British Car Show at North Hills, 5/14/11

I just never knew. I was unaware we had a large population of classic British vehicles in the Raleigh area; I suppose there are people nostalgic for the 60's and 70's everywhere, and Raleigh is a pretty affluent area, but wow!  Triumphs, MG's, Jaguars, and Mini's of all sorts congregated today upon the North Hills shopping center, an upscale outdoor mall in the North Raleigh area.  With cars ranging from MG TF's all the way to a brand-new Mini Crossman, there were a wide range of British vehicles to gaze upon.  Here are some of the more interesting ones.

At any British car show, chances are the most common vehicle you'll see there will be the ubiquitous MGB.  It was the car that really defined "British Sports Car" in the minds of Americans for decades, and easy availability of spares and the general simplicity of the cars makes them popular classics today.  Not that I've got a problem with MGB's, but I much prefer their hard-top siblings: the MGB-GT and the rare MGC-GT (same thing as an MGB, but with a six-cylinder under the hood.)  And what's more perfect than an MGB-GT in British Racing Green, with classic Minilite Alloy Wheels and Lucas driving lights?

Of course, not all MGB's are sedate cruisers.  Some of them are slammed to the ground, have no roof, and spend most of their life on a race track.  Either way is fine by me, but vintage racers are a whole other level of cool.

Speaking of MGB's, if you were wondering what was up with that intro shot... Well, that's a big damn V8 stuffed into the front of one.  Very well-done conversion from the looks of it!

If anyone call tell me what kind of V8 this is, I'd appreciate it.  I'm guess it's a Ford 302 by the valve covers and distributor placement, but my expertise mainly lies in identifying Honda engines by their valve covers, and this one's obviously not stock at all.  Thumbs up on the quality of the swap and overall level of detail on the car; thumbs down on those non-period wheels.

Still, despite the wheels, this is a lot of rubber under and MGB.  I suppose that's necessary with multiple times the original power output.

There were only two Lotuses (Lotii?) in attendance, and they really show how much the company evolved as time went by.  A Twin-Cam Europa next to an Esprit S4.

This body style of Esprit is a distinctly awesome car, with a super-high-output 2.2L 16v Turbo four (with an air-to-water intercooler!) and a Peter Stevens restyling of the original Guigario lines.  These were seriously quick cars - 0-60 in under 5 seconds, top speed north of 150 - but these days, most people just remember the S4 Esprit for it's role as a harlot chariot in Pretty Woman.

Speaking of mid-rear engined cars designed by Lotus and built in the UK, how about a Delorean DMC-12?  This car was easily attracting the largest crowd of the whole show - the stainless steel bodywork and gullwing doors tend to do that.

Yeah, the SLS Gullwing doesn't have anything on a DeLorean when it comes to drawing a crowd.  Especially with the wings up.  It's really cool seeing these cars in good shape today - there were only around 9,000 originally built in the early 80's.  The biggest bummer about the DeLorean, though, has gotta be this:

The 130bhp PRV V6 under the rear deck that made these cars so damn slow.  Rumor had it John Z was working on a twin-turbocharged variant of the DeLorean before his company collapsed; they probably would've sold a lot more of them if the performance could cash the checks that the styling wrote.

The interior of the DMC-12 is surprisingly normal, although the leather-covered dash is a nice touch.  I suppose you just expect seats mounted to the roof and three seat belts from a car with gullwing doors and a stainless-steel body.  Looks comfortable, though!

The XJ-S has never gotten a lot of love from the Jaguar community, at least compared to the E-Type it replaced.  I'm not entirely sure why; I know they're flamingly unreliable and fiendishly complicated, but the body is gorgeous and it's got a big 5.3L V12 under the hood.  I love 'em.  Also, how about that interior?

I suppose it's just not as strikingly gorgeous as the E-Type, though.  But, what is?

Surely this is a replica.  I'm not sure who would take a real one out on the road.

Lordy, though, aren't Jaguar straight-sixes just mechanical artwork?

The intake side is just as gorgeous: triple 2-bbl carbs with mesh screens.  This motor must sound utterly insane when it's revving.

I don't believe I've ever seen one of these: an original BL Mini Clubman, with the squared-off restyling of the front done by Roy Haynes.  These were made between 1969-1980, concurrent with the rounded front-end original Mini styling that's so recognizable.

A Triumph TR6 - My favorite of the Triumph convertibles, at least styling-wise.  Although the TR-4 and TR-250 come in pretty close.  Why hasn't anyone bothered to resurrect the Triumph car brand, again?

I may be in the minority, but I really do prefer my E-types with a roof attached to the body.

Oh man, I really love Cobra kit cars.  I even love them when they're stuffed full of modified modern V8 power and wheels way bigger than the original ever had.  Something about the ceramic-coated side pipes, the hunch of the rear fenders...  Plus, this one's got 42,000 miles and change on it - proof that some owners get the point of a Cobra.

Fuel Injection?  Electronic ignition?  How dare you! I bet it runs nicely!

Triumph Spitfires look like a lot of fun, but I'm still not sure how I feel about a car with swing-axle rear suspension.  It's gotta be exciting to drive hard, at least!

And finally, moving into some of the more modern British cars to round this post off.  The previous-generation Jaguar XK's styling seems to still be aging very well, which I'm not sure can be said of the new one.  Must be a nice cruiser!

This is the first Mini Countryman I've seen in person, and... well, it's not bad-looking, but my goodness has it gotten big!  I think you could fit an original Mini in the back of  one if you folded the seats down.

Last, but not least: this red Volvo P1800.  You might ask, what is this most Swedish of vehicles doing at a British car show?  Well, it's a little-known fact (outside of Volvo nerds like myself, I'd imagine) that the first two years of P1800 production were actually done by Jensen in West Bromwich, England - at least, before Volvo got sick of their customers complaining about the lack of quality and transferred production back to Sweden.  This is a later model, which is most easily distinguished by the straight-across front bumper rather than the earlier one that turns up as it goes towards the grille.

One of the great things about the automotive journalist profession is the variety; tomorrow I'll be heading down to Charlotte, NC to cover Carolina Honda's spring show.  Classic British cars one day; tuned Honda hatchbacks the next - I've got love for both!  Till next time.