We arrived to find not only the slot car festival going on, but a classic car rally as well!
Honestly! Cream tea run! You couldn't make it up , could you!
Photographing the participants in the rally took some time,before actually getting into the museum.
Three gorgeous Armstrong-Siddeleys provided guard of honour at the door!
Entry to the main hall of the museum stuns you with the spectacle of nearly 200 of the Rover Group's collection of cars; some old production models, some concept cars, many from motor sport, and all special for one reason or another.
Wherever you looked there was something fantastic to see(and photograph!)
And we hadn't even got to the slot cars yet.
However, sidling past Wolseleys, Rileys, Land Rovers, and Baby Austins, we eventually made it to the upper floor where the Slot Car Festival was.
We were issued with the souvenir guide - the highlight of which is Ember's brilliant diorama- and were immediately confronted by dozens of trade stalls
selling every kind of new,used and sometimes fit only for the scrap box slot car.
Penelope Pitlane, and George Turner Models had stalls
as did Slot Track Scenics, with a particularly nice range of barriers,netting,figures and everything required for the infrastructure of a racetrack.
This was a very dangerous place to take a credit card!
There was every kind of track on show
from beautifully prefabricated routed tracks by Slotfire (Germany), to large club tracks for serious racing
All the big manufacturers had displays of their own.
With some very high class and expensive kits and finished cars sensibly secured in glass cases!
Rallying and Race of Champions were catered for
. . . and drag racing, and ho too
Some HRW regulars were there
Cho-ice, with his amazing soft-suspension cars.
And Kustomart who, as well as his brilliant concours-winning serious models,can make a slot car out of anything
Especially note the school bus dragster!
One of the most popular tracks was the big oval from one of the Midlands Slotstox group
This sport started as something for 1:1 stock car racers to do in the closed season, but is now open to everyone.A squeeze in the track is obligatory, they run at 22volts(!),
. . . so, as you might imagine, the cars have to be built like brick s**thouses!
Alas, four o'clock came all too soon.
There was just time for a wistful look at a proper Wolseley Hornet
. . . and it was time to go.
This has just been a scratch of the surface(even though it's gone on a bit).There are lots more pics on my Flickr page.
If you are planning a trip to the UK try and make it May so you can come to this event next year.Or if you're visiting Shakespeare country, and you get castle- and cathedral-fatigue, spend a day at the Motor Heritage Centre - and blow your mind! (But don't go near the ice-cream van - £2 for a small one! and then they wonder why we're called Rip-off Britain!).
David.
