About the Club
We are a group based in the Torbay area of South Devon. Most of our members live within 20 miles or so of here, although we do have a few who are further afield.
TOWC was founded in 1992 by a small group of friends with a common interest in preserving and using older vehicles of all types. Since those early days the club has grown, but it still retains the friendly atmosphere where new members are quickly welcomed and made to feel at home.
In 2019 we were proud to be voted one of the Top Ten UK classic car clubs by readers of the best-selling Practical Classics magazine.
We have a popular public Facebook page here
and members can also chat together on their own private page.
The majority of us have cars, but many of our members also own bikes, scooters or commercials. These date from the 1920s onwards, right through the decades up to modern classics, exotics and replicas. What we all enjoy is the company of friends with a common interest, and you don’t need to own an old vehicle to be a member. We meet monthly on the last Thursday at 7.30pm. As well as dealing with the routine of keeping the club running smoothly we usually have an extra feature such as a talk, film show, quiz, or whatever our social team comes up with. We also play skittles against other clubs every few months.
In the winter we have a monthly Sunday run, preferably in old vehicles, where we explore the beautiful area in which we live. This usually ends up with a hearty lunch: we do enjoy our food! In the summer season many of our members display their vehicles at shows around the region. At quite a few shows we run our own TOWC club stand. Membership is a great way of finding out what shows are on and where.
We are probably best known for organising the Riviera Classic Car Show on Paignton Green at the end of July each year. This Show is an integral part of the Paignton Festival (previously called Torbay Carnival Week), which then runs through the following week.
We have done this since 1994, and since then have been able to donate over £66,000 to the Festival from the proceeds of the Show. These funds benefit many local charities which have been chosen by the Festival Committee.
Our 2022 donation was £7,000.
As well as enjoying the social side of things, the club is a great way of sharing advice on the “nuts and bolts” of our hobby. We have a number of experts on hand so if we can’t help immediately we can probably point you in the right direction!
We’re always very keen to welcome new members, so if you are interested in anything to do with classic, vintage or veteran vehicles we’d love to meet you, whether you own one or not. Follow the link on this site for a membership form, or if you’d like a chat first please phone me on 07922 772 640
TOWC Out & About Nov 2016 - Aug 2017
We’re a very active Club throughout the year. Over the winter months we have regular runs, usually in our old cars, ending with a pub lunch. In the summer show season we get together at lots of different events around the region. Here’s a little sample showing the fun and games.