The Toronto Triumph All British Car Show took place on Sunday September 19th 2010 under perfect weather conditions, in beautiful Bronte Creek Provincial Park. I was told at registration that it "NEVER" rains! Today did not fail to meet those expectations, and a large turn out of Minis and other British cars and bikes filled the park to capacity.
We drove the 64 and 67 S's to Don's place and took the back roads in. Arrived around 8:30, which was a good idea (Don's suggestion - thanks!) as the line up to get in was overheard to be around an hour and a half at peak! Yikes, imagine the overheating!
Once we had the cars set up we checked out the Mini vendors. Big Al was offering Vancouver folk a 10% discount - he may have regretted the offer or had poor math as we ended up with a few goodies for considerably less. Thanks Al!
I counted 75 Minis (not including MINIS) at one point. There may have been more. Participants are given a sheet to judge the field, which in this case would have taken several days! I don't think I have ever seen more Triumph Stags, a feature this year. Class of the field (and eventual Best In Show) was a stunning and perfect 1959 Aston Martin DB4. Just flawless. A close second - the only "real" Shelby Cobra I have seen, complete with Carroll Shelby's signature and duct tape on the fenders to ward off rock chips. Very cool!
The Minis were divided into 3 classes, presenting the judges a very hard task with so many excellent cars in each class - sliding window, roll up window, and MINI. Winner of the sliding window class was Joe Mirizio's newly restored street legal racer, a well deserved first place win!
Overall a fantastic day, impossible to see all the cars in the time allowed, amazing variety and selection of cars, and a very well run event. There were flush toilets & hot water in the washrooms, food & ice cream trucks, lots of vendors, and real cream for coffee - awesome!
