Dinky Devils Mini Car Club
Posts by Dave
Brands Hatch Mini Racing Festival
11 years
by Dave
in Uncategorized
This year was the second time the Brands Hatch Mini racing festival event has been put on and this year was without doubt better than last year and last year’s event itself was very good.
The weather this year however wasn’t so hot, very windy and rain showers throughout the day, not the best for the racers but the variable conditions made for some interesting on track action.
Russ swift was performing his stunt show again this year and completed a lap of the circuit on two wheels.
Last year there weren’t many traders, this year however there were lots of traders for both new and old mini alike.
A very good event, camping is available for those wishing to see the qualifying on Saturday as well as the races on Sunday.
Club Discount with Graham Sykes Insurance
11 years
by Dave
in Uncategorized
Graham Sykes Insurance have been kind enough to offer our club members discount on their car insurance quotes and have made the ‘DinkyDevils’ an approved club listed on their website.
A quote can be obtained here:
Please make use of this generous offer, it could well save you a lot of money on your car insurance.
It will of course be necessary to prove club membership when asked, the club secretary can assist in providing this.
Sharnbrook Hotel Classic Car Meet – May 2013
11 years
by Dave
in Uncategorized
The devils first outing of the year to Brooklands motor museum was abandoned after some unseasonable weather resulted in significant snowfall and extremely cold winds, the event went ahead due to a lack of snow that far south but we decided as a club to wait for warmer weather and to give the M25 a miss.
This meant the first proper devils outing of 2013 was the Sharnbrook hotel classic car meet.
Having not been to this annual show before we didn’t know quite what to expect, it is set in the hotel grounds/car park and was quite empty when we first arrived, however, a couple of hours later the place was ‘heaving’, cars were penned in due to the shear number of people that decided to attend.
The chosen vehicle this year was the Mini and quite a few Minis turned up although there were many stunning examples of classic cars in attendance ranging from VW camper vans to modern day Ferraris and Lambo’s.
A number of enormous American classic cars turned up as did a top fuel funny car from Santa Pod Raceway, didn’t run unfortunately but can’t have everything. A few kit cars turned up as did MG’s and lots of very old classics in immaculate condition.
Well worth a visit, a great day out, they hold other car events there such as an Italien day which no doubt would be well worth a visit.
Brooklands Mini Day 2012
12 years
Brooklands Mini Day was the first proper Mini outing for the dinky devils, it is a fairly long trek around the M25 and is not always the nicest of journeys, but a couple of us made the trek to what is without doubt a cracking day out at an excellent museum set in the surroundings of an old abandoned race circuit.
The Brooklands museums are a good way to lose a few hours, with museums of both motor vehicles and aeroplanes, the museum also has a Concorde which you can go in along with many other old airliners that you can walk through.
We were very lucky to have a gloriously sunny day in March which meant we spent most of our day there out in the sunshine.
There is also a test hill which starts off slight changing to very steep by the time you get to the top, the Minis are allowed to go up the hill … if they can, we only saw one Mini fail to make the hill when a drive shaft disintegrated.
The Mini show is a mix of Minis, club stands, traders and museums, all in all a very good day out.
Knebworth Classic Car Show 2010
14 years
by Dave
in Show Reports 2010
The Knebworth Classic Car show is an annual event held in a large grassy park, depending upon weather it can become very busy, today however wasn’t so busy due to recent poor weather and that forecast, but we made the effort and so did a large number of other classic car owners.
Initially the weather was very windy, a bit nippy but otherwise ok, not what you’d expect for an August bank holiday weekend … or is it?
There were quite a lot of Minis in attendance, we had a selection of Minis, an MG Midget and a post war (just) Bentley for our club stand.
There were loads of different classic cars on display, arena, traders and so on, plenty of food options to keep us going, a little pricey but there none the less.
The first of the showers hit about 1ish and with it came 45+mph gusts of wind which put the gazebo under considerable strain, however, this was nothing compared to the 3pm showers and even stronger gale force winds that quite literally blew out the window of one of the sides but even so it still held together and kept us dry.
All in all a very good day out made more enjoyable by the company of our club members and not the weather lol.
Crich Tramway Mini Show
14 years
by Dave
in Show Reports 2010
The Crich Tramway mini show is a long way for us but is well worth making the 115 mile trek, for the site is like stepping back in time with working trams set in a period street driving up and down tram tracks. You can go on the trams for unlimited rides up and down the mile+ long tracks.
At midday the Minis get to drive up and down the tram tracks, often with Trams still driving along, the streets are cobbled so the ride is a little rough but still a great experience.
Along with the working trams there are numerous trams in various states of restoration, a really good day out and well worth a visit, at least once every few years.
Kimbolton Classic Car Show
14 years
by Dave
in Show Reports 2010
The Kimbolton Classic Car show is a clug favourite and is also our most local show and its a real stunner of a show, organised by the Sporting Bears charity it is a huge show full of the most amazing classic and sports cars on display along with a country fayre there are plenty of stalls and demonstrations of various country pursuits.
The weather has not been kind for the past few years so we were due a hot and sunny show and this turned out to be just that, it was also more popular than ever with hundreds and hundreds of cars turning up and space being at a complete premium despite it being a very large site.
Our club stand was stuffed this year and we had a bigger stand area than last year so offered spaces to other local Mini clubs as not everyone can get a stand at this event. There are many Mini clubs in attendance at the show and just about every other marque of car you can imagine.
I guarantee you’ll go home wanting a sports car of some description…….
Gaydon Mini Show
14 years
by Dave
in Show Reports 2010
Gaydon Mini has long since been a club favourite although it does vary from year to year, sometimes good, sometimes excellent and sometimes a bit disappointing, this year was good, last year was very overcrowded and we struggled to even park, poor effort.
This year as few members wanted to go after last years poor effort we went as guests of the Clubman Estate register, what with Liz and Andy being Devils members also I thought this counts as a ‘Devils’ adventure also…… 🙂
A lot of Minis turned up this year to a show with lots of traders and a large car museum, although nowhere near as many as last years show, what with it being the 50th year of the Mini and all, it was far more popular last year.
The show was ok, not as bad as some of the previous years, Russ Swift wasn’t there for starters doing his stunt driving display but it was still good.
Norfolk Mini Show
14 years
by Dave
in Show Reports 2010
The Norfolk Mini has recently been plagued by bad weather ….. and this year would be no exception unfortunately, however we still made the effort to go.
Attendance numbers were down a bit i think, probably due to recent poor weather, whilst the sun shone initially this year it was very windy and the gazebo took yet another beating.
The show was good as always, a fair few traders in attendance.
The show came to a premature end when the weather took a turn for the worst and a mahoosive rain storm came along, we had to take the gazebo down in the rain as it couldn’t take any more storm force winds and got absolutely soaked. We left shortly afterwards and just before a large thunderstorm hit, crazy weather
Enfield Pagent
14 years
by Dave
in Show Reports 2010
We attended the Enfield pagent this year thanks to Trevor who had some spare tickets, having never been before we didn’t know what to expect but had heard very good things about this show. Once again the weather would be very unkind to us….
The organisers of the show were pleased that some Minis had turned up as they could use them for the junior motorcycle display team to jump over.
Whilst waiting to enter the arena the rain started and it absolutely threw it down, nigh on continued all day long.
The show is huge, loads to see and do and lots of autojumble, bound to find something you never knew you wanted…..
Good show, lets hope for better weather next year….