As I mentioned yesterday, the club stand and VIP area of the show was covered and now it was time to move to the privateer field which was crammed full with some amazing cars. there was a a couple of commercial stands there with the likes of John Grose (Ford) and another second-hand car sales. There was a brass band and long queues for every ice cream van and cold drinks stall you could see. This is just the bottom few rows of cars. It was busy and getting hotter by the minute.
We started at the top of the field and zig-zagged our way through the lines to the bottom.
I put the Mustangs together from this field, including one that has a similar colour to mine that has lots more chrome under the hood.
Perhaps my favourite car from the show is this Aston Martin Vantage, just stunning.
The oddity of the show was this amphibious vehicle and mini boat!
There were some Super cars there I have batched together;
After a long time walking around, hot and hungry we made our way back to the stand for some refreshments.
We left at around three in the afternoon an hour or so before the show closes and we could miss the traffic. There was number of other people thinkin’ as we did and we still had a few minutes queue to get out. Craig was taking videos at various points and I compiled a them together to a single video. Turn up the volume and enjoy!
Thanks to the SXOC for letting us park on their stand and to Craig for the company, amusing comments (one of which was in the video), this video footage and pics! Another great car show with no rain.
One of my favourite car shows of the year is this one, Helmingham Hall which is located in middle of Suffolk. Almost a local show to me and perhaps the best in the area. This show also clashed with another show on the same day which is the Festival of Wheels in Ipswich, again in Suffolk. The difference and which one to choose was a no brainer for a few reasons;
1) Helmingham has such a wide variety of cars, Ipswich tends to have the ‘Chav’ type cars that are about ten years old an look like they have purchased every bolt on and clip accessory from the like of Halfords in the UK, or AutoZone on the other side of the pond.
2) Helmingham is aimed squarely at the petrol head, Ipswich has a a more family orientated feel, with a rides and displays.
3) Helmingham has a long driveway where the cars are allowed to run up and down to showcase the cars, Ipswich has a centre ring where one of the highlights is to see who has the loudest exhaust! Get the idea? Anyway I have gone to and will go to Ipswich again if there is nothing else on for the day, it’s just not a first priority that’s all.
4) Helmingham provides afternoon tea, Ipswich has Slushy’ type cold drinks!
So, the week before the show I hear people are getting their tickets for the day to get in. I hadn’t had mine so I emailed the event with my details. They apologised and said they would send out again first class post. I waited for a few days – nothing. This event just won’t let you in without a pass, so there’s no point trying to blag your way in. I had accepted the fact I wasn’t going to this one. The night before the my mate Craig asked if I was going and told him the story. As luck would have it he had a stand pass for the SXOC (Nissan SX owner Club) where I was last year. Car show was back on.
Craig arrived early and we loaded the car and set of for the venue, sunglasses and sun cream all ready to go. We arrived and there was many different cars there, Ford, Porsche and of course the Nissans.
Cars on the SXOC stand and the temporary home that was a real God send to keep in the shade.
I parked up and set about removing the road dust from the journey, applied the sun cream and set off for what was going to be a very busy show.
Due to sheer number of photo’s I took the show will be split over a couple of posts; todays which will focus on the club stands and the VIP near the main house, and tomorrow the other field with the private entries. Craig and I set of in a clockwise direction as that seemed the logical thing to do.
Simply Mustangs UK had a good turn out.
Up at the main house was this selection;
Thanks to Craig who took the better quality pictures, which are fairly self evident rather than my phone camera.
Tomorrow’s post will have a video that Craig took of us leaving the show and drive home, with some nice sound too.
Last weekend we were promised a another bright sunny day at Stonham Barns for another car show. This time is was just for American cars and always surprises me on the numbers that turn up. There was a clash of other shows on the same day, so it would be a choice of shows for most people.
