Category: Photo’s

Helmingham Hall Car Show 2026 (part 2)

Part two of the Festival of Classic and Sports Cars at Helmingham Hall, takes us into the privateer field on the other side of the hall. After taking in some liquid refreshments and a few calories Craig and I set off to find some more nice cars. This was the view that greeted us as we emerged from the tea and cake. It was reported that there was 1,200 cars and 8,000

The cars that parked up on the Tollemache area are here, it was a relentless sea of people swarming around the cars.

There is a red Lamborghini Countach here which is in fact a replica or tribute car as they tend to be known as now days. It was interesting to hear the people saying that it’s a real one, a simple look under the mid engined hood would see a v8 and not the glorious V12. Don’t get me wrong it’s a beautiful looking car, but the real thing wasn’t allowed on the Tollemache, more on that a little later in this post.

As the privateer field was not a club stand field, it was divided up into into various decades. Sixties, seventies, eighties etc. Although looking at the mixture of cars, it looked to be good intentions for organisation, but it didn’t work flawlessly. The field was full, but as we got out around two thirty some of the cars were leaving early, so we missed a few of them, nothing spectacular was missed.

Each of these little galleries was supposed to be the decade, but I have just left them in the order of walking up and lines of cars which was a little chaotic at times it has to be said.

This poor chap was having issues with his car, but what was nice to see is a number of people that gathered around him to help out. It was refreshing to see regardless of the make of the vehicle, people were helping out. I did hear some dubious suggestions for the potential problem not used to old school carburettors, but also some very valid next steps for trouble shooting.

In the previous post I mentioned that there was an issue with the Tollemache entrants area. As we pulled into the event’s main gate there was a car in front of us who was clearly trying to blag his way into the Tollemache. It was quite obvious that he hadn’t booked so wasn’t allowed to park up which was a good thing, but that left a problem the marshals who couldn’t turn him back down the drive. They had to work out where to send him as he wasn’t on a club stand either. Due to this person’s attempts to get somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be, it caused a queue of traffic behind him, that’s me included and load of others who were getting a bit frustrated. This guy had clearly paid to get on the Tollemache and had his ticket in the windscreen, but wasn’t allowed to park at the Tollemache for what ever reason, these privileged tickets ain’t cheap and I hope he got his money back. This Lambo is the real deal.

With the field completed it was time to head back to the car, but via some of the gardens. The gardens were busy and we decided not to go all round them. Such a shame that the heat has ruined the lush greenery and vibrant colours of the flowers.

There was some stalls, but no autojumble which was a bit shocking to be honest, after all this is a car show. There was home made jewellery, cakes and some artworks you could buy should you need to. I had taken some cash with me as I wanted to buy some detailing products and a few microfibre cloths, but no I couldn’t which was typical. There was no car oil stalls, car parts for the rest of us petrol heads, such a prestigious event like this I was expecting more car related stalls. However there was one car stall, but it was the Hot Wheels type. Outside one stall there was this lovely ol’ thing, I have no idea what it is and would genuinely love for somebody to tell me what it is, apart from stating the obvious of being old.

Mart’s Car Of The Show.

This is an MG Y (I think) from 1952. I don’t know why this caught my eye, it was battered and well used which was the appeal to me, a 1250cc or 76.3ci for my friends on the other side of the pond. This was in the club stand field with the MGs. A great little car with plenty of character that I bet could tell a story or two.

We took a another well earned break and done some mandatory people watching. I had one guy stop by to say hello and I couldn’t place him. We got to talking and it turned out that he was a neighbour over the road from me who had seen my car way back when as a wreck being worked on up my drive before it was stored at Mustang Maniac where I could work on it properly. Matt and I reminisced for a while and caught up on what we had been doing since we had lost touch. I said that I would mention on my post that Matt has a really good app that I do use called ‘Shaboodle’ link here and this is not a sponsored plug by the way. It’s a great (secure) app for storing all sorts of information, car details, documents, itinerary etc. all in one place online or via the app. I like it so you may want to check it out.

