1997 UK Nationals

Report & Pix by Ray Quayle

The UK Summer Nats start for many of us on the Saturday. We travel from near and far to converge on the hotel. Tons of thundering V8 muscle rumbling through the English countryside is a sight that seldom goes unnoticed.

Once the Corvettes have been parked and cleaned, the organizers usually have a Treasure Hunt scheduled. I rarely get the opportunity to take part in the Hunt as the call from the bar is far too strong. This year in the evening a Quiz Night had been organized to accompany our barbecue. I was very impressed by the Corvette knowledge level of our British cousins. Although the Corvette isn't built here, it doesn't detract from their enthusiasm or know-how. My table won, no thanks to me. I blame alcohol-induced amnesia.

Sunday was beautiful, weather wise, as was Saturday. I wish I knew how the organizers manage to get the weather to behave for them. The show itself was excellent as always. Keith Butler (the Northwest Regional Representative) arrived in a new C5 courtesy of Bauer Millett (the UK GM dealer) as promised. Nice car. Way to go Keith. It was great to see the group from Holland and Sweden in attendance. Really gives the event an international flavor.

Speaking of international, Roman Albrecht, drove to the UK Nationals from the Czech Republic. You can see his 40^th anniversary in the accompanying photos! Although it may have been to escape the rain, I believe it is because Roman is a keen Corvetter and also a VetteNet member. I met a few other VetteNetters as well. It was my first time talking to a VetteNetter in the flesh. Thanks to Jim Milstead for making the trip from Texas. Peter Campbell was snapping photos (you've already seen his UK Nats and Le Mans photos, and can see him in the flesh in accompanying photos), Zoomie, Jon Lynn was also there in his '84. Nice meeting all of you. We are still reviewing the numbers, but in all, we had a lot of Corvettes there. Seriously, this event rivals many large US shows. If you ever plan to come to the UK in July, stop by the Yankee Lady Corvette to find the date of the UK Summer Nationals. You won't be disappointed.

I have to mention the organizers of this event again. And this goes out to organizers throughout the world that are involved in our hobby. They are the unsung heroes of any club. The Summer Nationals may be the biggest show of the year, but they are hard at it, the whole year, planning and organizing all the other events in the calendar. It is a thankless job. They get the blame when things go wrong, but never a thought the rest of the time. Thanks to their hard work, most things go right. I wouldn't even try to mention ours by name, as I would surely leave someone out. Suffice it to say that each and every one of you do a cracking job. Thanks for all your effort.