Barnet's classic car owners are revving up for their tenth annual show and are on the look-out for a sports car enthusiast who might own one of the rare 1970s Barnet-made sports cars, the Arkley SS.
Around 1,000 were produced at a car workshop on Barnet Road, Arkley, but despite searches online through the Facebook page of Arkley SS Enthusiasts there has been no success in tracking one down to exhibit at the show.
Chris Nightingale (left) show organiser for the Barnet Classic Club, and club chairman Derrick Haggerty – seen above with Mr Haggerty’s 1955 Ford Popular – have not given up on tracking down an enthusiast who might have one of the hard-to-find Arkley cars.
“In the ten years we have been running the show we’ve never managed to display an example of Barnet’s famous sports car. If we did, it would be star attraction,” said Mr Nightingale.
Already 80 classic and vintage cars have been lined up for the show which will be held on the top floor of the multi-storey car park at The Spires shopping centre on Sunday 14 May, from ll.00 am to 2.00 pm.
Last year’s show had to be abandoned because agreement could not be reached with the club’s committee on the use of the car park, but the new operators Britannia Parking have welcomed the chance to host the club’s show and Mr Nightingale hopes it will repeat the success of the 2021 event at The Spires.
“The new manager of The Spires, Mr Sanjay Bhudia, is being very supportive and we hope to stage a magnificent open-air display on the car park’s top floor.
“If we are lucky the 80 acceptances we already have could rise to 90 classic and vintage cars as well as vintage motorcycles.”
The two-seater Arkley SS – and the later model Arkley Midget – were designed by John Britten in 1969 and built at the workshop of John Britten Garages at Arkley.
They were constructed out of recycled Austin-Healey Sprites or MG Midgets, using a BMC A-series engine with fibre glass front and rear ends.
Around 1,000 were sold, mainly in the 1970s and 1980s, but the number surviving today is unknown – although there is a lively discussion on repairs and restoration on the Facebook page for Arkley SS Enthusiasts.
John Britten died in 2009 – some years before the formation of the Barnet Classic Car Club -- and since the club’s formation Mr Nightingale and committee members have been trying to find a local owner who could be invited to their annual show.
“For our club logo the committee chose the Arkley as our illustration – to help put this Barnet-made car on the map – but the closest we have ever got to tracking one down was hearing that there was an Arkley SS stored in a garage somewhere in Southgate, but that was as far as it got.
“We did get one reply from Anglesey, another from Australia and another from America, but we hope to do better than that one day.”
Derrick Haggerty bought his 1955 Ford Popular 103E model 50 years ago when he was an18-year-old apprentice and worked at a garage in Enfield.
“One of the customers sold me the car for £50 and I have looked after her ever since. I used to drive her around, but then left her in a car park for a couple of years, eventually stripped her down, and stored the parts in cardboard boxes.
“Finally, I put the car back together again, for a wedding, and she has been in great shape ever since. Her body work is in better shape than mine.
“Whenever I am out, people stop to take photographs. Older people remember the Ford Popular from their childhood.
“At one show a woman sat in the back for a few minutes and it brought back so many memories she started to cry.
“She used to sit in the back of her father’s Ford Popular and in her mind’s eye she could see him driving the car. So, you can see why it’s so important to cherish vintage and classic cars.”
Among the crowd pullers at this year’s show are likely to be Howard Pryor’s 1904 B-type Cadillac and a year-old Ferrari Scuderia SF90, owned by his son Raymond, which were on display last December at the Barnet Christmas Fayre.
They might well be the one of the oldest and youngest cars at the show. The Cadillac is one cylinder, ten horsepower and the Ferrari has 1,000 horsepower.
Cars and motorcycles entered for the show will parade along Barnet High Street from 11am before heading to the upper deck of The Spires’ car park. If the weather is wet, the show will switch to the basement car park.
Once again Katie Oldham, backed by the group Down2Earth will be there to entertain the crowds and proceeds will go to the Noah’s Ark children’s hospice. A charity refreshment stall will collect money for the Bull Theatre.
