2023 Loughborough Car Show - Part 1

 Having been starved of anything like this for three years, I was pleased to hear that the annual car show was returning for 2023.

I arrived a little late (due to looking at the University's Degree Show earlier in the day), and the show ended a little early due to fears of inclement weather. Hence, I only really arrived in time to see the cars leave.

The first car I spotted was this black Mini parked in front of the town hall. Personally, I don't prefer minis with wide-flared wheelarches (or any styling that's excessively aggressive).

Then there was this Ford Consul, which, according to a notice in the rear window, is for sale. The rear windshield is the reality of what I thought the Mk1 Renault Megane's windshield was when I was younger!

Then there was this green Mk2 Ford Escort parked next to a Mk3 Volkswagen Scirocco.

I've seen plenty of Mk3 Sciroccos.

I don't know where all these commie posters suddenly came from, but there's one on the cabinet behind the Consul.

Most of the cars were parked in the Market Place. Here's a Mk3 Ford Capri (left) and a Mk2 Ford Granada estate.

I'm not sure what this is.

On the right is a Porsche 911.

This humungous blue Cadillac is one of a handful of vehicles that I've seen previously out of show.

A Jaguar E-Type.

A Rolls-Royce.

This is an NSU.

And then the cars began to leave.
American cars from the 1950s had some of the most flamboyant styling to date, as shown by this car here. But whether it goes with the patinated look also shown here is a matter of personal taste.

Not in show.
This is Kinchbus' Versa 831. It seems that their Versas are rather unreliable, as they have four Versas for a pair of services that presently only require two, and often one or none of them are used at all.

An MGB roadster.

This is a close relative of the original Mini, either a Wolseley Hornet or a Riley Elf. I can't tell which is which. This Mini derivative built between 1961-9 had a more traditional three-box design and was thus longer than a regular Mini. Badge engineering is nothing new - BMC/British Leyland did this a lot.

Another Ford Capri, this time a Mk1 version.

Another MGB, this time a coupe.

This is a Mk1 Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class. The colour is quite nice.

A show like this is never complete without a Ford Mustang!

Seeing this Porsche 356 roadster made my day.

Here we have a good old Morris Minor.

Here's the E-Type from earlier.

A more recent MG is this MG TF.

How many MGBs were there? This is, like, the third one!

This Dodge Challenger is another car that I've seen out of show, and is often parked up outside a house close to mine.

The Rolls-Royce leaves.

Here's an older Mustang. You can forget about the Mustangs in between.

A Mk1 Ford Fiesta. The Fiesta is ending production this year, along with the Focus, which sees Ford leaving behind the mass-market cars that have dominated British highways for decades.

The Cortina estate.

And the Mk3 Capri.

Then my camera battery died.

Tune in next time to see part 2!