Tag Archives: classic cars

women drivers

Classic wedding cars

Natalie TA Wedding

With so much attention focused on weddings, how you arrive on the day is surely almost as important as who you are with or marrying. Which is why Natalie Turner’s stylish choice of two Citroen Traction Avant (TA) cars made for an impressive choice on her big day.

The bride travelled in a 1936 TA limo with her bridesmaids following hot on her heels in a 1949 TA Light 15.

Natalie explained: “It’s impossible not to be enthusiastic about classic cars working at Footman James Insurance and it seemed only fitting that I should honour this on my wedding day! We had so many comments about them on the day; they were definitely the right choice for such an occasion. We were absolutely delighted with the continental touch and the photos will have pride of place in our new home!”

The 1936 Traction Avant Limousine is a French classic car, manufactured by Citroen from 1934 to 1957. Natalie’s car was one of the earlier models, having been made in 1936 at the Quai de Javel car plant in Paris. A left hand drive, the limousine version means extra classic luxury for the driver and up to five passengers.

Natalie’s bridesmaids were transported in the Citroen Traction Avant Light 15 model, manufactured between 1934 and 1957. Their car – a right hand drive – was built in 1949 at the UK Slough factory and is highly sought after because of its stylish design, red leather seats, wooden dashboard and trim.

Both cars were hired from Avant Wedding Cars, based in Swindon and the wedding between bridegroom Chris Turner and Natalie took place at St Mary’s Church in Kingswinford, followed by a reception at the Mercure Kidderminster in Bewdley.

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Club members wanting to arrange a classic Citroen car for their wedding should contact the FOXY Lady Drivers Club Helpdesk for advice and contacts.

women drivers

Women drivers and classic cars

classicmotorshowThe ‘She’s a Beauty’ theme has been given to this year’s Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show at Birmingham’s NEC from 13-15 November.

Whilst mostly about the cars, it also celebrates the motoring achievements of women drivers and their prized classics.

The Bentley Belles

The Bentley 4.5-litre entered into the Benjafield 24 by the Bentley Belles (in the photograph) will take pride of place on the feature display stand, along with Bentley Belle Katarina Kyvalova. The team, which also included Gillian Carr, Georgina Riley and Georgie Brewster, only met for the first time the day before the endurance event, and entered the record books as the only all-female team to run a Bentley in a 24hr endurance race, ever.

Since then, they have added the same accolade to their list for the Spa Six Hour Race. Katarina also competed in the Flying Scotsman Rally and at Spa, as well as finishing third in a Cooper Jaguar at Goodwood Revival.

Jessica Harvey

Jessica Harvey will be bringing her MGB GT, built for hillclimbing. A ‘Café racer GT’, it’s driven hard, but is also a show-scene classic, to the point where it’s received paint rectification for showing three times this year.

She won “Best modified MG” with the car at MG Live in June, a testament to the uprated 2.0 B-series producing 150bhp, the race cam, the fully adjustable suspension and the uprated brakes.

The Whyte Sisters

whytesistersThe Whyte sisters are the world’s youngest all female endurance historic rally team, and compete in HERO’s Austin Seven.

Seren, 23, and Elise, 25, have been competing in historic endurance rallies since their first Le Jog (Lands End to John O’Groats rally) in 2012, and show no signs of letting up.

They’ve used a variety of cars from the HERO fleet, including a BMW 1602 and a Triumph TR4 as well as this Austin Seven.

Other special classic cars

Needless to say, women aren’t all about motorsport. Sandra Britton has gone the opposite way with her Mini, taking it to concours-winning condition. Between her and husband Colin, the 1968 MK2 Super De Luxe has been fully restored on a suburban driveway over the course of four years.

Sixty ‘first in class’ awards and scores of ‘best in show’ awards later, Sandra’s proud of the car. But not so proud as to trailer it – this car is driven to every show it attends.
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Needless to say, many cars have female names but are driven by a man!

Wanda the Chevrolet Impala is a good example of a motoring beauty that embodies everything that its name suggests. This ten-year restoration project has seen a number of house moves, family illnesses and more interruptions to progress… but it’s now a credit to the restorers Vince and Andy Cooper.

You’ll find information about this Classic Motor Show as well as ticket prices and booking details aka the 2015 Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show from 13-15 November at Birmingham’s NEC.