To All,
On this day before our supposed Independence Day Celebration we hear
of another strictly "FUN" type of event having to shut down again
after colliding head on with the those twin terrors of modern day
life: Increased public use costs and its evil sibling "Through The
Roof" Insurance Premiums and related expenses. In regards to your
statement: "As for the LA Region, we will be looking for a more
hospitable town, hotel or tourist venue to team up with what we
do........" That's precisely what we did when we were met with the
reality of having out-grown our previous British Car Meet setting at
the Ventura County Yacht Harbor. A place that we unfortunately
discovered was unable to safely accommodate any more than 1-50 to 175
LBC's. In fact, in 2003 when we invited the Aston Martin to be our
"Featured Car of the Meet" we realized that we had some not only
expensive, but for the most part rare and irreplaceable limited issue
cars that we had to really "buffer" out by adding at least another 1/2
to full car width to each car stall in our parking scheme. Thus our
average yearly Car Meet tally of 150 -175 (usually sold out by the day
before the meet!) was reduced to less than 100 cars.. Since we don't
really put on the show to make money this was OK with us & we even won
us some 'Brownie Points" with AMOC or the Aston Martin Owners Club
with the more generous staging sizes. But we had to turn some really
sweet cars away because we just didn't have the space to put
them. This was really F-- Up! And it's sad when you've got to tell
someone who driven his 1932 J-Type MG that he has to park it out in
the parking lot because we can't put him in with the other MG's!So
this year the word was put out that we were interested in a bigger
venue than we had at the Ventura County Yacht harbor. That's when the
nearby Channel Islands Small Craft and Yacht Harbor offered to not
only give us a better spot but were very generous with it "bonus"
incentives and offers like offering to do a full on ad campaign or us
gave us enough space tom offer food venders and an space for an
"Auto-Jumble" (Swap-Meet) So, sometimes these darn life "pot holes"
are Blessings in disguise. I'm just sorry that all your hard work went
down the drain! But Rick believe me your hard work and dedication to
the hobby and sport. When the history of the Foreign Car Meet is
written, your name and achievements will be rightfully
documented. Actually, to a large degree your name is there already!
You're still the man that people think about when ever West Coast
British Car Meets are ever being discussed.... Also, remember: This
year's 15th Annual Central Coast British Car Meet will be held at the
Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, CA July 24, 2005 ~~ 9:00 am to 3:00
pm (doors open at 8:30 am) This years theme will be "British Cars with
Italian Body's" As in Aston Martin DB4GT-Zagato & the Arnolt Bertone
MGTD restyle!! You can go online at => ww.ccbcc.org And that will take
you to our club Website where you can download registration forms and
maps to this years event! Hope to see you there. Maybe you can even
check out the locale around there. Or the scene that's just North of
LA! You're a good man Rick! Thank you for all of the wonderful
Woodley Park memories that you & your team gave us over the years!
Cheers!
Albert Escalante ~ Editor of "THE CLEAR HOOTER!"
The Central Coast British Car Club's Newsletter
1978 MGB, 1957 3.4 Li Jaguar Saloon, 1977 XJ-6L
Ventura, CA
(info: www.ccbcc.org)
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