A Field Full Of Fords

Last weekend I think was my last car show of the year. I wasn’t sure if I was going to attend another show after the previous show where people were running their hands over my car. The weather was supposed to be good, I had plenty of fuel and thought I will keep a close eye on things this time around if i went to the show, I sort of talked myself into it. There are other shows around of course, some miles away some smaller ones, so I’m not sure if I will get to those or not. But, I wanted to finish on a high not a post moaning about other people.

So, what’s better than a Ford in a field? Well – lots of Fords in a field. The show was at Stonham Barns, a close event near me, only thirty minutes away. The show was called ‘Ford Fanatics’, I’m not sure who organised it, but it was the first only make shows I have attended. I was a little nervous about this one as Ford owners especially the more standard run of the mill cars that have stickers all over them for an extra 10bhp per sticker. These ones often go for the re-map of the ‘pop and bang’ efforts to terrorise the locals. I knew form a previous show ‘Fast & Loud’ a couple of years ago what would be arriving. The sign on the way in said ‘No speeding’ and ‘No Revving of engines’. But, typically some were revving their engines just to make them pop. To be fair most were on good behaviour. It’s funny the real ‘Fast Fords’ and modified tuned cars are much more subtle and don’t ram it on your face or should I say ears.

Once inside I was directed to park up in a line with plenty of space. Once I’d stopped the first thing I did was to get out the ‘Do not touch’ signs. This time I put them on the centre console too. The one on the front grill is magnetic so it won’t move if a breeze gets in the car. Let’s see how this show goes!

I gave the car a quick wipe over and decided to get the now mandatory breakfast in.

The hotdog was epic with a toasted roll this time, it didn’t last long. Once I had finished, a quick walk round the cars as many as possible for the photo’s, before the main public came in.

There were lots of very common Tesco (Walmart’s equivalent) car park cars. I took many of the cars together instead of individually. That way it cuts down on the number of photos for the boring cars and makes the scrolling easier for the interesting stuff.

Inside the main arena was a real mixture of old and new cars which was great to see the evolution of the cars through the years. It’s funny that some of the Fast Ford Sierra Cosworth vehicles from the mid 1980s still outperform the latest offerings from Ford.

As the sign says here for this Transit, often used in bank robberies! It was a different time then!

For a little bit of fun, does anybody know what this knob is for? Answer at the end.

I loved this for obvious reasons, even though it’s a wrap.

I got back to my car and watched it like a hawk and anybody approaching it. But, needn’t of worried as I have to say everybody was great, nobody fiddled with the car, one guy even asked to film inside the car and asked if I could open the door for him. I was more than happy to do it for him. He put his backpack down before filming and was very respectful when leaning inside the car and was very grateful afterwards. Now why can’t everybody be like that? Was it the over kill of the “Do not touch signs”? I doubt it as I put them out anyway. I think the difference this time was the fact the the show wasn’t a family orientated event, it was aimed at more like minded people wanting to look at nice cars.

The show was busy with lots of duplicates of car models, however there were a couple of rare and wonderful modified cars too. Mustangs; a number of newer ones, but only four classics with mine being the oldest Mustang there. While I was people watching I had my ol’ mate David (Frosty) turn up who I hadn’t seen for ages. The abuse started within a few seconds which was great to hear, it’s a bloke thing!

Mart’s Car Of The Show.

This 1968 MKII Cortina 1600E. A 1600cc engine producing 88bhp at 5,400rpm from a 4 speed manual. How fast was it? 0-60 in a fraction over 13 seconds. Not bad for way back in the day, again often used for bank raids as they were pretty quick.

At just before one in the afternoon a few cars started to leave and I decided to do the same. I packed up and trundled out the event. Just before the exit a VW Tourag pulling a mobile house, a massive caravan that could sleep an entire football team which pulled out in front of me. Yep; all the way back down the narrow roads I was stuck behind it for twenty minutes or so, I was not impressed. On the dual carriageway I blasted past it to get some clear visibility for the last eight miles home.

I pulled up on the drive and wiped the car down with some new products I bought at the show. A sample pack and a full sized bottle. From what I have seen I’m very impressed and they out performs some big name brands I use. I will be reviewing those products soon, I could be on the verge of swapping brands! Who is this brand? they are “MICC” that’s “Mirror Image Car Care”. I don’t often get excited about many products, but I’m really looking forward to trying these out. I will of course be bringing the results as I review them.

Just for Fun Quiz Answer:

Those who are old enough to remember this will be a little nostalgia trip down memory lane; the “Manual Choke”.

Then there is the very common issue; depending on the car and quality of the cable mechanism, the pull out and twist to lock stops working. The knob just snapped back closed or gently crept back in. If the engine is cold this would cause the car to stall. Again a simple fix to replace but so many people, me included didn’t bother. We used the ‘Peg’ method. A simple clothes peg would be clipped behind the knob to stop it going back in. See the pics below; one peg for summer starts or warm engine, two pegs for a cold start, or really cold or left for a while three pegs.

Most common was the wooden pegs maybe just the cheap plastic efforts, car colour coded ones if you could! Then there was the custom ones which looked pretty good. These custom ones are more like right of passage, it’s such a beloved blast from the past. It also worked!

The peg ‘thing’ was such a common sight on many cars. There was a standing joke that the ladies would pull the choke out and hang their handbags on it! I have actually seen it, but to be fair, only while the car was warming up.

I can’t think of many better ways to end the car show season in the UK; a “Field Full Of Fords!