I mentioned that Lee is a good friend of Craig’s and I have gotten to know him as too meeting up at the car shows. He, like Craig is a keen photographer with a good eye for a shot. As I pulled into the event making my way down the drive I slowed right down as Craig had spotted Lee who appeared right on cue to take an action shot of us coming up the drive. It was now my turn to hold the traffic up as you can see behind me! The difference was I only stopped for a few seconds. Lee sent me these cracking photo’s and I said I would also give him a shout out for his Instagram: s2kathome or the link here https://www.instagram.com/s2kathome/ again this is not a sponsored mention.

I especially love this shot.

Once I had parked up Lee had taken these as well.

Thanks for letting me use the photos Lee.

Although there was 1,200 or so cars there, I was a little selective and hope I captured the spirit of the show. So, that was Helmingham Hall all done for another year, a great show as ever, well organised and it was nice to have some company with me for a change at a car show, now I’m looking forward to next year.

Share my Content

Helmingham Hall Car Show 2026 (part 1)

The biggest car show I attend and my favourite took place last weekend at Helmingham Hall, or to give the show it’s full title ‘Festival of Classic and Sports Cars’. The show was booked up for 1,200 cars with the expected foot fall of 8,000 people. I think it was a little more than that as it was properly wedged with people all day. This show my mate Craig was coming with me and we made a time to leave my house at eight in the morning, an early start for Craig. We loaded the car up and set off bang on time and took a leisurely drive to the event. My ticket was Tollemache 110 which means we have nice parking spot in from of the hall and lunchtime tea and cake. We parked up and we got a waft of bacon. That prompted a mission to go find some breakfast, we didn’t have to travel far to find a hotdog stall, we got a couple which was £7 each or the best part of $10 dollars! That’s just a a rip off I’m afraid, but demand will command the price. I paid it so I can’t complain, but it was a good start to the day for sure. We booked our time for tea and cake and caught up with another friend Lee and his daughter who had an MX5 who was also on the Tollmache area and was going to do a run down the main driveway and back again for crowd entertainment which is always popular part of the day.

The event is split into two fields, to the left of the hall is the club stands, and to the right is the privateers on display. We decided to check out the club stands first. This was taken early before the public were allowed in and shows the hall and some of the cars for the Tollemache. The fields are brown and no green grass as half of the UK is now in ‘drought’ conditions with hosepipe bans everywhere. The dry fields is a nightmare for dust in the air but I somehow coped with the stress of the dust!

Due to number of cars I have taken pictures of many cars together to save umpteen scrawling pages, I decided to split the show into two parts with around one hundred and seventy photos on each post, just to make it easier on the eye. With the sun being so bright I tried to get the best pics I could without glare.

Of course there was a Mustang stand, but not a single old school classic Mustang on their stand sadly.

More American Muscle.

The first few pics here are of a genuine Lamborghini Countach, this is relevant for a couple of cars a little bit later on.

We finished the field as the announcements for the driveway run were announced. Lee was due to be up first but a unmarked police car went first, yes I did make a note of the number plate! Here we have Lee in his car being interviewed before he set off and made his return back up the drive.

I’m not quite sure what Lee has done to his car, but it sounds like a flat four boxer engine or even a V8. Regardless it sounded pretty good with a pop and bang overrun compared to most MX5s.

I only have a my Samsung phone so the zoom is a little pixelated on the way back up the drive (sorry Lee), but a few action shots of him anyway.

The start of the driveway run was perfect timing as we were now at the top of the drive and near my car. We watched the cars, me from the top and Craig wandered a bit further down to get some head on shots. After the runs, I needed to put more sun screen on as I was getting hot and get a cold drink was needed. Craig, Lee and his daughter wandered of to get some food which allowed this poor ol’ timer to sit his ass down and take that well earned drink and rest! Craig got back looking pleased with himself holding a nice pot of noodles. We ate our food while we people watched for half an hour or so before we went for our tea and cake in the courtyard.

The area for the refreshments is in a quiet little courtyard with a dozen or so table spaced out for little peace and quiet from the ‘car’nage (see what I did there) of people walking around. We found some shaded area and enjoyed our cakes, mine was a Cherry Madeira and Craig had a full on triple chocolate job. As I don’t drink tea or coffee, as I don’t like the taste of either, Craig had my tea as well.

Part two will be tomorrow at the same time where I name my car of the show, and have some great shots of my car. The second field walk around to look at the privateers.

