The Derby meet was the inspiration of one Kevin Tulloch who through every means available attempted to get a 'Meet' for the 'Northern' guys. After a lot of back and to, it was decided that it would be held on the car park of the 'Kestral' Pub near to Derby, ( well no one came up with a better location) which is within easy reach of the M1 and pretty well central.
Support was to say the least slow to start with but eventually the numbers grew and the date was finally set for Sunday 3rd August 2003.

As we are all aware the weather during the month of July and August was fantastic and so it was with that particular day. I set off from Chester about 10am and headed east - an easy drive for me and an ideal location.

Upon arrival at the car park I couldn't help but see the Scorpios already lined up. It was obvious that I was late as usual but it turned out that I wasn't the last to arrive...

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People had driven from as far away as Somerset( Craig and his family ) where the cider apples grow and Bonnie Scotland (Andrew on his way south for a holiday) - now that really does show a commitment. We did not have the luxury of having a mobile A/C service van being present but maybe next time..

It was just a case of bonnets up and what's yours and why the difference.. The same car and supposedly the same spec, but it was amazing how Ford seemed to have moved the goal posts every year. It made interesting conversation. Experiences were aired and discussed and there was at least one OB2 lead and Laptop there doing the diagnostic business and showing us what you can do with OBD2 leads and a laptop. I think we had every variant of the 1995+ Scorpio there from my lowly 2.9 12v Ultima to Kevin's OTT 24 v with his custom exhaust and bits and pieces. Everyone seemed to have taken the trouble to clean and polish their baby and there really were some lovely examples.

We all had an excellent meal in the Pub and the weather just could not have been better. Fortunately it was not as hot as the meeting at Orpington but warm enough.

The ladies sat together and talked in a large grassed area under the shade of Umbrellas and the guys just stood around and exchanged ideas, jokes and experiences. I guess that the ladies do what they do at every meet - trying to understand their other half's fascination with a greasy lump of metal LOL

It turned out to be a really good day and I think without exception everyone enjoyed it. Thanks Kevin for all the time and effort that went into organising the event and we cannot wait for another one next year and hopefully a bigger and better one now that we know what its all about.