Club Life

Club life, great memories. Tatton Park 2010 and BMWs as far as the eye can see. Just the turnout you want at a club event!

Words/Photos Jeff Heywood As the Club celebrates its 70th birthday in 2022, we’ve asked our longstanding members to share anecdotes and reminisce about club life in a series of articles running throughout the year. First up is Jeff Heywood.

Ijoined the BMW Car Club GB back in the early 1990s, so I’ve nearly done a thirty stretch. You get less for murder! Joking aside, the club has brought me and my family many happy memories, one or two sad ones and the odd annoyance. Plus hundreds and hundreds of friends, some who I now consider close friends.

Like many others, after passing my driving test in the early 1981, I started my car ownership off with a banger, a Hillman Avenger that was more rust then clean steel. But it gave me mobility, a back seat for plenty of lurve action and a car to hone my driving skills. My first proper car was a Ford Escort Mk2 1600 Sport, in gleaming black with silver stripes. A pair of larger spotlights soon found their way onto the front of the car, it was a beauty. It’s surprising how many people soon get to know you when you have a nice car, plus it was a babe magnet. God I loved that car. I reluctantly sold it and after lusting after an RS2000, but unable to afford the insurance (this was the mid-80s and anything sporty got nicked!), I purchased a black Mk1 XR2. What a car, just 4k on the clock, same crossflow engine, easily tunable and a chassis like a go-kart. I then went through a number of XR models, but I was getting lured away by a serious looking German bird from Wolfsburg!

I did have a short ‘want one’ moment for an Opel Manta GTE (I loved my rallying

My first proper car, a Ford Escort MK2 1600 Sport finished in black with silver Sport striping. It was a real eye catcher and a bit of a babe magnet and followed the RAC Rally) and also had a near dalliance with a Mk1 Vauxhall Astra GTE, which never happened because the salesman thought a young

guy like myself was wasting his time, until he saw me roar off in my XR3i… So I went for a test drive in a VW Golf GTI and I was hooked. It was so much smoother, rode well, better screwed together, handled brilliantly and went like stink. I used to read print magazines like Car, Fast Lane and Autocar, and all the scribes praised the GTI, the sober suited Golf won all the group tests. My mind was made up and my first new car was ordered, a bright red Mk2 Golf GTI. And I loved it. It felt so much more special then the Fords, but it was the build quality that stood out the most. A white example followed and I was thinking of ordering a 16V model as the Mk3 Golf was announced. Boy was I glad I drove one before placing an order, the portly new Mk3 felt sluggish, both in 8V and 16V guise. So what then? I did try a Peugeot 205 GTi. They were all the rage, everyone was saying just how good they were, so I booked a test drive in the 1.9 model. As soon as we left the Peugeot showroom the salesman’s whole demeanour changed after asking “Is that your Golf GTI?” ”Yes” came the reply. “I’ve never sold a car to anyone who came for a test drive and owned a Golf GTI…” And as soon as I set off I could tell why. Yes it was nippy and it handled like on rails, but it was so tinny and poorly built. When you shut a door it went ‘clang’ instead of ‘thunk.’ And it was noisy. Not for me I’m afraid.

I soldiered on in my Golf GTI, which wasn’t a problem as it had only covered about 12k miles, but I then had my father on at me. “What car am I going to get next?” he started asking. Mum and Dad had also enjoyed Golf GTI ownership and after the disappointing Mk3 road test the panicking VAG salesman offered my dad a drive in an Audi 80 2.0E. Huge mistake! It couldn’t pull a skin off a rice pudding and climbing the many hills that make up Saddleworth, he was having to change down a couple of gears to make it to the top. Whereas, his GTi just whizzed up the hill without taking a breath. That was bye bye VAG…

“What about a BMW, Dad? The magazines love them, they’re like the Mk2 Golf GTIs, as in they always come out top in group tests and the company’s engineering prowess is evident in their fantastic line-up of engines available for every model.” Yes, I was already a secret fan. “But I can’t afford a BMW” came the reply back from Dad. I explained that they are priced very similarly to the Audi that he had tried, so after a bit of arm twisting he agreed and I arranged a test drive. “Just to see what they are like” came his reply.

