Greg Mannucci drove his Triumph Stag 585 miles from Maryland to attend the show.
“I’d heard about this show from some friends, and I thought, why not? It’s really neat, I’ve met some very nice people and really enjoyed the day, plus, my car is running great. Maybe it likes long drives,” he said. Mannucci also received the Longest Drive Award.
Squadron Leader Andy Nicholls and Warrant Officer Chris Johnson of the Royal Air Force spent more than two hours combing the grounds to find the “right car” for the RAF Award, given annually for the past 10 years or so.
Nicholls admits he isn’t much into cars, so he was challenged to pick a car he’d like to have.
“It was pretty tough; there are way too many neat cars here,” Nicholls said. “But, I finally just gave in to the car I really liked the looks of — Mike and Tina Swope’s Sunbeam Tiger.” Apparently lots of other participants also liked the car as it also took Best of Class.
While the field was dominated by the usual Brit rides — MG, Triumph, Austin Healey, Jaguar and the likes — there were a couple of very rare cars in attendance.
Vintage racer Tom Davis of Springfield displayed his 1964 Elva Courier Mk. IV car for the first time at a show.
“It’s a pretty rare race car; it’s one of only two lightweight cars that were built specifically to race at Sebring and other endurance races,” Davis said. In addition to the two “lightweights,” only 63 other Courier Mk. IV’s were built.
The car was christened in 1966 with a 31st place finish in the 24 Hours of Daytona, and the next month it finished 25th in the 12 Hours of Sebring. Davis said the car then went to Texas for a long racing career and finally ended up in Ohio.
“Craig Chima raced this car to an SCCA National Championship in 2002, but we’ve now returned it to near-original vintage specs and we’ve raced it a few times already,” Davis said. “It’s just a dream to drive, much more fun than my old MGB GT race car.”
The other rare ride was Rick Grant’s 1954 Arnolt MG, one of only 35 convertibles built. With Bertone-built coachworks, the red body sits atop an MG TD chassis and running gear. Ironically, the two cars were in the same class with Grant winning the class and Davis as runner-up.
Grant’s Arnolt MG was also named Best of Show, an award presented by the British Transportation Museum.
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