I’d not seen Mark and Sheila since before Christmas so when I saw an Instagram post advertising the Clique 53 Spring Classics show at Newstead Abbey, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to pop down to Scrooby and have a catch up on the Saturday before heading to the show on the Sunday. Due to a little trip to Vienna to see Metallica this weekend, a trip to Sandown Park for the Volksworld Show just wasn’t feasible. As seems to be standard practice these days I had had to pop into the folks’ en route to sort some of their constant IT issues and whilst I was over there they mentioned that Newstead Abbey just happened to be where they got engaged back in the 60s. We’re such a communicative family.
I’d clocked some of the Clique 53 cars the last couple of times I’d been to VW Festival at Harewood House and they’re a bit special – hence following them on Instagram. I’m fairly sure that there will be some photos somewhere on the site. Anyway, the show was advertised as being open to all types of classic cars, not just VWs, and gave the impression it would be a pretty relaxed affair.
Which, in fact, it was. Weirdly, and despite the fact I’ve never shown either car before combined with my general anxiety levels, I felt very relaxed about Clarence being on show. Mark used to have a ’66 bus back in the days when we both worked at CCM (the plum wine hangover is still one of the worst on record) and I think we can probably persuade him that he needs another VW in his life one of these days!
We had a great day: for once the sun made an appearance; Newstead Abbey is a great little venue and the show seemed to be very nicely organised. So many shows these days are absolutely heaving, with more of an emphasis on trade stands so it was really refreshing to be at a smaller, less commercial event. I think it’s pretty safe to say we’ll be back at Spring Classics next year!
