WHILE the British summer has not been in the most predictable form of late, one thing that can be relied upon is the appearance, on the last Thursday of each month, of a truly eclectic gathering of cars, motorcycles and people at the Red Lion in Shobrooke.

This is Classic and Specialist Car and Bike Night and, while the event runs throughout the year, the summer months are without doubt the busiest.

Since its inception in 2012, this event has attracted literally hundreds of enthusiasts in a vast array of different vehicles.

Some are regular attendees, some appear once in a while when other commitments allow and some may only come to the event once every couple of years or so. All have been and continue to be equally welcome.

The event was founded on the belief that it should be as informal as possible. To this end, there is no membership, no committee and only one rule regarding vehicle eligibility: IF YOU LOVE IT, BRING IT!

In other words, a vehicle’s eligibility is entirely down to the owner’s enthusiasm for it. This completely open policy has led to a huge variety of both two and four (and occasionally three) wheeled machinery turning up.

Old, new, fast, slow, big, small, some worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, others just hundreds, all have been well-represented over the years.

Equally broad is the range of people the event brings together, encouraging interaction between different types and ages of enthusiast who may not normally have much to do with one another.

While the primary reason for Classic and Specialist Car and Bike Night’s existence is to bring together like-minded people for a relaxed social event once a month, it also occasionally becomes involved in more important endeavours.

These have included raising money for Shobrooke Village Hall and acting as a point of contact to gather vehicles for display at events such as that organised to welcome the new Devon Air Ambulance into service in 2013, and a transport education day at Landscore Primary School in 2015.

The most recent ventures of this type have been helping to arrange the car and motorcycle display at the CredFest Picnic In The Park and helping to source World War Two military vehicles for the recent commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, held in Crediton Town Square.

If you want to see more of what goes on, there is a “Facebook” page which can be found at: www.facebook.com/rlcarbikenight/ .

However, if you have a set of wheels you love, by far the best way of learning more about the event is to take it along from 7pm on the last Thursday of the month at the Red Lion – the group looks forward to seeing you!