Sunday 8 Sept '24 - A25 Surrey Hills meet up/30 years of the GT in the UK

[Martin63]

Lev aka "Optimistic" and I have traded a few WhatsApps over the past few days. He and his partner are visiting the UK and the Netherlands from Slovenia with his Turbo in early September. He is keen to meet up with other 480 fans whilst they are in the UK.

I am going to set up a mini 480 meet up just east of Guildford on the A25 on the afternoon of Sunday 8 September in the area of Abinger Hammer (as recommended by Will Catermoul - thanks Will!). It looks like a really nice area and a good place for a drive. The Abinger Hatch looks like a great pub and is used by a few local car groups. I suggest we meet there at 2.30pm. https://theabingerhatch.co.uk/

Colin has already said he's going to try to come over on the Isle of Wight ferry with his Celebration.

Laurie 945 has also mentioned that it's 30 years this summer since the GT limited edition of 250 cars was launched in the UK, so we can celebrate that anniversary too.

More details to follow - please spread the word! I will also do some postings later on Facebook and Instagram.

[Martin63]

Will C and I both separately checked out the area around Abinger Hammer today. It's great! Some nice pubs and a nice drive.

Fingers crossed for a nice day for a get together 4 weeks today - Sunday 8th September.

[Martin63]

A quick update, plus the itinerary for 3 weeks today in the Surrey Hills.

The meeting place is the Bull's Head at West Clandon, just east of Guildford off the A25, at 2.30pm. It is a 16th century pub with a large car park and should be a good place for a drink and a chat plus some photos.

Around 3.30pm we will drive to the village of Abinger Hammer, a really lovely little village. We will park up and walk around the village. It's not big but it is very beautiful.

Around 4.30pm we can then drive to the Abinger Hammer. It's a great country pub with plenty of outside seating. Another chance for a drink, a chat and some photos. It's often used by local car groups.

Hopefully it'll be a fun afternoon - a great opportunity to celebrate 30 years since the launch of the GT limited edition in the summer of 1994.

Will C lives locally, Colin plans to bring his Celebration over from the Isle of Wight and Lev from Slovenia with his girlfriend and his Turbo.

Everyone is welcome, especially with a GT! Of course any 480 is welcome, as is any Volvo for that matter.

I really hope that as many of you as possible can join us

[Martin63]

A week tomorrow!

[Martin63]

Final planned update post - the weather's not been great for the past couple of days but we are going ahead on Sunday.

Looking forward to meeting up with a few other 480s!

[Martin63]

Rain, sun, puddles, you name it - we had it today! Despite that we had fun celebrating 30 years of the UK GT in the Surrey Hills.

Colin's absolutely immaculate Celebration, Will's Two Tone (2 litre engine version), Will's Racing Green Metallic GT and my Burgundy Pearl Metallic GT.

A fine selection of the UK limited editions!

[jifflemon]

couple of images I was sent:

[Jay-Kay-Em]

Nice to see some pics.

Could "Optimistic" not make it?

[Martin63]

couple of images I was sent:

Thanks Jeff - one of these days I will figure out how to post photos here!

[Martin63]

Nice to see some pics.

Could "Optimistic" not make it?

Sadly Lev's Turbo wasn't roadworthy so the whole road trip wasn't possible

[Jay-Kay-Em]

Nice to see some pics.

Could "Optimistic" not make it?

Sadly Lev's Turbo wasn't roadworthy so the whole road trip wasn't possible

Oh dear that's a shame. Well, if Lev is reading, hope you get it sorted and you get a UK trip one day.