As it was an early start the night before I had already uncovered the car and unplugged the battery’s trickle charger. I placed the cool bag in the trunk which was primarily full of cold drinks, closed it and jumped into the car. Sunglasses on at eight in the morning was a bit of novelty, but a welcome one it has to be said. The drive to Stonham was one of the best yet on the way there; not much traffic and nobody tailgating me as I set my own pace and just enjoyed my drive. There was a newer Mustang that went passed me at a rate of notes with a Pontiac following close behind, we exchanged the obligatory wave and continued on. Stonham also has a car boot sale on most Sunday mornings, so there is always a little bit of a queue to get in. Not this time as I almost drove straight in without stopping.
Once through the entrance I was directed to the hard standing area of the field where the Mustangs would be parked. I turned up and parked next to Racoon Red ’65 Fastback with two older gentlemen setting up their chairs. I gave my car a little wipe down with some quick detailer to remove the road I had accumulated on the way to the show. As I was finishing up and taking the first couple pictures of the day, a much newer style red S197 Mustang parked up the other side of me. Cars were now arriving in thick and fast just half an hour before the public was allowed into the event. It was going to be a good day.
I decided to sit in my new chair, have a cold drink and watch the cars park up and perform the rituals I had just finished. I need to get some pics so I started a wander round as the public were allowed in as pretty much all the cars were now in place.
There was quite a few truck at the show so I thought I would group them together for this gallery.
Back to the cars at this point I wandered into the dark side of the Chevy guys with the odd Dodge thrown into the mix. Only joking, Some real nice cars in their own little area like the Mustangs.
There was some more Mustang owners parked up that didn’t want to come and play with the rest of us and parked the other side of the main ring.
The rest of the cars that I liked the look of.
Can somebody explain this to me please?
There was four cars which I spotted and in my opinion, shouldn’t have been there. Yes they can turn up where they want, but surely they should have been turned away from an “Americana Show” by the show’s marshals! German cars, a standard VW Golf with a set of wheels on it and a bog standard BMW Z3.
The Triumph Stag is British classic, and they have V8’s under the hood, this one looks to have some thing nice under there, but I couldn’t be sure. Most of the time they had the Triumph engine, occasionally they were swapped out for a Rover V8. Did this Stag have some American iron under there, I wanted to find the owner and ask, but sadly I couldn’t find them. Besides, I like Stags.
Then there is this example below. A new Volvo that hadn’t even been cleaned. Why on earth this was deemed as acceptable I have no idea. Perhaps he got lost on the way to the general public car park? The owner was quite happy sitting in his deckchair looking pleased with himself. Yes, it’s a nice car and all that, but I can and often do see a car park full of them at the local supermarket. There was plenty of space for all the cars, but this car is not American and it certainly didn’t belong there on the day.
Am I being too harsh?
It was another great day out with lots of fabulous sunshine, although there was the odd cloud that turned up to spoil the day! 😉
I met some really nice people, my new chair was comfortable and I managed to chilled out in it for a few hours while looking at the back of my car. I even had an ice cream and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
I left a little early to avoid the inevitable line of cars trying to leave at the end of the show. I managed to drive straight out of the venue this time and had a perfectly chilled cruise home. Awesome day out.
As usual there was a fair for the family and plenty of food stalls. I was tempted to buy a cheese and onion pasty for lunch which I wouldn’t mind paying for, but when the cost is £6 for a pasty, I decided I wasn’t that hungry after all. However the smell was just exquisite, it was a very difficult decision to not be tempted, but I resisted. I wouldn’t mind and people have to make a profit, but when a super market sells them easily at less than a third of that price, I’m not sure if it’s profit or just greed.
On my travels back to the car I came across am interesting little club of old London Taxis. There was some very early examples right up to the more recognisable designs.
Some great UK Fords were there, even these standard Ford like the 1.6Ltr Orion in the UK now commands some serious money. The more exotic cars like the Lotus Cortina, Sierra XR4i or the Cosworth variants will require a mortgage to buy a good one.
There was a couple of unusual cars there with extension or additions to them.
In the middle of the grounds there was a tent which had this car in there roped off. I don’t know if it was something special or just a nice example. Perhaps somebody could enlighten me.
There were plenty of auto jumble with some nice parts for sale and then some rather (crap) stuff for sale, more like a car boot or a rubbish yard sale.
