September 16, 2006:
British Invasion 2006
This years British Invasion was blessed with a dry field (thanks to relocating) and good weather! And I was “blessed” with a second first place win, this year for GPMINI instead of GBMINI:
Competition this year was generally un-modified MINIs in class 11; see Gallery page 2 for close-ups …
Many other British cars on the field - apparently their best attendance ever at over 600! Loads of different marques, ages, etc …
British Invasion always spills over into Sunday with more “fun” - again this year a “backseat driver” competition where the driver is blindfolded and the passenger calls out directions …
New for this year was the “Rats Cage” competition - an octagon cage where the car has to be driven in forward, turned around without touching the cage, and driven out; small cars had an advantage but Jason couldn’t quite succeed in his MINI:
(the mirrors stick out too far!)
This classic Mini managed the course in about 1-1/2 minutes and showed everyone that it could be done (and more importantly how it could be done):
After that times got better and better, eventually down to 20s for this owner!
Also on Sunday, the tailgate competition and rosette presentations for first place winners:
For more, see the Gallery, the British Invasion website, and previous years GBMINI trips:
British Invasion 2002
British Invasion 2003
British Invasion 2004
British Invasion 2005
UPDATE:
Jason has posted pics over on Flickr
murmini (2006/09/17 @ 10:03 pm)
Ian, it looked like a splendid weekend. Congrats on the win..!!!
Ian C. (2006/09/17 @ 10:18 pm)
Thanks Murray - it was fun (as always) but benefitted nicely from the better weather this year! Also nice to have Margaret come along again
Josh Wardell (2006/09/17 @ 10:41 pm)
Congrats, Ian & GPMINI!
Aqualung (2006/09/18 @ 8:48 am)
hey, how’d the Mercedes get in there? Was it a McLaren?
Tough news about the windshield, at least our high insurance rates pay for a replacement w/ $0 deductible, eh?
Chimera (2006/09/18 @ 11:44 am)
Yes indeed, it was an SLR McLaren….I was surprised to see it there, but looked nice. Congrats on the win Ian, although I think most people could have called that win ahead of time
Ian C. (2006/09/18 @ 12:09 pm)
They announced something about the SLR being made in England, so it counted!
Yes, my windshield should be covered - but I’ve had one claim (for GBMINI) already, wonder if they’ll get upset … and MoP apparently don’t do the PPG glass
Rob (2006/09/18 @ 2:25 pm)
I thought it was a bit unnecessary that the MC gave you grief about winning the Class with a 4-week old car. He was a bit of a tosser IMHO - a few too many very strained “mother-in-law” jokes, although perhaps its me getting too PC these days having lived in Massachussets these last few years. A fun day, and the drive home Sunday down VT Route 100 to Keen NH was spectacular.
snid (2006/09/18 @ 4:30 pm)
I was surprised on Sunday to hear a majority of the class winners talk about how they bought their winning car within the last few years, had somebody else restore it, had somebody else detail it, etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had someone else trailer it to Stowe.
One winner said that they only wash the car once a year, for the show, implying that the rest of the year it sits protected inside some storage area.
Ian C. (2006/09/18 @ 10:02 pm)
Rob - I had the same crap last year from Chris, about GBMINI#3 which was then six months old. But they’re happy to extoll the virtues of brand new SLRs and Astons …
They forget that our MINIs are driven every day, and enjoyed, not simply looked at - they’re asking for trouble next year, with Mini (or MINI?) as the featured marque …
Rob (2006/09/21 @ 10:09 am)
Snid - yes these show-only cars are often refered to as “trailer queens”. I drove my Triumph TR250 from Concord MA for the day - put in 450 miles on a 40 year old car for the weekend. And left the bug splats on the windscreen for the show so folks would know it. (BTW my other car is a Cooper S)
Rob.