(via Peugeot) and a German suspension (via
BMW), but it’s fully British-designed, engineered
and assembled.
You’d be forgiven for thinking this was the
Mini Car Show given how many there were, but
the selection was carefully limited to the more
interesting classics from the two-hundred strong
Pinoy Mini car club. Up front and center was a
lovely blue hatch with a matching trailer fash-
ioned from the rear end of a scrapped Mini. The
front half of the scrapped car, on the other hand,
was doing duty as a barbecue grille.
Other highlights included a pair of Clubman
vans (one with period-correct ‘woody’ trim),
a pickup, a stretch limo (with A/C!), a Moke
off-roader, and several race replicas. There
were enough Yokohama cross-tread A 539 s and
Minilites to supply an army, but the adoring
crowd didn’t seem to mind. Personally, seeing a
tiny A-series four-pot with Dual Webers tickled
our fancy, and the “Fast and Furious” Ford Escort
tribute was so cheeky we wanted to throw our
checkbook at the owner, right then and there, in
exchange for the keys. Who doesn’t want a Paul
Walker Mini? The tribute was doubly fitting,
because the rally-bred Escort was a purely British
project. We’re hoping to see a few, along with
some Cortinas and other British Fords, at next
year’s show.
The heritage display, meanwhile was as-
sembled with some support from the Manila
Sports Car Club. Though Willie Soong’s Jaguar
E-Type won the Heritage Award, we couldn’t
help ogling the arguably rarer bird parked beside
it—his Sunbeam Alpine. This car was the basis
for the mad V8 Sunbeam Tiger, Shelby’s lesser-
known follow-up to the Cobra. One of just a
handful in the country, this car is dearer to Mr.
Soong than his E-Type, considering he has owned
it for nearly half a century. He admits that for a
time, misplaced pragmatism saw him replacing
the original engine with a Toyota motor, but he
has since reinstalled the 1.7-liter motor.
His E-Type, on the other hand, is a US-market
V 12. He assures us he’s looking at removing the
Federal five-mph bumpers for a sleeker look.
While we understand the significance of the
E-Type, hence the Heritage Award, the XK 120
displayed beside it—so-named for its 120 mph
( 193 kph) top speed—was perhaps the prettiest
car at the show.
The People’s Choice Award went to Chris
Tengco’s Morris Minor 1000 , which garnered
the most likes on the British Embassy Facebook
page. When you see it in person, you’ll under-
stand why: It’s an immaculate example of the first
British car to breach the million-unit mark, built
right before Morris blew the market open with
the Mini. This one is restored to near-showroom
spec, down to the slightly positive camber of the
front tires. Back in the days of bias-ply radials,
dialing in some understeer was a good thing!
It’s a shame other British icons, like the MGB
and the ‘Frogeye’ Sprite, didn’t make an appear-
ance. We can understand how owners might be
hesitant to have the public poking, prodding and
sitting in/on these fragile vintage models, but the
security and atmosphere were pretty good at the
show, and the informal, laid-back public display
was a refreshing change from the loud, crowded
and over-commercialized shows elsewhere.
But there’s always next year. Even better, new
marques like Aston Martin and Lotus should
bolster the new car display selection as well. Who
knows? Perhaps next year, people will get free
rides in a Roller instead of a Rover.
The Brits sure know how
to make their vehicles
show-stoppers. Beautiful!
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