Share my Content

Sticky Fingers

The next town to my little village hosts an annual carnival with a classic car show as part of the day. I attended this event a few years back and I haven’t been since due to other better car shows or rain. The Stowmarket Carnival was scheduled on the 19th July, the weather was looking good and I didn’t have any other shows to go to. So I thought I would give it a go again as a day out. This isn’t a huge show so there was no need to get up early and avoid the queue to get in. The usual drinks and a snack were packed and I set of for the show and arrived at the field fifteen minutes later, all cars had to be in place before nine forty five ready for the public to arrive. I was directed straight in and that was pretty well organised to be fair. once inside I was directed to area ten by a marshal and was shown my position to park adjacent to a concreate footpath which ran across the middle of the field or recreation field, a nice location in fact. By the time I had gone over the dry and dusty field the car needed a wipe over. I wouldn’t do that until after the other cars had all been parked up as they too were putting up plumes of dust.

I was hungry and decided that the now becoming obligatory sausage in a roll was required, and very nice it was too.

The car was given a wipe over and walked around the cars, maybe a hundred or so for the day.

There was some nice American muscle there, although I was the only 60’s Mustang.

I was almost fooled by this Chesil Speedster that was a replica of the Porsche 356 Speedster. To find a real 356 is hard enough, let alone find one at a carnival considering their value is around £300k to £560k, some rare models can command up to £800k.

I had seen all the cars, in the last part of the field were some amazing motorbikes and trikes. I was talking to a couple of great guys and spent a little with them. Two or three wheels are not my ‘thing,’ but I can certainly appreciate the mechanical engineering on these bikes and how proud the owners are of their creations.

Mart’s Car Of The Show

I have some good memories driving one of these Land Rover Series 3 in their iconic green. I have never seen one get stuck anywhere, such an amazing go anywhere work horse vehicle. Not fast, not that comfortable, not that quiet, but it will pull a house over.

I made my way back to my car and sat in my chair for a bit of people watching. I started to notice the families were arriving en masse; no doubt the nice weather, the attraction of traditional fun fair rides calling to them. Around lunch time I could see that many kids were eating ice creams while wandering around looking at the cars. I could see the parents just letting them stroll up to the cars, lean on them while holding their ice creams and putting their dirty sticky fingers all over the car. It’s a real pet hate of mine, I decided that I wasn’t going to leave my car unattended for the remaining time I was a this event.

The problem with ‘family’ focussed events like this one, is that some parents simply don’t care about your property. Your pride and joy is there on display just for their beloved little brats to climb over and have a nice time. Harsh I hear you say, maybe. But, to us car owners, dropping a bit of ice cream, a greasy hamburger morsel on a fabric seat or onto the carpet can ruin it, especially if it’s all original. I was really nervous about pushchairs being dragged through small gaps between the cars. Young kids were riding scooters around on the uneven ground, it wouldn’t take much for one of them to hit a divot in the ground and send them flying into the side of a car. In that damaged car scenario, would the parents pay for the repair and a paint job, of course they won’t. I was not enjoying this show once the general public turned up. However I do like to see families have a great day out and enjoy the cars, but sadly it was the minority that day. I hardly spoke to anybody during the time I was there, not by my choice, but nobody came up to me which was unusual, not that I ever expect people to engage with me no matter what the show. The cars seemed to be just a side line for the fun fair rides, fast food, cake and sweet stalls. Some parents were great and lifted their young kids to see the cars, which was nice to see.

Petrol heads (gear heads for those on the other side of the pond) who attend ‘proper’ car shows for fellow enthusiasts respect the cars, they don’t touch them or eat and drink near them. At those shows I feel comfortable enough to wander around without worrying about my car being trashed by the time I get back to it. We owners even look out for each others cars.

After a few hours into the early afternoon I had enough of stressing myself out watching people, near my car. I was determined to make sure my car left the same way it arrived to the event. As for this show I won’t be going again, purely for the reason of some, (not all) uncaring families, the parents were leaning on the roof of cars looking inside them, there’s no need for it. A shame, but when young children are around it’s not always their fault as they don’t know any better. If they don’t know any better they should be guided by the parents or maybe not as the case may be. I was fortunate enough to get back to my car and keep an eye on it. I did see finger marks on cars and bits of food on the floor by the cars as I was looking at them too. In my eyes and from what they saw, my little rant is justified. My car did have finger marks on a the glass right where my Krooklok sticker is, somebody had obviously pointed to it. I checked the rest of the car thoroughly which it was OK, thankfully. I guess I have upset a few people and been a bit controversial with my closing words. Do you agree with me, or am I just being a grumpy old man? This post will prompt me to write a little another little piece on ‘Car Show Etiquette’ in the near future, would it be even worth my while?

