A Classic 1966 Ford Mustang v8 Coupe Restoration Guide. Car Detailing. Product Reviews.
Author: One man and his Mustang
I'm just a man with a Classic 1966 Ford Mustang Coupe and an ever increasing collection of car detailing products to keep it clean.
I bought the car as a non rolling project in 2011 which had been neglected, set fire to, rusted and abused. As a result of all that the car needed a bare metal strip down, a nut and bolt restoration.
Four and a half years later the car was completed, on the road and shown at the UK's premier Classic Car Show, everything that was done to my car is documented here.
I now have the privilege to drive one of America's most recognised cars and a true Icon, the Ford Mustang.
As this year draws to a close I can look back on great year of car shows. Time has flown buy so it seems, or is it that I’m just getting old? In fact don’t answer that!
I’m looking forward to more car shows next year where I can be out driving in my car and talking to some lovely people. I have to confess to that I’m suffering from PMS, ‘Parked Mustang Syndrome’. The car is in the warm climate controlled garage, winterised with all the chrome covered in Gibbs Brand Lubricant to protect it from the elements. It always takes a fair while to polish everything back up again, but I enjoy it.
Over the course of the last few months at home we’ve had a project on the go to sort out the loft or attic and get it boarded out. Trying to get anything up or down was nightmare and consisted of random acts of skill balancing on rafters being mindful not to put a foot through the ceiling. While sorting through the boxes of stuff I found a little box which contained a few coins that I had found in my car when taking it apart ready for the restoration. To be honest I had forgotten about them and decided to get them in a little frame, just because I can. The framers we use isn’t far away from us and I took the coins there to be mounted and get a nice frame to match the coins. I wanted black background and silver frame to match the coins, which turned out to be more difficult that I had imagined, as many frame styles had been discontinued. Before you get on my case and say “don’t clean old coins”. I don’t care, they buffed up really nice with bit of polish which is how I wanted them. I’m not getting rid of them due to their sentimental value to me. Their condition isn’t the best as half dollar was found under the seat, the 1976 Dime was found wedged in the seat track, hence the damage on the head, the other dime was under the back seat if I remember correctly.
The phone call came to pick the coins up a couple of weeks later. There were three coins which had been set into a single cut mount on a black velvet like card (for maximum contrast), and double low reflection picture glassed so I could see the front and backs of the coins. Trying to photograph a very black mount with a shiny silver coin was much harder than I thought it would be. With that in mind, forgive the random colours of the ‘black’ mount not being quite as black as it should be.
The coins are 1964 Half Dollar, 1976 One Dime and 1984 One Dime. While I was looking to add some research to the coins I learned that the coin collecting market is a minefield where condition is everything. Mine now being cleaned and one with a damaged head on the 1976 Dime doesn’t make them worth a lot now. However, both the Half Dollar and my edition of the ’76 Dime are rare to own, so I’m lead to believe.
Something that I hadn’t noticed before was that the front and backs of the coins are upside down to each other. Originally, the US Mint wanted to differentiate their coins from their medals, as the medals’ faces are struck with the same orientation as they are supposed to be worn, and therefore when rotated, still show an upright image.
Did you know?
By law, US coin designs must give “an impression emblematic of liberty.”
The USA, as a nation, are well known for being one of the most patriotic countries in the world. They uphold strong values of liberty and freedom, from everyday life to sporting events and even on their coinage! As a result of this, US coin designers are legally required to display an impression emblematic of liberty in their coin designs.
The coinage act of 1792, establishing the U.S. Mint, made defacing, counterfeiting, or embezzling of coins by Mint employees punishable by death.
The death penalty is still legal in 31 US states and the coinage act of 1792 is still in place today. This states that any Mint employee caught defacing, counterfeiting or embezzling coins can be, in theory, sentenced to death. Whether or not this would be upheld in today’s court of law is debatable.
Origin of the term “buck” (One Dollar)
This well-known slang term for an American dollar is thought to have originated in the early US frontier days when the hide of a male deer (a buck) was common currency, due to the scarcity of coinage. The term has since been adopted into everyday language.
The U.S. Mint’s coin production has grown over 131,000,000% since production first started in 1793.
The US Mint’s operation has grown and advanced greatly since the first mintage in 1972, when production consisted of 11,178 copper cents. Today the Mint produces an average of 14.7 million coins per day. The first mint in Philadelphia actually used horses to drive the machinery, obviously with today’s modern techniques are used and greater numbers of coins can be produced.
