MGCC Drive It Day 2008

[brrm]

Well, that was quite a fun day out. Briefly, 'Drive It Day' is a series of events organised round the country on April 20th. All you have to do is drive your classic on that day. It coincided with St George's day, hence the flags on the cars.

We met up in the car park of Miele in Abingdon, and then went on a 40-odd mile run in the area, ending up at the Dog House pub in Frilford.

There, I was fortunate enough to meet Don Hayter. Among other projects, Don was the chief design engineer on an obscure sports car called the MGB. What could I say, but "Thank you for the car"? He said that he regarded his cars like plants - he'd sown the seeds, and now he gets to see what they've grown into. The Dog House was the MG team's local, and they'd bring suppliers from Smiths' Instruments etc here for lunch.

A little chat with John who was next to me at lunch who happened to be a pro photographer, and he produced the result you see here. That's my car in the background. :-)

With this, and Tom (coworker)'s gig last night, this has been a thoroughly enjoyable weekend!

Comments

[arron-shutt.livejournal.com]

That's pretty amazing..to meet the person responsible for such an icon as the MGB. I've met Alan Cox, Eric Raymond and Richard Stallman in my time, and although they weren't quite the people I imagined they'd be in the flesh..It was quite an experience all the same..

[emperor]

You fanboy, you :-)

[lnr]

Um, it coincided with it being *nearly* st george's day you mean? It's not til Wednesday.

But still, cool!

Is that a rather wide lens for portrait photography or something? Something about it looks a little weird.

[brrm.livejournal.com]

*cough* you're quite right, yes. :)
And yes, that is my 18-200mm VR lens, used at its widest, 18mm. An unusual choice for a portrait, but I think I like the effect it has on my car. :)