Share my Content

Classic Car Show Culford 2026 (part 1)

The heatwave is still continuing here in the UK and we can’t cope. There are roads melting with long diversions to avoid the stick tarmac swamps, trains running at reduced speeds due to the track conditions, hose pipe bans, grass that is brown and a wife that is bending my ear as the flowers are struggling in the heat. The heat itself peaked at 37oC a couple of weeks ago, but recently it been early 30oC and UK moans about a bit of sun for a few weeks, but if it rains we moan, winter nights are long we moan, snow we moan. Britain is obsessed with the weather, I on the other hand like a bit of sun even though I start to melt and burn easily. The photo’s I took this year 12th July 2026 don’t look great due to the Culford School’s grounds brown grass and dustiness which is shame. This is probably the second biggest car show in region that I attend. The night before I packed a new bottle of SPF50 which was going to be needed for sure, plenty of drinks, chilled water and extra ice in the cool bag. I left earlier than usual to make sure I didn’t have to sit in traffic trying to get into the show.

I arrived at the venue with a queue at five hundred yards at eight in the morning, but at least it was moving all be it slowly. When in traffic I tend to sit back a fair way from the car in front so I don’t blow their hot exhaust gases onto my engine making the situation worse. This gap does tend to annoy a few people that I don’t move up the twenty foot or so, like it will get them there quicker. Sitting in your car waving your hands about doesn’t make me move. I’m waiting for somebody to actually say something to me at the car’s window and we will be having a short discussion about why they’re being a silly sausage! Inside the show grounds I then took advantage of the tree shade while waiting, to fair quite a few other did the same.

I took a lot of photos again this year as the place was packed, so I split this show over a couple of posts to make it easier to digest and save scrolling across lots of photos thinking when will it end! The grounds of the school are stunning normally, but a little sun parched this year.

I found the Bury Retro Car Club stand and parked up on the end.

I took a while to wipe the car over as it was dusty, had a drink and started to wander around before it got too busy to take photos. The first batch of photos are from the club itself.

I started to walk up and down in a sort of clockwise direction to work my way round the field.

At the end of this line there was two old cars, one of which was my car of the show, but I will post that in tomorrow’s post. Here is the other one, a 1906 Brasier with a 3054cc with a 15hp engine. I thought I had a mission to clean my car, but the brass on this car was beautifully polished, stunning.

The sun was getting hotter and and the public were starting to join the show.

A beautiful 60’s classic Jaguar E-Type, a super car of the times, with looks that still look as good now as they did then.

Then we have a short sixty years later and Mclaren is now firmly in that crowded super car league. Given the choice, I would still have the E-type!

Another car that caught my eye was this 1974 Alfa Romeo Montreal whic was a contender for the car of the show.

When you speak of hyper cars this must surely be there in the top five. The Gordon Murrey Automotive T.50 with a custom made 3.9 litre V12 engine revving to an ear splitting 12,100RPM in a car that weighs less than a tonne, that is Formula 1 territory – on the road! The cost? Just a mere £2,360,000. I doubt I will ever see another one so I stood there for a while just day dreaming. Not many cars would make me want to swap my Mustang out, but this I could be tempted, just a little bit tempted.

What a way to end a post. I heard many people saying that it was their favourite car of the show. The value and rarity of the car would make it an easy decision for my car of the show. But that’s not my overall criteria, there is no doubt that this is a hand built master piece of design and engineering and would destroy everything on display at this show. Did I want it, without a doubt.

Part 2 tomorrow.

Share my Content

Wallpapers To Download

I have decided to create a little section for photos that I think would make a great desktop backgrounds, or mobile phone backgrounds. Of course I’m biased towards my own car (at the moment), but I have created some wallpapers for other beautiful cars. The balance will even out as concentrate on getting a more varied selection of cars to turn into wallpapers. The images don’t look that impressive when tiled together in the montages, but when opened in full resolution they are so much better.