1964 Silver Half Dollar:
The United States Mint struck 156,205,446 1964-D Kennedy Half Dollars at its Denver Mint facility. Production began on January 30, 1964. The Denver Mint held an official “ceremonial striking” on February 11. The coin was first issued on March 24. This was the only circulation-quality 90% silver Kennedy Half Dollar issued by the U.S. Mint.
The Kennedy half dollar, first minted in 1964, is a fifty-cent coin issued by the United States Mint. Intended as a memorial to the assassinated 35th president of the United States John F. Kennedy, it was authorized by Congress just over a month after his death. Use of existing works by Mint sculptors Gilroy Roberts and Frank Gasparro allowed the dies to be prepared quickly, and striking of the new coins began in January 1964. The United States Mint struck 156,205,446 1964-D Kennedy Half Dollars at its Denver Mint facility. You can see the mint “D” is to the left of the stalk of the olive branch in the eagle’s right claw.
The silver coins were hoarded upon their release by collectors and those interested in a memento of the late President. Although the Mint greatly increased their production, the denomination was seldom seen in circulation. The continued rises in the price of silver increased the coin’s hoarding – many early Kennedy half dollars have been melted down just for their silver content which is a shame as it’s an amazing coin to look at.
Starting with 1965-dated coins, the percentage of fine silver was reduced from 90% to 40% (silver clad), but even with this change the coin still saw little circulation. In 1971, silver was eliminated entirely from the half dollar. Though production increased, the clad coin saw only a moderate increase in circulation; by 1980, usage had gradually fallen to the point where the half was only occasionally seen in circulation.
Obverse
Portrait of John F. Kennedy to the left, date below.
Script: Latin
Lettering: LIBERTY GR IN GOD WE TRUST 1964
Engraver: Gilroy Roberts
Reverse
Modified presidential seal of the United States of America: A shield (with vertical stripes) on the chest of an American eagle. The eagle holds an olive branch on its right talon and a bundle of thirteen arrows on its left, and in its beak a scroll with “E PLURIBUS UNUM”. A circle of stars surrounds the eagle.
Script: Latin
Lettering: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA E PLURIBUS UNUM FG HALF DOLLAR
Translation: United States of America Out of Many, One FG Half Dollar
Engraver: Frank Gasparro
There are some rare versions of this coin where the President’s hair was proofed to look different said to have been on the request of Jackie Kennedy and later changed again. Those rare coins can command considerable money.
1976 One Dime
The first Roosevelt dimes appeared in 1946, a few months after the President passed away from Polio. For the first twenty years of production the coins were made of silver. Since 1965, these coins were made of cupronickel, and that stayed the same until 1976. The interesting data is that dimes are still the smallest and thinnest American coins.
You can see the portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt, serving as the 32nd US President, on the obverse looking to the left. Sinnock did his best to emphasize depicted facial and hair details. There were 1,268,132,504 minted this year, 568,760,000 were minted by Philadelphia and released into circulation.
Obverse
The portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt facing left, the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 to his death in 1945, accompanied by the motto: “IN GOD WE TRUST” and surrounded with the lettering “LIBERTY”.
Script: Latin
Lettering: LIBERTY IN GOD WE TRUST 2017 P JS
Engraver: John R. Sinnock
Reverse
Ahead of the motto “E • PLU RIB US • U NUM”, an olive branch, a torch, and an oak branch symbolize respectively peace, liberty, and victory and are surrounded with the face value and the lettering “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”
Script: Latin
Lettering: E • PLURIBUS • UNUM UNITED STATES OF AMERICA • ONE DIME •
Translation: Out of Many, One
Engraver: John R. Sinnock
My particular edition doesn’t have the “D” minting mark which makes it a date from 1965 to 1979.
1984 One Dime
The design of this coin hasn’t changed from the 1976 so the details are the same apart from the number produced 856,669,000.
Obverse
The portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt facing left, the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 to his death in 1945, accompanied by the motto: “IN GOD WE TRUST” and surrounded with the lettering “LIBERTY”.
