RIAS Classic Car Show March 2014
3 min read
Share this
Our day began a little later than many club members who availed themselves of the luxury coach arranged by the committee traveling to Dublin centre and the RDS for the RIAS Classic Car Show which took place on the 1st March 2014.
Several other club members, friends and ourselves piled aboard the seven seater (MG) Landie with myself having a big smile on my face as I re-enacted Benny Hill in the Italian Job film pushing the ladies up the high lift into the back of the Landie by the only piece of the body exposed to me.
Having got everybody aboard we set off for Central station to ‘let the train take the strain’ and after obtaining our concession tickets, we boarded for our 10.35am departure. Arriving in Dublin at 12.45pm the ladies set off for some retail therapy as we boarded the Dart for the short journey to Sandymount station and the RDS.
Having been to the NEC Birmingham Classic Show I really didn’t know what to expect from our local offering but I was pleasantly surprised, there was everything from the smallest micro Peel 50 to the large modern Bentley saloon, vintage was also catered for with Rolls and Vauxhalls to mention only a few and there was also a small number of vintage and classic motorbikes to please the two wheel fans. But it was the classics for me that the show was about and there was everything from barn finds, restoration projects to the full concours exhibits and with everything in between.
Jaguar, Ford, Landrover and MG along with many others were all well represented by various clubs, individuals and restorers and a beautifully presented Jaguar XK was chosen as car of the show 2014. There were some very unique and one off classics displayed along with the more traditional Morris Minors, A35’s etc and the mini’s displayed ranged from the clubman to the well restored top of the range Cooper s’s.
The Association of Old Vehicle Clubs Northern Ireland (AOVC) stand looked the part and appeared well supported by its’ members, it portrayed photographs of classics at it’s various outings and had also on screen close-ups of the cars, the concours stand display car was certainly a little different – how many times have you ever seen a 105E convertible Anglia?
It’s not possible in this short article to go through all the great cars at the show and this is only a brief synopsis but in my opinion it was a worthwhile visit at a reasonable entry cost, ten euro concession, although it may have been lacking in the number of component/autojumble/parts stalls, I believe there was something to interest most visitors whether they own a classic or maybe remember the cars they drove every day in their youth.
We left the show about 4.30pm with the short walk back to the Dart train and then into Dublin meeting up with the ladies for a bite to eat before getting the 7.00pm Enterprise train home.
Noel, MG Owners’ Club Northern Ireland
About Post Author
