This year’s AACI Summernationals at Billing Aquadrome will be one that few who were there will ever forget, however the Great British Dunkirk spirit prevailed …

It’s often been said on these pages that the weather can make or break a show, so we can’t even begin to imagine how the American Auto Club International must have felt when the thunders clouds rolled in on Friday and the heavens opened, turning Billing Aquadrome into a quagmire.    
Undeterred many traders still set up on Friday, hoping that by the following morning the show field would have drained off; sadly it rained even more on Friday night, meaning that parts of the show field were indeed under water the following morning. A few brave souls dragged their cars onto the field, but it was a risky proposition.

More rain on Saturday night meant cars being directed up to the hard standing near the entrance to Billing on Sunday, and an impromptu show was held up there as the sun blazed down, as if to make up for the two previous days of almost Biblically bad weather.
There were some outstanding cars on show, despite the weather: Stan Prosser’s 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz took Best of Show and Derek Speke’s 1958 Cadillac Brougham in particular stood out, as did Glenn Kilgour’s ’65 Mustang and John Sewell’s bathtub Nash. All-in-all, Sunday saw a respectable turn out of vehicles and there was even a prize giving at the end.