2019 started with another visit to the NEC in March for the Practical Classics Classic Car and Restoration Show. We were blessed with our largest stand yet and managed to find five excellent examples of the Midas marque to fill it.
Once again we had many visitors including a return visit by Alex Riley of The One Show fame. In 2018 we had learned that Alex was a big fan of the Midas marque and knew the history of the cars. However, we discovered that he had never actually sat in one before and so we gave him the chance to try out Richard Streets’ Convertible for size (Alex is too tall for either the Mk1, or Mk2, without a Bulgin style floor!) So the next step for Alex is to actually drive a Midas.
The next event for the Midas Owners Club was the National Kit Car Show at Stoneleigh. Held on its traditional May bank holiday weekend, this is usually the biggest gathering of Midas cars each year and 2019 did not disappoint.
Our club area had been moved from its usual location due to the Stoneleigh showground losing a large chunk of land to HS2, but we all found our spot okay and gathered in the tent for our AGM.
This year Roy Forrester’s Decathlon Mk2 took the Best Midas award after Roy had tidied up a few areas since last year.
With the National Metro and Mini show having moved to August, our next event was a return to Shepton Mallet for the 2019 Bristol Classic Car Show. This year we had a long narrow stand so we had to park in two by two formation, which is not the best way of displaying cars, but nonetheless we had an enjoyable show capped by Meredith’s Mk2 winning a ‘Highly Commended’ award. Since these awards are voted on by the visiting public (and no Midas owners had voted since Tony had lost the voting slips) this was high praise indeed.
In July we gathered at Alternative Cars’ workshop for the annual open day and barbecue. This year we had a larger turn out with twelve cars arriving under their own steam. Comparing the 2019 line up with that of 2018 and it is notable that this year we had five Mk4s arrive, whereas none made it the previous year.
2020 is the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Mk4 and this will be marked at many of the events.
Whilst Midas owners attended both the National Metro and Mini Show at Gaydon in August and the Mini Fair at Stanford Hall in September, there was no official club areas at either event. Hopefully something to be rectified in 2020.
However, this year the club had a special event all of its own: The first Midas customer car was collected from the D & H Fibreglass Techniques factory at the end of August 1978 and to mark this important anniversary in the history of the Midas marque the club organised a gathering at the original factory site in Greenfield, near Oldham.
The current owners of the site, Robert Scott Ltd, kindly opened up their car park for our gathering where we were met by interested locals, including a former D & H employee, and a journalist from the local newspaper. After the meeting and photo-shoot we headed up and over the moors (and through a torrential downpour) to the Oil Can Cafe.
The next event on the calendar was the Mini Action Day at Castle Combe at the end of September. Usually this event is blessed with excellent weather and whilst the sun did shine brightly on occasion, unfortunately it was between rain showers. This did not deter the club members who turned up and a good day was had by all. The show itself is growing once again, with more and better trade stands and the club had a larger turn out this year.
The final event of the year was once again a visit to the NEC for the Classic Motor Show. Once again another successful show bringing an end to the events of 2019.
2020 marks the club’s 35th anniversary as well as the 25th anniversary of the Mk4 Midas and we will be kicking off again at the PCCCRS at the NEC in March.