Script: Latin
Lettering: LIBERTY IN GOD WE TRUST 2017 P JS
Engraver: John R. Sinnock
Reverse
Ahead of the motto “E • PLU RIB US • U NUM”, an olive branch, a torch, and an oak branch symbolize respectively peace, liberty, and victory and are surrounded with the face value and the lettering “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”
Script: Latin
Lettering: E • PLURIBUS • UNUM UNITED STATES OF AMERICA • ONE DIME •
Translation: Out of Many, One
Engraver: John R. Sinnock
The previous owner had lost the coins in the car, within the interior. It would be nice to think that the Half Dollar was around at the time in ’66 when my car was purchased and had been in the car since then. The Dimes are still in circulation today and they could have been lost any year. The ’76 coin was wedged in the seat track and the seat wouldn’t move, hence the damage to the coin. Like I said earlier, the sentimental value is immeasurable to me, especially as they Half Dollar is so close to the year of my car being made. Not quite Ford Mustang memorabilia, although there is a very tenuous link. The Half Dollar was also released in the same year as the Mustang was launched in April 1964. I’m pleased with how the coins and frame has come out. Although I would have liked the frame to have been smaller, unfortunately it was the minimum size they could make with that particular type of frame. The silver frame which I wanted was sourced just for me as a special order.
Has anybody else found something in their cars like this, let me know if you have, or was I just lucky?
It’s a rare occasion for me to attend a car show without my car, all be it an unintentional car show. I had arranged a little family day out at Lowestoft and was looking forward to the day. We arrived after a half an hours drive and managed to find somewhere to park near the sea front, the best part was that it was free to park. We got our stuff from the back of my daily driver and walked towards the sea front, looking for the arcade game Daytona 500. It’s an old game now, but there history and years of friendly rivalry to see who will win on this game. We found a nice arcade and started on the 2p coin pusher game to try and win something for the little guy, nothing doing there, it more about the fun of trying to win. It’s not like it was when I was a younger (here we go rant), where you could be on these games for hours with just a couple of quid to “feed the machine”, which was the saying we had at the time. You used to be able to ‘win’ a plastic car or key ring as a bonus, now you are lucky to win a couple of coins after feeding the machine a good few quid. To be fair it’s brilliant fun and cheap to keep the little ones occupied, with a sense of achievement when the tinkle of pennies hit the collection tray. We eventually found the Sega Daytona 500 which is the same as this picture, sometimes they are four in a row.
The mission was best out of three, and let’s just say the dirty tactics by ‘J’ running me of the track worked for him today (as it did in the past) and he took the first win with ease. Rematch, I got a disastrous start and it took me a couple of laps to catch up with him, rather than playing fair I decided to run him of the track too, revenge is best served cold. With that suspect manoeuvre I romped home with a mirror image win to ‘J’s. The decider was going to be tough, dirty tactics were going to come into play I just knew it as the tension rose as the music and voice over counted us in. Again he got the better of me, only just this time on the start, I slipped in behind him and dived up the inside and sat there. The other cars on the outside were in ‘J’s way and I managed to box him in to slow him down while I made sharp exit of the turn and disappeared. The taunts to my left seemed to spur him on, I made a mistake on the last lap due to my gloating and just kissed the wall knocking a considerable amount of speed off. I managed to get going and could see ‘J’ closing me down fast with a stunning couple of laps from him to get back in with a shout. I kept the racing and tried to mash the gas peddle through the bottom of the floor. The drag race with ‘J’ carrying corner exit speed and me trying to draft the cars in front. Victory was mine as I scrapped over the line by a car length or so, half a lap more ‘J’ would have won. The taunts started again after the win as you would expect. It will be short lived win as I suspect the next rematch will be be more dodgy driving again, from both sides!
After feeding more of the machines and the pockets of the arcade owners we decided to go for something to eat. We walked for a few minutes and found a nice Weatherspoons and ordered our food and drink via the app. We enjoyed the food and walked a little further up the sea front towards a fun fair. We spend some time there with some great photos and memories made. We had a great day and decided to call it a day and walked back towards the car. We walked back near to the beach itself where we wandered into a car show with around twenty or so cars on display. It did feel strange to look around cars without mine being there somewhere. We wandered around spoke to a couple of people. The Fords were out in force, a few first gen Mustangs.
There was this fourth gen SN95 Mustang which had been rat rodded with a gun welded to the hood! The funny thing was there was a side exhaust in front of the fake up pipes Mad Max style. I don’t understand why he did it that way.
A Ford Cougar caught my eye. I do love the fact these had the hidden headlights behind the matching grill.
My favourite of this little car show was this beautiful ’57 Thunderbird. I would love one of these, sadly I can’t get in them.
I had a look around online to find out about this show, I didn’t find anything. If anybody knows about it please let me know. So that was it, just a little splattering of classic cars on the sea front as the Sun was starting to set for the afternoon. It was good to see some cars at a show that I hadn’t seen before. We all walked back to the car and had a relaxed drive home, trying to keep the little one awake was a mission on its own.
