Elegance, style, sensuality, fortitude, all will be on display when British Motorcar Day takes place Sunday, June 10, during the last day of the Peachtree Corners Festival.
Collectors from 14 different car clubs will bring their vehicles to the festival grounds in Gwinnett County for the free enjoyment of the public and to raise money for charity.
The groups gather once a year to stage "Atlanta British Motorcar Day," and have been showing off their machines for 34 years, first at Grant Park, then Chateau Elan and later on at Berry College in Rome. This will be their first time staging the show at the Peachtree Corners Festival.
There will be about 230 cars on display, from vintage Jaguars to curvilinear MGs and stately Rolls-Royces.
"We're piggybacking on an existing car show," said Jack Walter, 66, a retired Lockheed engineer and an inveterate car collector. A non-British rally (featuring "performance" vehicles and motorcycles) is scheduled for Saturday, June 9, at the Peachtree Corners Festival. The Brits roll in on Sunday.
The vehicles will be parked along The Corners Parkway next to the festival and in a nearby parking lot, all part of The Corners Office Park.
Walter will be motoring over from Roswell in one of his four Land Rovers. His 1966 model is currently in the backyard, growing a layer of mold, and his 1967 model is in pieces on the garage floor, awaiting a frame-up restoration. So it won’t be either of those. It will probably be the 1985 Defender.
What does Walter like about Land Rovers? For one thing, they have large bolts, which are easier to manipulate for older guys with large fingers and decreasing dexterity.
And there is, in fact, much tinkering that needs to be done on Land Rovers and other British cars.
Whether well-deserved or not, some British cars have a reputation for fickleness, if not unreliability. That means owners must be ready to fix them.
“The Brits are a nation of tinkerers,” said Walter, who helped build F-22s and F-35s for Lockheed. Cars were relatively expensive overseas, he said, and owners were more often dedicated to keeping them in trim. “They might require more maintenance than most Americans want to give them … Americans treat cars as an appliance, like a toaster.”
Walter said fixing Land Rovers requires a special approach. “The old saying about Land Rovers is: The first tool you grab out of your toolbox is a hammer. To get its attention, if nothing else.”
The car fanciers raise money by charging their members to participate. (A $20 registration fee is charged per car, per family; online registration will continue through June 8.) They will then donate several thousand dollars to a charity such as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
The Peachtree Corners Festival takes place June 8-10 and commences with a June 8 nighttime concert by Yacht Rock Schooner, described as a "fast, light version of the Yacht Rock Revue."
The festival includes arts and crafts, musical performances, games, rides, food and events.
EVENT PREVIEW
British Motorcar Day
Noon-4 p.m. Sunday, June 10. Free; part of the Peachtree Corners Festival, June 8-10. Corners Office Park, 6025 The Corners Parkway, Peachtree Corners. peachtreecornersfestival.com/.
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