I think one of the problems at these events is that no body knows who anyone is unless of course theyve met before!! and it takes just one person to make the effort, i was immediatly put on the back foot after being snubbed as soon as i arrived

Thats a shame Matt - I'd have talked to you if I were there! I noticed at last years Auto Italia event that the coupesters weren't overly friendly - the only person who talked to us was Barnacle who was very nice. I did go expecting everyone to kind of introduce themselves especially since my license plate says "FCCUK Mrs_LickyL" on it!! We ended up hanging with the Lancia people all afternoon who were lovely.

Damn, I wish I'd seen you Matt. I was in the slightly shabby silver 16vt. It was definitely a guy in a yellow 16vt and not a 20vt (Was yours the one with black wheels?) I should maybe have made more of an effort but after two snubs, I thought no. My wife agreed with me,saying it was the first show that she had never had anyone come over and chat with us. A lot of people from the forum have been to my house such as Barnacle, SwiftPete, Darlo Nick to name but a few so know I am a friendly kind of chap. I think next time I will put a sticker with my name on it or something.

No i had silver wheels which looked dead dirty even though i cleaned the car in the morning?!?!?!?

Thanks Mrs Lickyl and GoonV8
BTW Mrs Lickyl did you see my post on East mids spotting???

Large tail pipe?If so,I think you left just as we arrived.

Yeah, black wheels was me chap
I feel a bit bad for not coming and saying hello to you, I pretty much only came back to my car for something to eat and to go home once I was there..

Who?? Me?
Was it you who was pulling in when i pulled out the space then?? about 12:30 ish

Yes, that was me. I think you left just as we arrived. we had to feed my two lads first as they were whining about being starving.

oh man!! that sux
By then we had had enough

Some piccies I took as we pulled up:




Damn, didn't realise how low my car was.

I was parked where you were mate!

Perhaps it was the spot!

That spot was made for steel grey Coops!!!!

I found everyone to be ok. They were all new faces to me and got along fine with people.

I did not notice at one point 2 fellas were the tent that werent fellow coupe owns, as far i was aware anyway, maybe thats who turned their backs or sniggered.

I've had a really good day, was worth the trip from Leeds, but i do agree the weather really did put a dampener on things. However the afternoon brightened up, and even more so when Mr C won best in class!

Was good to meet all that i did, and look forward to seeing you at some point in the future. I've a cracking picture of you Taffy, shall I post or not?

Perhaps it was jealousy...

maybe...

Next time, if you go to an event and you know Begbie is there, take a mug shot of him along with you, I'm sure he will be along soon to provide you with one!

He's a decent and very approachable fella.

Goonv8 & Matt - Sorry that you didn't get the reception you wanted. As i was the only committee member there today, i could only be in one place at any one time The 2 guys in the tent, if it was whilst it was raining in the morning and looked kind of old, then these 2 were just using the tent and not part of the coupe stand. If i knew what you look like, then i would come over and say hello, as S2C found out (but that was mr_c telling me who you were) and Dan, shy? What was that about the hermaphrodite who you're fond of?

Good to meet you today Phil, another face to the postings

Thank you to the people that did turn up, i think i counted about a dozen coupes in total, so not the best turn out. The weather turned out nice after midday when the sun came out.

Thank you also goes to Mr_C, TrevM and jas_racing for entering the concours and jas_racing for being the impatial judge of the FCCUK little show and shine.

TrevM won best engine bay
Taffy20vt won people's choice
Mr_C won best coupe (2yr running!) and best Fiat between 1990 and 2000.

As for the mug shot of me, will this do?



I'll sort my photo's out tomorrow

I'm sorry to read some of these posts and I can only apologize for not mixing as much as I normally do, I was busy washing and preparing the car for the comp! I do believe that the weather didn't help in the beginning (we all got soaked even standing under the tent) and also the lack of exotica (again due to the weather).

The new people that I did meet today were great and when the rain stopped and we all started to dry out we all had a great time!