A fantastic day out with the family and classic cars, what more could I ask for? I’m looking forward to the next outing, although the weather is turning to Winter rather quickly. I had a great night’s sleep due to the intake of the sea air, or is it just me that sleeps well after being by the sea?
Every now and again I’m lucky enough to speak to professional photographers and videographers. Earlier in the year I was at a show where Matthew Filby (his contact details below) started talking to me about my car. It turns out that he is a professional photographer and was interested in doing a ‘Pro Shoot’ with my car at a nice location. Those type of offers don’t come along very often so I said that I would certainly be up for that and we exchanged details. A few weeks passed while we exchanged a few emails of possibilities of location and dates. Matthew told me that his friend Henry Smith (his contact details also below) was also interested in doing a video shoot at the same time. We eventually found a date that worked for everybody on Saturday 10th August 2024. The weather was a major question mark as the rain had been a little unpredictable the weeks before. However, the seven day forecast for the day was to be overcast, no rain expected.
The morning arrived and I got up to complete cloud cover, with no rain. I made sure that I had plenty of my detailing products and microfibres and set off to the rendezvous at ten am with the guys. The journey was about forty minutes away just outside Thetford Forest, Suffolk, a quiet little place called Euston just past Euston Hall itself. I was early and parked up somewhere that I could wipe the car over from the road dust.
The guys turned up and we had a chat about the plans for the morning. Henry informed me that he had contacted the owner of the Euston Hall prior to todays shoot and that they had granted permission to film there on the grounds. I drove to the entrance of the hall which was only a few hundred yards away that I had just past about ten minutes earlier. The guys got in the car and told me to follow a dusty track up a bit further to a clearing where the shoot was going to take place. We got out and the guys looked around then directed me to a nice little spot that they liked. The spot was by a little cross path, by some trees and a field.
The guys set up their equipment and I asked them if I could take some photos of them, taking photos of my car. They thought it would be a good idea as they didn’t have any shots like that. I have since shared those ‘Behind The Scenes’ photos with them so that they could use them as well for their own media channels. It will be so easy to tell the difference between the Pro shots compared to my amateur Galaxy S24 Ultra photos. The pro photos have luscious rich colours, the blacks are black and are much crisper. We discussed what I wanted and what they had in mind too. I wanted some ‘moody’ looking shots, the rest I would leave up to them. I kept out the way as much as possible while Matthew and Henry got to work. As they were moving around to different locations I asked a few questions (well a lot to be honest) about their techniques and equipment, trying to learn about car photography.
Where Matthew went, I followed like a lost sheep and tried to replicate their photos.
Here are some initial shots of Matthew and Henry doing the distance shots.
Matthew moved to take some more shots between the trees to frame the car.
After the video sequencing for the outside shots were completed, we opened the doors and hood for some engine and interior shots.
Then here was my efforts to replicate what Matthew had taken above.
During the static shoot there was a couple of tractors that passed by, one pass ended up in the video.
After an hour or so and they were happy with their footage, we decided to go to the next location to take the rolling road shots with a drone and moving shots inside the car. I gave them a lift back down the track to the main car parking area where Henry picked up his car. We met back up a couple of minutes later back at the original meeting point for the shoot.
The guys discussed who would drive first, what shots they wanted and how they were going to do it. I sat there watching them rehearse the runs. They managed to do something fancy with the seat belts so they didn’t fall out while going along.
We didn’t have to travel on the main roads to get to the fairly well hidden and out of the way road where we could film the rolling shots. Matthew drove for the video shots with Henry in the back. Then they swapped over for Matthew to take some stills of the rolling car.
Here I took some photos of them taking photos of me. We drove up and down the mile long road a few times. Their hand signals directed me closer, further away, hold station, move over a little, speed up, slow down or give it some gas etc.
For the drone shots Matthew sat with me in the car speaking with Henry on his phone taking the directions on how he wanted the car, faster, slower, over a bit etc. While Matthew was directing me in the car, he also took a few action photos as we turned around and positioned up ready for the next run.
The completed video is below. I would like to post it to YouTube, but I suspect that I may get a copyright strike due to the sound track used. Not that I’m complaining as it’s a classic song.
That just leaves me with the pleasure of sharing their contact details with you as they worked hard on this little project. Matthew’s website is currently under construction, but it will be live soon. I can thoroughly recommend their services:
It was an absolute pleasure to be with the guys for the day. Very professional and knowledgeable about what they wanted and what I was after. Give the guys a look up and tell them that Mart from onemanandhismustang.com sent you!
