I hadn’t long become coordinator of the Wales Chapter of the Figaro Owners Club when someone – I really can’t remember who – asked if a trip to Portmeirion in north Wales could be arranged.

After the initial shock, as this was to be my first time organising such an event, I set about contacting the relevant people at Portmeirion. At this point of course I had no idea how many cars would be likely to attend.

The person I needed to speak to, Meurig Jones, had just left for a 3-week holiday so I felt thwarted right at the start. When I eventually managed to speak to him he was so very friendly and helpful and explained that there had been car club meets at Portmeirion in the past and that arrangements could be made for us to drive through the village for a photo shoot. Having been to Portmeirion about five years ago I was thrilled as I knew this could be a very special day and a great privilege for The Figaro Owners’ group. I settled on 3 September 2023 as that would be the last day on which the brass band would be playing and felt this would be a lovely way to set off our visit. Meurig suggested we take lunch at Castell Deudraeth as it meant we could drive our cars thereafter the photos shoot and park immediately in front of the Castell – another fabulous photo opportunity.

I had no idea how to advertise this event but with Kevin’s kind assistance, it was announced on the Figaro website. In no time at all I had quite a few names of those club members who wished to attend. It was good to make contact with people whose names I had read on the forums and to find that, despite my worries, everyone was very supportive.

I contacted Adam Woods of Figaro Smiles whom I’d met briefly at the 30th Birthday Party, as I knew he had organised events and could, possibly, give me advice. Adam was really helpful and made useful suggestions for the day. He also offered to donate some Figaro Smiles items as I intended to do a free, fun raffle on the day.

Initially, the drive through the village and photo shoot was supposed to be after lunch but about two weeks prior to the event I was contacted by someone at Portmeirion to say it would now take place prior to lunch. Fortunately, I hadn’t yet sent out the programme for the day, but felt was a much better itinerary. I had been searching for somewhere for our group to meet and park so that we could drive, in convoy, to Portmeirion but it looked like the only car park of any size would be at Tesco in Porthmadog. Beginning our day at a supermarket car park wasn’t what I had in mind and wouldn’t have provided for the fabulous photos I’d hoped we could take.

Fortunately, Gaynor Leitch emailed me about the event and I discovered that she lived in a very beautiful area overlooking Porthmadog Harbour and alongside the Ffestiniog Railway. She and her partner, Simon, very kindly offered to arrange for us to meet and park there before driving to Portmeirion and informed me about the local cafe where members could get a coffee if they wished. She also knew the route to Portmeirion and offered to lead us there in her gorgeous cherry-red Figgy.

I was now able to email the information to the attendees. A day or so later I was contacted by Portmeirion to say Meurig had offered to take our group on a tour of the village at no extra cost. This was good news – I didn’t have time to send out a revised itinerary but felt the members would appreciate the tour. I was very grateful to the lovely Kate Thomas who emailed me to suggest name badges would be very useful and offered to produce these for everyone.

On the day of the event an early morning heavy mist had descended over Porthmadog, again a beautiful opportunity for a photo overlooking the Harbour. Fortunately, as soon as everyone arrived the mist lifted to a beautiful, sunny day. The lineup of Figgies overlooking Porthmadog Harbour was spectacular. There were 15 cars in all and it was great to meet the owners at last. I was so grateful that members had travelled far and wide to attend the event – Dolly and Dave Webb travelled from Ireland by ferry the day before.

Dave, Dolly’s husband, offered to video during the day and Pete Thomas, Kate’s husband “volunteered” to hold up the traffic to allow our convoy to enter the main street. Gaynor led the convoy in her gorgeous, cherry red Figgy – I travelled with her, my husband Ian taking Gaynor’s partner, Simon.

While Pete was doing his “traffic calming” duty he was approached by someone from Ffestiniog Railway who complained about him holding up traffic illegally. Fortunately, while this guy was talking to Pete, in the middle of the road, the remainder of our cars joined the convoy.

Sorry about the possible altercation Pete and thanks for taking your life in your hands by standing in the road to stop traffic and thanks also to Dave for capturing all this on video.

Meurig met our group at the Toll Gate and he proceeded to take us on an excellent, informative and light-hearted tour of the village. He regaled us with stories of where the architect, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis who had the vision for this unusual village, obtained items for the village and the tricks he used to make buildings look larger and more imposing.

He mentioned the many celebrities who had stayed in the village and also told stories about the cult TV programme, The Prisoner, played by Patrick McGoohan which had been filmed there. The scenery is truly spectacular, overlooking the Dwyryd Estuary, the buildings so colourful and quirky with the large chess board in the Piazza.

There is something beautiful to see at every turn.

After the tour, Meurig collected a buggy and guided us to a private car park from where he led groups of 4 Figgies through the narrow roads in the village to the Piazza where we were able to take photographs of our fabulous, colourful cars in a wonderful setting. All the while, Dave was travelling on the back of the buggy recording all the cars driving through the village. It really was a privilege to be able to take part in this drive-through.

After the photo shoot, we drove our Figgies up to Castell Deudraeth where the staff had arranged parking for us together as a group. Members had preordered their lunches and the staff had arranged for us to take lunch as a private group in the bright, sunny conservatory. Place names had been left on the tables with details of our lunch choices written inside the cards. It was very well organised. The meals were beautifully presented and very tasty and the service was excellent.

The A/C switch is prone to failure which can be frustrating. All could be working fine within the system but the switch itself is not sending the signal to turn it on.

There can also be problems with your fan at the very front of the car under the bonnet. Debris can get stuck between the blades and slow or block the fan completely.

One of the real privileges of being a member of the Figaro Owners Club is being able to meet members at events!

As I frequently say to people who ask about the Figgys, yes they are super little cars, but ownership sees you join a network of Figgy fans who are invariably lovely and nearly always up for fun!

Because these unique cars are reasonably affordable, it means that owners tend to be fairly “normal” people … but just with that sprinkling of Figgy magic transposed from the smiles they get from driving their Figs! We may all have had the odd grump who insists the car is a Fiat their grandfather drove in the 50s, but we can let it wash over us as we know we have a Figgy to drive with many miles of many smiles!

I say all this at the start, as another of the joys of attending events, is talking to prospective owners… telling them all the facts, but also highlighting the amazing and lovely people you’ll meet by owning one! But I have a lovely story to share with you about that in a moment…

This year there was just One Big CarFest. Let’s not forget that the purpose of CarFest is to raise money for children’s charities… due to the costs of their doing the event, sadly this year there was just one CarFest event, rather than the North and South events that have taken place in past years. Planning for 2023’s One Big CarFest started in October of last year when we had confirmation that car clubs could again attend for 2023. Last year the club was represented at CarFest North by CarFest stalwart Ken, while the club returned to

CarFest South after a few years away with myself taking on the coordinating duties for the first time. As mentioned, this is a charity fundraising event, so that is the focus – consequently, for all the planning in the world, things can be a little hap-hazard, but last year the lovely members and stand visitors we met at CarFest South made me want to do it again.

Last year we had eight cars at CarFest North and seven cars at CarFest South, so we were hoping to have a really good turnout for this year! Between October last year and August this year we had a total of 20 members register interest, but in the end (inevitably as life’s priorities happen) we ended up with 12 members attending.

The upgrade was carried out by member Sue Worthington's Husband Chris. He decided to replace the existing plastic screws that hold the door card in and change them to stronger and better stainless steel ones. Anyone who has removed the existing screws and tried to use them again will know that the screws can suffer from losing their ability to hold the door card on.

The existing screws are still available from Nissan but priced at £5.64 they are an expensive replacement.