There was various shows in the arena and the stunt team were there again doing some rather mad stuff.
As ever there were plenty of dogs there, and this guy was just happy to lay in the walkway of the stall and people were just stepping over him and he never stirred from his sleep.
I eventually got back to the car and lifted the hood as it seemed to be the norm for the American corner.
I left the show at around four in the afternoon before the usual bun fight starts to get out of the venue. A gentle and steady drive home was very enjoyable and I even had a few people wave to me as they went past. I always try to make a point of waving back at the kids and give them a little hoot as well.
A great day was had by all at the Mustang Maniac patch out as I expected and top it all of there was no rain either, so I class that as a win – win scenario. There was a downside however, filling the car up again on the way back home with some more Shell V-Power fuel. In total I spent just under £120 on fuel for the day out. As it was the end of the month and I hadn’t been paid yet, my mate Barclay (Card) helped me out with the expenses and pay him back in a couple of weeks.
Owning these cars it’s not about the miles per gallon, it’s all about the ‘smiles per gallon’, when you have a good day out, it seems worth it.
The Enfield Pageant of Motoring show is the furthest that I travel to. It’s a big show and I like to go and support Adam and Mustang Maniac. The show is about eighty miles away from me and Adam had decided that we should be there around eight in the morning. In order to get there I would need to leave at six in the morning as I also had to get some fuel as well.
The sun was up and the weather forecast was set to be sunny and no rain. I jumped in the car started the journey down to the show. About twenty minutes into the trip I came to the Shell garage where I topped up with the V-Power of six and half gallons (UK) to a cost of £55.10 which works out to £8.45 a gallon! After recovering from the open wallet surgery that had just been performed on me, I restarted the journey back on the dual carriage ways. This time not being as ‘enthusiastic’ with the loud pedal. I eventually got there just after eight and drove into the field and up to the Mustang Maniac pitch where they usually are.
I parked up next to them and started to clean the car to get the dust and road grime of the car and took the first photo. I took around three hundred photos and got it down to around two hundred, and this post is part one, and part two coming tomorrow.
Mustang Maniac had a large plot of ground which was also filled up with more American cars.
After we had a catch up I decided to walk around and take some photos early before it got busy. In no particular order except I started clockwise.
Perhaps my favourite car of the show was this 1955 Thunderbird. I am seriously saddened by the fact it was smaller than i expected and I wouldn’t be able to get in it. 🙁
This particular Reliant Robin three wheeler was actually used in the hugely popular sitcom in the UK ‘Only Fools & Horses’.
Part Two will be more of the same around the same time.
For a change I attended a car show on a Saturday and not a Sunday, which was quite a novel change. The show was called ‘Fast & Loud’ to be held in the West Suffolk College car parks, located within the town of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
I had been to this show once before a few years ago and it was damp and drizzling with rain on and off throughout the day. This time at the same venue, the sun was out and all was good to go, except that my alarm didn’t go off. The only reason I woke up was because my little dog decided that he wanted to go out, so he pawed my face to wake up. I checked the time and although I was late, it was only half hour or so behind my normal leaving time schedule. I skipped breakfast to save some time and got the car out the garage as quick as possible, jumped in the car for the short nine mile drive.
The show officially started at ten and I had thirty minutes to get there. Fearing the worst, I got a bit of pace on, opened the four barrel carb to chew my way through more fuel than I normally do. I needn’t have worried as everybody was pretty much in the show and parked up for the public to view. I just drove up to the barriers and drove in, not having to wait in the usual queue carnage for this show. (It was a bad queue again so I was told a couple of hours earlier.)
The Bury Retro Car Club was near the entrance as I drove in. But for the second show in a row they didn’t get all the spaces they were allocated, so a few of us were scattered around the car park a bit. I got lucky and managed to park opposite the club line up where there was a single space next to a GT40. Unfortunately the GT40 wasn’t a real one, this one was constructed in 1973 and the owner has raced it quite a few times. He even crashed it quite heavily a couple of years on a track and needed the front and rear rebuilding.
I worked my way round the car park taking pictures of the cars that interested me in amongst the two or three year old daily run around cars.
