MG Car Club of South Australia
Golf Club grounds (the venue for the
President’s dinner) shortly after 5pm
and had a pint in the late afternoon
sun while I waited for the other attendees to arrive. We congregated in an
outside tent area that was decked out
very nicely and I chatted to other
members before finding my seat that
should have been on the ‘overseas
members’ table but instead, I found
myself sitting next to the Director of
the Club, Ian Quarrington, on the ‘V8’
table. He and others on the table
were very welcoming and I enjoyed
some lovely company, great food and
average wine (not
Australian!).
There were several
speeches and an
fun-filled
auction
but the highlight of
the night, indeed of
the whole day,
came when the T
register was named
as the most successful register and
awarded the Nuffield Cup. This is
no ordinary cup.
Lord Nuffield (as he
later became) took
his role as Patron
of the club seriously when he
wrote the cheque
for £160 that paid
for the solid, 24 carat gold chalice that
was intended to “enhance the Club’s
prestige, assist its growth and add to
the enthusiasm of its members”. I
was advised that it is currently insured
for £140,000 ($AUD 300,000 at that
time!). The tradition demanded that
the cup should be charged with champagne and all members of the winning
register should partake of the contents. Because I was from Australia
and sitting next to the Director, I was
asked if I would like to follow suit, to
which I replied “yes please”. Ian took
a photograph of me revelling in this
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