MINI Plant Swindon, and Swindon175 are staging a unique event on Saturday when an impressive collection of 60 classic cars, will parade around the world famous Magic Roundabout – one of the most incredible traffic management systems ever built.
And all these cars will have had their body panels pressed at the BMW Group MINI Plant in Swindon, formerly known as Pressed Steel, which is celebrating its sixtieth anniversary in 2016.
The choreographed parade will begin at around 7am and will see Minis, Rovers, Triumph, Rolls Royce and other icons of the British car industry made in the last 60 years traverse the multiple mini-roundabouts that make the Magic Roundabout so unique.
In a change to the original plan, at 7.45am the cars will leave the roundabout along County Road and be taken by police escort to STEAM Museum at Churchward where they will be on display to the public until 9.45am, at which point some will depart for another event. .
Caroline Black, Project Manager Swindon175, said: “We’ve had an amazing response to this event and its certainly gathering a lot of media interest, including the American online magazine Wired.
"We were also contacted by Red Bull to link-up with their event on the Magic Roundabout last Tuesday. Mad Mike Whiddett from New Zealand was in town to record a promo film with Red Bull and chose our iconic roundabout for that purpose. He was the warm up act for our event.”
The film will be released in the coming months
Tanya Field, the British car enthusiast who is coordinating the actual parade, said: “It’s been very exciting pulling together the car collection; we really do have some great examples of cars that have come through the Pressed Steel plant over the last 60 years. We're really looking forward to having the Magic Roundabout as our stage”
The Magic Roundabout will be closed to traffic from 11pm on Friday 8 July for highway maintenance throughout the night and will reopen at 8pm on Saturday 9 July.
To get involved or for more details about events visit Swindon175.com or contact [email protected]
• Swindon175 marks the anniversary of the birth of new Swindon when construction began on the Great Western Railway’s locomotive repair shed. Throughout 2016 a range of events, supported by sponsors and Swindon Borough Council and managed by Business West, are involving Swindon people and businesses are celebrating the town’s rich heritage and achievements.
A major event takes place 12noon to 10am on 9 July - see the poster below
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