(17 Jun 05)

The 12 judges in the UK Car Enthusiast of the Year competition, sponsored by car care product manufacturer Meguiar's, have unanimously decided to award the 2005 title to Mark Wilsmore.

Wilsmore was employed by the Metropolitan Police for nearly two decades before he left the force in 1997 to relaunch the Ace Cafe. The Ace, located just off the North Circular Road at Stonebridge near Wembley, was created in 1938 and became a popular venue for bikers before it closed in 1969. Wilsmore has expanded the original idea, making the Ace a hugely successful meeting place for car and bike enthusiasts.

By arranging different events at different times on the same day, Wilsmore manages to hold over 500 gatherings at the Ace each year, catering for bikers, classic car enthusiasts and performance tuning fans. During an ordinary week, he may have 20,000 customers. There are no noise problems, because there are no residential neighbours in the area, but Wilsmore makes a point of holding regular meetings with the local council, police and other official bodies.

"I'm absolutely knocked out to win the Meguiar's Award and feel really honoured," said Wilsmore when he heard about the award. "I would like to thank my staff for their help and support, and of course our customers for helping to make the Ace such a success."

Wilsmore will officially receive the award in a ceremony at the Royal Automobile Club on Friday 23 September, attended by Meguiar's UK Managing Director Steve King and parent company Meguiar's Inc President and CEO Barry Meguiar. The event will be televised in the US and Canada on the Speed Channel, where Barry Meguiar hosts the weekly show Car Crazy.

As we reported at the time, the 2004 award was won by Tom Wheatcroft, who recreated the pre-War Donington race circuit and founded the Donington Grand Prix Collection.

More information about the sponsor at www.meguiars.co.uk.

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