Car Show Report – British Car Day 2025 in Colombo

As a former colony of the “Empire on which the sun never sets”, Sri Lanka (Ceylon in those days), was fairly well stocked with British products, especially their automotive ones. In fact, until the Japanese gained a foothold in the 80s, the majority share of our auto market belonged to British brands. As a result of this, British classics still occupy a special place in the hearts of many of our people, and so they tend to be the most common and popular classics as well.

The FIVA affiliated Classic Car Club of Ceylon is the main organization dedicated to preserving automotive history in the country, and is extremely active in this regard. Among the several events that populate the annual calendar, the British Car Day is a highlight, as it focuses completely on British classics and themes. Participants must obviously turn up in a British classic car and are highly encouraged to dress in period outfits as well. After a morning gathering at a historic location, there usually is a parade up to a historic hotel, after which there are some activities and a brunch as well. It’s always a fun day out and I try not to miss it usually. This year, I’ll attempt to give CC an idea of how the event looks, and of course show the cars too. So, let’s check it out.

The Initial gathering this year was at the 80 Club, a heritage club that was renovated fairly recently and has expansive gardens, just the job for parking many cars!

The building certainly looks suitably vintage, especially with the AEC Routemaster out front, though I wish that Leaf was parked elsewhere.

Walking in through the wrought iron gates WOULD have transported us straight back into the past, if the British Ambassador’s driver hadn’t decided to park his bloody great Range Rover right there! Oh well, let’s try and ignore it, at least it wasn’t a Toyota Land Cruiser.

The very first car to greet us is this Mark 3 Ford Capri, a very original 1.3 litre example, fitted with alloy wheels and a pop up sunroof. Basic 1.3 litre Capris are almost impossible to find nowadays because everyone wants the hot examples, but it’s always nice to see a well kept survivor of the type of cars most people actually bought.

Next up we have this decidedly non-basic pair, showcasing differing approaches to the British Roadster. The Austin Healey 100 is the poster child for the rough and ready, hairy-chested sports car route, while the Thunderbird inspired Sunbeam Alpine chooses the more laid back, gentleman’s tourer method. Both have their fans, and it’s not for me to say one is superior to the other.

However, if I had to choose one with my own money, I would have a hard time looking past the back to basics charm of the Big Healey.

Tearing ourselves away from the Healey brings us to these solid citizens, a rover P4 75, a Hillman Minx drophead coupe, and an Austin A60 Cambridge.

The “Auntie” Rover was quite a substantial car for its day, but it was absolutely dwarfed by its modern, very distant relative.

Nevertheless, I know which interior I’d rather be lounging in, and it certainly isn’t that of the sterile modern tank. This P4 seems rather more “lived in” than the very tidy example T87 recently found in Tokyo, which to me adds to the charm of the thing.

The most interesting observation I have about this Minx Drophead Coupe is the cat that the roof can apparently be opened to an unusual halfway position, sort of like a targa. That aside, it’s not a particularly stirring car, but this example seems to be hiding some upgrades, going by the widened wheels and lower stance.

The A60 Cambridge is also not quite as it left the factory, with widened wheels and a lower stance again being notable. I happen to know that the engine has been hotted up a bit, with twin carburetors and all manner of other improvements, so it drives way better than the average example. The interior has also been re-trimmed to a very high level and benefits from air conditioning as well.

Next up were these two, a Mark 1 Ford Capri 1600 GT, keeping company with a Jaguar Mark 2, 2.4 Litre.

Followed by this Morris Oxford Series VI and Ford Cortina Mark 2 1600GT. We’ll take a closer look at the Cortina a bit later in the post, while the Oxford was actually the car that I took to the show, a very original example owned by a friend, which I will try and do a separate feature on sometime soon.

Then we see this trio of quintessential “Little British Cars”, the two MGBs serving to make the Austin Healey Sprite look even tinier than it actually is.

The Morris Minor is probably the single most popular British Classic in Sri Lanka, but we had surprisingly few at this event. Nevertheless this lovely cream hued Minor Traveller was an excellent example of the breed.

Alongside the Minor we find Britain’s best selling car of the 1960s, the BMC ADO16, here in somewhat upmarket MG Trim. The ADO16 was a truly innovative car, as expected for a brainchild of Alec Issigonis,  with front wheel drive, hydrolastic suspension, and great packaging and space utilisation. These were quite popular in Sri Lanka but are vanishingly rare now, partly because many donated their internals (and sometimes even their identities) to cobbled together Minis.

Since this was an MG version, the interior was significantly plusher than the bare bones Austin and Morris models, with a wood dash and leather seats, although this car may have been retrimmed over the years.

