Run from Cowley to the Pride of Longbridge

Tanya · 9th March 2011, 11:04

Hello everyone,

I am trying to organise a small run from BMW’s Plant Oxford to Cofton Park for the Pride of Longbridge event. I have managed to get BMW to agree to allow me to start from their car park at the plant. However, they have asked for it to be low key with no local publicity, but to be honest, I am amazed that they are letting me do it at all, so I think this is a good start.

My aim is to try and get 20 to 25 good examples of a variety of Cowley built (or with Cowley connections) cars. The idea is that if I can get good examples, get a few good photos of them assembled at the Plant before we set off, some as we leave and then more when we arrive at the Pride of Longbridge, that this will be attractive to BMW and therefore something that they will see is good publicity for them. With a bit of luck and a lot of being extremely nice to BMW, I might be able to slowly grow the run year on year and have a good annual run celebrating the historical connections between Cowley and Longbridge. Well, that’s the hope anyway!

I may have left it a bit late, but I am looking into having some run plaques and flags printed. I think it would be good if I could get it together as it will give it more of a feel of a run and of a celebration of the two plant’s history together.

Anyway, this is where I need your help! We are looking for three or four good examples of Rover 75 that would be prepared to come on the run. It is all free of charge but it would probably mean meeting at BMW at about 7.30 to 8.00am in the morning (need to work this out, but I’m open to views and ideas). I would love to be able to do this and welcome advice, views, comments, support etc. as I have never done anything like this before!

In case it is helpful, my email is ******* and my numbers are *********. Please feel free to pass my details on to anyone one who may be interested in bringing their Rover 75 or in helping in any way!

I hope you hear from you,

Tanya

EDIT: email and contact phone numbers removed. Please PM the OP for details

Reebs · 9th March 2011, 11:12

Sounds like a very interesting proposition Tanya, all credit to you. I'm sure there will be a few members interested in this, I myself sadly do not qualify as both my cars are a product of the Longbridge works.

For personal security reasons as well as to protect you from anti spamming, and also to comply with club rules, I have had to remove your email and contact phone number details, however should anyone wish to get in touch with Tanya directly, please PM her for the contact info I have had to remove.

best of luck with this.

windrush · 9th March 2011, 11:12

Good luck with this Tanya sounds a great idea And May be your convoy could meet up with ours at Bromsgrove for the final push to cofton park the guy to get in touch with over this is Lewis (Rabbit Rover)

Tanya · 9th March 2011, 17:58

Thanks for your encouragement and support.

Reebs – it looks like your coming past Oxford so it would be a shame for you not to join us at the plant if you wanted to as your cars do have a Cowley connection. However, it may make your journey a little longer and possibly slower if you want to ‘keep up’ with the Morris Minors that are hoping to come!

I will get in touch with Lewis and see if we can join with the convoy from Bromsgrove – sounds like a great idea.

I also need advice about the route. Do we go for the straightforward but possibly dull dual carriage way route or get lost going cross country?!

Advice and suggestions welcome please.

Thanks,

Tanya

brrm · 9th March 2011, 18:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanya

I also need advice about the route. Do we go for the straightforward but possibly dull dual carriage way route or get lost going cross country?!

Advice and suggestions welcome please.

I'm coming from Oxford, but not really sure my car qualifies. Happy to tag along if you need to make up 75-related numbers, but won't be offended to be put at the bottom of the waiting list.

As for the route, I'd think A4260 then B4100 looks fairly simple - not sure about how long it'd take, but bound to be less stressful than the M40 for Morris Minors?

Tanya · 12th March 2011, 10:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by brrm

I'm coming from Oxford, but not really sure my car qualifies. Happy to tag along if you need to make up 75-related numbers, but won't be offended to be put at the bottom of the waiting list.

As for the route, I'd think A4260 then B4100 looks fairly simple - not sure about how long it'd take, but bound to be less stressful than the M40 for Morris Minors?

I think your car qualifies! Personally, I have a bit of a problem as I am a mini person and although we do have an early mini, she is a Longbridge mini not a Cowley one, so I don’t think I’m in any position to turn you down!

Anyway, seeing as you’re in Oxford I think you should come to the Plant and also, if you are happy too, you can help me plan and organise it a bit. Look’s like you’ve got ideas on the route which are helpful.

I’m getting somewhere with run plaques and flags, so hopefully we will look and feel like a convoy.

