Union Jacks flew proud on the back ends of the British sports
cars lining Third Street as San Jan Bautista hosted the 14th annual
California Autumn Classic Sunday.
Union Jacks flew proud on the back ends of the British sports cars lining Third Street as San Jan Bautista hosted the 14th annual California Autumn Classic Sunday.
The 2006 California Autumn Classic had a record 170 cars register. They arrived from as far north as Eureka and as far south as Santa Maria, and several participants were from Nevada. A grand champion was awarded from a pool of 25 previous winners and 20 silver plaques were awarded to each make of each model entered. The charm of British sports cars includes a shared history with the United States, exciting design, practicality and affordability, said Gary Anderson, former editor of British Car Magazine and owner of a winning 1960 Austin-Healey 3000.
“Each country produces a car that represents their country,” Anderson said.
Anderson described British sports cars as exciting but affordable and best on winding country roads but suitable for highway driving. German sports cars are not exciting, and Italian sports cars are exciting to a fault and cannot be built or maintained using rudimentary tools, Anderson said.
Cars shown included makes from Jaguar, Triumph, Aston-Martin, Austin-Healey, Mini-Cooper, Morgan and Lotus. The cars were from the British sports cars era of the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The heyday of British sports cars was the 1950s, Anderson said.
Jaguar dominated the world-famous 24 Hours of LeMans race in the 1950s with its C-type and D-type cars. The company took sports car design from “straight to curved and then curvaceous,” Anderson said.
The grand champion of the show was David Jensen’s Jaguar XK140, with its long swooping front fenders, white sides, chrome spokes and British racing green body.
Classics were not the only cars on display. There was no category for the newer Mini, but several were allowed on display along Third Street.
The Mini shares its own special place in British sports car history.
“The longest running produced car in any one place and any one time,” Anderson said.
Production of the Mini began in 1959 as a response to the 1956 Suez Crisis and petrol rationing. Soon the Mini “blew up the European rally races in the 1960s,” Anderson said.
Show organizer Bill Meade said the entrants themselves vote on each other’s categories to award the plaques. The event organizers convene and pick the grand champion.
The show moved to San Juan in 2000, Meade said. San Juan provides a perfect environment for couples who wish to take advantage of shopping and see the British beauties in one trip. San Juan also lends its own historical ambiance to the classic cars on display.
“The town was very welcoming,” Meade said. “The town fits the cars.”
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335, or
mv*********@fr***********.com
.
