A trip to White Waltham

It might be 180 miles or so from Special HQ but a trip up the M4 for Berkshire and District Classic Car Club’s evening meeting was entirely worth it. Held at White Waltham Airfield, just outside Maidenhead, the venue is home to the West London Aero Club.

The airfield has a fantastic history, the de Havilland family buying the land (around 200 acres) to create the De Havilland school of flying. During the war it was acquired by the Ministry of Defence and became headquarters of the Air Transport Auxiliary, which delivered aircraft to and from RAF bases.

With that history it makes a great venue and with a sizable number of cars turning up on a sunny summer evening there could be few better places to be. Of course the guv’nor was taken by the Nissan President and an early-’70s Aussie Chrysler saloon. Who doesn’t like a four-door?

But if more-doors aren’t your thing, what about no doors? A ‘proper’ beach buggy in just-right metallic purple and sitting on a set of slot mags did the job correctly – speaking of doing it correctly the patinated A35 van was just right too.

Other delights? Of course, the Lancia Y10 and a bubble-arched Anglia 105E. Sometimes Anglias don’t wear bubble arches well, but this one showed how it can look dead right.

Much respect also to the Citoren Dyane and the E30 BMW with the entirely appropriate registration plate.