By James H. Hyde

If you fancy British motorcars, the MGB, the Triumph, Jaguar, Bentley or the king of them all, the Rolls Royce, then pack your bags and program your GPS to take you to Stowe, Vermont from September 18th to the 21st, 2008.

That’s when the British Invasion takes place. It is the great convocation of the faithful coalescing amongst mountains yielding their green to fall colors.

It is by no means your average antique car fest. Nothing wrong with those. They’re more diversified, in fact, but the British Invasion is British motorcars and British motorcars only, and it’s a real treat just to see them.

Anointed the “Number ONE choice for the Best 10 things to do within a day’s drive of Boston” by the Boston Sunday Globe, the British Invasion has also been tapped “One of the Top Ten Events in Vermont” by the Vermont State Chamber of Commerce, not once, but thrice. Truly this is a can’t-miss event.

Conceived and run by Chris Francis and Michael F. Gaetano, both of whom are obsessed by these remarkable blends of British art, technology and engineering, the Invasion offers some truly wonderful examples of cars that date back to the Titanic and beyond.

People come from as far away as merry Olde England to attend the gathering, including, upon occasion, members of the royal family. The cars, many of them with bonnets open like a Playboy centerfold revealing naked, mirror-shined engine parts, sit in neat rows awaiting your inspection.

The passion for these cars courses through the show until it’s palpable, and you find yourself walking to the beat of its heart. Francis and Gaetano, dual Masters of Ceremonies, work the crowd like master showmen. They’ve been doing this for a long time, seventeen years.

They spin their tales, tell some jokes and then open the mic to those who can’t wait to share stories of the great weekend getaways and vacations taken through the New England or British countryside, and how different it all was in a Triumph, MGB or some other dream motorcar.

Their owners are always eager to give those who stop and look at their car its full history from when bolt first met steel or “aluminium” to the buffing of the breathtaking woodwork that makes up the dashboard or the steering wheel.

British motorcars are an art form that was most appreciated in this country during the 1960s and 1970s. It was then that owning one made you very special. A Triumph, for instance, may have planted the seed that grew a generation to father the noxious expression, “chick magnet.” But it just can’t be denied that it was one.

Certainly, these cars appeared with far greater frequency on our highways back then than they do now. The popularity and demand for them was due—at least in part–to the sizzling hot, fully loaded Aston Martin that James Bond drove in the 007 movies.

Heck, even I had a fantasy Aston Martin. All right, it was an MGB—and a used one at that–but what the heck, everything worked and it was a convertible. I don’t think I’ve owned a car I had more fun driving…except for maybe that 840Z—but that’s another story.

Near the cars are tents in which hard-to-find parts are sold or exchanged for other equally hard-to-find parts. There are emblems; flags and pennants; photographs; posters; postcards; scaled-down, metal-models of the cars; driving gloves and sunglasses; books; maps; mud flaps; hood ornaments; and food and drink.

Once you’ve found something (other than food) that’s caught your fancy, caveat emptor (no, that doesn’t mean empty the cat box—it means buyer beware). It’s wise to wander from booth to booth to see who sells it for the lowest price.

If you have a British motorcar you’d like to have displayed in the show and entered in the judging for the best car in each category, you must register through the Invasion’s Web site:–“no exceptions.”

If you just want to see the cars, admission can be paid at the gate: Adult General Admission (2-day pass): $20; Adult General Admission (Sunday only): $10; Child General Admission (under age 12): Free.

We think that both the Boston Sunday Globe and Vermont State Chamber of Commerce are absolutely right. You can read about our coverage of a prior show here, and we hope you enjoy either that or the real show.

To discover more events and getaways check out New England Times web site by clicking here.

Jim Hyde
Publisher
New England Times, LLC

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