Derbyshire bodyshop Panel Match will host its unique Drive Out event on Saturday, 12 April.
The open-to-all event invites representatives from across the industry to meet at the bodyshop for a homemade breakfast, before joining the convoy on a 120-mile round-trip to Chatsworth, finishing this year at Great Northern Classics.
The Drive Out was introduced three years ago by Panel Match owner Rich Vickery for no other reason than to bring the industry together.
He said: “We started Drive Out three years ago for no other reason than trying to get local bodyshops together. I was looking for about 10-15 bodyshops to attend. But every year it’s doubling. I made about 145 breakfasts last year. But I don’t mind that. I don’t mind who comes. I’ll feed whoever is here.”
Last year about 60 people attended and this year more than 100 are expected to take part. Alongside bodyshops, paint companies, suppliers and manufacturers, automotive charity Ben, School of Thought and the NBRA are also all on the list.
Vickery said: “We pay for it ourselves and organise it ourselves. We’ve had companies offer to support it but it’s not about that. It’s a non-commercial event.
“People ask why we do it. It’s just different, isn’t it. It’s just a great chance to all get together. And it’s spring; there will be some fantastic cars under dust covers at the back of bodyshops, so what a time to get them out. We get all sorts of cars, McLarens, Ferraris, old classics, you name it.”