My good mood was tested to the limit as some road works for a road closure (that wasn’t there when I left) directed me down a country lane. On its own that’s no so bad, but when some stupid, selfish moron driving a beat up Land Rover comes full pelt towards you, its not so good. I had to brake to avoid him by going up a slightly muddy bank. He of course didn’t budge, didn’t give a rats arse. He knew I would bottle out of the head to head. I expressed my displeasure quite vocally and indicated with various hand gestures that he could also move over. He didn’t care about his wreck of a car with dents all over it, where as I do care about my pride and joy. My rage subsided after a few minutes and settled back down to the rest of my drive. I got home and looked at my once very clean car, which I now suspected it would be dirty, I wasn’t wrong. The front left tyre was the dirtiest it has ever been, the rear wasn’t so bad. I spent a good while cleaning the tyres all round, and then started to clean the paint before I put the car away ready for the next show. I couldn’t just clean one wheel as it may look different to the rest and it would certainly trigger my car detailing OCD issues.
They were soon back to normal.
Again, huge thanks to Henry and Matthew for such a great day.
Moving Your Prized Mustang: A Complete Guide to Auto Transport and Relocation
Wanting to travel with your prized Mustang everywhere is natural. Once you’ve driven one, it’s hard to go back to any other vehicle.
But what do you do in scenarios where you can’t take a week to travel across the USA and need your vehicle on the other coast?
Or what if you’re going to move internationally?
In today’s article, we’ll dive into how to relocate your prized Mustang so you not only get your vehicle to your new destination ASAP but you get it there safe and sound.
Read on below.
1. Plan Your Move Ahead of Time
Transport companies are like airlines: the closer you are to the shipping date, the higher the price is going to be. If possible, always plan far ahead of time so that you can get a better discount on transporting your Mustang.
You can also consider leaving your vehicle in storage until you’re prepared to arrive at your final destination. If you’re moving countries, then having it stay in storage can be a good idea so you can have your Mustang ready to roll. Remember, overseas vehicle transportation can take months depending on the time of year and type of shipping you decide on.
2. Find a Suitable Transport Company
Not all transport companies are the same, and not all vehicles are shipped in the same fashion. When it comes to shipping Mustangs, ideally you’d like to go with someone who has experience shipping classics, like A1 Auto Transport classic car transportation services.
What’s important is that you find a transport company that has a footprint online, so you know that you aren’t handing off your vehicle to some random company. You can get free quotes beforehand, so there is never any commitment until you find a price that you’re happy with.
Always ask for a total quote so that you can know ahead of time what it’s going to be. Shadier companies will often do bait-and-switch pricing, causing the price to be increased by 25% or even more on arrival. It’s important to verify the amount of insurance coverage you’ll have, as some Mustangs can cost quite a bit and you do NOT want to risk insurance that doesn’t fully cover the vehicle.
3. Decide on the Type of Shipping
When shipping your Mustang domestically, you have two options: open and closed trailers. An open trailer is one that you likely have seen many times driving up and down the interstates. They can haul up to 12 vehicles at once and are economical as they can load many vehicles simultaneously.
Closed or “enclosed” trailers are best for protecting your expensive Mustangs during longer journeys. No one will know what is inside, which will prevent any damage or theft from eager onlookers. If you’re shipping a vehicle that doesn’t work, then you’ll have to go with an enclosed trailer rather than an open trailer, as the vehicles have to be driven on and off the trailer.
4. Prepare the Mustang for Transport
Once you’ve decided on your transport company and the type of shipping, you’ll want to prepare your Mustang. The first step is to clean the outside and the inside. You may ask, “Why do I need to clean it before?” The reason is that you want to take photos of the vehicle before you hand it off.
Ideally, you’d like to have these photos signed by the transport company so that if a claim is needed later on, you’ll have definitive proof that the vehicle was in good shape. It protects you from receiving the vehicle damaged and dealing with an unwilling insurance company that claims the Mustang was damaged before transport.
Remove any loose objects from the inside, and if your Mustang is a convertible, put up the cover so the interior doesn’t get wet. Do NOT leave any valuable objects inside the vehicle as these items will not be covered by insurance.
Transport companies require you to have the gas tank lowered to a certain amount, typically around 1/4 of the capacity. If you don’t know how to remove the gas from the gas tank, you can ask your transport company for guidance.
5. Pick Up Your Mustang
Once you and the transport company have done a final check on the vehicle, all that’s left is to pick up your Mustang on arrival. You typically will have to meet the driver at a designated location, but you can have it delivered right to your door for an additional cost.
