The Annual gathering of Turner Sports Cars took place on Sunday July 8th at the Traditional Manor Hotel located in Jack Turner's hometown of Crickhowell in South Wales.

The UK has been suffering dreadful wet weather this year with parts of the country suffering severe floods and continuous rain fall , However the weekend of the Rally thankfully remained largely dry with periods of brilliant sunshine and as a result no less than 10 Turner Sports Cars assembled in the lower car park during the day , with a large gathering of owners and enthusiasts of the marque dropping in to look over the assembled cars and discuss their own projects with other enthusiasts of the marque.

This year's rally attracted some cars making their debut appearance at Crickhowell, Former Turner employee Ken Robbins had a trouble free journey from Shropshire to debut his fully restored 1959 950s which has been restored by Ken to the highest of standards. The car 30/264 (9 NPC) was rescued by Ken from the North West of Scotland where it had been deteriorating for over 20 years exposed to the elements. Ken has painstakingly restored the car from the ground up and the result is a beautifully finished car painted in a stunning pale blue with red interior and Red weather gear to match.

Another car making its Rally debut was the Alexander Turner racing car of Robert MacGillivray 61/461 (632 CPX). Robert made a wonderful effort to join us having travelled down from Lanark in Scotland to show his car which again has been the subject of a full restoration and the result is a stunning race car which despite initial teething troubles, is now a regular on the hills and sprints of Scotland, and is becoming a regular class winner and a championship contender. The car has been installed with a full race prepared 'Peter May' BMC A series engine and really looks the business in bright red livery with a white stripe and white hardtop.

The last time I recall seeing a Turner GT Saloon at Crickhowell was some 14 years ago when Geoff Long travelled over from Ireland with his car. This year we were thrilled to be treated to 2 examples of these very rare and attractive cars of which just 5 are known to survive from the 10 cars built. 14 years on from his last appearance with the car, Geoff Long again made the trip across from Ireland in GT 5 (1077 ZE), and to join Geoff was Brian Shaw of Wolverhampton who trailed down his white example GT2 (OSJ 589) which is close to being once again roadworthy following recent work by Brian and Ken Robbins to rework the steering and suspension which required attention. With Brian's car being the earliest known surviving example it was amazing how many differences existed between his and Geoff's car which was built some time later and had benefited from various design updates by Jack Turner as the model evolved. The most obvious external difference being the rear lights which on Geoff's car utilised the elliptical Lucas units as fitted to MKIII Turner models.

GT9 although not present was represented by owner James Taylor who is planning a rebuild of his car, Geoff Long kindly provided an opportunity for both James and Brian Shaw to drive his car and judging by the smiles on each face afterwards this provided a huge inspiration and motivation for each to push on with their restorations and make their cars roadworthy again.

David and Pauline Valsler travelled from Reading in their stunning White & Blue Turner MKIII Sports Speciale 65/631 (YRD 518C) which has undergone further improvements including a rear suspension overhaul since last year. David really has an eye for detail and has done numerous improvements to the car since he re- imported it from the USA around four years ago, this really has to be one of the very best examples of the marque in existence.

The First Turner Rally organised by Dave Scott was held at the Manor Hotel back in 1986. During the 21 years the event has been held ,Only one car/driver combination has attended every year and once again this year Ron Taylor showed his support for the marque travelling to the venue from Fairford in Gloucestershire in his green MKII Turner 62/544 (220 WMA) along with son and fellow Turner owner James.

David Norsworthy of Tunbury Wells attended with is MKI 60/310 (9551 RE) which is now running with a Ford Cross Flow engine installed. David has trailerd his car which was a 'barn find' restoration project to the rally each year over the past 3 years and the car makes terrific strides forward as David continues the ground up restoration. I am sure it will not be too long before David is driving the car to Crickhowell under its own power as the restoration nears completion.

Nigel Taylor attended with his British Racing Green Turner MKI 60/291 (700 AOV), now sitting pretty on new 15" wire wheels. Nigel travelled from Milton Keynes with his car and as always was on hand to offer his expert knowledge of Turner restoration to other enthusiasts.

Nigel is this year's recipient of the Dave Scott Turner Registrars Trophy in recognition of the huge effort on his part over the past few years assisting owners of a number of cars by building new inner tubs for their projects and thus directly contributing to the ever growing numbers of rebuilt Turners in the UK. Nigel is a dedicated Turner enthusiast and his motivation is always the preservation of the Turner marque and the enjoyment this brings as the cars he has worked towards are brought back to life by other dedicated enthusiasts.

By far his biggest challenge of late has been the Aluminium Bodied Alexander GT prototype which my father and I had acquired in terrible condition and in the opinion of many was too far gone and beyond any restoration . Nigel has painstakingly rebuilt and restored the original body and inner tub and with the body now mounted on to the rolling chassis this unique car is now very close now to being restored to its former glory having very much been brought back to life by Nigel's craftsmanship and dedication. Nigel is also very much active in supporting me with running of the Turner register and therefore I am pleased to recognise his contribution with the registrar's trophy for 2007.

The final 2 Turners in attendance were those of Terry Filby with his bright yellow Turner MKI 60/345 (231 YYC) and my own Turner MKII 62/563 (BTU 737B) both of which have been the subject of major engine overhauls during the winter and so we were thrilled to have a reliable journey to and from Crickhowell in both cars.

All in attendance were thrilled to be joined during the afternoon by Jack Turner who took time to walk around the cars and talk with owners and enthusiasts as he cast his expert eye over the assembled cars, Jack was most impressed at the ever rising standard of restoration on show commenting that many of the cars looked better than they did when they left the Pendeford Airport works when new.

Both Jack & I were very pleased to see such a good gathering of cars and such good support for the marque, It would be impossible for me to name all that attended without cars on the day, However on behalf of us both I extend a warm thank you to all who attended the Rally in Wales this year and a sincere thanks for your continued support, and on behalf of all at the Rally this year our thanks to Jack Turner for spending his afternoon with us at the manor.

Russell Filby - Turner Registrar

Jack Turner with the Turner MKII of Robert Macgillivray at Crickhowell 2007

Owners with Cars in attendance

Chassis No./Type Owner/Driver Reg. No. 30/264 950S (Blue) Ken Robbins 9 NPC 60/291 MKI (Dark Green) Nigel Taylor 700 AOV 60/310 MKI (White) David Norsworthy 9551 RE 60/345 MKI(Yellow) Terry Filby 231 YYC 62/563 MKII (Green) Russell Filby BTU 737B 61/461 MKII(Red/White) Robert MacGillivray 632 CPX 62/544 MKII (Green) Ron Taylor 220 WMA 65/631 MKIII (White-Blue) David Valsler YRD 518C GT 2 (White) Brian Shaw OSJ 589 GT 5 (Red) Geoff Long 1077 ZE