I have done a montage for each of the categories so you can see the various pictures so far, and not just of cars:

Desktop Wallpapers here.

Alternatively just click on the Menu above ‘Screen Downloads’, for the pages and the download links. All these images are free to download and use.

Mobile Wallpaper here.

Alternatively just click on the Menu above ‘Screen Downloads’, for the pages and the download links. All these images are free to download and use.

I will get more photos and turn them into desktop and mobile wallpapers going forward. If there is a particular picture you have seen and would like the full sized image for download, let me know ands I will add it for you and anybody else who would like it.

Share my Content

Grace & Gears Photo Shoot

Last Sunday there was an exclusive photo shoot arranged by Grace & Gears two great guys, Henry and Matthew. The event is organised to allow photographers and content creators full access to vehicles without anybody getting in the way of their photography. The venue was at Hedingham Castle which is located between Sudbury and Colchester. There was twenty or so cars which were hand picked and invited by Matthew and Henry for the few hours four till eight in the evening. It was a hot day so a few hours in the evening was a welcome change to the all day event. The cars we positioned all around the grounds in strategic positions for space and aesthetically pleasing backgrounds. I ended up taking over two hundred photos many of my own car of course, but also the other cars. I was able to play around with my phones camera settings for the changing light conditions. They looked great on the phone, but when I uploaded them onto my PC they didn’t look so great, many were unceremoniously dumped. The guys kindly arranged for some food and drink trailers as well for us all too which was appreciated.

The Venue, Hedingham Castle.

I arrived a bit early, but this is where I parked up for allocated space on the Castle’s field before some of the other cars arrived.

The lower field by the picturesque lake had a few cars in lots of open space, which is where I started my photos collection of these lovely cars.

Walking back up to the main driveway as the booked in cars had already arrived, they parked them on the main driveway up to the house and the castle. Three black cars, the ever stunning Lambo, a Ferrari and an Audi.

To the left of the field was a couple of white cars.

Up at the main house was a modified photogenic beast.

Under the bridge we went back to the future

Walking back to the Castle this Ferrari was parking up, but later moved to the side of the Castle.

The little group where I was parked, we did spread out to give ourselves a bit more room. There was three blue cars this time flanked by a Prowler.

A couple of behind the scenes photos:

Then to finish of I took a few shots of my car, at various lighting conditions, I was trying to be artistic and sure it worked. Some of these images are large files and look so, so much better when opened up by clicking on them.

I will add some of these photos, not just of mine but also of the other cars and a couple of scenery shoots added to the ‘Screen Downloads’ menu in their full size resolution so you can manipulate them as you wish. The images are free to download and use, you never know you may find something you like.

Under the top menu heading ‘Screen Downloads’ where there will be two options:

‘Desktop Wallpaper Downloads’ click here for the link.

‘Mobile Wallpaper Downloads’ click here for the link.

Special thanks to Matthew, Henry, all the photographers and content creators who took part to make a great evening.

Share my Content

Tostock Twilight: Cars On The Green

This is the first of two posts this weekend as I had two shows in one week. Last Thursday 18th June 2026 my wife sent me a couple of messages with classic cars in them. I asked what it was all about, she didn’t know, so I thought no more about it. She got home about an hour later and started to tell me that she took a detour home because of traffic and spotted a number of cars turning up on the next village to us in Tostock. I knew nothing about the show, (so I blame ‘Frosty’ for that). I did a quick online search to find there was indeed a car show just a few miles from us which started at five in the evening. I wanted to go as it was a nice evening and would only be a for three scheduled hours. For the first time my wife actually agreed to come with me in the Mustang to a car show for an evening out.

We arrived a little after five thirty and it was already busy. There was a lot of people walking around with cold beers in their hands which they had just gotten from the pub which was adjacent to he green itself. I wanted to have a cold drink too, but as the wife didn’t want to drive us home, which is understandable, I certainly won’t risk it. Cars were still turning up after my fashionably late arrival and were just parking up where there wasn’t spaces, just like me. The cars started to arriving at four in the afternoon, hence why the wife spotted them on her way home.

