Retro Rides Gathering - a woman's tale

It’s nice to be out of the house with no kids in tow, for once in a while, even though it’s an early start: looking forward to meeting up with friends and having a good old catch-up. For us women who have men seriously addicted to cars, it’s a case of ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’ (and we can NEVER beat them), so unless you enjoy being dumped for a couple of tons of mobile metal on a regular basis, ‘join ‘em’ it is!

Even though I had been going to many car events with my other half for quite a few years, neither of us had been to this one before. Driving through the beautiful little villages was charming, to say the least, and the sun was shining: it was promising to be a good day, despite the inevitable queue to get in and the size of the event. The interesting ‘stuff’ was queuing with us, and my other half was starting to get as excited as a kid on the run up to Christmas. I have to admit, I was rather excited too. I love old and ‘interesting’ cars of all types and my definition of ‘interesting’ is rather eclectic. What interesting wonders would we find?

The show field was rather extensive and we didn’t have time to cover much of it, especially since my other half had decided he was up for having a go at the hill climb. This was one of those ‘beat them or join them’ moments, so, since signing up as a passenger was free, and I had no one to worry about but myself, ‘join them’ it was! This, however, meant that we were sitting in queues most of the afternoon instead of pottering about. Never mind, the ‘interesting’ stuff was coming to us, as were our friends... life is good. The hill climb itself was quite exciting, especially when my other half put the boot in, but as a Northern lass, I did think of the countryside I drove round in years past, and this course was nothing more than a stroll in the park!

The cars in the show ground were lovely. All of them loved and cared for in their owner’s unique way. Race cars and restorations alike, were all lovely. However, I was constantly on the lookout for the cars I liked most, but none were there. I mentioned this to my other half and he very gently pointed out, that this was about ‘retro’ cars and not classic cars. That is when it dawned on me.... I was getting OLD! These lovely cars, which, in my mind, were rather new, were in fact 30 years old and the ‘retro’ in Retro Rides.

Overall, Retro Rides Gathering 2013 was a great event. I thoroughly enjoyed it! But I suppose my next step is reconciling myself with the fact my teenage years are further behind me than I thought

~ Jessica Rabbit