THE Mini Marcos cars heritage run rolled into Bradford on Avon on Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of the British motor company.

More than a dozen Mini Marcos Owners Club members travelled from far and wide, in their own Mini Marcos kit cars, across England, Scotland and France to attend.

Lynn Marsh, widow of Bradford on Avon’s motor racing great and co-founder of the Mini Marcos car company, Jem Marsh, was delighted with the success of the event.

“It was a brilliant weekend, helped by the gorgeous weather and a wonderful turnout,” said Mrs Marsh.

“I don’t want this wonderful club to die. All I can say is long live Mini Marcos - here’s to another 50 years.”

The three-day-long jamboree began last Friday with a meal, highlighted by a rousing speech from Mrs Marsh, with former employees in attendance, at Combe House Hotel near Bridgwater.

The main event took place the next day with a drive around Castle Combe race circuit, almost 50 years to the day since Geoff Mabbs won Mini Marcos’ first ever race.

The tour concluded on Sunday with a trip to a Mini Marcos factory, Marcos Heritage, near Trowbridge, followed by a drive to an old factory site at Greenland Mills, Bradford on Avon, then on to another factory in Westbury, before ending with a tour of the Haynes motor museum in Yeovil.

The annual event, during which the car brigade travels across the continent, to places such as Turin and as far as Lithuania, is still going strong, according to club secretary Roger Garland.

“We’ve had a great time, nobody got lost and it was a fitting tribute to Jem,” said Mr Garland.

“He was quite a character and he would have loved all of this.”

Club member, Guy Humphries, who travelled from London for the gathering, said: “It’s a fantastic chance to greet fellow admirers and share stories from across Europe."

“You need characters and Jem was a great, colourful character. He made things happen. These are the people that we need to inspire our car industry to get it back to where it should be.”