Some events sound better than they are

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Oh, yes really. Some events do sound better than they are. And when we were asked to join the festivities on the British Car Meeting at the beautiful and 1350 years old Abbey of Stavelot, where some 650 British saloons, convertibles, roadsters and 4x4s were expected, it all sounded good enough to go for it. And so we came over to the village where - for one weekend - the traffic was organized by old-fashioned Bobbies and a London double decker bus made its rounds through town.

Our mates were there and we had a good time in our home-for-the-weekend, in the bars and restaurants in the picturesque village of Stavelot and on our tiny little stand in the abbey area. We did fall hopelessly out of tune here, though. Our cars were shabby and underrestored to all of the rest (except for that one Series 1 Land Rover shown below) that had made it to the sacred place. What on earth was this? Well, this was your typical show for the local Hooray Henry, with his freshly restored MG or Jag to take out for a spin, looking at similar cars in dedain. Many of the vehicles on display weren't classics, by the way, but had been parked there by the local McLaren, Rolls-Royce, Land Rover or Jaguar concessionaire. Many of the classics that had made it ran a 'for sale' sign.

Oh, we did have lots of fun. Not in the last place about these people, clad in tweed and sipping Champagne. It was an excellent weekend. Best thing was that the abbey turned out to contain a great little motor museum on its own. We only found out about that when we went for the loo before leaving for home again, and decided to stay half an hour longer. Anyone recognize the aluminium chasis tub that we spotted there..?

(Words and pictures editor)

Make a comment, ask a question, give your opinion, share additional information or start a discussion by filling in the fields below.