Before you sign off that everything is OK, do a walk-around and double- and triple-check all is OK before signing any documents. Once everything is signed off, all that’s left to do is enjoy your Mustang in all its glory.
Conclusion
Transporting a Mustang is like transporting any other vehicle, but considering how expensive some classics can be, it’s always best to have it transported as safely and securely as possible. Always go with vetted transport companies and ensure that you’re not handing off your vehicle to a random fly-by-night entity.
As long as you’re doing your homework beforehand, you’ll have your Mustang at your final destination, ready to go. Consider even leaving it in storage if necessary ahead of time, so it’ll be in your target location once you’re ready to go.
As I write this post I didn’t realise that this going to be my last show of the year. There were a couple of others that I was scheduled to go to after this one, but the weather was predicted to be raining, as my car doesn’t get wet (if I can help it), I didn’t attend sadly. The weather app was correct and the rains did arrive on those days, shame as this year was a really good year for lots of shows. Glemham Hall, or ‘Classics at Glemham’ as its called, is another well supported car show with a huge variety of cars. Many of which are not that old, so I didn’t take to many of those, just the cars that grabbed my attention.
The weather was looking a bit grey to start with, and a few spots of fine rain. I stood in the garage door way to asses the situation, do I or don’t I? the other side of the village I could see clearer skies and the direction I would have to travel looked better. The car was loaded up, I got in and backed out promising myself that if it rained on the way, I would turn back. I had a thirty one mile drive across country, or stick to the main roads for a forty four mile journey. The backroads aren’t bad, but they can be busy if you get stuck behind some farm equipment with nowhere to really overtake. The main roads were quiet and not much traffic. There was a few spits of rain on the screen, but nothing more than that and the roads remained dry.
The sat nave was being a bit of pain and needed resetting a could of times, but luckily the roads were fairly straight forward. There wasn’t much of a queue and drove in fairly slowly to the field. The first thing to cross my mind was that they could of cut the grass. The cars were arranged by year and club stands. Parking up was regimented and left a little bit of room to the car next to me. The sun was now starting to shine as I grabbed some refreshments, and opened the hood.
I spent a few minutes with the car before taking to the rows of cars for a few pictures. The plan of action was to work counter clockwise and end up back at the car. The far end of the field I spotted a few friends and had a quick chat with them.
The Lotus stand was interesting with a few different engines on stands to have a good look at.
The paint job on this E-Type was just spectacular, the photos don’t do it justice. On the inside it wasn’t as pristine, but still a nice place to be.
I don’t know if I’m being a car snob or not, but why put a Chevy in a Ford Cobra kit car? I appreciate it will go very well, but…..
This Corvette got my vote for best car, it was just immaculate.
I have said in the past this Countach was my poster car (in white) as a teenager, it’s not often you see one opened up all over like this. I actually got to see the trunk which was just about big enough for a book of matches, with that terrible lack of luggage space in mind, I still want one!!!
Eventually I got back to the car for a well earned rest and refreshments.
I think that the threat of rain on the day kept a few people away, it nearly kept me away. That could well be the main reason that it wasn’t as busy as other years. Still a great show with lots to see.
I left a little early to miss the rush, as it’s always a bit of a nightmare to get out from here with the narrow roads. The trip home was relaxing and enjoyable taking the long way round again. Well, there was one teenager in a Vauxhall Corsa, windows down, an aftermarket loud exhaust the size of my filler cap, over took me coming of a round about onto a dual carriageway. He was making loads of noise and not getting very far, all show and no go! I’m not sure what came over me when I decided to give mine some gas and pull up along side him with a rumbling V8. He glanced over and dropped a gear (I think), to try and pull away, he didn’t. I just laughed and let him go with a point proven; a fifty eight year old car still kept up with that hunk of junk.
Once I got home the car got a quick wipe over to get the field dust of the car before I put it back in the garage and covered it up.
That’s it, car show season 2024 is over me and my Mustang and a bit gutted to say the least. I have made new friends, meet old friends and been to new venues. I shall look forward to meeting more friends next year.
Don’t worry, (not that you were), as there will be more updates on my little ol’ blog. There will be a special post for something amazing in a couple of weeks time. There will be more car detailing reviews with a requested review and things that I wanted to try. A couple of little things I want to do on the car which I will post about when I get round to them over the winter and the weather is kind, there’s no rush at this time of year.
