Triumph & MG Weekend 2021
A Triumph TR4 (R) & TR5 (L) side-by-side. They are both striking in their shining red paint. 1/200s 75mm F4.0 ISO 64.
Triumph and MG are two names right at the heart of classic British motoring. Though the former marque no longer exists, and the latter is used to badge cheap Chinese cars, interest in the older metal remains strong. Large numbers of these cars are safely in the hands of enthusiasts and serviced by specialists up and down the country. So, what better way to celebrate and bring everyone together than a weekend long event in the scenic Malvern Hills at the Three Counties Showground. One which sees both marques coming together for the first time at what is normally a Triumph only affair.
The show gives plenty of opportunities for owners to talk mingle and discuss their classics. 1/200s F4.0 92mm ISO 64.
Camping overnight gives the opportunity to photograph many of these cars in beautiful sunset lighting. These heavily modded MG Midget was a certainly a special car. 1/60s 70mm F5.6 ISO 400.
The camp site was heavily utilised and saw branches of car clubs congregating in one place. 1/60s 31.5mm F5.6 ISO 400.
I’ve never been to a car event before which involves camping overnight on site, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it really did have a festival feel. Once they’d setup camp people would wonder around the showground before congregating in the evening at the beer tent which played (live) music well into the night. There certainly was a level of excitement that you wouldn’t get at a normally and what was so fantastic was that people came in cars you wouldn’t normally see on a campsite. Yes there were those in their campervans, but most people really did show up with a heavily laden Triumph or MG roadster, complete with luggage ruck, that somehow fit their tent, clothes, sleeping gear and any other bits and pieces they needed to get comfortable. Nowadays new car buyers want increasingly bigger boot space, but you’d be surprised what you can fit in or on a car with a bit of practice and ingenuity.
Attendees proved you can pack plenty in a small car with intelligent packing. 1/125s 140mm F8.0 ISO 100.
The beer tent & live music proved popular well into the evening. 1/60s 55mm F5.6 ISO 1600.
Seminars ran through both Saturday & Sunday. Owners were invited to bring their cars forward as the history of both marques was discussed. 1/125s 39mm F5.6 ISO 125.
Club and trade stands gave plenty of opportunity to either pick-up merchandise, car parts or sign-up for membership. 1/125s 75mm F4.0 ISO 3200.
Getting to the actual event itself, the layout was all very familiar with cars arranged in different sections based on model, a live stage for talks on the history or Triumph & MG, and a multitude of display and trade stands inside and outside (thankfully there was good weather all weekend). What was a fun addition was the arena, where members of the public could sign up to compete over who could spin their car around the sets of cones the fastest. Very entertaining, some are very experienced and can whip their wheels around at almost unbelievable speeds, whilst others were all over the place and seemed to have completely forgotten their sense of direction. It’s just great to see these cars really being used and not stuck inside as garage queens.
The Arena produced plenty of entertainment as people put their cars to the test (MGB). 1/100s 150mm F5.6 ISO 160.
This Triumph Spitfire went round quite a few times although its day was cut short by something breaking. 1/100s 170mm F5.6 ISO 200.
The Ulster crew were the most impressive drivers and the ability of this guy to drift his modified midget round and round in circles was impressive. 1/100s 190mm F5.6 ISO 125.
I’ll comfortably admit that before going into this weekend my knowledge of triumphs was pretty weak. Beyond Stags and Spitfires, I couldn’t really name and recognise many of the other cars, so this gave me a good opportunity to walk around and brush up on my knowledge. It’s always great to see so many cars in such great condition all lined up together, owners chatting away. Events like these also bring out the rare and unusual. I’d never heard of Peerless before, a small British manufacture who built cars partially based off Triumph parts, which produced a car that finished 16th in the 1958 Le Mans. That particular car was also there and came with the fun story that for several years was used as a daily driver by an old man who had it as his only car.
Peerless was a brand I was unfamiliar with before attending but there were a good few examples for the public to see. 1/200s 70mm F5.6 ISO 100.
The Peerless that went to Le Mans before seeing action as a shopping car in later life. 1/320s 190mm F4.0 ISO 100.
All in all, an event like this is perhaps the best way to meet fellow enthusiasts and there’s plenty to see and do across the weekend whether you are there for the day or camping overnight. It’s very social and if you are thinking about going to this next year or a similar event soon then I would certainly encourage it. I certainly learned plenty about the various models of Triumphs which was useful, and it was good to see rare models of MGs which I had only seen before in photos. It certainly further incentivises me to one day own a classic British sports car, not just for the good looks or how it drives, but for the camaraderie amongst other enthusiasts.
The somewhat bonkers MG XPower SV which came right at the end of MGs life and summed up the crazy decision making that ultimately saw the original company’s demise. 1/125s 110mm F8.0 ISO 200.
Trophies were up for grabs for the very best cars. 1/125s 70mm F4.0 ISO 2000.
This rare MGA Coupe was a standout and it’s not hard to see why the owner had had this one imported from South Africa. 1/400s 52mm F5.6 ISO 100.
The Triumph TR6 proved to be a very popular car but amazingly only 10% were sold in the UK. The rest were exported, mostly to the US. 1/125s 70mm F5.6 ISO 100.
Triumph’s final sport car, the TR7, was much maligned despite being the best selling TR of all. I am sure though that this rare rally spec car will be fun to drive regardless. 1/25s 45mm F5.6 ISO 1600.
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