Show Reports 2025
See all the Show Reports from 2025, most recent first.
These will appear as soon as the show season gets underway! All our events are now booked and confirmed. Please go to "All 2025 Events" to see the 2025 Events Calendar. Breakfast Meet and Drive-It Run - Nyton House Westergate, West Sussex, - 3rd August 2025Nyton House Breakfast Meet and Drive-It 2025 We were all up bright and early on Sunday 3rd August, for the combined Breakfast Meet/Drive-It and visit to Nyton House. At the Chalet Café where we met for the start of the day we were joined by around 50 shiny motor-bikes also enjoying a breakfast meet on a pleasant Sunday morning. As it was quite early it was still a bit chilly, however around 25 classics arrived to enjoy the meeting and join in the Drive-It with the opportunity for a breakfast before we set off. We were well briefed by Phil and off we set across the County toward Nyton House. En-route a very enjoyable stop at Pulborough Garden Centre. Another opportunity to enjoy a coffee & cake!! There were some very interesting plants on sale as well as a well stocked garden shop. Another 35 miles of windy West Sussex Country lanes with superb views, made us feel just how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful part of the world. We were invited to the family afternoon at Nyton House, to display our beautifully restored cars of yesteryear. The residents of Nyton House enjoyed looking at the cars, many remembering them from their younger days. The weather improved and it was a sunny day and everyone was taking advantage of enjoying the surroundings and chatting with friends. Kay who is the Manager of Nyton House had arranged for a vocalist to entertain the residents and visitors, a free BBQ & bar for visitors. Entertainment for children and she even arranged the weather! Donations were requested for the BBQ to go to our Charity Partners, as you are probably aware this year it's the Motor Neurone Disease Association, West Sussex South and £446 was generously raised What a great way to spend an afternoon & raise money for the Charity. A massive thank-you to Kay & her team for their generosity & warm welcome. We are already looking forward to next year. The full set of photographs of the event can be seen in the Photo Gallery page on the following link: Click here on this link for the gallery of photographs of the show. Motor Neurone Disease Association Family Funday, Broadwater Green, Worthing, West Sussex, - 6th June 2025MND Association Family Funday, Sunday 6th July A big thankyou to all those who turned out to support the MND Association Funday. As well as a good turn-out from Southern Classics there were Military Vehicles, a police car, fire engines, low loaders with American Cars together with representatives from the National Chopper Bike Club who presented MND Association with a cheque in memory of past members who have lost their fight with this horrible disease. The weather forecast was dubious but luckily it held off until 4.00pm when there was a tremendous downpour with thunder, lightning and temporary surface water. Quite a clean-up operation. However the day was a success and around £6,000 was made for the West Susses South Branch of the Association which will go to support the 50 local people living with Motor Neurone Disease.. SCS Charity Show - Leonardslee Gardens, Lower Beeding, West Sussex, - 15th June 2025Leonardslee Gardens Charity Event 2025 As always Leonardslee didn't disappoint. An excellent turnout and an interesting display of Classics-they get better every year. It was good to see the Corvette Display again, it all goes towards supporting the Motor Neurone Disease Association, West Sussex South, our charity partners this year. Having a good time while doing good things. The Leonardslee staff are so helpful and those that went will know, many interesting attractions: - The beautiful garden setting and the lakes - The statues - The Wallabies - The Wildlife - The Vineyard - The Dolls House - Excellent restaurant - Attractive Garden Shop - Plus, of course, the Cars! Leonardslee Gardens presented us with a free visit for 4; plus 2 bottles of wine, which we raffled separately from our usual raffle. So a big thank you to them. Congratulation to our winners! However all the cars are winners for the love, care and effort that goes in to keeping these cars of latter years on the road. Thank you to Leonardslee for allowing us to hold our charity event in such a beautiful setting. East Preston Festival Classic Car Show, East Preston Village Green, West Sussex, - 8th June 2025East Preston Festival Classic Car Show 2025 This was a really delightful show, small but beautifully put together. It was quite an honour to be part of this well-attended yearly Festival. There were many activities going on in the Village and the Car Show was one of the first events. I would like to think one of the most popular and we are hoping for an invite again next year When you look at the Village Green it's hard to imagine that 50 cars can fit onto the green, but they did! The pictures tell their own story of the day and for those that attended I am sure they will agree that it was a good day out.. The full set of photographs of the event can be seen in the Photo Gallery page on the following link: Click here on this link for the gallery of photographs of the show. Classic Car Show - Clapham & Patching Village Green, Clapham & Patching, West Sussex, - 18th May 2025Clapham & Patching Village Green Show 2025 We haven't used the Clapham and Patching ex-cricket ground for many years now as the Lavender Line cancelled us at the eleventh hour, due to lack of volunteers (now a problem with many organisations), we had to think fast. As this was to be our first show of the year, Phil dug deep into the grey matter and saved the day by securing a booking with Clapham and Patching. It is a delightful setting, nestling under the South Downs and we had approximately 80 cars turn up to the event. Admittedly there is no extra attraction at Clapham, apart from the views! However on a financial basis, a whole lot cheaper, you get what you pay for & in this instance we did rather well. On de-brief the Committee felt it was a good site and a good show. It will more than likely feature in our 2026 programme. It also has a superb pavilion, so we have booked it for our AGM following the Drive In. Plenty of space to display the cars and more space for the meeting. Win-Win The full set of photographs of the event can be seen in the Photo Gallery page on the following link: Click here on this link for the gallery of photographs of the show. Classic Car Show - Amberley Heritage Museum, Amberley, West Sussex, - 11th May 202511h May Southern Classics at the Amberley Museum