Zircon · 11th April 2011, 18:53

Hi Tanya,

Looking forward (all being well!) to joining up for this convoy as I have one of the later Cowley-built Rover 75s. I'd better do a spot of polishing this week!

Hope to meet up with some of you other guys - either for the convoy - or at Longbridge itself.

Fingers crossed, the sun shines!

All the best,

Nicholas / Zircon

brrm · 17th April 2011, 21:14

From Cowley...

IMG_3685 by brrm, on Flickr

...to Longbridge

IMG_3702 by brrm, on Flickr

Thanks again to Tanya and anyone else who had a hand in organising the Cowley convoy. The V8 returned slightly better MPG than I'm used to at Morris Minor pace

, but a lovely drive up in good automotive company!

More photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brrm/se...7626394434057/

Zircon · 18th April 2011, 17:39

Hi Arthur and everyone,

Excellent photos!

The Cowley run to Longbridge certainly was great fun - and Tanya organised it all in such a friendly and professional way - with free car plaques and flags!

Good to have the chance to say hi to you Trevor - I have posted my own pics which I hope you have seen - if you know how to put a link to make them available to everyone here, perhaps you could do that?

As for the Pride of Longbridge itself - what a great (and free) event. I thought the fact it was non-commercial made it seem like a cross between a village fete and an agricultural show - with cars instead of cattle! Some marvellous cars to admire (some were even not even 75s and MGZts /ZTTs

).

A lot of the success of Saturday I understand is down to a gentleman called John Baker who runs the Austin memories website - a fascinating record - eg if you go to www.austinmemories.com/page6/page6.html there's film of the assembly in World War II at Longbridge of Lancaster and Hurricane aircraft - something I never realised took place there.

All the best,
Zircon/Nicholas

Tanya · 18th April 2011, 20:03

It was a a great run and excellent day all round. Many thanks to Arthur and Nicholas for coming along and helping it be a successful Cowley Convoy – everyone who came was friendly and interesting. Arthur – great photos, thank you for sharing them. I always love The Pride of Longbridge – I think it so clearly shows how much Longbridge has to be proud of.

I’m with Nicholas about John Baker - in my eyes he is truly a legend. The work he does for the website and for the Austin Federation is amazing, in fact it was meeting him a couple of years ago that inspired me to start the Cowley Convoy.

9th March 2011, 11:04	#1
Tanya Newbie None at the moment Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Oxford Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Run from Cowley to the Pride of Longbridge Hello everyone, I am trying to organise a small run from BMW’s Plant Oxford to Cofton Park for the Pride of Longbridge event. I have managed to get BMW to agree to allow me to start from their car park at the plant. However, they have asked for it to be low key with no local publicity, but to be honest, I am amazed that they are letting me do it at all, so I think this is a good start. My aim is to try and get 20 to 25 good examples of a variety of Cowley built (or with Cowley connections) cars. The idea is that if I can get good examples, get a few good photos of them assembled at the Plant before we set off, some as we leave and then more when we arrive at the Pride of Longbridge, that this will be attractive to BMW and therefore something that they will see is good publicity for them. With a bit of luck and a lot of being extremely nice to BMW, I might be able to slowly grow the run year on year and have a good annual run celebrating the historical connections between Cowley and Longbridge. Well, that’s the hope anyway! I may have left it a bit late, but I am looking into having some run plaques and flags printed. I think it would be good if I could get it together as it will give it more of a feel of a run and of a celebration of the two plant’s history together. Anyway, this is where I need your help! We are looking for three or four good examples of Rover 75 that would be prepared to come on the run. It is all free of charge but it would probably mean meeting at BMW at about 7.30 to 8.00am in the morning (need to work this out, but I’m open to views and ideas). I would love to be able to do this and welcome advice, views, comments, support etc. as I have never done anything like this before! In case it is helpful, my email is ***** and my numbers are *****. Please feel free to pass my details on to anyone one who may be interested in bringing their Rover 75 or in helping in any way! I hope you hear from you, Tanya EDIT: email and contact phone numbers removed. Please PM the OP for details** Last edited by Reebs; 9th March 2011 at 11:14.. Reason: removed contact phone numbers and email

9th March 2011, 11:12	#2
Reebs Owners Club Director Rover 75 Conn SE V6 / MG ZT 260 SE V8 / MG ZT 180 SE V6 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 20,941 Thanks: 645 Thanked 6,851 Times in 2,537 Posts	Sounds like a very interesting proposition Tanya, all credit to you. I'm sure there will be a few members interested in this, I myself sadly do not qualify as both my cars are a product of the Longbridge works. For personal security reasons as well as to protect you from anti spamming, and also to comply with club rules, I have had to remove your email and contact phone number details, however should anyone wish to get in touch with Tanya directly, please PM her for the contact info I have had to remove. best of luck with this. __________________ Check your trim here . Check your spec here Check your colour here . Check Project Drive here Check your original price here

