Archive for the 'News' Category

2016 was a busy year for the club. So busy that we didn’t get much chance to update the website. So by way of catching up here is a round-up of what we got up to:

May 2016 – The show season started with the big one: The National Kit Car Show at Stoneleigh. This has already been reported below, but is worth mentioning again in preparation for Stoneleigh 2017 on Sunday April 30th and Monday May 1st.  The club will be taking a large plot again and plan to attend with a marquee and barbeque for our AGM.

At the end of May we also squeezed in two events at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon. The Gaydon Festival of Transport was just one week before the National Metro and Mini Show, so a couple of Midas owners found themselves visiting Gaydon twice. However, free entry to the museum and the heritage collection, as well as the vehicles of the show itself, meant that there was plenty of interest to see on both occasions.

June 2016 – The club attended the Bristol Classic Car Show – see below- and the following weekend we also had a small plot at Castle Combe for the Classic, Kit and Retro action day.  This show continues to grow and this year the trade contingent was more focused on track action, so more cars were out on track.  The weather was excellent until just before 4.00pm when dark clouds started to gather to the West. We all headed back to our cars and those of us in convertibles just had enough time to erect the roofs before the heavens opened up.

July 2016 – The Alternative Cars Open Day and MOC Barbeque is now a strong feature on the club calendar. It is the only event each year solely dedicated to Midas Cars and the best chance to talk shop.   2016 saw a turn out of around a dozen cars and several more owners in attendance who hope to bring their cars in future.  Our run of excellent weather was finally broken, but only in the afternoon after we had already finished off the barbeque and held an informal club meeting.

September 2016 – August is always a quiet month, but September more than makes up for it.  For owners in the South West the month starts with the Haynes Rare Breeds Show.  This year a new format meant that a club patch could not be guaranteed. Consequently, the three Midas owners who did attend found that their cars were parked far apart. Hopefully things will improve for next year.  

The following weekend was the National Mini Day at Stanford Hall, where the club was represented by five cars. This included two Midas Bronze Decathlons, some of the last cars to come out of the Corby factory. Of the ten Decathlons sold, four belong to current club members. So hopefully we can get them all together in the near future.

Then the very next Saturday we were out in our cars again for the Mini Action Day at Castle Combe. Another MOC favourite.  A late change of date meant that the event had lost its “last Saturday in September” slot and this evidently was not met with enthusiasm as attendance was down generally and the trade stand contingent (one of the best features of the show) was particularly affected.

The members of the Midas Owners didn’t let that dampen their enthusiasm and at one point we managed to cram nine cars onto our stand. However, with several owners partaking in lapping sessions and a large contingent joining the lunchtime parade lap, the stand was not too crowded for very long.

November 2016 –  With the Exeter Kit Car Show now just a distant memory, the club again attended the Bristol Classic Vehicle Restoration Show at The Royal Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet. 

This year, without the Mini Marcos Owners Club joining us, we took a smaller stand and made up for quantity with quality.  David Stephens’ newly painted Gold Coupe grabbed a lot of attention, but the Mk2s of Brian Badcock and Meredith Phillips were equally smartly presented and also got a lot of interest.  Outside in the classic cars car park we were represented by a pair of Gold Coupes, those of Kelvin Kinkaid and Alistair Courtney who both helped out on the stand.

Once again this proved to be an excellent show to end the season. What it lacks in warm weather it makes up for in friendliness and we look forward to attending again next year.

So that was it for 2016, but 2017 is now upon us and the calendar page will soon be filling up with events for this year so remember to keep an eye on it for news of the club’s activities.

MOC stand being prepared on Saturday morning

For our first venture for the club into classic car shows we could not have dreamed of a better show.

The club members rallied round and we ended up with more cars than we could fit on our stand!

Fortunately, the last bit of empty space was just across the aisle so we set up a satellite stand there for a couple more cars.

Stephen Jiggins and Tony Moss on the MOC satellite stand

Guests of honour were Roger and Melanie Garland representing the Mini Marcos Owners Club, further cementing the ties between our two clubs.  As the Mini-Marcos is celebrating its 50th birthday this year and both the Mk3 Midas Gold Coupe and the Mk4 2+2/Cortez are celebrating their 30th and 20th birthdays respectively, we felt it appropriate to give the stand a party theme.  The cars were adorned with balloons and birthday banners, whilst cake was shared out among the club members present.

And a slight remix of the cars for Sunday morning.

The show consisted of three large halls for the cars and another one for trade stands. A few more trade stands were situated in the corridor between the main halls and a small autojumble was situated outside. To add further variety a classic car auction was held in another hall, whilst classic and kit car owners were parked on the tarmac right next to the halls.

The Kit Car hall was a new idea for the show itself and thanks must go to Ian Stent of Complete Kit Car magazine for arranging it.  The show’s organizers were very pleased with the content of the hall and the positive response from the visiting public.  They expect to repeat the exercise next year and the Midas Owners Club hopes to be able to attend again.

This year’s event took place on Sunday 19 July.  Over 50 people  and  15 Midas Cars turned out for the day.

With 1 Mk2 Coupe, 4 Mk3 Gold Coupes, 4 Gold Convertibles, 4 Mk4 Cortez Coupes and two Excelsior convertibles present, just about every model was represented and, if you include the cars being worked on in Alistair’s workshop, every model was there.

As usual tea, coffee and cake was served on arrival and everybody got into the swing by talking about important matters, i.e. our Midas Cars.

The Owners’ Club Barbeque soon got fired up and we all tucked into a lunch of burgers. hot-dogs and chicken drumsticks (there were also some salad side dishes available for those seeking something healthier).

Continue reading ‘2015 Open Day and MOC barbeque.’

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of David Johnson at the beginning of June.   David had been our Membership Secretary for the last couple of years and had done a great job of sorting out the membership records and boosting our numbers.

He will be greatly missed by us all. Not just as our Membership Secretary, but also as a great Midas enthusiast who regularly attended events in his Midas.

A small delegation of Midas owners attended David’s funeral and joined other mourners in remembering a man who embraced life with much enthusiasm, joy and good humour.

Minutes of Midas Owners Club AGM at Stoneleigh, May 4 2014

The 2014 Annual General Meeting of the Midas Owners Club took place on Sunday 4th May at the Stoneleigh Kit Car Show. The meeting was well attended and operated objectively. Officers present were Josie Horsley – Hon Chairman; Tony Moss – Hon Secretary; Michael Horsley – Hon Treasurer and Kelvin Kincaid – Hon Membership Secretary elect.

Continue reading ‘Minutes of Midas Owners Club AGM at Stoneleigh May 4 2014’