The V8 AGM was held at 12.30pm at the V8 Marquee and attended by many V8 members. The meeting was chaired by David Waterton as the V8 Chairman, Al Barnett, was unable to attend because of a prior commitment in Italy made in 2006 before the Club's Silverstone dates for 2007 were confirmed. As many members know our dates are always uncertain until the F1 Circus decides when the F1 meeting will be held at Silverstone. This year the confirmation was quite late at the beginning of the year.

Minutes of the V8 AGM held at Silverstone in June 2006 were approved by the members present. Copy

V8 Chairman's report was given by David Waterton on behalf of Al Barnett. Copy

V8 Secretary Dr Gavin Bailey reported briefly on his year as secretary.

V8 financial report was given by the V8 Treasurer, Jim Gibson. In summary the V8 Register continues to generate income from the sale of workshop notes, regalia items, and arranging annual V8 Tours. The principal expenses are the costs of the annual tour and the various website costs. A healthy surplus was maintained in 2006 which will provide the financial reserves for putting on the planned V8 30th Anniversary week of events and V8 Dinner in 2008 together with undertaking substantial upgrade works to the V8 Database and website. Copy

V8 Registrar reported continued flow of registrations of V8s from enthusiasts in the UK and overseas. The new registrations can be seen on the new registrations webpage on the V8 website. Major upgrading work on the V8 Database will be undertaken over the next few months with the help of Steve James (the son of the T Register's John James) with the aim of creating an online system where members can check their registration details and make vehicle enquiries in a similar way to the successful systems already operating on the T-Type website.

Clive Wheatley, the V8 Technical and Spares committee member, reported on the current spares position for the MGBGTV8, MGBV8 Conversions and the RV8.

Election of a V8 Committee
At this point in the meeting and by tradition, the whole V8 Committee stands down and a temporary chairman conducts the election of a new committee. Brian Moyse had indicated his wish to stand down. The following eight members were elected:
Al Barnett - V8 Chairman
Dr Gavin Bailey - V8 Secretary
Jim Gibson - V8 Treasurer
Howard Gosling - Committee member on Board
Ian Quarrington - V8 Currymaster
Mike Russell - V8 Regalia
Victor Smith - V8 Registrar, Scribe & Webmaster
Clive Wheatley - V8 Technical & Spares member

John Bolt has taken up the role of RV8 Historian

David Waterton then resumed as acting chairman.

V8 Awards
Three awards were made as follows:

Chris Dodds Award (an award made in memory of the late Chris Dodds, an Australian V8 enthusiast who did so much to encourage V8 members downunder in the early days of the V8 Register) which is awarded annually to a member making a major contribution to the V8 Register. It is held for one year and for 2007 was presented to Gordon

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Hesketh-Jones for his contribution to the V8NOTES series and V8BB, together with his astonishing long distance V8 trips in his MGBGTV8 with his trusty navigator Jennifer.

Ian Lloyd Cup (awarded annually on a take and hold basis in memory of the late Ian Lloyd which is presented a member bringing good cheer and a sense of fun to the V8 Register) was presented to Stuart Middlemiss for his work in forming the Norwich V8 Burblers group.

Geoff Allen Cup (introduced this year as a take and hold cup in memory of the late Geoff Allen, the longstanding V8 Historian and Archivist who sadly passed away in 2006) was made to Walter Kallenberg who has travelled from Germany to attend the Silverstone meetings for the last 29 years and many V8 events too, particularly the V8 Curry evenings. The presentation was made by Jean Allen who spoke saying she was delighted the award would be made in memory of Geoff.

Any Other Business:

Howard Gosling, a Main Club director, reported the revitalised and expanded Club magazine, Safety Fast!, will be launched as the July 2007 issue following the termination of the arrangements with Octane Media. Howard commented that many Club members were not aware just how expensive those arrangements were for the Club and that the high costs were simply unsustainable. The Club made a loss of £110,00 in 2006 and those high costs from the magazine arrangements were a major contributor to that loss. Following termination with effect from the June 2007 issue members will no longer receive a copy of MG Enthusiast as an addition to the monthly Safety Fast! package. Howard also reported a new General Manager had been recruited recently, Richard Jones, who is already proving to be a very able and hardworking manager with a real feel for the ethos and values of a members' motor club like ours. Howard ended by reminding V8 members that had a small group of longstanding Club members (including several V8 members) not realised the New Club Office proposals were not affordable for the Club and then presented a well prepared case which demonstrated the risks and dangers to Council members, then the Club would have been in a very serious financial crisis by now. Fortunately that foolish scheme was halted and subsequently changes to the Board and management of the Club have put the Club in a far better position for a recovery.

Clive Wheatley, the V8 Technical and Spares committee member, reported on the current spares position for the MGBGTV8, MGBV8 Conversions and the RV8.

Vote of thanks to Ron Gammons and his team for organising Silverstone 2007. Victor Smith described how Ron Gammons had lead a team comprising Dave Saunders, Chris Hunt Cooke and other Club members in organising Silverstone 2007. Ron had stepped in at very short notice earlier this year to take over the task of organising the event when the former chief executive had retired. The meeting agreed unanimously that a vote of thanks should go to Ron Gammons and his team.

Tony Lake briefly updated members on the V8 Tour 2007 called a Saunter in the Shires. Tony is organising this event and he noted spaces were still available so he encouraged members to book early.

At around 1.30pm David Waterton declared the meeting closed.