A grey and cold car park in Milton Keynes may not sound the most inspirational setting for a Saturday morning meet, but that didn't stop the GTI Open being a great success. Thank goodness the rain held off.
And this is just a few of them!
As is often the way with PH events, the cars were queuing up before we could let them in at Volkswagen HQ - your commitment is admirable! Just a few minutes after nine, dozens of different Golf GTIs had made their way in, everything from very early Mk1s to the latest Mk7.
We were fortunate enough as well to see one of every generation, with a really broad spread of cars on show. Notable attendees included a Mk2 with a Passat R36 engine conversion, a Mk1 with just 15,000 miles on it and Pirelli Editions of all ages.
With food and drink provided by Volkswagen and so many GTIs to pore over, it looked like everyone was having an enjoyable morning. Unsurprisingly the new Clubsport S drew plenty of attention as well - more on that car soon.
The GTI Open also saw us award a PH 'Best in Show' award. There were no strict criteria for this (mainly because we're not concours judges), it was simply based on the cars we liked the most. Our winner was Nick Andrews' stunning small bumper Mk2, a very early car that was with its first owner for 29 years. We loved its looks and originality, plus the fact it still gets used regularly too - the car has 110,000 miles on it!
So a good morning all round. Thanks to all of you it made it along to Milton Keynes and for making the GTI Open such a great event. 'Normal' Sunday Service, er, service resumes at Topcats this weekend; we look forward to seeing more of you there then!
Join the discussion of the Open here.
