Cars and Breakfast at The Hare

Saturday, April 5th. It’s 08.25 am and the sun is shining as we arrive with top suitably down at the Hare in Roxwell Road, for the first Classic & Sports Car Breakfast Meet of the year. It’s already nearly full, but after waiting for a ’62 Thunderbird to berth, we took one of the half dozen or so places left.

Chris and Marise White were already parked up and, with their ’65 4.2 E Type Roadster and our XJS Convertible of ’94 vintage, we represented the Essex Thameside Region until joined later by Anne Lazarus and son. Sue and I were joined by our daughters, Samantha and Sarah together with Sarah’s boyfriend, Brad.

One of the many good things about this “show” is that it is full of petrol heads, all of different financial means, but with one thing in common, the eagerness to talk about cars. There is always something of interest that turns up for the meeting and this month was no exception. Continuing with an American theme after the Thunderbird, US representation was strong with a Kermet Green 60’s Caddy lightly customised, a ’64 Impala Pick Up (very rare), a ’38 Buick 8, a regular visitor, and my favourite, a 1941 Cadillac finished in metallic brown with Art Deco detailing – a joy to behold.

It’s unusual to see a Lamborghini Espada these days, but, like buses, two came at once – one red, the other, brown.(what was it with brown in the seventies?) A more recent LP570 completed the Lambo line up – until a Urraco arrived later.

At the more sedate end of the motoring scale, came a 1930 Austin 7 Ulster replica. The original chassis was purchased from e bay and a handcrafted body was mated to it. Speaking of replicas, an HMC (Austin Healey 3000 look a like), arrived, looking very neat. The Porsche fraternity were well represented as usual with models ranging from the early seventies to current examples on display. Aston Martins were there in the shapes of a DB9 and two DB7 convertibles. Apart from Chris’s E Type and my XJS, the two other Jags present were a customised 420G (a regular attendee) and a good looking red series 2 E Type roadster which arrived too late to get into the car park.

Red was a theme common to the Ferraris on show. All were relatively modern examples except for a lovely 365 GT 11 from 1969. Definitely one to add to the collection. It was good to see a few TVR’s, including, a Cerbera, and Chimera, whilst Lotus was well represented by an Elan S2 (well used), a 90’s Elan, two Esprits, and numerous Sevens and Caterhams. A Datsun 240Z (remember them) made an appearance as did a couple of Cobra replicas, Minis, and BMWs. A spotless 30’s Rolls and a 60’s Ford Consul Capri GT were also well worth a look. Latecomers included a Mustang and two very nice TRs – a 2 and a 6.

After free coffee, orange juice and pastries we all rounded everything off with a Full English Breakfast. Not a bad morning’s outing! Oh, and my daughter, Samantha, over on a visit from Seattle, won the raffle prize – a £50 meal voucher.

Thanks to Chris White who went out to watch the draw.

See you all next month!

Neil Shanley