Interford 2002

O

ur preparation for the Interford show actually started in late July, several weeks before the event, when we began to polish him and pay a bit more attention to the paintwork and interior, the intention being to get him gleaming and pretty for the day.

But we’ll skip right forward to the 11 August, the day of the event. With the car loaded (the essentials - twelve litres of water, the bucket, sponges, chamois leather, polish, shampoo, wheel cleaner, tyre black, my lunch and the DervChair), I set off from York at 04:40, in darkness. It was my intention to leave earlier than necessary, because I was planning on taking my time driving there, so as to avoid excessive bug splat (since the dead bugs would need to be scraped off at the other end). It also gave me plenty of opportunity to stop for a needed breakfast en route, of course!

I arrived at the designated meeting point at 07:45 - at just the right time, to be fair. In total, we had eleven Kas on show - just over half those that were showing at the Ford Fair - but it turned out that the organisers were trying to squeeze us into a stand with space for just eight cars! We casually extended it to nine car spaces /cough for those concerned!/, but were told that we couldn’t use the space behind our row, because this was reserved for another club. However, with the Ka, you can divide nine by eleven! As it happened, the club expected to attend and use the space behind us didn’t turn up in anything like the number expected (one car turned up, although it was an immaculate looking mark one Ford Cortina).

Highlights of the day included the arrival of a twin turbocharged Sierra in great big clouds of smoke, which had grounded on the way there. This had taken out the exhaust, turbochargers, and a few other bits and pieces. It was certainly a dazzling entrance, but not quite what the owner was hoping for!

The Dodge Viper that drove through the Fair caught most peoples’ eyes - unfortunately, by the time I had the camera ready, all I could catch was a fleeting shot of it escaping from the grounds! I suppose the sight of hundreds of Fords would have scared the driver off. (On a technical point, the Viper was later seen parked up outside the museum office).

The Mondeo Owners Club caught my eye, but no sign of the Darth Mondeo I snapped last week. However, this one made me chuckle. There was also a lovely looking ST200 sitting pretty next to a brand new five door Focus ST170.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists invited us to take part in a car control test. Some of us did, some thought that they were far too good for the course and it would be rather unfair. Some individuals did exceptionally well, handbraking the car around the course and generally impressing the judges. Other members did not do so well /cough/, misjudging distances, crunching cones /cough/, stalling the engine, abusing the XR3i and generally showing an apparent /cough/ inability to control the car. I would much rather have done the test in my Ka rather than their Escort, for a number of reasons (the main one being size!). The IAM representative told me that everybody had to do it in the one car, so as to make it fair - of course, it’s very unfair if an Escort-driver does it, since he or she must surely know the size and width of the car! But I digress. I’m also digressing by telling y’all that I completed an application form for the IAM (because /cough/ I think I need the practice).

The Heritage Centre also has an interesting museum, which I would have liked to spend a little bit more time in. As it were, I did manage to spend a little bit of time in there, and take one or two pictures of some of the more interesting cars. This Rover caught my eye, since it was the first concept car that I thought looked “cool” as a lad. But not as cool as the Ka, the concept car that made it into production. Along with the Jaguar XJ220.