Classic Car show Culford School 2026 – One Man And His Mustang

Welcome back to second instalment of the huge Classic Car Show Culford School 2026. I finished yesterdays post with the glorious GMA T.50 an automotive work of art. But this show has so much more to offer and now it was time to work my way back up the other half of the field. Towards the end of the post I reveal one of my very earliest memories as a kid if not the first memory I have which was triggered by something on a table that I saw at this show.

Jones’ Van from the classic TV Comedy Show ‘Dad’s Army’ was there again. Some members of the museum that looks after the van were dressed up as the TV characters acting out a scene or two from the shows.

I was now at the super car stand with lots of relatively new and classic sports cars.

Some Americana works of art to enjoy. Some I have seen at shows before and always a pleasure to see.

Then it was back up and down the lines again to take more photos I actually took over four hundred on the day. Near to me was a burger van selling burgers, hot dogs and bacon rolls. I wasn’t hungry until I smelt the food, a proper hot dog with cheese and onions had my name all over it! The picture doesn’t show it was a foot long sub, I found a bit of shade and enjoyed my breakfast.

With a full stomach it was back to the cars.

A previous winner of my car of the show, this achingly beautiful Aston Martin

A car that love, but my 6’4″ frame prevents me from getting in it sadly.

The paint job on this 1930s Ford was amazing, again the photos don’t do it justice.

There was a couple of old school pedal cars on tables which were amazing and beautifully restored. Kids of today don’t know the pleasure of going as fast as you can in a pedal car. An Xbox game may look great, but it doesn’t give you sense of speed by dragging your back side a couple of inches of the ground. Brakes – oh yeah, you stopped peddling and jammed both feet hard to stop the peddles, get it right and you could skid the car into a corner like a racing God, sometimes!

I was lucky enough to have one as a kid, nothing branded or fancy like those ones above. Mine was just a generic box shape in dark green, a bit like this one, I was gutted when I couldn’t get in it anymore. I was so very young, but my earliest memory was driving that pedal car into a fence at the bottom of a little hill. It was bent up a bit after that, (so was I), but it still drove good! When my ol’ man used to wash his car, I was given a little bowl to wash mine as well. Cars must have been in my blood at such a young age, or the flies in my eyes when travelling at such great speeds, those were good times.

Things were getting busy and the stalls were doing well, especially the overpriced ice creams and the beer tent!

Shame this isn’t a real GT40, but it’s still a stunning car to look at.

Mart’s Car Of The Show:

This 1913 Rambler was stunning. The woodwork, the brass and the paint, such intricate little details.

I wandered back to my car at a very leisurely pace ready for a well deserved sit down and long cold drink, that 1ltr bottle of chilled water was downed in one.

A couple of months back I added a small addition to the rear window of my car. I wanted to something super subtle that didn’t ruin the look of the car. Before anybody says anything, the glass is actually green as my car was an original factory optioned Air Con car, but from a distance you don’t really notice the tinge of colour. After market or dealer fitted air con had clear glass, it’s a real quick way to tell if original or after market. The stencil was stuck inside the glass just above the rear parcel shelf. When you look at the back of the car you don’t really see it, look from a slight angle you can see the white lettering against the black. Best of all, when the sun comes out it throws a nice shadow. This turned out even better than I hoped it would. In my mind if it didn’t work I could soon remove it, for now it will stay as it took me quite a while align it up in the middle and get it straight.

A great show where I spoke to many people and had a chilled day in the lovely weather, I soaked up the sun and enjoyed a few hours of people watching from the comfort of my chair. I can neither confirm not deny that I may have sneaked in few minutes of shut eye behind the sunglasses, I don’t think anybody noticed. Either I did get a quick nap in, or my smart watch said that I was sitting very still!

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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 37^oC a couple of weeks ago, but recently it been early 30^oC 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 12^th 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.