Brits on the Bluff Show

Another great weekend in Pensacola!  Great weather, great driving, great party, great show.  What’s not to like? 

Several of us headed over there on Thursday, Keith and Karen (75 MGB + pub trailer), Allen and Sue (70 MGB), Cathy and Mark (01 XK8), Lee and Danny (Stag) from the South Shore. I was a single (67 E) from Baton Rouge to my son’s house, but then I got to bring my 7 year old grandson, Jackson to the show in the Jag.  

On Friday, Lee and Danny headed out to look for the Naval Air museum and Keith & Karen, Allen & Sue and Cathy & Mark headed to the beach.  

The Panhandle Club’s Cam Leonard had planned a lunch at a Bar-B-Q place, Jimmy’s Grill on Hwy 29 north of town where the lunch specialty was the Triple Pig – bacon, ham, and pulled pork sandwich that was enjoyed by many of the dozen or so of us there for lunch.  Two couples had driven up from Sarasota, Jim in his 1973  TR6 that he’s had for 45 years and put 265,000 miles on it (280k total).  I was some kind of impressed.  

Cam had invited his VW club to join us for lunch and the Velocity Restorations tour.  You may have heard of it – primarily Mustangs, Broncos and F-150s – full restomods that start at about $250,000.  Quite a facility, 150 people doing about 160 restorations per year.  They had a pile of old cars in the “boneyard”, enough to keep them busy through the end of 2025.  Imagine a shop like that for our little British cars….but I digress.

Some more BMCNO folks headed over on Friday in time for the welcome reception at the Museum of Commerce in historic downtown Pensacola at 5 to 7 pm.  A meet and  greet in a very nice environment, with lots of home made dishes served by the hospitable locals, with entertainment by the Santa Rosa Pipe and Drums band.  A good chance to get together with friends from the Mississippi, South Alabama, Panhandle, Peachtree, and other clubs.  The Wycoff’s were back from Wisconsin, the two couples from Sarasota, several folks from the Atlanta area, quite a mix of people.  

Show day was gorgeous – partly cloudy and a high of about 80, but doesn’t get that hot under the oak trees there in Seville Square where all the cars were parked.  Cathy said the count was 102 cars and motorcycles, with 10 more registered but didn’t show up.  Makes you wonder if the forecast for heavy rain all day Sunday kept some people away. It didn’t help that the Euro show in Natchez was the same day either. 

 A great mix of cars from Bill and Melissa Silhan’s  Best of Show 1936 AC Doctor’s Coupe to the modern Jags and Minis, lots of MGs and Triumphs as usual. 

Allen took 3rd place  in the valve cover racing and we had our share of prizes from the 8 BMCNO cars entered.  Rick, Mark, Terry, Allen, and Keith got Firsts, Cathy a Second and Lee won a Third.  Additional BMCNO members attending were Harry Barkerding (73 Midget) with his son, Mark Huber (66 MGB), Terry Lopez (66 AH3000), Lee Matthews (?? Stag) Dan Alleger, Paul and Kim Jaquilard, Cort and Mary Ann Musgrave, Cort Jr,  and Allen’s Nephew Bill and wife Ellen Bradley from Portland, Oregon, and my son Andrew and grandson Jackson from Pensacola.  Jackson used my ballot to judge all the classes, and he did surprisingly well for his first LBC judging. Overall he had a great day at the show, but for now he still wants a Lamborghini when he grows up – gotta keep working on him. 

Music was good, coffee and donuts, local restaurants provided a tasty lunch, door prizes, 50/50, and it’s just really fun walking around looking at cars and talking to owners on a beautiful spring day.  Thank you Panhandle British Car Association for another well done show, we really enjoyed it.