Brisbane 2008

THE BRISBANE MARINA
BRITISH CAR MEET 2008

Reporter: Iain Buxton
Photos: Iain & Wendy Buxton

Driving a car to a show in San Francisco from Reno may seem straight forward but if you like your paint job you might think twice about encountering the road construction on I-80. Such was the concern when we thought about going to The Brisbane Marina British Car Meet south of San Francisco September 6th & 7th. The show had been held in Palo Alto for 30 years and was to be at the Brisbane Marina for the first time.

Why drive if you can trailer the car? The first step was to rent a trailer only to learn that my 1992 Chevy 1500 wasn’t considered suitable and the firms that rent trailers said no. We were just about to cancel the whole deal when the “Club” stepped in to make it possible. Mike Glass said “….use my truck, I won’t need it, I’ll be in Europe”. I remember my father’s cautions about borrowing but Mike made it easy. So too did Charlie Manchester who offered his trailer. Our sincere thanks go to both of them. When we discussed our plans over dinner with Gary and Kathy Dyer, we got even more help in the way of Gary’s enclosed trailer. With Gary’s kind assistance, I learned the dos and don’ts of trailering a car from Dave Miller out at Stead Airport.

So with Mike’s truck, Gary’s trailer and Dave’s cautions, we headed off to Brisbane on Friday morning. The weather was beautiful and we looked like we knew what we were doing! We want to say a sincere thanks to Mike, Charlie, Gary and Dave for making out journey possible.

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After an uneventful drive we arrived at the Raddisson and the next morning, unloaded the Jag for a fun drive to Half Moon Bay.

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We were the last group to leave the Marina and were teamed up with a Jenson Healey, a couple of Es and a Morgan that led the way.

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We were led on a rather wile ride that included a run down the hillside off Skyline Blvd. down Tunitas Creek Road!

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At the bottom we stopped to admire one another………

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……………before arriving at Cameron’s Pub for a couple of pints.

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We looked at lots of nice cars…..

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And even saw a WWII British Dingo that served in the North African campaign.

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The next day, Sunday was the Show and here you can see your narrator polishing Winston as well as an original member of our own club, Mika Wellmann with his Mark X. Mika bought this car and joined the Reno Jaguar Club when he was in High School! He has done a lovely Job on this car and our ‘S’ and his Mark X were perhaps the nicest cars in the show!

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