I was greeted by my friend John on the way in trying to find a space, he directed me into a space that wasn’t supposed to be a space. I was considerate enough to leave space should anybody want to leave before me. There was few regular cars that I recognised, and a few new ones to me too.

We decided to wander from one end of the green to the other and in no particular order I (we) just wandered up and down the lines.

There was a little section of military vehicles which was quite cool.

Apart from my car these were other Mustangs that had got parked up for the show, I managed to catch up with David who I hadn’t seen for a while which was great and the banter started immediately. The others I missed, but I will catch them next time out I’m sure.

The biggest vehicle there by a long way was this monstrous CAT that trundled down the road. Used for ‘heavy earth moving tasks’ according to Google, but now had seats in the back and brought a few people along with it. The wheels were a little under six feet tall.

That leaves Mart’s Car Of The Show. This amazing 1940/1 pick up. My wife also liked it and said that one like it would be a good candidate for another project. I think she wants me out the house, again!

After a couple of hours we left as I didn’t want to push my luck and make her regret coming out with me to a show. Will there be another show with the wife? I hope so, it’s only taken her fifteen years since I have owned my car to turn up to a show with me. Saying that, I do like my occasional nap at the odd car show, needless to say that wouldn’t happen if the wife is with me! 😀

Share my Content

Not Even Warmed Up

Perhaps the closest car show to me is at Rougham Airfield, well what’s left of it. The control tower is the only remaining part of the airfield which is now a museum to the airfield and the squadron stationed here. There are volunteers who keep the place tidy and provide a glimpse of the WWII era with some period correct clothing. The location is a short six miles away from my house hardly time to warm the car up. The show is called “Buff The Ruff” organised by my car club ‘Bury Retro Car Club‘ and all vehicles are welcome. The show said 10am, I wasn’t sure if that was public time or time to arrive with the car. It turned out it was turn up time, to be on the safe side I arrived at a little after nine, I could of had an extra hour in bed. There was three of us there when i turned up with the same thought, when does it start. We drove onto a bit of land behind the control tower in a good position. In a line there was six of us as we were parking up now, a MK3 Escort, a MK1 Capri, First Gen Mustang (me) a Mustang II Cobra and then a white MK3 Capri, and a Model A hot rod, we got talking and promptly called it the Ford field! It didn’t stay a Ford field for long though.

By the time I finished wiping down the car it was getting on towards ten and quite a few more cars were starting to park up. The weather was overcast, warm with a light breeze and no rain was forecast.

This Ford Anglia was just like the one my Grandfather had, but it didn’t have this fancy engine.

I took a trip up the tower onto the roof to get some high angle photos just as some more cars rolled in which gave me an unusual angle to take some great shots.

This blue Charger nearly got my car of the show, a real nice car that sounded as good as it looked when it rolled in.

I took a few pics inside the tower to a couple of rooms that I hadn’t seen before. The Jeep outside had a few grenades in the back and I think a grenade launcher? I assume they were deactivated!

Marts Car Of The Show, this really nice 1984 VW Golf GTI MK II. Such a clean well loved nice tidy car. A great engine in the 1.8ltr Bosh K Jetronic, 112bhp. For it’s day this was a quick car and was the original pocket rocket with a scarce rag top. Often copied and the boy racer’s dream.

At around two thirty I made a move home as a number of other had also started to leave. I got home within minutes and for a change the fuel gauge didn’t move (much). A good show with some really nice cars and some and some nice chats with a few mates who turned up to support the show.

Share my Content

Almost Made It Home

The background to my car is that it was brought over to the UK and stationed in RAF Lakenheath by a USAF pilot all the way from Virginia USA some three thousand eight hundred miles away. My excitement was high to see that Lakenheath Classic Car Show 2026 was back on this year. I was hoping it was going to be at the airbase itself, sadly that wasn’t case. The show itself was held in a playing field about a mile away from the base. My car was almost home, so near yet so far.

The UK is having a bit of a heatwave at the moment which makes a real nice change. But, sitting in an open field where there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky with a temperature up in the high thirties, it was hot for us Brits. My wife got up with me early and said “I have packed the cool bag, add anything extra that you may want”. I looked inside to find three bottles of water and a dog bowl!

