by Derek Meluzio –
There are certain car shows or major concours that you circle on your calendar or you think about them and plan for them months in advance. Heck, I know literally the day after the Carlisle Import & Performance Nationals conclude I am already sending emails and brainstorming for the next one.
There is something fun about that. You know each year you are going, you have history with the event, and like any hardcore car person you think about it ahead of time. The anticipation is part of the enjoyment.
Morgan
MG
All that being said, I had a far different experience this past weekend. I knew nothing about this event ahead of time. I honestly didn’t even know it was scheduled to take place. Quite frankly it involved marques that I traditionally did not follow closely. Typically I am a German and Italian car lover. British cars I have an appreciation for and respect for the history but I am not as knowledgeable as I could or maybe even
should be.
Caterham
A few years back Mini was the featured marque at the U.S. Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. I attended and after walking through the paddock and watching from the stands I was a believer! The cars were amazing, the people were friendly and the race saw over 20 Mini vehicles take the green flag with the famed Doug Peterson winning the feature in the Fortech Mini.
TVR
Recently my son was hired by Morgan Cars Mid Atlantic in Lewisberry, PA. They are located in the same building as Europa Macchina the restoration facility. He started telling me more and more each day about the Morgan Plus Four and the Super 3. On the restoration side of things he often works on British cars as well. Specifically he spent lots of time working on a Jaguar engine.
Jaguar
Knowing all that, fast forward to Sunday August 25th in Altoona Pennsylvania. My younger son plays youth ice hockey and his team was playing the Mid State Mustangs at Galactic Ice Rink. We pulled into the parking lot and I was early so I dropped him off and decided I was going to make a quick run to get coffee. Another dad on the team asked where I was going. I told him I was making a quick coffee run and I asked if he wanted any. He said “no thank you” and then told me, “huh, I figured knowing you, you’d head to the car show next door.”
Lotus
I asked him what he was talking about. He filled me in and it turns out adjacent to the rink is Lakemont Park which was hosting the 30th Anniversary British Car Festival. After a quick Google search later I discovered it is an amusement park located in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It opened in 1894 as a trolley park and became an amusement park in 1899. It is the 8th oldest amusement park in the United States and is the perfect setting for a car show.
Complete luck. An example of me being in the right place at the right time. My son had two games that day and luckily for me I had plenty of time to walk the whole show field, see the cars, talk to the owners, and see my son play as well. How crazy? I knew nothing about this event ahead of time, stumbled on it by complete accident, and yet it turned out to be one of the best car events I have attended.
Austin Healey
It was hosted by Central PA British Car Club. It was a multi day event with the car show on Sunday being the center piece. Variety really is the spice of life. So many different British marques were there. MG, Morgan, Triumph, Lotus, Caterham, Bentley, TVR, Jaguar, Austin Healey, Mini, and more. The attendees and owners were all very friendly. They enjoyed talking about their cars and answering my many questions.
Morris
Jaguar
The car gods were shining down on me for sure. I got lucky and discovered a great show when I wasn’t even looking. I own a silver Porsche and a red Alfa Romeo but after this event I can see a British Racing Green car parked in my driveway before too long.
Below is a short video.
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR: Derek Meluzio grew up in a car loving family in Central, PA. He still lives there with his wife, daughter, and car loving sons. Derek is an amateur autocrosser who attends track events, Concours/shows, and Cars and Coffee events all over. He has an appreciation for all cars but especially anything Porsche.
Derek, thanks for telling us about this event! I visited that beautiful park for the first time last summer, and as you say, it is an ideal spot for a car show. British car people are very enthusiastic about their cars. I’ll put this on my calendar for next year.
I really is a diamond in the rough. Beautiful area, right down the street was a REALLY nice minor league baseball stadium plus the park had all kinds of things to do.
As a lover of British cars – this looks like a great event!
It really was. I grew up watching SCCA HP class races and always had an appreciation for British sportscars. Its funny… dad raced SCCA showroom stock racing which was great and had modern day (for the 80’s and 90’s) cars and close competitive racing but the production classes had so many older British cars and they were loud and smelled better. They smelled like real race cars! That was where I learned about British cars.
That and the FORTECH Mini…man that thing was a beast back in the day and it was so cool seeing it race at the Glen a few years ago in 2018.