Still can't believe that I won the best fiat (1990-2000) because TrevM's red LE was stunning!

Hope everyone had safe journey's home, it took Nismo and myself nearly 3 hours to drive 86 miles!

Mr C

Ah, so that was who was with you! Hi nismo and thank's for not posioning me! I take it you got caught up in the accident on the M1? I managed to get off and down the M40, took 2 and a half hours with stop start traffic

Mr_C washing his car in the rain


TrevM was his car in the rain too


TrevM's oil level check gauge


Coupe's!


Mr_C getting his trophy


Loved this car, 1 of 3 examples in the UK and of 78 in the world!

hi begbie , i should have said who i was at the beginning of the meet and wait till tomorrow m8 , we'll it was worth the time and effort to get mr c's car done this weekend as the lucky git won two trophies ( we're doing my car next year ) and nice to meet some new faces off the forum , just a same about the drive home but i had a good snooze anyway .

Just had a curry, so not sure what's going to happen tomorrow

I thoroughly enjoyed the day despite the weather and poor turn-out, maybe because being a Concours entrant was an entirely new experience for me. Judging the Show & Shine was cool too and TrevM, Taffy and Mr_C thoroughly deserved their respective awards for their stunning Coupé's

I found everyone approachable and friendly - the rain initially made it hard work as people were sheltering from it and probably thinking "why the heck am I here?" more than "lets make friends" but none-the-less I found everyone to be fine despite me not knowing anyone previously. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to anyone who came up to talk to me/ask questions about the car (including MattCoupe )...I maybe even convinced one guy to buy a Coupé & join the club/forum!

It is difficult when you turn up at such an event as we rarely know what one another looks like until the day and are hidden behind nicknames on here but it's a two-way street for all concerned - however maybe for future events we should decide on a focal meeting/gathering point to use throughout the day and make sure all attending know about it beforehand but also attempt (time & other committments permitting) to "meet & greet" all owners as they arrive?

I'd also like to say a big thank you to Alexis (Begbie) for organising things as a lesser man would've looked out the window this morning and decided not to bother!

Ahem, you forgot someone...

I bust a nut trying to talk to everyone at last years Auto Italia event, indeed I do at all the events I go to. I tend to spend so much time hanging about the tent and walking up to people I have never met, that I actually miss getting arround the rest of the show.

Last year I try to come and have a chat with you Mrs Lickyl, just after I took that photo I posted recently. When I said hello I got the distinct impression that you wished for me to leave, so I did

This friendly thing is a two way street and you will only ever get back what you are prepared to put in. If you come away from an event and can't name three other people that were there then I suggest that perhaps you wern't being as friendly as you may think At Spa this weekend I will be doing my best to meet and greet as many of the new faces as possible.

Bob

THE FAT BLOKE THAT LOOKS A BIT LIKE BOCKERS
MOST LIKELY TO BE FOUND IN OR NEAR THE CLUB GAZEEBO
HAS A GREEN 20VT WITH A PRIVATE PLATE
& IF IT IS SUNNY WILL HAVE A PINK HEAD.

All pictures of me must be checked before they are posted

I had a good day despite the weather and thanks to Begbie for sorting it all out. Its a shame people feel that no one wanted to meet/talk to them but, as a few have said if you dont know what anyone looks like its hard to say hello although It was nice to meet the people I did

Congrats to MrC, cracking Coupe you have there and a well deserved win

Taffy

The bloke that usually has a ciggy in his mouth and a bottle of Pepsi max in his back pocket (For future reference )

In fairness Mrs Lickyl you were with three other people last year and it is difficult to walk up to a group of 4 and introduce yourself...perhaps it's just me. I wanted to say hello as I thought you and your old man had worked hard to get your car into shape. I think people find it easy to say hello when it's one on one when you dont know anyone.

Right, here's some pics!




Oh and this is what I look like

3 truly beautiful cars in the Concourse guys!!!