June 30th 2018. A nice little day trip........to Paignton!

Saturday June 30th was the show day for the Triumph 2000 Register National Day at Whitehills Country Park in Paignton, Devon. 

Due to other commitments I couldn't spare a few days away, or even the whole weekend there, so I decided to just make a day of it. I know it's along way to go just for the day, but the event was celebrating 50 years of the Mk1 Pi and the organisers wanted to try and get as many there as possible. So, seeing as I own a Mk1 Pi, I thought I would make the effort. 

Richard Warr decided he fancied going so he came down on the Friday night and stayed at mine. We settled for a curry with just a couple of beers knowing we had an early start the next morning.

We left my house at Leigh On Sea, Essex at the ungodly hour of 4.40am and after a quick top up of fuel were soon on our way. We did plan to knock a good chunk off the journey before stopping for breakfast, but we were having such a good drive in the sunshine and before we knew it, we were pulling up on the site at Paignton at 9am. 

We received a warm welcome from club officials and were given pride of place on the front row where the Mk1 Pi's were to be lined up. 

Breakfast was next on the agenda and very good it was too. Lots of cars were starting to arrive and we both enjoyed meeting people we hadn't seen for a while. 

There were some beautiful cars there and some very original Mk1 Pi's as well. 

The weather was absolutely glorious and it was a fantastic day all told. I think in total there were over 80 cars in attendance and an unbelievable 14 Mk1 Pi's. I said to Richard that this event was worth coming to as this would probably be the last time we will ever see that many Mk1 Pi's all in one place. 

I was really pleased with my Pi. It was a blistering hot day and she performed well. We left around 5pm and with some spirited driving made it home at 8.45pm

The round trip was 488 miles in total and we reckon we had used approximately £90 to £100 in fuel. Not too bad considering we hadn't exactly been hanging about. 

The 2000 Register National Day is up in the North East next year. Another day trip?  Hmmm.....might be a bit too much that one. We shall have to see. =)