March 23, 2024 – The Valley British Auto Club held their annual Clovis British Auto Roundup on Sunday, at the same time as the Old Town Clovis Vintage Market, on a day of alternating sunshine and downpours.
“Typically speaking, we have pretty good weather, except for today,” said Valley British Auto Club President Jon Brothers, “but we really love coming to Old Town Clovis, just for the atmosphere– and it certainly helps that B.O.O.T. is here to support us.”
It was the 21st annual Clovis British Auto Roundup, and for the last four years the Clovis British Auto Roundup has taken place the last weekend in March, during the first Old Town Clovis street fair of each year.
The auto show is a friendly competition, where collectors from all over California and beyond bring their British “marques”– that’s the UK equivalent of a car’s “make” here in the U.S.– like Aston-Martin, MG, Mini, Triumph. The cars are judged and awarded in categories.
For instance, Brothers reported that the owner of a 1970s Triumph TR-6 which was driven all the way from Reno, Nevada won the prize for longest distance driven to the show.
This year’s Clovis British Auto Roundup was themed around the 100th anniversary of the MG, or Morris Garage, marque. The lucky owner of the best in show MG went home with a large octagonal trophy, reminiscent of the classic MG logo.
“MG is probably one of the most widely sought after cars,” Brother said, “They’re very popular…that’s the way I look at the MG, the popularity aspect of it is kind of like the Volkswagen.”
Brothers himself is an enthusiast of the Cooper, and he owns a 1970 Austin Mini Cooper S MkII that he bought “On a handshake” about 14 years ago. Imported by Kjell Qvales, and with an engine built by Joe Huffaker, Brothers says he loves his car for the mystique, the history of the men, and the history of auto racing in it.
Brothers had the honor of giving the President’s Award to a really special car. Before the decision, Brothers said, “I already know what car it is and it’s just something … I mean if I wanted any car here, it would be that one. It’s an oddball thing.”
“It’s always been kinda quirky,” Brothers said about the past President’s Awards winners selected by former club president Warren Prouty, “I’m following in some pretty huge footsteps, and he always picked some really weird cars.”
The President’s Award for this year’s show went to a 1980 Triumph TR-8. “[The owner] changed the engine and transmission, he completely rebuilt it from front to back and bottom to top,” Brothers said, “It was just kinda cool.” Brothers said that the owner seemed to turn the car into a kind of street hot rod, or “sleeper”. “They [the TR-8] came with V-8s, but what he had done was unorthodox, kind of a one-off build,” Brothers said.
The Valley British Auto Club is more than just a collector’s club, it’s also a nonprofit organization that uses the spectacle of British-made automobiles to raise money for a good cause.
The Clovis Auto Roundup hosts a raffle with all proceeds going to the Central Valley Veterans organization.The raffle table included prizes from Crow and Wolf, Elaine’s Pet Resort, and other local donors, $1 or $20 tickets, and prizes worth between $100 and $2,000. Top prize this year was a motorized scooter.
Last year, the club gave over $1,300 to the organization, and this year the raffle brought in over $1,600 in donations, according to Brothers.