Grey skies didn’t deter the owners of over 120 Smart cars, who drove into the Beaulieu parkland on Sunday 8th November to take part in the fifth annual Simply Smart rally.
All Smart car owners were invited to join the celebration of these innovative small cars, with the opportunity to park up in the grounds of the National Motor Museum, catch up with other like-minded enthusiasts and enjoy all of the features of the Beaulieu attraction.
The much-loved ForTwo, the sporty Roadster and the practical ForFour were all well represented in the rally line-up, while no less than two examples of the limited edition Smart Crossblade were also on display, fascinating visitors with their distinctive styling and minimalist bodywork.
The assembled cars were painted in a variety of Smart factory colours and custom paint finishes, ensuring that Simply Smart, the last event in Beaulieu’s 2015 calendar of Simply rallies, was a colourful affair. Traditionally, Simply Smart is held on Remembrance Sunday, with Beaulieu visitors joining Smart owners in observing two minutes’ silence at 11am.
During the day, visitors could vote for their favourite car of the rally in the People’s Choice Award. The winner was Naomi Cole from Rochester, with her immaculate 2003 Smart Roadster. Naomi had driven from Kent to take part in the rally, accompanied by fellow members of the East Kent Smarties owners’ group. “We really enjoyed the rally, although I was up at 6am to wash the car before we set off, which some people thought was crazy,” said Naomi. “I am passionate about driving and looking after my Roadster, and it has had an awful lot of use in the seven years that I’ve owned it.”
Naomi was awarded with a Beaulieu trophy, before leading a cavalcade of the most popular cars through the attraction grounds.
For details on Beaulieu’s 2016 calendar of Simply rallies, visit www.beaulieu.co.uk/events.
