Orlando All British Car Show – 6 April 2019 – Event Report
35th Central Florida British Car Show – Central Winds Park, Winter Springs (Orlando) – 6 April 2019
A new venue for the this show – Central Winds Park in Winter Springs. Cheaper, more facilities, more space and, IMO, a local community that is more welcoming as opposed to one that is somewhat hostile. We had a great day. Some ‘opening night’ jitters but nothing that will be remembered for very long. It was warm and this new venue is a bit more open than the last. We did find some sporadic overcast to provide shade occasionally.
However, a highlight of this new venue is the acceptability of adult beverages. Quite a few of the cars had come well prepared. I saw Champagne being poured from the boot of a Bentley and, of course, beer was being served around the Triumphs. Even several of the vendors had offerings, and certainly no one complained.
The Central Florida British Car Show (Orlando) has been held now for 35 years. MOGSouth’s own Rick Frazee was the show’s director in the past. Quite a history. The cars this year were superb with some very nice and very rare examples of the British automotive past. A 1927 Austin Nippy, a 1954 Bentley parked right next to a 2015 Bentley Turbo R, all manner of BL products, a good number of modern Jaguar F Types and of course 8 Morgans. We had an early 4/4, Plus 4s, to include a Flat Rad and a Cowled Radiator 4 Seater, Plus 8s, and Roadsters. Several of the local Morgan owners, that typically attend this show, were otherwise committed, so the count would have been even higher had they come. It appears Morgans are, albeit slowly, taking over Florida!!
The show had the usual diversions and wasn’t all about the shiny cars. Other aspects of the show included food vendors, the silent auction, door prizes and the infamous valve cover races. My Coventry Climax valve cover was the only Morgan entry, but, once again, it didn’t win. It didn’t even go down the ramp forward, it flipped immediately and then went down backwards, that is until it hit the pavement and a wheel fell off. Typical Morgan! Next time! And, I think some redesign is in order.
We were joined by a Morgan owner who only recently relocated to Florida from the Northeast. Smart move, have you seen the weather reports?? Les and Joan Neumann are only some 15 miles from my house, and a few miles from another Morgan owner. Morgan owners seem to travel in packs?? Go figure? The more the merrier!!