Riviera Classic Car Show
Members of Torbay Old Wheels Club are delighted to announce that we are planning to go ahead with a revamped Riviera Classic Car Show on Paignton Green this year. It will look a little different because we have to manage with fewer volunteers to run the show than in the past. Some of us are just a little less agile than we used to be! We'd like to thank everybody who has supported us over the years and hope you will be with us once again on Sunday 27th July 2025.
Member's car of the Month
Having driven one of my father’s E-types, aged seventeen, I was hooked/obssesed. My first was a real restoration project, which remained in several boxes until being sold after buying our first house, having nowhere to keep it.
I bought my present E-type in 1986 when it was a matter of now or never as prices were beginning to climb. Originally registered in Northern Ireland, like most E-types of the time, it hadn’t been treated with a lot of love and, although I could deal with the mechanical side of things, the bodywork was a different matter.
A very good friend of mine, the late Colin Ford, who restored an E-type for Practical Classics Magazine and being an E-type owner himself, was happy to get involved. When he started pulling the body apart, the full extent of what needed to be done was revealed, chicken wire and newspaper fillers being the least of it.
Even so, he did a beautiful job. So much so it featured in and on the cover of the August 1989 issue of Practical Classics and was also photographed for The Sunday Express Magazine – Win a Million competition in 1990.
One of the questions I’m asked most is about the colour – is it original? It is actually Triumph Tahiti Blue, the colour when I bought it. The Jaguar colour, Azure Blue is a little darker and I decided to stick with the Tahiti, which I consider more attractive.
Howard Tingey
Last Wednesday in every month
We are currently meeting at Torquay Rugby Club usually on the last Wednesday of the month at 7.15 pm. If you would like to come please contact us beforehand to check the date of the next meeting.
Our Activities
We enjoyed visiting lots of shows in our old vehicles throughout 2023. We’re still out and about through the darker months with breakfast get-togethers and occasional organised drives using our old cars if the weather’s suitable.
We’re now looking forward to more fun in the sun this summer.