There was a rare new gen Mustang Mach1 in the UK on show owned by a good friend of mine.
Then almost next to it was a car that I had on my bedroom wall as kid, It’s still one of my favourite super cars, the Lambo Diablo.
As I was wandering around at the far end of the car park a car arrived a bit late which was very similar to mine. The father and son spent some time with me a little later asking some great questions. The colour was a very similar colour to mine, but a little darker than mine I think. It would have been good to have seen them side by side for a comparison.
There was a motorsport department within the college and they had their projects out on show for us.
One of my favourite modern cars was also on show which was not so subtle, but it’s quick and more than able to back up the looks.
There was a distinct split in this show, there was the usual classic cars and interesting cars which I naturally gravitate towards. Then there’s my idea of hell, it was the Ford Focus, Vauxhall Corsa and BMW brigade who had big exhausts and even louder sound systems. The sort of cars that you can see in any Tesco’s or Walmart car parks. to be honest. There was nothing particularly special about them in my mind, but I could see some had money spent on them. However, they are somebody’s pride and joy and not for me to judge their taste in cars. The event was called ‘Fast & Loud’ so pretty much all types of vehicles was welcome. Some were loud, some are indeed fast, but most this side were neither. The show had a few people starting up their cars and trying to see if they could push pistons out of the hood from a cold start, or pumping out some bass lines. Not my bag to be honest and I doubt I will attend this show again. I think I must be getting old and should be a little more tolerant I guess.
To finish up a couple more of my entry to the show, the first one was taken by somebody else who tagged me on the dreaded F**ebook.
What will the next show have in store for me? All I can hope for is that the sun holds out for the next show too. But, it’s been a great start to the show season so far with two sunny days.
What do you think of the very standard modern cars at these shows? Controversial comment: in my opinion, if I wanted to see those sort of cars I could hang out superstore car park.
This car show took place in 2nd August 2021 on the outskirts of Colchester which is the oldest town in the UK. This was a new show for me and I was looking forward to it especially as I hadn’t been there before.
The weather apps said there was a round thirty percent chance of rain later in the day. When I got up the sky looked grey but felt dry, so I decided to go for it. I got the car out and set up the Sat Nav for a scenic route and set off for an unknown journey.
When I got to the castle there was a board outside that said “closed to visitors no entry”, I was not impressed. I couldn’t see any cars inside and and also couldn’t see any cars arriving.
I backed out onto the road to drive around and look to see what was going on. I saw a guy walking his dog and asked him if he knew anything about it. Lucky for me he did. He said that they put the sign up to stop castle visitors but the car show was on. So I drove back again and past the sign. A very slight curve and I saw the marshals and a few cars parked up. I was directed to the field that was on a bit of a slope and wet. I was having trouble trying to get traction where they parked me and said I could move over a little on the flatter part of the field. I was grateful for her consideration and said thanks, but I mentioned if it rains I would have trouble getting out.
The plus side is that I had a great view of the castle from below.
I got out to speak to the guys next to me a couple of nice guys I knew who were walking over to me who are also in the Bury Retro Car Club that I’m a member of. About ten minutes later the head marshal came over to tell me that a car club had cancelled (around 125 cars) and would not be coming due to the potential weather, would I like to move?
I said yes and pointed to the main walkway which was on a path where my two friends had just come from. She agreed I was allowed to move and parked up near them with a fantastic backdrop.
Then it happened, a few spots of drizzle! Rain wasn’t due for another three hours or so. As I stood looking up to the sky another friend who owns a newer Mustang pulled next to me.
The area where I was parked is such a nice place with walk ways and a large pond.
I decided to walk around and take some pictures before it started to rain.
I was quite taken with this truck and would be my a project I would like to do next.
Walking up the slight incline the was a little bridge over to the castle on the left.
I reckon my car would have looked good under these arches but it wasn’t being allowed from what I could see, a real shame though.
Towards the top of the incline there was a house with a few big luxury cars.
Turning to the left you walk over the bridge to the castle which was planted in the middle of a large green and the cars were parked around the outside, mainly clubs from what I could see.