by Robert Spence, Treasurer Although I have been to Amberley many times, both as a walk-in customer, and also with the Alfa on show, this was the first time displaying my car with Southern Classics. Mainly because this was the first time that SCS has held one of our shows within the confines of this wonderful museum Thanks go to John Place, our Membership Secretary, who has often displayed his 1948 Land Rover at the museum, for booking the venue for our first vehicle show of the year. This show was different from our usual shows as it was a "lock in". Vehicles needed to be on site and parked up by 10 am, when the public were allowed in. There was a small charge for each car and all occupants of £10 (normally £18 per adult), with all the money going to support the museum's excellent work and exhibits. Around 40 cars were on show and made a lovely sight parked up around the village green, by the craft and woodworking display area and up to the fire station. Roger Pennigton, our Web Master and photographer extraordinaire photographed all the cars and much more around the museum. Please do have a look at the Web Site to view his photos. Throughout the day the club's gazebo received a steady stream of visitors, chatting with members of the committee, buying regalia and oil, and five signing up as members. The location of the show is always a joy to visit. As mentioned, I've been to Amberley many times over the years and each time I go I find something else to see and do. Whilst wandering around near the visitor entrance I found myself in the Cobbler Shop, then the Bagmender's shed and Brewery Display. All with a Dickensian feel about them. Nearby and staffed by wonderful and helpful volunteers was the print shop, producing museum information and postcards. In the same building there is a fully functioning workshop that can make, and mend items as needed to help keep the museum's many artefacts in good order. The wonderful oily smell of the workshop took me back to my school days and metalwork classes. Happy days! As detailed above, Amberley is much more than just a collection of static exhibits and tries as much as possible to have things available for visitors to do. Without a doubt two of the most popular attractions are the train and bus rides. Time seemed to slip me by, and I missed out on a train ride this year, but I did take a ride on the truly wonderful pre-war open top South Downs double decker bus. Another very special bus is the 1937 South Downs Leyland Cub single decker bus. For a bus of its age, it is not surprising that it has had an interesting life. In 1954 it was sold out of service to a Sussex Dramatic Society and used to transport props and act as a mobile changing room. In 1969 it was purchased for preservation, changing hands a few times and eventually in 2002 passing to the Southdown Omnibus Trust. It was totally restored at Amberley, being completed in 2013. The garage where the bus is stored on the Amberley site has a story to tell too. The "Storrington Garage" is the second of the South Downs bus garages on the site, however due to its location is often overlooked by visitors as it is next to the excellent Roads and Road Making Exhibition. They are both near the front of the museum but out of sight over to the right-hand side of the museum. "Southdown" was formed in 1915 and inherited the garage from Worthing Motor Services. It is called a "Dormy Shed" which provided overnight garaging of buses with local crews able to complete early and late journeys away from the main depots at Worthing and Brighton. The building became redundant in 1996 and was purchased, transported, and re-erected at the museum by the Bus Group. In addition to garaging the "Cub", the garage also houses two period South Downs support vehicles. Amberley Museum provided an outstanding event and venue for our first 2025 vehicle show. It's fair to say that the weather played an important role, with blue skies and perfect temperatures. However, you don't have to wait for a Southern Classics event before you visit the museum. If you have never been, or not been for a while, do make time to go there. I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Southern Classics extends thanks to Penny and her colleagues for allowing us to be part of the museum, and thanks to John Place for his work in setting it all up. The full set of photographs of the event can be seen in the Photo Gallery page on the following link: Click here on this link for the gallery of photographs of the show. National Drive-It Day - Hollycombe Steam Museum, Liphook, - 27th April 2025"DRIVE-IT" DAY by Deirdre Plumridge "Drive-it" Day dawned bright & sunny if a little misty. The forecast was good and we set off in our Jaguar XJ6 Sovereign anticipating an enjoyable day in pleasant company. We were not disappointed. We arrived at the meeting point - The Tea-Thyme Café (although no longer called that) in Hassocks - in good time and looking forward to our breakfast. Bearing in mind that the new owners of the café had only been installed for two weeks and were struggling with a toaster that kept tripping the electrics they did a good job. They served a good breakfast with a smile and a cheerful word. I hope we can continue to support them. After breakfast Phil was ready with his trusty clipboard ticking us off his list, issuing sheets of instructions and tickets for our ultimate destination - Hollycombe Working Steam Museum. So armed with instructions, map book and satnav we ventured off into the wilds of the Sussex countryside. We enjoyed a delightful drive in bright sunshine, the trees beautiful in their fresh spring leaves and swathes of bluebells in the woodland. Pretty Sussex villages and wonderful long views over the countryside added to the pleasure. Finally, having made only one error in the map reading we arrived at Hollycombe and were greeted by cheerful and friendly volunteers from the Museum. The rest of the afternoon was spent enjoying the exhibits all running on steam and offering rides operated by enthusiastic volunteers. We rode the galloping horses, had a ride in the steam engine-hauled wagon and a trip on the narrow-gauge railway round the woodland grounds of the estate with long views over the Weald and patches of scented bluebells amongst the trees. Finally it was time to go home. The drive was almost as enjoyable as the outward journey with the low sun and more of the Sussex countryside to see. Thank you Phil for a very enjoyable day and all your hard work in preparing the route for us. The full set of photographs of the event can be seen in the Photo Gallery page on the following link: Click here on this link for the gallery of photographs of the show.
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