CLASSIC vehicle lovers are preparing to drive up for the annual Barry Island Festival of Transport this Sunday, June 14.

More than 300 visiting classic cars and heritage vehicles will park up at the seaside resort in what has become one of South Wales’ biggest and most interesting gatherings of classic cars and heritage buses.

Huge crowds are expected at the Cardiff Transport Preservation Group-hosted free event which runs from 10am to 5pm.

This year, the festival will see a visit from a century old car – making it the oldest on show.

Organising group chairman, Mike Taylor said: “The oldest car this year is 100 years old – a Model Ford T and we are expecting at least 50 different Ford cars from across the decades. The second largest group is the MG which range from 1937 to 2006 and we have over 30 of them plus 22 Morris cars. They are a great reminder of the history of road transport. Old makes of cars cover Austin, Humber, Standard, Triumph, Rover and Wolseley to name a few.”

“Whilst we are looking at 300 Classic Cars we will be putting on a display of our Heritage Bus fleet and these together with visiting vehicles should see about another 50 or more.”

Visitors can arrive at the show in style with more frequent free heritage bus services operated so that people can experience rides on different makes.

There will also be a free Park and Ride shuttle.

Not to be out classed, a 36-year-old open top bus makes its debut as part of the collection on display.

The open top former City of Cardiff 1979 Bristol VR double decker is joined by a Cardiff Bus 1991 Leyland Lynx; and a Valleys bus: a Stagecoach Red & White 1998 Volvo B10M.

It will also be the last chance this year for the public to see parked in the Broad Street bus depot, the last bus built in Cardiff back in 1951, which has just spent 23 years in South Africa.

A show guide, costing £2 and available on the day, gives details of the vehicles attending the show and a list of free heritage bus trips.

Mike added: “We work closely with the Vale of Glamorgan Council and they are helping us with the event. Visitors to Barry come from a large area not just the Valleys, Newport and Cardiff, but from Pembrokeshire in the west to Swindon in the east. Barry Island has a great beach too so if the sun is out we look to be operating more open top buses than usual. The festival is a fun day for all the family and is a great opportunity to see the efforts put in by everyone who have restored old classic cars and heritage buses.”

Free parking is available at the Barry Dock Offices car park and a free shuttle bus will be run every 15 minutes.