Towards the back of the Alfa Romeo there was a drop and an opening where you could look down on where I was parked.
With a little bit of zoom.
By the time I got back to the car there was a few new cars arrived, this brand new 2021 Mustang Mach1. Why this is even in a car show i don’t know, I can see this in any Ford car showroom that stocks them.
A little further down I had a childhood flashback, my first bike, ‘Raleigh Chopper’. This are now holding stupid silly money like £1,000 for the early models.
The rain started to fall and I found a nice shaded area under a tree where I could keep dry. Obviously I had to close the hood.
When the rain stopped the hood went back up along with the show board.
There was the occasional spells of sun but more frequent and longer rain showers. With that in mind I decided to leave, I was only there for a few hours in the end. The drive home was getting wetter by the minute, it was a good choice to leave I’m sad to say.
One of my favourite car shows of the year as it’s a beautiful drive out to the sleepy little village, and it’s just a nice environment. Not over flowing with modern cars, and a real family type day out. This year there was a lot of Jags on show, I mean a lot, MK1 and MK2. I reckon the Jag Owners club turn of some sort turned up en masse.
I got up early as usual and thoroughly enjoyed the drive through the country lanes, until some idiot in a Renault (white) van wanted to sit right up my rear. It did bother me a bit as I wanted to relax and enjoy the country side, so I ignored him. I was in good mood and didn’t care about the rest of the world that morning.
I pulled into the venue and was told where to park. The same spot as last year on the end near the entrance. Where I quite like to be and can watch the cars come in 🙂
I spent a fair amount of time checking the App that no rain was forecast, but it was little nippy in the slight breeze when the sun was hiding behind some clouds. This was taken about half hour before the public was allowed in, so not all the cars were in place.
I wasn’t very hungry until I got the delicious waft of bacon and sausage baps being cooked around ten in the mornin’ just the gates were opened to the public, not a coincidence I’m sure. As I didn’t have my wallet with me, being the absent minded fool, I had left it in the garage. I went hungry, apart from the little packed lunch I took with me. Cheese and ham sarnie just doesn’t cut it, but the ham was as close as I was going to get to bacon on that day!
Parked up next to in the American stand was a Pontiac station wagon, the owner was saying that there is only one other in the country!
I decided to go for a walk about half hour after I had wiped the car over. So in no particular order, but I walked clockwise around the circular shaped format of the cars.
This lovely car was tucked in a corner,
There was a limited Super car section, where the Lambo and DeLorean combo were together again. The Ferrari was a replica of course.
I’m not into motorbikes as they scare the hell out of me, but this Subaru flat four based trike was amazing.
When i had finished doing my rounds I got back to my car and found that it was hoods up time. Not to be outdone I had to do the same.
I left about half hour before the end so I could drive home at my own pace. Another beautiful trip home, not cars trying to get in my trunk and I was in my own little world just listening to the beating heart of a Ford Small block V8. Is there anything better to end the day than that? To cap it all – it didn’t rain either.
I was going to post all about my second to last car show, but I have some exciting news where I have teamed up with Mustang Maniac which I can share with you today. (I have been given permission to use their photos and video.)
Mustang Maniac has developed a replacement standard “T handle” shift lock for the early Mustangs ’64 to ’73.
It’s called the “T Park Lock”
The handle is designed to be a direct replacement part of the original T handle, but will retain that all important stock look. The lock works by putting the shifter into ‘Park’ and simply pressing in the button on the right of the handle. This locks the black button on the left from being depressed and so you can’t move the gear stick into any drivable position and the gearbox stays locked in ‘park’. Simple, but effective. Anything we can do to slow or prevent our precious cars being stolen is worth it. For a relatively small amount it think it’s a must have purchase to be honest.
With the lock in place nobody will really notice any difference from the stock T handle.
When the handle is unlocked the barrel will spring out and stop. With the lock disengaged the chrome of the handle continues on to the lock barrel itself.
When you have unlocked and removed the key (optional to remove the key), you just shift as normal, if you do press the button in while going along, you can still shift to neutral when convenient to unlock again. Or if you prefer drive with the key in the lock simply unlock again when you need to.