I asked ‘What’s that all about?’ She replied with “just in caser there are any dogs there that need a drink, make sure you give them a drink”. Never mind me, she was more worried about the dogs over heating. I got my own drinks and lunch and packed it into the cool bag, and into the trunk of the car.

The show was to start at ten with drive which was about fifty minutes away. The order for today was a steady drive along the back roads scenic route to keep moving and not get stuck in any traffic. The marshals were super efficient and guided the cars straight onto the field and parked us up in turn. I got out the car and started to wipe the car down from the road dust accumulated by the trip in and set up the show board. By the time I had completed the quick wipe down it was approaching noon and I was starting to boil. I slapped on the factor fifty and drank a nicely chilled one litre bottle of water. Luckily and common sense prevailing for the day, I didn’t see any dogs being dragged around, so that meant I was now going to drink the water that was put aside for them. I had underestimated how thirsty I would get during the day.

There was a round hundred and fifty cars being hosted by the show. Some were the usual Walmart wagons, like three year old BMWs with stickers on them, a few newer Mercs and of course the boy racer specials, the Ford Focus STs, I didn’t bother with most of them. While making my way around the show, a first for me was that my phone (Samsung S26 Ultra) flashed up a warning of overheating which then stopped me taking photos. To allow the phone to cool down I went to seek out some shade and sit inside a little building for half an hour or so that was doing a roaring trade in cold beers. That’s two shows on the trot now where I was tempted, but I still resisted.

With the phone recovered, I quickly completed the rest of the lines of cars. Being so close to the air base there was a heavy bias to American iron and muscle.

There was quite a few modified cars there as well, the first two here followed me for part of the way to the show. Me doing a steady fifty five wasn’t fast enough for them, so I moved over to let them past on the country roads.

A popular car was this Skyline.

There was a few bikes and trikes too, but many didn’t stay that long.

There was a heavy Mustang contingent as I expected, so I grouped them all together here.

That leaves me with Marts Car Of The Show; which was this huge 1977 FORD LTD that looked like it had just come out of a showroom. It was like a land yacht in a great colour that continued inside. I’m not sure what garage would house this beast, I suspect it would have to be more like an aircraft hanger.

I got back to my car got the chair out, and sat down with a more cold drinks and little light lunch. The factor fifty was applied generously over the next couple of hours. I got into some great conversation with a couple behind me who had just purchased their new toy, 1947 Bentley and their story around how they got it.

The seatbelts which I do up and place on the seats just to make them look neat were so hot I couldn’t hold them and I was worried the metal buckles were going to melt the seats, literally they were that hot I had to use a couple of cloths to unclip them. At around three in the afternoon I admitted defeat – I couldn’t take the heat anymore and decided to go home. I had all the windows down while taking the scenic route home, longer by about five miles but much more enjoyable.

A great day out, in fact it was the hottest May Bank holiday since records had begun, so I was informed by the weather lady in the evening news. It was a shame I didn’t get to go on the base with the car it would have been awesome, but I know for a fact that my car was driven around these very roads in the late 1990’s.

Share my Content

Anglo American Feltwell 2026

Last weekend’s car show was on a Saturday and not a Sunday which made a pleasant change. It meant that I could write up about the show in my own time on the Sunday. Especially useful excuse when the wife wants me to cut the grass or do some DIY, I can’t keep my readers waiting now can I? The show was in the next county from from me, about a fifty minutes drive through some beautiful countryside of Thetford Forest. The show is listed as Anglo American Feltwell Classic Car Show which is always well attended. I managed to get to this show a couple of years ago and was surprised by the heavy American classics there. Feltwell is surrounded by some US airbases, two of the big bases are Mildenhall and Lakenheath, the smaller one is Feltwell itself. I like driving round this part of the country as the American cars from the bases are used on a daily basis and seen out and about. It always feels like home around Lakenheath as its where the serviceman was stationed that owned my car bought when he brought it to the UK with him. I was expecting plenty of American muscle and I wasn’t wrong.

