2025 British V8 Meet - Long Island Tour

[Scott Costanzo]

Hi everyone! We wanted to let you know that the 2025 V8 Meet will be held on Long Island, NY. Save the dates which are:

•   Arrival on Monday, June 2nd, 2025
•   Head for home on Saturday, June 7th, 2025

Artie Clark is the organizer, and he will be assisted by Tim Duhamel & Scott Costanzo.

We are planning a fun week which will highlight some of the many things Long Island has to offer. If you have never visited, you will be surprised by what you see! The themes of the meet will be a mix of nautical, aviation and the local car scene. There will be a day-long drive through some of the most beautiful parts of the island and visits to a variety of venues.

The host hotel will be:
Springhill Suites Long Island Brookhaven
2 Sawgrass Dr. Bellport, NY 11713

Stay tuned as we will share much more information after the beginning of next year.

Below are photos of some of the venues we will be visiting.


Shelter Island Ferry - Montauk Point State Park - Local scenes


Local Car Show


Jones Beach


Cradle of Aviation Museum - Motorcar Classics

[MGBGT?]

Hey people!
The British V8 2025 Meet Website is now live.  Check it out!

https://britishv8meet.org/

[Scott Costanzo]

Hi everyone!

This is a reminder that the 2025 V8 Meet is coming up quickly!

The registration website is:

https://britishv8meet.org/

Important dates:

The Meet will run from Monday, June 2nd to Saturday June 7th.
The hotel must be booked by May 3, 2025 in order to get the event rate.
Registration will also end on May 3, 2025 as well.

Don't forget to get your event apparel/T-shirts using the Regalia link on the site.

We've had some additions to the itinerary! On Friday, June 6th, after we leave the Fire Island Lighthouse, we will be going to lunch at the Airport Diner (not included in the registration fee). After lunch, we will take a short drive to visit a business called RATCO to take a tour of the shop guided by Bob Waldeck. Bob's facility manufactures and repairs Triumph TR 2/3/4/4A/250/6 frames among many other things! The entire itinerary is located on the registration site above.

The 2025 Meet is being organized by Artie Clark with help from Tim Duhamel and Scott Costanzo. Al Moor built the website for us.

We are all looking forward to the event!


Please let us know if you have any questions.

Regards
Scott

[v8mgb]

Attached is the link to the slide show from the event

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L1tWgnQDKPlqnm_AA-NUK_rw7H1C3r1d/view?usp=sharing

Headlight Tech Session Results Link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xhUvVbWE_GPTy1wUJBvZeoOC78JeVvqx/view?usp=sharing


British V8 2025 The Long Island Tour

British V8 2025 was held June 2nd -5th on Long Island, New York and hosted by Artie Clark and Scott Costanzo.  We again had great weather all week perfect for top down driving for all 5 days of the event.  Artie and Scott planned the drives to all locations to take in the local back roads and scenery.

Monday June 2nd was arrival day with a pizza party where we caught up with old friends and met new people with a common interest in British cars.

Tuesday June 3rd
Scenic drive along the Eastern edge of Long Island where we took the North Ferry to Shelter Island for lunch at the Islander a great local spot with several menu items that brought out the flavor of the region.  After lunch we took the South Ferry back onto Long Island and drove to Montauk Lighthouse.  The Lighthouse was commissioned by George Washington in 1792 and built in 1797 to guide sailing vessels along the long island coast.  We were able to tour the lighthouse buildings and grounds.  The 137 step climb to the top of the lighthouse rewarded us with coastal views.  

Wednesday June 4th
We visited MotorCar Classics which specializes in the sale, trade and consignment of vintage and late model high-line, exotic and other collectible cars.  They have over 200 cars in inventory and sell 500 - 600 cars a year.  We were given a personal tour by the owner Will Branston who also provided lunch.  This was one of the best collections of cars I have ever seen.  Too many interesting cars to list but one car of interest was a 1965 Austin Martin DB5 used in the James Bond movie Goldfinger.  This car had all the original movie props and a control box in the boot. motorcarclassics.com

Wednesday evening we attended a local cruise in to show off our British V8 cars, We were able to inspect a large variety of classic cars on display and chat with the local car owners.

Thursday June 5th
We visited The Cradle of Aviation where we were given a private tour of the museum.  The museum is at the location of a former early American airfield where Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis left for the successful transatlantic flight to Paris in 1927.  The museum also highlights the contributions of long islanders to early aviation accomplishments.

After the museum we visited Jones beach where we enjoyed lunch on the beach.  After lunch we were free to walk the boardwalk, explore the beach and several took the opportunity to dip their toes into the Atlantic Ocean.

Thursday evening Max Fulton and Tim Duhamel hosted a Headlight aiming Tech Session in the parking lot.  Headlight brightness was measured and owners could have their headlight alignment checked on a target laid out on a fence panel at the hotel.  Adjustments were made as needed.  

Friday June 6th
Bright and early we had a nice drive over to Fire Island Lighthouse.  The Lighthouse was built in 1858.  We had a guided tour of the lighthouse and surrounding buildings and grounds.  Our legs were warmed up from the Montauk Lighthouse 137 step climb and had no problem with the Fire Island Lighthouse 182 step climb.  Again the climb was rewarded with the coastal views from the top.

Lunch was at the Airport Diner which is a classic diner with great food and service.  

Friday afternoon we had a tour of RATCO.  RATCO is a small shop that builds replacement frames and suspension components for the Triumph TR series of cars. They also offer a full selection of British Car Logo Garage art.  We toured the shop and the process to produce the frames using modern tools and techniques.  The owner, Bob Waldeck, was interested in our cars and the improvements we had made.  RATCO is nestled in an industrial park amongst classic car repair and body shops where we were treated to a variety of cars being repaired and restored.  
RAT-CO-com

Friday evening we held the annual banquet dinner, event trivia, and auction.  Several special awards for notable events that had occurred during the week were also given.  Goodbyes were said and we're looking forward to our next scheduled events.  The annual Townsend Gathering at the Tally Ho Inn  October 2-4, 2025 and the British V8 2026 will be held in NE Ohio, June 2026.  Details will be announced on BritishV8.org and mgexp.com.  As always everyone is welcome.