The off pavement contingent was represented by this pair of Land Rovers, an early Series 1 and a first generation Discovery. I can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that the first Discovery is old enough to be considered a Classic! The Series 1 was missing its front doors and had this rather unusual roof arrangement, perhaps a curbsider will know more.

Moving right along, we encounter this Rolls Royce Silver Wraith II, the long wheelbase version of the Silver Shadow, in facelifted form, wearing the rubber bumpers and other accoutrements of the 70s. The facelift also brought rack and pinion steering and much improved front suspension that actually made the car handle well, but in terms of appearance, the more delicately finished earlier cars are far superior.

Taking a small break from looking at the individual cars, here’s a look at the crowd and overall parking area. The morning event was open to the public and drew quite a crowd who spent a fair bit of time looking over the cars there. In case you’re wondering what the buttercream hued roof in the center of the picture belongs to…

That would be this Jaguar E Type Series 3 V12, in a particularly 70s shade no less. The changes made to the Series 3 certainly did a number on the purity of the E type shape, unfortunately.

Now here’s a Jag to which adding more space didn’t really affect how it looks, a Daimler Double Six Vanden Plas, complete with V12, very well integrated lengthened wheelbase, everflex vinyl roof and gorgeous bronze/gold paintwork. Truly a stunning machine and one which I hope to feature at some point in the future.

The legend that is the Mini was of course well represented, as this trio of very early, mid run and somewhat later examples shows. The Mini is enduringly popular here in Sri Lanka and decent examples are never too hard to find. There was even a pick up version present, which we will see a bit later.

Next to the Minis, and absolutely dwarfing them was this rolling monument, an Austin A125 Sheerline Limousine, one of only 475 ever made, of which very few survive apparently. This is the only one on the island and still works for a living as a wedding car.

The interior is a very 50s combination of wood, leather and deep carpeting, although I believe the leather has been replaced with a more hard-use friendly synthetic alternative in this case. The legroom available is truly impressive, allowing passengers to really lounge.

Moving along, we run into this odd couple, a Mini Moke and a Triumph Stag. The Stag really is one of the car world’s great missed opportunities, with lovely lines and a well developed chassis, as well as a comfortable and well trimmed interior. If it had only been fitted with the 3.5 litre Rover V8 instead of the unfortunate Triumph 3.0 litre boondoggle, it likely would have enjoyed significantly more success.

A varied selection of cars follows, as you can see, more Minis, another Alpine, a fairly rare Ford Corsair V4, a Mini Clubman, Triumph Spitfire Mark 3, another E type S3 V12, and another Minor Traveller. Hopefully this gives you an idea of the varied selection of cars that turned up on the day!

By this point, it is just about time to set off for the next stage of the event, so people are starting to get into their cars and line up. So there’s just enough time to grab a couple more pictures

This gorgeous Series 1 4.2 Litre E-type absolutely needed to be photographed, just to show its sheer purity of line compared to the bloated later models.

And of course this Lotus Elan FHC, the only Lotus present on the day, as far as I could see.

Alrighty, time to hop into the Oxford and get rolling!

 

For obvious reasons, I wasn’t able to take photos while driving, so I don’t have any of what was a very eye catching convoy except these at the end of the drive as we were pulling into our destination…

… which was the Iconic Galle Face Hotel, Sri Lanka’s oldest hotel, in operation since 1864. Everyone parked up on the hotel’s forecourt, creating a unique sight for onlookers, including resident guests.

The combination of so many classic cars, the heritage building, and the seaside setting truly was something worth seeing.

In case you were wondering, yes, the AEC Routemaster did actually do the drive, being fully functional. Some of the guests rode along in it (including my wife and child actually) and they reported having a great time.

Okay, there’s just time to grab a few more pictures.

This MGA has been with the owner’s family for 50 years, being purchased by his father in the mid 1970s and eventually passed onto him. The owner is actually a friend of mine and I’ve been telling him we need to feature it on CC, hopefully soon.

LR Series II, Jaguar Mark 1 and Riley RMD Drophead.

The Riley is a real rarity, one of just 502 ever made and probably the only one in this region.

And finally, we have this pair of Cortina Mark 2 1600GTs, the sportiest option in the range apart from the specialist Lotus version. Long under-appreciated, these are now gaining attention and care. The blue example has been recently restored to a very high standard and hopefully will have a turn on CC in the near future.

And that’s a wrap from British Car Day 2025, I do hope you enjoyed the tour, and in case you want to see more, follow this link to see the sponsor’s truly massive album of pictures from the day.

Thanks for reading!