The second half of the show had a general mixture of the almost new cars, that cost a lot when new, but not worth so much now as they common in any car park. However, there was some amazing looking cars there and I will start with a couple of my favourites again, the Audi Coupes, why o why did I sell mine?
The Morgan had a full on picnic setup going with a candelabra.
There was a club of ‘Fast Fords’ as they become known a decade or so later, in a circle display and few nearby. Among them was a couple of Mustangs in the middle, the blue scissor door Mustang has been around a few shows but is either a love it or hate it mod, it’s not for me to judge.
I enjoyed this camper van with the “Adventure before Dementia” slogan, love it.
This Renault ‘Williams’ is a bit of a rare find now days.
I was back to my car and the rest of the car club, the entertainment was going strong throughout the day, either these ladies singing to the backing tracks or a DJ playing some classic tunes from the 50’s and 60’s. There was many more car related stalls at this smaller show than the much bigger show such as Helmingham Hall, which is surprising. I spent a good while looking around the various automotive gems for sale, although I didn’t buy anything.
My car of the show was this huge Cadillac Eldorado, a monster of a land barge, beautifully turned out and I watched it drive in and it was whisper quiet even for the (i believe it to be an) 8.2ltr engine.
It was a good day, lovely weather and I spoke to a number of friends there too. A good show with lots of diverse cars to be seen. Busy day with lots of people all in good spirits, not the alcohol version.
I left about an hour before the end of the show. The drive home was serene and relaxing, if not a bit warm. I got home in good time and wiped the car over from the accumulated road and showground dust before I my my pride and joy under its soft cotton cover until the next show.
As I was editing these photos cropping out unwanted areas, I realised that I only took a few pictures of my car which was a little unlike me. The one above was early on before the car show got going.
A more general purpose classic car show was hosted at Stonham Barns on 18th August 2024. I wasn’t going to be expecting to much from this show, but I was wrong. It turned out to be much better supported than i expected and took a little over three hundred photos. As with big events and lots of photos I have split it over two posts to save the repetitive strain injury from scrolling down the page.
The day’s forecast was going to be nice weather, so I packed the factor fifty and plenty of cold drinks in the cool bag. I needed fuel and stopped off Shell for a fill up of some V-Power. I wasn’t hungry until the smell of freshly baked food greeted me when I walked in to pay. My will power failed me as I asked for a nice warm sausage roll, my treat to me just because I got up early, that was my excuse. The walk back to the car by the pump was slow while I devoured breakfast, I made sure to not get any grease on my fingers by holding the roll in the bag and the serviette. There was only one other car filling up, so it wasn’t as though they were busy. I binned the rubbish, got in the car and buckled up for the journey.
The journey to the event was fine, but the usual wedge of a traffic jam to get in was a bit longer than normal. While sitting in the car burning the recently purchased fuel, I happened to look around and spotted a convex mirror on a telegraph pole. I could almost see my car in it. As the line moved forward I got the camera out and took a couple of pics for something different, I think they came out well. The cars in front moved more than I expected, but I stopped where i wanted anyway. The impatient Audi driver wasn’t impressed and was waving his hands as if to move me up the road, all for the sake of a couple of car lengths. Not only that, he sat right up filler cap going round the twisty roads. Bovered? Nope! I won’t let anybody ruin my Mustang car trips.
I eventually got to the event and asked where the Bury Retro Car Club was to be parked. I was told follow the road round and they will park you up. I followed the road round and the dude hadn’t got a clue. So I just pulled to the side of the main arena and said I will wait here out the way. I parked my car up and waited for him to return, which he didn’t. I rang the club organiser to ask where he was and said that he was also stuck in traffic. I told him where I was parked and to let me know where I should be parked.
I wandered over to the main entrance to watch the cars come in and look out for the rest of the club to arrive. They arrived some quarter of an hour later and were directed to the a dark corner of the field with only three spaces. The drove round to where I was so we made out own stand!
I started at the far end of the field and worked my way back to where I was parked.
Cars were still coming in after the ‘start’ time but they got to park at the field near the end of the entrance road.
While I was waiting at the main gate I spotted a car like mine drive in, I found it at the far end of the field. This car was almost the same colour but had the standard interior and the rear quarter trims. I waited around for a while as I wanted to have a chat with the owner.
Around the same area there was a few Mustangs so I grouped them together.
I’m not sure what is going on with this Citroen 2CV, is the bloke having a laugh or has he got issues?
I hope it was tongue in check as it looked like the badge was just slapped on! This car got my runner up car of the show, I’m not a fan of these cars at all, but it made me smile. Part two’s post will have the rest of the show and my actual favourite car of the day.
