Britfest 2005

A classic bash without the London weather

By Giles Kenyon

Despite the forecaster’s predictions that rain and storms would put a damper on Britfest 2005 this past May, the weather at Horseshoe Lake Park in Succasunna, New Jersey, was sunny and dry. In typical British fashion, so was much of the humor on the premises. Fortunately, Britfest isn’t held in a dry county, and many coolers were well stocked with the requisite refreshments for discussing classic British sportscars and their place in automotive history, in addition to other hard-hitting topics.

About 185 classic examples of motorized Britannia were on display. The event normally attracts 250-plus cars, so we’re blaming the weatherman for scaring away dozens of Moss Motors customers and Brit groupies who’d planned on attending. This year’s featured marque was Austin, and the President’s Award went to Tom Finn with his superb 100M. Karl and Mary Marx collected the Bob Chezem Memorial Award with their beautiful 1973 MGB, while the Best in Show went to Burt Hunter and Mary Leong with a stunning 1951 Jaguar Drophead.

Congratulations to all the winners—although everyone who attended was a winner for showing up, ignoring the erroneous forecast, and putting their cars on the field for consideration. There were a good many nice-looking restorations this year, in all the categories, accompanied by many proud and enthusiastic owners. Once again, Charles Tregidgo and The MG Car Club Central Jersey Centre did a bang-up job of organizing the show and swap meet.

Hopefully, the forecasters will get it right next May for Britfest 2006!

Jag owners shined their whitewalls for the event.

MGA owners turned out in droves to celebrate the model’s golden anniversary.

A historical highlight was Peter Thornley’s MGB-GT. MG Car Company presented the car to Peter’s father, John Thornley, upon his retirement as general manager. It has a unique “MG 1” English license plate, V8 wheels, and several other interesting features.