I think over in Europe there is more behind it I think we sadly lack, which is a shame because we have so much history to give and show.
Speaker A:And this is the era when a laptop was the tray you ate your tea off.
Speaker J:Correct.
Speaker J:You still do, don't you?
Speaker A:Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker A:I also have Olix for me tea and go to bed nice and early.
Speaker A:Mark Graham, Keith Dodsworth, it's been a pleasure.
Speaker A:I'd like to say it's been a pleasure, but thank you very much, gentlemen.
Speaker J:Thank you, Mark, and you're most welcome as always.
Speaker B:So there you have it, the Abingdon Day 70th anniversary of the BMC Competition Department with as many works cars as they could find.
Speaker B:And it took some doing all gathered together.
Speaker B:Will it happen again?
Speaker B:Nobody's quite sure because a lot of these cars sit in private collections and given the fact they're 70 years or more old and they do do the odd thing, but they don't go out anymore and do what they were built to do, they're a bit too old and fragile, probably a bit like myself.
Speaker B:So I hope you enjoyed that.
Speaker B:I certainly enjoyed it.
Speaker B:If you get the chance to go to the Gaydon Museum, do so.
Speaker B:It's a fantastic venue, it's vast.
Speaker B:You cannot conceive if you've never been, just how big it is.
Speaker B:And a date for your diary.
Speaker B: th April: Speaker B: assic car endurance race from: Speaker B: th of April,: