The past year has been an exceptionally busy one for Thames Valley Centre which, hopefully, is a positive sign.

The key event in our springtime calendar was the Classic Motor Show held at Alexandra Palace in March. We have attended this event for several years, so we should be getting it off to a fine art now, but it always requires a fair amount of planning and no little effort to get the show on the road. We selected the 'last of the breed' as our theme this year, and were fortunate to be able to borrow two beautiful motor cars. The first was Derrick Ross's late model 3000 which looked resplendent in white and typified the ultimate development of the Big Healey into a gentleman's sports car. Keeping it company, and offering a nice contrast in colour and style, was Gerry Coulter's very presentable late model Sprite which added a sporty touch in British Racing Green with yellow stripes. Thanks to both club members for the loan of their cars for the weekend. The show itself was well attended and we were pleased to see so many members of the public taking a keen interest in the cars. The highlight, however, had to be the visit of BBC Radio 4's presenter, Nigel Wrench, who came along to meet with Donald's grand-daughter, Cecilia, to record a discussion about BMW's recent announcement of a new Healey project. The resulting interview was broadcast on Radio 4's PM programme soon after and seemed to demonstrate a degree of confusion within BMW regarding the pedigree of the project and their right to use the Healey name.

In April, Thames Valley again hosted the Inter Centre Karting Challenge which was held this year at an indoor track in Aldershot. The competition was well supported and keenly fought during the 2 hour endurance race. Long standing champions, Southern Counties Centre, entered another fine team but, in the end, yielded their crown to Pat Cooper’s team from HDI in a close run race. Thames Valley entered two teams but failed to build on a promising start and neither featured on the podium. Next year, if all goes to plan, the event will be held during the Austin Healey 50 celebrations at the beginning of August, and may well use the new world-class outdoor circuit at Thruxton.

The early summer months were dominated by preparations for Healey Day in July. A sub-committee was formed under Gerald Westcott's guidance and their efforts were amply rewarded by a splendid turnout of Healeys and Austin Healeys at the historic Brooklands venue on Sunday 29th July. We were also fortunate to have an opportunity to arrange a splendid BBQ and dance the previous evening in the glorious setting of nearby Royal Holloway College. The weather behaved itself perfectly to the extent that, for the second for the second year running, Healey Day was held on the hottest day of the year; remarkable planning! Seriously, though, a sincere thank-you is due to all those club members who turned out to support the event; we hope you thoroughly enjoyed your visit.