In a hotly contested Premier Concours Final at the British Mini Clubs Mini Fair held at Bingley Hall near Stafford. Kindly sponsored by Autoglym, the winner is …. James Hunt with his incredible MK1 Mini. Restored at home over many years James has now won Premier Concours for the second year
Sara and David MacDiarmid came a very close second with their stunning 22 year old Mini Cooper Sport. Leaving the immaculate Mini 40 of Rob Guy to take 3rd place. James takes home a prize of £700 plus the coveted Silver Trophy. One more win and he gets to keep it. Will he defend his title? We shall wait and see.
Nine Mini’s in the final this year, 6 classics and 3 modern. All entrants are the class winners from our shows at Himley Hall and Stanford Hall in 2022. Our top judges Dave Webb and Darren Hopkins told us how tough it was this year.
Dave commented “Well done James Hunt beautiful car. This was by far the hardest red carpet I’ve ever judged. The quality of the cars this year was mind blowing. All the cars were a credit to their owners, well done to all that took part.”
The competition gets better every year. Are you ready for this years competition ? Come along and give a try at Himley Hall in May and Stanford Hall in September
Another popular part of Mini Fair is Pride Of Ownership. This is not all about the Mini, but also about the owners and how they came to love the Mini. We all love the Mini, it is a lifestyle to many. Aaron Pidgeon told us ownership of his R53 was life changing. He bought it as a hobby and enjoyed it so much he created a business out of his enjoyment. So much so that know exports his rebuilt turbos to Australia.
You may have noticed the very first production line JCW MINI, Chris Simpson worked for BMW in Germany when it became available and after a bit haggling managed to purchase this rare MINI. Then proceeded to drive it around Europe for many 1000’s of miles. Still keeping many of the original parts safe and sound.
Stephen Lewis and his partner brought his lovely 70’s Mini all the way from Ireland said on his instagram story ‘Back home after 1268kms spin to Mini Fair @britishminiclub thank you, what a show, what cars on display, we will be back for sure’ Known as White Gold his Mini has featured in the Irish Vintage magazine.
The Ultimate Modified Mini’s are just something else and always attract so much interest from bike engined to Honda V-Tech to roof chopped MINI’s to wrapped and lowered Coupe’s. Some with a throwback to Max Power days.
Check out the photo’s from the day on our Facebook page
A massive thank you for everyone, and their wonderful Mini’s taking part on Sunday. You all deserve a trophy for your fabulous stories and Mini’s. To finish Julia Robinson told us ‘Good show and enjoyed going around trade stand’s to get ideas for my little classic 🚗. Also was selected for pride of ownership and had loads of interest in my R56 Martini Mini😊🚗’
Club stands were fantastic as always with everyone getting into the spirit of Mini Fair and creating a lovely vibe on the balcony. With the garage theme taking centre stage. We had a brilliant recreation of the Bernie Scripps Heartbeat garage by Midland Mini’s. The Italian Job Fans Co-Operative recreating the Italian Job including a Land Rover, The MINI Girls UK having a great garage display with a pink gazebo and the winner Market Drayton Mini’s had a brilliant garage theme display including mocked up petrol pumps and more. Again a massive thank you to you all
1st James Hunt 157 AYP
2nd Sara and Dave MacDiarmid BJ51 OOG
3rd Rob Guy V4 OLE
Classic Mini 1960’s
1st Raymond Holmes 655 XVS
2nd Greg Sykes KAF 370E
Classic Mini 1970’s
1st Alex Toon RVX 124K
2nd John Higgins TMA 493J
Classic Mini 1980’s
1st Dave Beckett G503 GOC
2nd Dan Hughes 510 ODH
Classic Mini 1990’s
1st Martin Winona X174 UFC
2nd Elliot Cook H943 TGN
New MINI
1st Aaron Pidgeon SU53 PER
2nd Chris Simpson PO58 WHH
Modded Mini / MINI
1st Dave Hynam R7 MYN
2nd Craig Painter K876 BRX
Best Club Stand
1st Market Drayton Minis On A Mission
2nd Mini Girls UK
3rd The Italian Job Fans Co-Operation
Follow @britishminiclub on TikTok for show content plus a quick walk around of the Premier Concours