The lock comes supplied with two keys and as are unique to that lock, none of the that one key fits all the locks the same!
To fit the lock it’s a two minute job, remove the old handle, replace it with this one and tighten into place. For added security you can place a small drop of glue onto the grub screw to stop it being removed via the allen key. No garage fees to fit, or maintenance. Fit and click.
I have personally been using the prototype of the product for the last few months and it works flawlessly. To see it in action the Mustang Maniac guys put up a video of the lock in action.
I will be selling these and can be purchased here.
You can also see the link under my “For Sale” heading in the top menu bar.
Thanks to everybody who sent me messages from my last post(s) about the number of cars within the posts. The consensus was ‘the more the merrier’ so here is a fairly large post in one go. I have been a little busy with car shows and trying to catch up with posting about the shows, I can’t complain as this time last year I had only a couple visits to car shows. This post is about Stonham Barns which took place on the 15th August 2021. A free for all show where anything goes age wise and there is usually a good mix of cars and some car part stalls as well.
The weather was supposed to be dry, it didn’t look great, but at least it was dry. I left a bit later than normal and thought it would still give me plenty of time to get in. Wrong, I hit a queue to get in, I normally try to get to the shows early to avoid this very scenario.
After twenty minutes or so I eventually got in and had a cyclist who cut across the front of my car causing me to brake while he was going to the car boot sale which was in the adjacent field. As I had my window down this lycra clad clown started with “Am I holding you up?” I responded with an equally sarcastic; “Causing me to brake and avoid you then yes you are.” He started with some rambling rubbish which I couldn’t hear (I was so upset about that – not), as my engine was purring away. He did shout “nice penis extension” at me as he prepared to ride off. The cars were moving in front of me again, but I did pause to instantaneously shout back to him; “At least I don’t dress up to make myself look like a pr!ck”. The other people wandering into the car boot show started to laugh at him. I didn’t give him time to respond and moved away with a few revs on to drown him out. I enjoyed that, so funny 🤣 Classic Car Owner 1 – Cocky Cyclist 0.
Still chuckling away to myself I drove into the field and was directed around to the Bury Retro Car Club stand and parked up. Here we are all lined up.
It was a busy day with lots of cars and plenty to look at. So in no particular or I just wandered up and down the lines.
The weather was cloudy and sunny at alternating intervals all day, which is fine by me.
American, British, Japanese and German all together. The little Audi in this set was amazing and I just loved it.
I’m not sure what this truck is in the first picture but it was massive, and I liked it.
This Ford Escort isn’t my cup of tea, but the guy had spent plenty of time on it that’s for sure.
The white Vauxhall Cavalier in the first picture used to be a firm favourite with Sales Reps, almost disposable. Yet here we are 25 odd years later and it’s in a classic car show!
This proper old school Ford was just beautiful.
The weather started to turn with a little drizzle which didn’t last that long or even dampen the atmosphere.
I spent quite a long time speaking to this guy who only had the car for a little while. It came with a box full of sales receipts and invoices and not to mention a few boxes of spares too. I was surprised to see an I6 under the hood, but he says it cruises great and is such a smooth ride.
I reckon that the Custom, Galaxy and the Chevy must have been the biggest cars there.
I’ve lucky enough to drive the a Harley Truck, it was like sitting in my favourite chair at home, such a nice place to be.
A few fast Fords, 60’s Lotus Cortina and a Sierra Cosworth.
You just beat the fins on these American master pieces.
The stalls weren’t that bad either. I’m not sure what was going on with the screw on aftermarket exhaust tips, they are mounted horizontally as a rule, but like they say – rules are meant to be broken. I’m not that rule was though!
I eventually got back to my car for a well earned sit down and a sandwich. The Cortina GT parked up next to me was a nice example and the owners were thinking of selling it and had a few interested people ask about it.
And to finish up with some dogs I managed to grab a few pictures of.
A great show with lots of nice people to talk to. The weather held of and the drive home was nice and relaxed with no signs of self entitled cyclists to ruin my journey home.