After lots of walking around the club stand field and watching the exhibition runs, we wandered over to the privateer field. There was a Ford main dealer showing some cars and some food stalls. We decided to go back to my car for a regroup and something to eat and drink as the smell of the food had made me hungry. There was a brass band hiding under a tree near the main dealers who were playing movie themes and other popular tunes while the audience were eating hotdogs and their burgers. There was no order to these photo’s, except for the rows were arranged by decades. We just wandered up and down the rows taking photo’s of the cars we liked. There was lot of modern cars there which looked just like a Tesco car park, so we sort of ignored those. A four of five year old Jaguar or Toyota doesn’t make a classic car show for me. But, there was some fantastic cars parked up, including some regular cars that I recognised from other shows.
A couple of my all time favourites, The Audi Coupe for the daily and the Aston Vantage for the weekend.
We were working our way back to our car’s location and ready for another quick refreshment before the next and final walk around.
This old Ford even had candles for a light.
My car of the show was this quite rare Porsche Carrera GT.
WE got back to the car and sat around for a while just chatting and people watching. Then we felt it, a few drop of rain and the sky looking a little greyer than earlier. We had a great day wandering around and decided to go before the rain started. A few others had the same idea as us and we got out without any hold ups.
Craig took this photo as we wandered back to the car.
I took this just before we left.
We left and the rain wasn’t quite enough to warrant the wipers, and the steady drive home on the main roads made the rain evaporate quickly enough and the roads were fairly dry. I wiped the car over quickly during a dry spell and managed to get the car in the dry with the dehumidifier on to dry out any damp bits on the car.
Thanks to Craig for his photos and the good company as ever. I hope I didn’t bore you with so many photos over the last two posts.
One of the biggest car shows that I attend is this show, Helmingham Hall. The show was on the 4th August 2024, once again I had the pleasure of my good friend Craig (another total petrol head) to join me. The day was an early rise for Craig who had to travel from the next county to my house which was around forty minutes including his fuel stop. He assures me that he was within the speed limits all the way. We uncovered my car in the garage and packed our cool bags into the trunk along with his camera and chair. I set up the SatNav and backed the car out. We set off for the show and enjoyed a peaceful steady trip to the show, until we got to the usual traffic snarl up at the entrance. We wasn’t on the show stand like previous years so we had to park with the other private entrants in a field on the other side of the main driveway which goes up to the hall. We had a pretty good spot to be honest and parked up. The weather was looking good and the app promised to hold that way for the rest of the day.
As this is such a big show the event will have to be covered in two parts with a lot of photos on each. I took well into six hundred photos on the day. Some were unusable as I had managed to put my grubby fingers on the lenses on the back of my phone. Soft focus filter wasn’t what I was after.
We got the chairs out for little refreshment and a sit down before we summoned the energy to start the walk around this huge show. We decided to start on the stalls before they got busy. We needn’t have bothered as most of them were not car related. I was little gutted about that as I wanted to buy some 20W – 50 engine oil. But, I could buy some pot plants, hats or some home made jewellery and fudge! There was only one car related stall there which was for a alloy wheel refurb company, that was it.
We got to the main area at the front of the hall where you can pay the extra to park and get some afternoon tea in the cost of the entrance. These were the cars from that area.
As we were about to move onto the club stand field, a Countach could be heard arriving to join the area.
These are Craig’s photos of the same cars which are so much better than mine.
The Clubs stands didn’t seem to have the wow factor for some reason this year. There was some nice cars there, ironically on the stand that we normally park on.
Simply Mustangs stand was mainly the more modern iterations of the Mustang, with plenty of orange.
More of Craig’s photos of the club stands.
It was a busy day with cars parking up in the public car park throughout the day, and lots of people.
The display cars are split in to two halves either side of a main driveway up to the hall itself. Clubs stands to the left and the private entrants to the right. At the end of the club stands the the main drive way has an exhibition of cars that drive up and down. We stopped to watch the first showing which usually take around half hour or so.
Craig was taking a number of photo’s and messing around with photography settings, I’m not sure what it all meant to be honest, even though his explanation authoritative, it was toned down to his audience, me. He was trying to get the wheels moving while stopping the cars. It was nice to see the cars rolling and not driving at the same time. I could enjoy them, some where brutal sounding like the American muscle and the Aston Martin, the others were just poodling along enjoying the scenery .
After the exhibition runs we wandered into the privateer field where I had parked up, which we will cover in Part 2. There were much nicer cars on that side and plenty to look at.
