The first ever Ford show and great western autojumble held at eth Bath and West showground in Shepton Mallet drew a great crowd for the first show of the year organised by the Bristol Classic Car Show organiser,Nigel Stevens.

The autojumble was packed, a special display of Ford Cortinas celebrated the 50th anniversary of the model, and many other historic Fords braved the wintry weather to create a fabulous display of the might of the blue oval in its heyday from the 1930s to the 1970s.

Stand-out cars included Mark Taylor’s 3 litre mkIII Cortina Savage, bought for the wife of Berings bank when new. She was given the choice of a new Mercedes, or the Savage and a fur coat, so made the sensible choice. Mark has totally rebuilt the car and it was refreshing to see it displayed on period-correct retro-reflective raised character number plates.

Adrian Cottle’s mkIII Zephyr Police car was shown in unrestored condition, and was also a crowd-pleaser with its hand-cuffs on the passenger seat and a variety of Ploice equipment inside – very Z-Cars!

Amongst the club stands, the Ford Sidevalve OC was the most pleased, walking away with three prizes for cars on their stand, including Best of Show for David Perry’s incredible E494A Ford Anglia – just as it came out of the showroom, not over-restored and pin-perfect.

Assisting the judges at the show was Dennis Roberts, himself a former Ford worker responsible for some of the design on the mk1 and mk2 Cortinas.

Highly commended

Ford Capri RS 3100 – Kevin Norris

Sierra Cosworth – Richard Treble

Cortina 1600E Ray Whittock

Model T taxi – Jack Light

Best sports – RS1600i

Best Classic Saloon – Ford Zephyr Police Car – Adrian Cottle

Best Vintage Ford Model Y ‘Eight’ Philip Wookey

Best Pre-War car – 1932 Model 8 cabrio – Edwin Phelps

BEST CORTINA

Totally original and unrestored 1964 Mk1 Cortina automatic. “I still drive it on cross-plies – it keeps me awake”

RUNNER-UP BEST IN SHOW

Lotus Cortina mk1 ‘A-bracket’ owned by John Devey and Trevor Proudfoot

BEST IN SHOW

FORD E494A ANGLIA – DAVID PERRY – FORD SIDEVALVE OWNER’S CLUB