Early Series 1 3500
It was touch and go that Matt Evans made it to the NEC as his lovely unrestored car decided to play SD1 tricks on him only the day before the show, losing all it’s brake fluid! Fortunately Matt was able to resolve the problem and we were very glad to see him when he turned up on Thursday morning.

This car is a 1976 Richelieu red 3500 auto; it was built in May 1976 and registered 4th August 1976 with an R registration (almost a P reg!) The car has had no restoration work carried out on it. The only thing that Matt has added is a modern radio/CD & Speakers (although he still has the original MW/LW radio).

This SD1 has just less than 31,000 miles on the clock. (Bet it was more by the time he got home again, Matt came all the way from Cornwall!) Matt is the 4th owner and has owned it for a little over a year. He has done about 3,500 miles in it in the last year but it does not get used every day. He prefers to take it out about once every other weekend for a run of maybe 100 miles or so. Matt tries not to take it out in the rain, if it can be avoided..... so how he can claim it doesn’t leak I don’t know!

Series 2 2000
Dave Knights Rover 2000 attracted a huge amount of gobsmacked attention as we put the bonnet up, and like Hoppy’s 2300 the year before, it was never without a few heads peering in, and attracted numerous compliments. It is a credit to Dave who has spent a huge amount of money keeping the car a 2000 where others may have stuck a V8 in it.

The car was first registered in April 1983. It had one previous owner who passed away in 1999 so his wife took ownership of the car. The car did not leave the garage for 10 years until he brought it in September 2008 off eBay for £400. It was then delivered to and this was the first time he had seen it. Some mechanical work was needed and a respray. The car’s first outing was to Rimmer Brothers for the SD1 Club Spares Day. Dave drove up the A1 sitting at 70mph. she drove very well with plenty of acceleration when needed! Once there, the car got lots of attention and an invitation to the NEC! This car is not totally standard, Dave has added a front deep chin spoiler and the bumpers have been colour matched. Inside he added rear headrests and a push button radio cassette player which his dad had in his 2000, a step up from the standard radio.

Series 2 Single Plenum Vitesse

It is usual club policy NOT to use committee member’s cars on the stand at the NEC. However Graham was due to show his car at the NEC in 2008, He first approached me in the early part of 2008, long before he became shackled to the membership secretary’s job! Due to space restrictions (I had too many cars in 2008) I promised he could show his lovely Monza red Vitesse this year instead.

Originally registered in April 1984, Graham bought the car in February 1999. It had been previously owned by his father for about 6 years When Graham bought it there had never been any welding done to the body and it was generally sound. For the first couple of years it was used as an everyday car. In 2000 it went on a trip to Berlin. Vitesses don’t ride well on East German cobbles! By the time he got back to Holland the diff was whining so much it hurt your ears! To remedy this problem a very poorly 2600 auto donated its diff in 2001, and the whole rear axle was rebuilt with new brake cylinders, drums, etc. In 2002 disaster struck with the driver’s door becoming completely jammed shut. The final remedy was to take the plasma cutter to the outside of the door, cutting an access hole to get to the lock mechanism. Fortunately the door was so rotten it needed changing anyway, so another part was donated by the 2600. Not too much happened to it for a couple of years, but by 2004 Graham decided some serious work was required, so the front wings were removed, and the inner arches repaired. This was before the Rimmers India stock became available, so there was little option but to use their repair panels, which needed significant re-profiling to make them fit well. The new front wings then went on and the rear ends of the sills were plated. Had he waited a few months he would have been able to obtain original panels at sensible prices for all of these jobs! At this point Graham chickened out, and in an effort to get the car finished properly in a sensible timescale decided to get a local bodyshop to fit the rear wheel arch repair panels, replace the doors and the tailgate, and paint it. This included the Jaguar XJ6 series 3 sunroof panel, which it turns out is interchangeable.

The club screened video action of SD1’s, providing some relaxation time and a chance to rest those weary feet.

Proved very popular with many visitors to our stand.

Finally I must thank the usual hardcore group of helpers, Dave, Stuart, Gareth and Mark.

Oh and I shouldn’t forget Kev Clark who we found in the queue outside and who was duly kidnapped! He stayed to the bitter end and helped us clear up. Some say it was because Mark made him spend all his money on club calendars and he couldn’t afford to go home again.

Sally Sheldon
Club Activities Coordinator