Stahly Quality Foods, producers of award winning traditional Scottish haggis, are proud to have sponsored the MG Car Club’s European Event of the Year in 2013. The MG Car Club’s European Event of the Year provides the annual stage and setting for one of the worlds greatest gatherings of MG cars. Each year the event attracts over 250 cars from across Europe and from as far afield as the US and Canada. 

The event is a scenic touring rally held over five days in a different European country each year. In 2011 the event was held in Belgium and in 2012 it was in Sweden. Scotland hosted the Event in August 2013 at Aviemore, the heart of the Cairngorm National Park.

The MG Car Club’s European Event of the Year holds a special place in Ken Stahly’s heart as he is the proud owner of a 1970 MG originally belonging to his mother, Ann. 

The car began its life as an MGB GT but, after being left in a garage for many years, it was lovingly restored and re-emerged as a Roadster.

The MG Car Club

The MG Car Club is a worldwide phenomenon with 10,500 members in the UK and 30,000 overseas members in hundreds of affiliated MG Car Clubs. 

The original MG Car Club was formed in 1930 with the approval of Cecil Kimber, the founder of the MG Car Company Ltd. The Club was formed by a group of MG enthusiasts as a club for members run by members and so it remains today. 

Over the years, the Club has evolved into twelve UK regional Centres with its headquarters at the home of MG in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The Caledonian Centre of the MG Car Club is the Scottish branch of the world’s largest single marque car club enjoying a healthy and active membership of 350. 

The MG European Event of the Year provides the annual stage and setting for one of the worlds greatest gatherings of MG cars and Stahly Quality Foods are proud to be sponsors of this prestigious event. It was first held in Luxemburg in 1997 and has taken place each year since, attracting MG cars and their owners from across Europe and from as far afield as the US, Canada and Australia.

The event is a scenic touring rally held over five days and in a different European country each year. 

In 2011 the event was held in Belgium, followed by Sweden in 2012 and in 2013 the focus of the MG world was here in the UK with the event being held in Scotland. 

Read more about the MG European Event of the Year 2013 at Aviemore, Scotland.

The 2013 MG Car Club European Event of the Year event was based in Aviemore at the heart of the Cairngorms National Park in the beautiful Scottish Highlands in August 2013.

MG cars from all over Europe and beyond made the trip to Scotland – this was the first time that the event has come to the UK.

The MG Car Club’s Caledonian Centre was awarded the right to host the 2013 event in a competitive pitch and from August 16 – August 20, Aviemore was the base for a scenic touring rally and associated events to showcase the very best that Highland Scotland has to offer. In 2011 the Scottish Highlands area was included in the prestigious National Geographic Traveller’s Top Twenty destinations.

The Event was based at the Macdonald Hotel complex in Aviemore where a Grand Gala Dinner and Ceilidh, a double celebration for the European Event of the Year and a 21st birthday bash for the Caledonian Centre. 

Participants were treated to a Civic Reception hosted by Highland Council in Aviemore then had the opportunity to sample the fantastic roads and scenery of the Cairngorms area – the UK’s largest and newest National Park. They were also able to visit the Nairn Highland Games, a fort, castles and distilleries and take part in competitive driving tests in the Aviemore hotel complex where food and whisky-tasting opportunities were also on offer – a chance for participants to taste and take home some of Stahly Quality Foods’ award- winning haggis. Download a free copy of Stahly’s Haggis Recipe Book

Robert MacGillivray, one of the MG Caledonian Centre’s organising team, said during the planning stages of the event: “Without doubt the focus of the MG world and beyond will be on Scotland and Aviemore for these five days in August when we intend to showcase the Cairngorms National Park as a world-class leisure destination. We are grateful to all of our sponsors for their generosity in helping us to host this event and for their contributions towards promoting the very best that Scotland has to offer. 

“It’s a great honour and responsibility for us to have been awarded the event but we’re sure that all participants will be bowled over by what the Cairngorms National Park has to offer at that time of the year. We anticipate that upwards of 600 MG enthusiasts will congregate at Aviemore with their cars – some of which will date from the earliest days of the MG marque in the 1920s.” (The Caledonian Centre of the MG Club, who organised the event were very pleased with the turnout, which was actually around 750.)

Alan Rankin, chief executive of Visit Cairngorms was delighted that Aviemore and the Cairngorms National Park had been chosen to play host to this prestigious European-wide event. The Cairngorms National Park is one of the most special parts of the British Isles, with stunning landscapes which make for some of the most spectacular driving views visitors have ever seen.

MG Cars at Nairn Highland Games 2013 When the venue for the 2013 Event was announced David Green, convener of the Cairngorms National Park Authority, said: “The decision to award hosting of the European Event of the Year to Scotland and for the MG Car Club’s Caledonian Centre to celebrate their 21st anniversary at the same time in the Cairngorms National Park is testament to the Park’s reputation as a special place. We are seeing more and more prestigious and international events coming here, which is really putting the Park firmly on the international stage. There are certainly some fantastic drives in the Cairngorms National Park.

“Read more about the MG European Event of the Year 2013 at Aviemore, Scotland.Visit Cairngorms website