by Paul Sweeney

by Paul Sweeney

I have news for those interested in the fate of the late, great Ian Hope's amazing British car collection. I was contacted this week by Perry, one of Ian's nephews.

Perry is one of three trustees appointed by Ian to manage his affairs. Perry told me that whilst the museum is currently closed to visitors, he and the other trustees intend honouring Ian's memory by doing their best to preserve his collection intact.

There is much to do - not least making the premises safer for the public - and there are already generous offers of help and support coming in from the classic car fraternity. One very caring individual has even offered to buy the entire collection and maintain it as a museum in the same location in the event the trustees conclude that running it is too much for them.
​
Currently there is no timeline for reopening, but whilst there is much to work through, it's looking a little more hopeful. Watch this space - I will post updates as and when I hear more in the coming weeks and months.

We have once again been offered a club stand at next March's Restoration Show at the NEC. It is easily our largest stand to date at a whopping 142 sq mt, which means we should have room for up to 8 display vehicles. On top of that we are right next to the live action at the Sporting Bears Dream Rides in Hall 5, stand 060.

We are looking now for members' classics to display on our stand.
​Here is the deal if yours is selected:

• You must make your own arrangements to transport your vehicle to and from the NEC at your own expense
• You must be present to help set up on the Thursday and close down on Sunday
• You will be rostered to man the stand for at least one day of the show 
• You will receive 2 free entry wristbands for each day of the show
• You will receive a free parking pass for your modern vehicle (if required)
• Insurance cover for your vehicle whilst at the show (if required) is your own responsibility
• Enthusiasts of British Motor Vehicles Built Before 1985 cannot accept liability for loss or damage to your vehicle during the event however caused - participation is strictly at your own risk

We realise this is a major commitment in time, money and effort but will do our best to make you feel welcome and part of the team. Those who have displayed previously tell us it was a great experience.

​If you are happy with the terms above, please complete the form below including at least one high quality photo of your classic. Make it a good one as its likely to be "make or break" in terms of whether your classic is chosen.

ENTRIES CLOSE midnight GMT 31 December 2018

The Jaguar Spitfires to Sports Cars Tour provides a unique insight into the operation of Castle Bromwich during the '40s and you will learn the secrets of car and airplane manufacturing, visiting many areas of the factory that are being opened to the public for the first time.

Over three fascinating hours learn the secrets of car and aeroplane manufacturing at Jaguar's Castle Bromwich home.
Castle Bromwich has a rich history and it's a history that's still being made as the manufacturing base of Jaguar cars. From the high performance F-Type to the advanced XJ, nearly all of Jaguar's luxury and performance cars have their home at Castle Bromwich.
​
It is at Castle Bromwich where Jaguar continues to develop its unparalleled expertise in advanced aluminium manufacturing, a skill which also served the nation during the war years, when the factory was a primary location for building Spitfire fighter aircraft.

An exclusive group visit to the Jaguar factory in Castle Vale, Birmingham where the XE, XF, XJ and F-TYPE models are built. Numbers are strictly limited, so it's "First come, first served". The intention is to enjoy lunch together at a nearby hostelry straight after the tour (not included in the tour price);

If you decide to cancel your booking:

• Within fourteen (14) days from the date of your booking confirmation, we will refund you the full price paid for the Experience;
• Twenty eight (28) days or more prior to the Experience, we will refund you the price paid for the booking by the method you used for payment, however, we may deduct any sums, including expenses, which have already been paid by us or our suppliers in relation to the Experience and which are non-refundable; or
• Less than twenty eight (28) days prior to the Experience, you will be charged the total price for the Experience.
• We will make any refunds due to you as soon as possible. If you are exercising your right to change your mind your refund will be made within fourteen (14) days of you telling us that you have changed your mind.

by Paul Sweeney

Those of you who like the monthly Facebook stats might be interested in something I recently found - its possible to download the stats into Excel.

So, I decided to take a look at the countries we all live in - and guess what? The stats went way beyond the "Top 10" FB usually gives us. I then began looking at the data in Excel and found a nifty little thing where instead of drawing a graph or bar chart, it would plot our membership on a world map.

So here it is - click to enlarge.
Key:

• Grey = no members
• Pale blue = small number of members, graduating to
• Dark blue = lots of members

by Paul Sweeney.

What does it mean? Well, in essence it means any information sent back and forth across the world wide web between your device and the machines where this website is hosted (which can be anywhere in the world) is now scrambled or encrypted - meaning any bad people intercepting it en route wont be able to read or re-use it.

Only your device and the machines at the other end can do that - so if for example you decide to make a purchase from our shop, your name, address, payment information etc are all protected from prying eyes - making you safer.

Or to put it another way:
"Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is the secure version of HTTP, the protocol over which data is sent between your browser and the website that you are connected to. The 'S' at the end of HTTPS stands for 'Secure'. It means all communications between your browser and the website are encrypted."