I arrived at the location an hour or so after setting off with a couple mishaps on the way. The first being a water mains was leaking and running down an incline of a road. My nice clean car was now getting splattered with dirty water. To those behind me, it must have looked as though I was intoxicated trying to drive around the little streams trying to mitigate the dirt sticking to the car. The second issue was me missing the entrance to the show. It was ‘sign posted’ (I use that in the loosest of terms), by the odd bit of A4 paper stuck on the odd lamp post. I saw a few cars pulling into the turning in my mirrors and pulled over into into a layby. When there was a gap in the traffic I started the six point turn in the middle of the road. No sooner had I started my manoeuvres a dozen cars or so in each direction came into view, I couldn’t write it. Yep, I was that person who held everybody up! Once I turned around in what seemed like minutes, I pulled into the narrow lane and was directed onto the field. The marshal told me that they were going to keep all the Mustangs together, that was the theory but it didn’t work out that way.

The weather was holding out, with periods of sunshine and the odd cloud. I got straight to work on cleaning the car, when a couple of friends caught up with me (also fellow Mustang owners), and asked me if I needed therapy as my car had gotten dirty. I did say that I needed to lay down in a darkened room to get over the trauma though.

By the time I had finished cleaning, the show which started at ten was getting busy. Time for my wander round for the photo’s and started at the back of the field and worked my way up and down the lines.

At the end of the first line there was a nice Ford truck with a Mustang on a trailer. It didn’t get moved off the trailer, so I don’t know if it had been picked up or being delivered, but it made for a few nice shots.

Moving onto the second row of cars, many more were still coming into the show, even though it had now opened to the public.

This slammed Lincoln was getting some interest from the younger public.

The guy who owned this Thunderbird also owned a couple of other cars, namely the white Studebaker from the first batch of photos of this post.

The next row was where the Mustangs started, they were also scattered around the field, but I collated all the Mustangs here. The first one I think has an identity crisis and was trying to identify as number of Mustangs according to the grill. The limited edition Bullitt Mustangs were out in force and was parked either side of me.

Lot’s of great newer American muscle cars here too but they didn’t look out of place with the classics.

There was bunch of trucks together, I’m not sure if it was by organisation or not, but it was interesting to see how they have grown in size up to the massive orange Dodge Ram (which was also for sale at £120,000).

The rest of the cars from the lines in no particular order.

There was a number of motorbikes coming in and out throughout the day, mostly Harley Davdisons.

After my wandering up and down the lines I took a well earned break for a spot of lunch and got the chair out for some serious people watching. I was going to get a burger, but when I saw the price of £8 and heard the not so pleasant comments about them, I decided against it.

Although it has to be said the beer tent did look tempting for an ice cold beer, but I won’t drink and drive.

During my rest up watching the world go by, then I spotted them, two plod. They were wandering around the car show looking at the cars.

I heard one of them ask one guy about his number plate to which the guy said “no it’s just my show plate”. I can’t say for sure why they were there, perhaps they wanted to look at the lovely cars, or was it something more sinister? Surely they had better things to do? Everybody was on best behaviour, no revving up engines or leaving the show sideways. The plod walked past the front of my car and looked at my reg plate, I was expecting some sort of comment, although I’m allowed black plates with silver numbers. Perhaps they thought my plate was a show plate as well and didn’t bother. Regardless of what they were up to, I wouldn’t have engaged with them.

Marts Car of The Show:

This was it, a beautiful Oldsmobile Holiday. It caught my eye from a distance where I initially thought it was Chevy Bel Air. I was hoping to chat with the owner, but I didn’t catch them sadly. The car was immaculate and a seriously loved car by the looks of it.

The show was due to finish at four, but a number of cars started to leave around lunch. I got talking to few nice people and with a guy who was telling me about buying his Mustang from new in the ’60s, I love those stories. At two in the afternoon I made the decision to leave as the sun was coming out less frequently and the clouds were getting darker.

The journey home was amazing and peaceful, apart from my exhaust note through the forest on the way home. The water leak I drove through on the way here had stopped and dried up on the road where it had previously been running down. I arrived home and wiped the car down straight away to put it away. The house was quiet apart from the energetic greetings of the dogs. I plonked myself on the sofa and looked at the photo’s I had taken for this post to do a bit of quality control. Before I knew it, I had nodded off for an hour, I was only woken up by the sound of the dogs having a mental at the wife as she returned home from her hair appointment. What a great way to end the day after a great show.

Share my Content