9th March 2011, 11:12	#3
windrush This is my second home December 2004 Rover 75 2ltr CDTi Connoisseur SE HL Tourer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Aldershot Posts: 74,464 Thanks: 2,431 Thanked 3,015 Times in 2,347 Posts	Good luck with this Tanya sounds a great idea And May be your convoy could meet up with ours at Bromsgrove for the final push to cofton park the guy to get in touch with over this is Lewis (Rabbit Rover) __________________ ][SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] My Pearl Black Beauty Best regards Lilian and Derek Club Member No. 96 / Forum User No. 111 REGISTRATION to the club as a member FREE, FULL MEMBERSHIP is £10 WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

17th April 2011, 21:14	#8
brrm Avid contributor MG ZT-T 260 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Oxford Posts: 134 Thanks: 1 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	From Cowley... IMG_3685 by brrm, on Flickr ...to Longbridge IMG_3702 by brrm, on Flickr Thanks again to Tanya and anyone else who had a hand in organising the Cowley convoy. The V8 returned slightly better MPG than I'm used to at Morris Minor pace , but a lovely drive up in good automotive company! More photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brrm/se...7626394434057/ __________________ Arthur Bullard Mk1 MG ZT-T 260 #036, Le Mans Green, Press Car http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5309/...5d6b7541_m.jpg

18th April 2011, 17:39	#9
Zircon Loves to post Rover 75 Saloon Club SE Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Guildford Posts: 416 Thanks: 371 Thanked 251 Times in 92 Posts	Hi Arthur and everyone, Excellent photos! The Cowley run to Longbridge certainly was great fun - and Tanya organised it all in such a friendly and professional way - with free car plaques and flags! Good to have the chance to say hi to you Trevor - I have posted my own pics which I hope you have seen - if you know how to put a link to make them available to everyone here, perhaps you could do that? As for the Pride of Longbridge itself - what a great (and free) event. I thought the fact it was non-commercial made it seem like a cross between a village fete and an agricultural show - with cars instead of cattle! Some marvellous cars to admire (some were even not even 75s and MGZts /ZTTs). A lot of the success of Saturday I understand is down to a gentleman called John Baker who runs the Austin memories website - a fascinating record - eg if you go to www.austinmemories.com/page6/page6.html there's film of the assembly in World War II at Longbridge of Lancaster and Hurricane aircraft - something I never realised took place there. All the best, Zircon/Nicholas

9th March 2011, 17:58	#4
Tanya Newbie None at the moment Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Oxford Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Thanks for your encouragement and support. Reebs – it looks like your coming past Oxford so it would be a shame for you not to join us at the plant if you wanted to as your cars do have a Cowley connection. However, it may make your journey a little longer and possibly slower if you want to ‘keep up’ with the Morris Minors that are hoping to come! I will get in touch with Lewis and see if we can join with the convoy from Bromsgrove – sounds like a great idea. I also need advice about the route. Do we go for the straightforward but possibly dull dual carriage way route or get lost going cross country?! Advice and suggestions welcome please. Thanks, Tanya

11th April 2011, 18:53	#7
Zircon Loves to post Rover 75 Saloon Club SE Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Guildford Posts: 416 Thanks: 371 Thanked 251 Times in 92 Posts	Hi Tanya, Looking forward (all being well!) to joining up for this convoy as I have one of the later Cowley-built Rover 75s. I'd better do a spot of polishing this week! Hope to meet up with some of you other guys - either for the convoy - or at Longbridge itself. Fingers crossed, the sun shines! All the best, Nicholas / Zircon

18th April 2011, 20:03	#10
Tanya Newbie None at the moment Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Oxford Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	It was a a great run and excellent day all round. Many thanks to Arthur and Nicholas for coming along and helping it be a successful Cowley Convoy – everyone who came was friendly and interesting. Arthur – great photos, thank you for sharing them. I always love The Pride of Longbridge – I think it so clearly shows how much Longbridge has to be proud of. I’m with Nicholas about John Baker - in my eyes he is truly a legend. The work he does for the website and for the Austin Federation is amazing, in fact it was meeting him a couple of years ago that inspired me to start the Cowley Convoy.