V8 Dinner, Friday 13th June 2008, V8 Register, MG Car Club

V8 30th Anniversary Dinner
Friday 13th June 2008 - evening
A dinner to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the V8 Register will be held at Sywell Aerodrome near Northampton on Friday 13th June 2008. It will be a natural high point of the anniversary week as many members arrive for the Club's annual long weekend International MG Meeting at Silverstone.

The V8 Dinner will have the traditions and brisk format of many of the memorable V8 Dinners held at Sulgrave in the 1980s and early 1990s. Members will gather from 7.15pm beforehand in the attractive art deco clubhouse at Sywell Aerodrome for dinner at 8.00pm prompt. We will have the traditional eight brief V8 toasts and then the presentation of our awards including the Chris Dodds Award, the Ian Lloyd Cup and the Geoff Allen Cup.

Ulf and Ulla Lindquist from Sweden came over with their MGBGTV8 for the V8 25th Anniversary week of events and enjoyed the V8 Dinner. They went on to tour Scotland enjoying continued good weather that year. (Photo: Victor Smith)

The V8 Dinners at Sulgrave back in the 1980s were very lively events with a great deal of humour and few flat spots. Members who attended those dinners will remember some of the impromptu speeches that accompanied the traditional eight V8 toasts - an Australian member's HMSO story and David Franklin's outrageous punchline with his joke which caused June Wallis to gasp are just two!

What are the arrangements for booking a place for the V8 Dinner?

Prior booking is necessary to secure a place for members and their guests. The tickets are £31.00 including VAT. Guests are welcome to attend the event.

Online booking is straighforward and covenient with secure payment with most debit and charge cards through the secure payment processing services provided by WorldPay, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland. Book your place online now

Where is Sywell Aerodrome?
It is just a few miles north east of Northampton, not far from both the M1 to the west and the A1 to the east. Location maps are available online which you can download to help you find the aerodrome. More

Overnight accommodation at Sywell Aerodrome
To avoid driving late at night after the dinner, overnight accommodation is available at the Aviator Hotel, an art deco building that was the clubhouse and officers' mess in the thirties. Contact the Aviator Hotel for further information and bookings - Karen Joseph on 01604 642111. GPS Postcode: NN6 0BN
www.aviatorhotel.co.uk

Check the bookings for the V8 30th Anniversary Week

Need additional information?
The coordinator for this event is Lesley Smith who can be contacted by email or telephone at 0208 392 9434

Dress: the dinner is not black tie but, as with many members' motoring club dinners, it is semi-formal where blazers, sports jackets or even flying overalls will be welcome. Of course the ladies have a way of knowing how to dress for such occasions but Lesley will offer guidance if required! The dining room is known as the Cirrus Room and has been well refurbished in its original 1930s art deco style.

What are the annual awards made by the V8 Register?
Chris Dodds Memorial Award The award was first made back in 1982 in memory of the late Chris Dodds, a most enthusiastic V8 member in Australia. It is traditionally awarded to "the member who has made a major contribution to the V8 Register". Previous holders of the annual trophy have included David Franklin for his amazing trouncing of the full race BCV8 cars with his standard roadgoing MGBGTV8 at a wet Silverstone in the 1980s - an extraordinary, edge of the seat spectacle that many V8 enthusiasts still recall today! Over the years the award has since been held by Walter Kallenberg for the amazing German sausages he brought over from Germany for many of the annual V8BBQs, Phyllida Maude-Roxby for arranging the 1984 V8 Dinner, Colin Pearcy for his success in campaigning an MGBGTV8 on the track, the late Geoff Allen and Jean for their generous help and assistance for V8 members, Jerry Bright for his long service as V8 Treasurer, Dugald MacNeil for services to V8 members, Andy and Jayne Harding for their work in making videos of the V8 Tours, Ron Armstrong for his work on the V8 Tours, Dave Wellings for his technical support to V8 members, and Bryan Ditchman for his work as Editor of the RV8 Workshop Notes series. The award is sometimes described as an "ocasional trophy" mainly because with only 12 awards in 20 years, it's clear the award has gone missing from time to time! In 2007 the award was made to Gordon Hesketh-Jones for his longstanding support for MGBGTV8s and the V8 Register. The Chris Dodds Cup is held by the awardholder for one year only and returned for presentation to a new awardholder.	Ian Lloyd Cup This trophy was first awarded in 2002 in memory of a very popular and cheerful RV8 and MGBGTV8 enthusiast , the late Ian Lloyd. The trophy is "awarded to a member who has brought good cheer and humour to the V8 Register over many years". Margaret Lloyd presented the first award to David Waterton at Silverstone in 2002 and was clearly delighted that this annual trophy would remember Ian on that basis. In 2007 the award was made to Stuart Middlemiss who as a new member of the Register was an active and enthusiastic contributor to the V8 Bulletin Board providing much help and assistance for RV8 owners A new Ian Lloyd Cup is awarded annually and is held thereafter by the award holder	Geoff Allen Cup This trophy was awarded for the first time in 2007 in memory of Geoff Allen, a much loved V8 enthusiast. Through his close association with the Abingdon Factory he brought a wealth of technical knowledge to the V8 Register and acted as historian and guardian of the factory records for many years. The award was presented by his wife Jean and was awarded to Walter Kallenberg for his past and ongoing commitment to the V8 Register. A new Geoff Allen Cup is awarded annually and is held thereafter by the award holder.