Manky Monkey Motors

A friend at work invited me along to this. I've decided to try & broaden my horizons a bit this year & take in events I haven't tried before, so I thought Why not?
I don't think I've ever been in a Mini before. I've got nothing against them, just never known anyone who owned one. Seems like they were the first cars for half the population though. Unbelievably popular & still considered cool by the trendy young things.
Yes, I'd love to go.
O.K, I'll pick you up at 3.30 on Sunday morning then.
Erm, what?
Sitting in a very small motorised biscuit tin, trundling up the M3 towards London on a chilly Sunday morning, I wondered if my horizons really needed broadening.
We arrived at Crystal Palace, South London around 5 am & I was amazed to find the park already buzzing with literally hundreds of Issigonis's offspring. Various branches of the owners club had travelled from all over the country, arriving on Saturday afternoon & camping overnight. We bumped into members of our local Basingstoke branch. There was an air of bike rally or music festival about the place. While my friend signed in, I watched bleary eyed campers emerging from their tents, wrapped in sleeping bags, like giant caterpillars, shuffling from tent to car, packing a Volvo's worth of gear into a Mini's worth of space.
I remembered my Dad telling me his own Dad took him to watch Crystal Palace burn down when he was a small boy -this is history lad. One day you'll be able to tell your kids you saw it -& he did. There's nothing left of the huge exhibition halls now, except a few flights of stone steps & half a dozen Sphinxs. There's a replica of one small section of the iron framework on the hilltop, but unless you'd read the information board, you wouldn't know it was. The BBC TV transmitter aerial still looms over the treetops. We bought breakfast from one of the catering stalls & went for a mooch about.

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Mini owners do seem to like window stickers -The Italian Job still features big in the world of little cars.

While the Capitol slumbers, a small army is mobilising on the hill tops.

This is what happens when you sniff the paint fumes kids.

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Some came dressed to impress.

Every possible permutation of Italian Job references was on display.

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One of at least a dozen Mini Minis.

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Moke folk.

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This Italian Job reference was a bit more subtle & I very nearly missed it.  :)

Now that's a tent.  :D

Not quite so subtle.

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Remember these?
The Outspan Orange cars. 6 were built as promotional vehicles, based on shortened Mini subframes. There's one in the Beaulieu Motor Museum, painted green to represent a garden pea & I have a vague memory of seeing one at a county show somewhere surrounded by promo girls handing out cups of orange juice, but I've never seen one actually moving. This one was brought along by wacky vehicle builder & TV personality, Edd China, (he built the motorised sofa, motorised bed etc & used to have a workshop in Odiham, just outside Basingstoke). The windscreens were originally orange Perspex, which isn't road legal, so this one's been replaced at huge expense with specially formed glass.

The larger than life Mr edd, posing with a fan.

Inspired by Outspan, or Tango?

The drivers' briefing. To ease congestion, 2 different routes out of London were listed in the members' pamphlet, though many either got lost or made up their own routes.

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This year's run had an 80s theme, though this guy looks more 70s to me.

8.0.clock & it was time to get underway. Although we'd arrived at 5, we were about halfway along the 10 rows of cars, parked literally 6 inches apart for the whole length of the park. 2 & a half thousand Mini engines barking & rasping into life is enough to wake the dead, let alone the sleeping residents of South London. A hell of a dawn chorus.
With a couple of non starting casualties having to be pushed out of the way, it took an hour & a half to clear the hillside of cars.
Brighton here we come.

We passed this along the way, also heading to the coast.

This really made my day. As I said, I've seen a couple of these on display over the years, but I've never seen one on the move.
As we drove down the A27, heading for the Sussex coast, we passed under a road bridge running at an angle over the dual carriageway. Right on cue, a giant orange came rolling across it & disappeared from view. A few seconds later it reappeared, coming down the sliproad onto the carriageway ahead of us.
I grabbed my camera -Quick! Follow that orange! 

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After a quick pitstop at the Pease Pottage services, surrounded by a sea of Minis, we eventually rolled over the Sussex Downs, into Brighton & down onto Madeira Drive at lunchtime. Thankfully, a well organised ticket system meant we were guaranteed a parking space.
There were Minis literally as far as the eye could see, stretching 4 rows abreast from the piers & amusement arcades of the main seafront, right up to the newly built marina. Those who weren't able to pre-enter filled the side streets & pavements.
The sun was out, the sea was sparkling. It was a beautiful day.

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what is this obsession with shortened cars all about?!

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I'm pretty certain that the 'zombie Princesses' mini was painted by the same artist that painted the lorry you passed on the way.

The mini was DEFINITELY painted by 'Matt the Painter', and he pretty much paints most lorries with custom artwork around the UK at the moment.

Really? I loved it.  :)

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Seaside greetings from my travelling companion to one of her relatives. O.K, not quite up to your standards Clive!  :)

Supercharged oldie.

I liked this. Unusual colour choice.

Frowning fibreglass headlight covers.

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Squashed.

Stretched.

Shortened BMW/Mini.

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Entering into the spirit of the 1980s theme.

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The weather was truly glorious, the promenade was heaving with people & cars, we ate ice cream, I got sunburnt, we perused the dozens of trade stalls, we bought stuff, we had a very pleasant fish n chip lunch, we walked for miles. We had a great time.
I'm really glad I tried something different & grateful to my workmate Beverly for inviting me. A good day in good company.
We eventually climbed back into her little 1990s Mini Exodus around teatime & took a gentle drive back across country, through Chichester, Midhurst & Alton, arriving back in Basingstoke by about 8pm. A very, very long day, but a lot of fun.  :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFC6mwa6ztM

Video at Crystal Palace.