Colorado British Car Conclave 2017

A huge thanks to everyone involved this year! Though we've been coming to the event since we were kids, working other booths, bringing our cars, this was a first for us as a shop and it couldn't have been any more delightful.  We are hugely grateful to our friends and customers who brought cars to showcase with us and to the Conclave organizers who really are the heart of the British car community here.  

Our Eye Spy and Pub Quiz came back with hilarious results (as hoped) and a few of you really went to town to identify the cars who came to the show this year.  We wanted prizes to be fair for everyone who entered so the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards were done by a blind drawing, HOWEVER some of our entries  were priceless, so we've got an "honorable mention" category to follow, this will get you a hot cup of coffee at the shop the next time you are in or a beer if you catch us out in public.... on to 


3rd Place - "Prince of Darkness Kit" Lucas Electric Voodoo Candle, Garlic Necklace, shop rags, quart oil, can carb cleaner...Kristen Shanchan- We're actually going to mail her an O'Reilly's gift certificate- Nobody wants that box, also not sure if the carb cleaner can actually go via USPS. Congrats Kristen!!!

2nd Place - $25 gift certificate to Bruz Brewery... Dwight Eisnach, congrats to you!  Honestly it is a complete coincidence that the Jaguar club president and MG club president were our 1st and 2nd place winners as it really truly was a blind drawing BUT with that said, everyone ought to keep this in mind next time Board Elections come around!

1st Place - Two hours shop time at Ax and Allies- John Fraioli!!!! Again we SWEAR we pulled these entries at random, but are super happy that someone who had one of the funniest and most complete entries won.  John said he didn't want a prize, so keep your eye open at the upcoming MG club meetings, there might be an awesome raffle item to beYou had.

HONORABLE MENTIONS- We had so much fun reading our quiz results, thank you all for being such great sports...

#1 "You and several friends from the Self Preservation Society are returning from a brief work trip to Italy when your bus has an unfortunate accident in the Alps, is there a way to safely remove your valuables from the vehicle?" If you've seen The Italian Job or you own a Mini, you're already in on the joke... the answer to this question has been in debate since 1969 when the film came out.  Honorable mentions go to Kevin George and John Fraioli for having what we'd assume was the closest answer to the actual problem, our favorite answers... "Nothing is safe in Italy" from Jon Strader and "if you go to Italy, the pick pockets already have your valuables" from Ken Van Cleve.

#2 "How much is a Whit worth"  "More than Metric" Vince Quick

#3 "Define Negative Earth"The dirt that cakes on the bottom of your HealeyNed Avary, "The right way to wire stuff" Handwriting illegible, "The opposite of Positive Earth" Dennis Devore, "Anything below the equator" Peter Stout, "When lighting strikes clouds from the ground" Andrew Janiesch

#3.5 What is the safest pub to hide out in during the zombie apocalypse... The Winchester

#4.  Kate and Pippa Middleton both drove off from their respective weddings in iconic British sports cars, can you name them and the significance of each vehicle, who made the better choice?   Kate and Prince William left their nuptials in  an Aston Martin DB6 MkII belonging to his father Charles the Prince of Wales and heir to the crown.  The Aston Marin  runs on bioethanol fuel distilled from surplus British wine.  Pippa Middleton and her husband James Matthews left the wedding in the oldest surviving Jaguar E-type Series 1 Roadster, built in February 1961, she also arrived at the wedding  in 1951 Jaguar MkV drophead coupé driven by her father Mark.  As to which Middleton daughter made the better choice, it is perhaps a question of personal taste though one can hardly imagine that there is actually any surplus wine in England, therefore the Aston Martin's ability to move under its own power is dubious. 

#5. Why is my car leaking?   The almost unanimous answer to this question was "Because it is British"  there were some other honorable mentions... "Because of gravity" Jon Strader, "oil comes from the earth, it needs to return" Ken Van Cleve, "because it still has fluid in it...they stop when empty" Denis Devore, and our favorite "marking it's spot at Ax and Allies" Ned Avary

We've got a slideshow of the Conclave on our facebook page, check it out here, and thanks again for an awesome end of summer!