I have been aware of the British Invasion Stowe Vermont car show for a long time. It is an event where its reputation proceeds it! Unfortunately, it usually clashes date-wise with my own St. Louis All British Car Show managed by the MG Club of St. Louis. In 2025 though, I made plans to road trip to Stowe VT for 34th holding of the event. It is a huge event and one every British Car fan should attend at least once.
The event itself takes place over 3 days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Things “kick-off” on Friday at noon with registration opening. There’s also driving options, a registrants reception and then the unique block/street party in the very center of Stowe.
Saturday is the main event with the car show which incorporates a popular vote show, a concours section and a corral area for people looking to sell a car. Also plenty of vendors and swap meet participants across the 3 days. Also they host an evening reception and dinner. Sunday is a more relaxed day with the “Competition of Colors” whereby cars park/compete solely based on color and not marque/model. There’s also a tailgate picnic completion which is delightful and people put a lot of thought and creativity into the displays/setups.
Here’s an overview of my debut experience at the British Invasion Stowe Vermont Car Show.
Friday Opening Day
Having already located the show field the previous day, we easily made our way their on Friday. There’s an efficient registration packet pickup area under the main tent. You can submit a registration electronically (pay online email the form) or mail it in. The first 200 registrants receive an event themed gift, unfortunately I was number 208. Having picked this up we needed a late lunch. So, we visited the nearby Stowe Bee Cafe which I can happily recommend.
Having linked up with our travel buddies again we led a short drive up VT108 which passes through Smugglers Notch. We came back down VT100 into Stowe and headed back to the show field. Had a walk around and enjoyed a complimentary beverage at the registrants reception.
One of the big attractions of the event was the street party. Several blocks of Stowe’s Main St. are blocked off between 6 and 9:30 PM. Attendees park British cars on the closed off Main St area. The process for this is still a bit of a mystery and seems somewhat random. But owners were lining up in the side streets. The process seems to be that once the street is closed the local police allow cars from the various side streets into the closed area of Main St. How this was coordinated seems very random. Fortunately I was one of only eight cars that made it to Main St from our utterly unplanned side street location.
The weather was perfect and there was a live band. Food was available and the general public and show attendees alike enjoyed all the cars. We spoke with some random UK visitors who happened to be visiting. Also chatted with other owners and answered a number of MGF questions.
Saturday Show Day
The Stowe British Invasion has a reputation for being a very large show. Typically between 400 to 600 British cars descend on the town for this event. I think we were on the lower 400 range for the 34th event in 2025 but still the largest All British car show event I have been to.
Having taken the MGF we chose class 32, Other MG. There were 3 other MGFs attending for a class total of 4. This is, in itself, quite unique and especially so since there was another amaranth coloured car. Despite the class description there were no other MGs in the class, so no MG1100/1300 or things like that. Effectively this was the MGF class. All of us MGF owners knew each other to some degree. We knew each other much better by the end of the day!
Popular Vote Car Show – Class 32
Popular Vote Car Show
As expected the show was indeed huge, almost overwhelming. There is a concours event, in conjunction with the main popular vote car show.
Concours
As someone with an interest in originality, I did spend some time checking out the concours entries. There were two MGs participating. Both of them were amazing preservations.
Sunday Show Day
There are quite a few activities planned for the Sunday of the event. There’s a guided drive through the Smugglers Notch. Also, a car show where cars park by colour. In addition, there’s quite an interesting competition for a tailgate picnic setup and display. Lastly, there is a drive through of the popular car show winners.
Tailgate Picnic
Winners Drive Through
Given the number of classes and the concours event, the awards presentations on Saturday takes a long time. On the Sunday there is a drive-through of the popular car show class winners. Winners get to speak a little about their car and they get awarded a special rosette on Sunday. This rosette is in addition to the award received on the Saturday. As I won my class, I was able to participate.
Road Tripping
Even though the events are a good reason to have fun, the journey itself is a big part of trips. This road trip was over 15 days and 3,500 miles. We passed through 11 states and had various stops, hikes and side trips along the way. In some ways, the journey to and from an event can actually be more fun than the destination event.
Other Materials
Please check out my other articles. Also see the cornerstone content of my website the MGB Knowledge Base or MGF Knowledge Base.
