LINCOLN — It was a British invasion of sorts, but brief, peaceful and engineered by French-Canadians.

About 60 members of the Quebec-based Club Automobile Rendez-Vous des Anglaises drove their vintage, British-made sports cars south across the border Sunday and celebrated Canada's Victoria Day long weekend by making their way to Lincoln. For two days, they toured New Hampshire in perfect, top-down spring weather.

Members are from all points in the Province of Quebec, and as they got set Monday for another day of tooling around in their well-maintained roadsters, they were thankful for the sunny skies.

“Oh, we had our rosaries on the clothesline,” said Lorraine Gay of St.-Jean-sur-Richelieu, in hopes of good weather. She and her traveling companion, Francois Gay, were among the group making their way out of the Comfort Inn & Suites in the shadow of Loon Mountain as they prepared to start out. Their 1973 Triumph TR-6 is Old English white. Most members planned to head back to Canada Monday or today. While many in the group are retired, some had to get back for work.

The latter group included Nyl Bourgoing, a supervisor for the nation's mail system, Canada Post, and his wife, Sonia Woodard, who's employed at an endoscopy clinic in Montreal.

Bourgoing is a fan of sports cars and motorcycles and said he doesn't mind paying the price. His right hand was in a heavy cast due to nerve damage he sustained in a recent motorcycle accident, so it took him a bit longer than usual to pack the red 1974 MGB. He said he hopes the cast will come off soon, so he can get back on the motorcycle.

“I like the bike and I like the car,” he said with a smile. His wife said her family was originally from Vermont. The couple lives in Deux Montagnes, Quebec.

In addition to having to find a hotel that accommodate their need for 60 rooms, club members are conscious of the fact that they can't overwhelm the attendants at the border stations by arriving all at once, Bourgoing said. So, on Sunday, they assembled near several crossing points in Vermont and New Hampshire, broke up into smaller groups of about a half-dozen cars, and staggered each group's arrival at the U.S. border station by 20 minutes or so.

He said the Internet has made it much simpler for the club to organize such large events, set the schedule and establish meeting points.

Denis Veillette and his wife, Helene Soncas, each own an MGB. The Champlain City, Quebec, couple took her 1980 roadster on this trip and left his 1974 model at home.

Victoria Day — Fete de la Reine, in French — is a federal holiday in Canada celebrated on the last Monday before May 25. It commemorates Queen Victoria's birthday and is often viewed as the unofficial start of Canada's summer.