I’ll never forget the day we went for that first drive. I booked the test with Williams BMW, Manchester. We arrived in my father’s GTI, parked up and were greeted by a very smart and professional salesman. BMW were in the process of changing over from the E30 to the E36 3 Series so the demo models were all E30s, but I didn’t care. The salesman handed me the keys. Dad didn’t like testing cars and trusted my judgement. Sat outside the showroom on a late Sunday morning was a last of line E30 318i Lux, looking resplendent in Brilliant Red. It was fully kitted with a sunroof and everything adjustable was electric powered, including the houndstooth cloth sports seats. My god it smelled wonderful when I opened the door. The car only had a few hundred miles on the clock and the salesman explained that it was “still a little tight” and “we’d probably notice it stepping out of a GTI.” I wasn’t even

My first BMW, purchased off my parents and looking ‘very stock!’ It would soon visit the bodyshop to have the sills and front and rear valance colour coordinated. While a set of 17” AC Schnitzer wheels would round off the car in the looks department…

listening. I fired the BMW up, selected gear and set off out of the dealership and onto Upper Brook Street. I was already sold. The car was so serene, it now made the Golf feel crude and lacking. We were both hooked.

Dad waited until the new E36 models had come on stream and ordered a new 318i…in Brilliant Red. When the car arrived, Cathy and myself went with my parents to Howarth BMW at Rochdale to watch Dad pick up his new BMW, he was over the moon. It somehow felt very special, and a huge bunch of flowers presented to Mum also helped. The following two years Dad loved his new BMW. He had no issues, and covered approximately 7K miles when he told me that he was thinking of ordering another new BMW and did I want to buy his 318i off him. Although I loved my test drive in the E30 and loved driving Dad’s E36, I was still zipping around in my Golf GTi, which still hadn’t clocked 20K miles and was used to the zingy acceleration and surefooted handling. Was I ready for a more grown up car that was slightly slower than the GTi (on acceleration)? After a long think about it, and a long conversation with Cathy, we decided to purchase Dad’s 318i. My first BMW! My Golf was now five years old and, although still in immaculate condition, it’s sixth birthday was approaching fast and prices seemed to plummet when the cars passed six years old. So I placed an ad on Autotrader and within a couple of weeks the Golf had been snapped up and we were BMW owners.

I quickly looked at what BMW clubs were out there. I’ve always believed in being in a car club and had been a member of various Ford RS and XR clubs and a VW GTI Club. It seemed there were two clubs in the UK, the Car Club and the Driver’s Club. To be perfectly honest, the Driver’s Club looked a bit low rent, the newsletter they sent to me was a black and white pamphlet that was stapled together, there was no local group active in the North West and it seemed they only organised one event per year, their renowned Donington meet. Therefore I quickly signed up to the BMW Car Club.

One of the very first events I went to was the North East Region’s Concours at Harewood House. I dragged Dad along and enjoyed a lovely day out, met some very friendly people and a person known to many of us stalwarts came and introduced himself. “Hey up” he said “I’m Nick, Nick Wright.” The greeting was both warm and friendly but most of all, genuine. From that day we’ve remained good friends ever since.

I was very busy with my own property renovation work, plus I was sourcing antiques and exporting them to the US so I was too busy to attend many club events. Plus our region, the North West, wasn’t the most active, so it didn’t really matter to me. But then a bad back injury forced me to be less hands on with the property side of things, which was ticking over nicely, so I suddenly had a bit of spare time. So I started to show more of an interest in the club and its activities. A few weeks later a copy of the latest club magazine dropped through the letterbox, which was then called the BMW Journal. I noticed in the North West Region section of the magazine an advert for a dealer visit to Bluebell BMW of Wilmslow. I mentioned it to my better half Cathy who said we weren’t doing anything on that date, so I pencilled the date in my diary. We were off to drive some cars and visit the dealership with the Car Club.

More in part two next month when my involvement with the club is ramped up by ten… thousand!