Tag: classic cars

Will Anybody Notice?

Since I had gotten my car back on the road some eleven years ago now, I still try to keep it as original as possible. Keeping the original parts where I can, replacing the parts that can’t be seen with modern reliable alternatives such as the wire loom, LED bulbs, electronic ignition etc. I have collected many things relating to the 1966 Mustang, original printed media, magazines, memorabilia all from that mid sixties era. I like things in my car to look and appear correct for the period the car was on the road first time around. With that in mind I have various eBay saved searches to look for these gems. One such search a few days ago popped up with a Tax Disc holder which I had to buy. A little more on that later after a little history lesson on what I’m talking about regarding the UK ‘Road Tax’, ‘Vehicle Excise Duty’ what ever it’s now called or will be called.

The fist motor vehicles hit the roads in the mid 1880s, by the early 1900s automobiles had increased significantly, where the current UK road infrastructure couldn’t cope. In the 1921 the UK government decided to raise funds which would be ring fenced to improve the roads. They applied a “Road Tax” to each vehicle to fund the much needed expansion. In 1934 the revenue raised from motorists has now gone into a much larger pot of revenue which is used for other things such as housing or welfare.

Since then virtually every year the motorist is targeted by successive governments to raise more money, thus the UK motorist is often seen as the cash cow of the UK. Not only can a road tax, or vehicle excise duty cost be stupid amounts, but a fuel levy is imposed as well so you pay every fill-up. To show just how much that is, if we take it that a litre of fuel costs £1.50, a fuel duty of £0.53p is applied per litre. Then on top of that there is VAT (Value Added Tax) which is in effect a tax on the tax, so that means a litre of fuel costs around £1.875 a litre. The road tax, vehicle excise duty or whatever ever name it’s given now, the way it’s calculated changes to squeeze even more out of you, now it’s based on the CO2 emissions, along with a new showroom tax for a new car. It’s no wonder the UK motorist feels a little hard done by.

As of October 2025 these are the vehicle tax costs and how it ramps up which is now based on the “CO2” emissions the vehicle produces. I can sort of see it because of the environment impacts, but the money raised will more often than not be allocated or wasted elsewhere on other ’causes’.

A detailed table comparing showroom tax rates for petrol and diesel cars meeting RDE2 standards, including CO2 emissions and cost increases for the years 2024/25 and 2025/26.

Anyway, rant over – back to the ‘Road Tax’ disc; to show this duty had been paid by the vehicle’s owner, there was a requirement to place a 75mm round disc in the vehicle’s windscreen to be clearly seen. The tax disc would hold the discs unique ID number, vehicle’s registration mark, the amount paid, class of vehicle and the expiration of the tax either on a rolling six-month or annual basis, the annual cost being slightly discounted. To prevent fraud of these discs there were many changes made over the decades in colour, perforations, watermarks, embossing, holograms and stamped from the issuing location.

The original on the left and the final iterations on the right.

Comparison of an early UK tax disc from 1921 on the left and a modern tax disc on the right, set against a clear blue sky.

All well and good for most people, but they were hated and not really liked. With the evolution of technologies, the requirement to display a physical tax disc in the vehicle’s windscreen was removed effective from 1st October 2014 as the tax information is now stored on a government database. Ironically many people now miss these little discs for nostalgic reasons. There is even a following where the study and collection of these tax discs is called “Velology”. The term was created by combining the initials VED (for Vehicle Excise Duty) with the commonly used “ology” suffix. There is even a little niche market to provide replica discs, exact copies would be seen as fraudulent. Some of the rare older discs can go for high values.

Finally onto my point, these tax discs need to be held onto the glass. Early days there was suction, metal displays, sticky foam or plastic as time moved on, even sticky tape or glue. Motorbikes had a metal fitting which encased the disc from the elements, also on some vintage cars too. There were many fancy designs for holders such as polished chrome, sticky with removable magnetic backs etc. The earlier plastic iterations had a mild glue around the outside (like this one) and were a one time application. Then later on a plastic vinyl-like formula which when moistened would stick on the screen and reusable. As I mentioned earlier, my eBay saved search came up with an original 60’s tax disc, once I saw it, I had to put a bid in for it, which I eventually won some six days later. What made me want this? Apart from the fact it’s period correct, but it’s also a product I have used in the past on my car.

These tax disc holders became good sources of advertising and were often given away, or information such as emergency numbers for an insurance company, car dealer’s information or a breakdown service details on the back of them. My new purchase was simple advertising and also useful information, “Duckhams” oil and the weight of oil 20w50 specified for my car, it all ties together.

I currently had a larger holder in my car given to me by Mustang Maniac, which has been on the screen for the best part of ten years. It has been faultless, but this Duckhams purchase on eBay is the only reason to change it.

Close-up view of a vintage tax disc holder featuring a 1966 tax disc, placed on a car's windscreen with a Mustang Maniac business card visible in the background.

I carefully pealed the old holder away from the screen, and placed it on top of my toolbox. Comparison of the old Mustang Maniac holder and the new Duckhams one. The Mustang Maniac holder also had a place to hold their (or any other) business card on the back.

The replica Tax Disc I use is also from Mustang Maniac who have a large selection of discs for many various years and different styles of stamp on the disc, click here for the link.

Original 1966 UK tax disc featuring the month APR and the word PRIVATE, with a logo from Mustang Maniac.
Circular document titled 'SURRENDER OF LICENCES' outlining the procedure for surrendering a vehicle excise license, with legal references and instructions printed in black on white paper.

The design of the Duckhams holder is a simple slightly larger disc with a sticky outside to hold it on the screen. Before I peeled the backing paper off I checked it for size. Normally I would have put this with my other collectibles, but in this case I was sure it should be used.

Making sure the disc and the Duckhams text were aligned front and back I offered up the holder to the screen.

It was surprising just how sticky the outside was, but I still made sure the holder was evenly pressed onto the screen all the way around.

From the outside the holder isn’t really seen, just the tax disc itself as a minimalist look now.

With the older holder removed I used some Isopropyl Alcohol and a glass cloth to remove the slight residue on the glass which I arrowed below. This also gave a good clean surface for the new holder to adhere to.

Something like this is pretty non-de-script and over looked to be honest, and who really cares? But for me, it just adds a little something extra for the car’s originality. Also in the package there was a sticker from Duckhams which would have been stuck under the hood during a service near the oil filter.

A hand holding an old Duckhams oil recommendation sticker with the text 'Lubricated and protected by DUCKHAMS 20-50' and 'we recommend its continued use' against a light background.

I’m not sure if I should stick this under the hood or not, I’m not a great lover for lots of stickers apart from the factory ones of course. What do you think, should I stick it under there? Currently, I’m using Millers Semi-synthetic 20w50 oil, so technically it’s not actually correct, there again neither is the tax disc holder holder with a replica tax disc. I wonder what else awaits me on eBay to spend my money on which nobody will ever notice!

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Buff The Ruff Car Show 2025

Last weekend is perhaps the closest show to my home that I attend. There is one in my little village but its not that great to be honest. The show was at Rougham Air Tower on the site of an old air base. Last time out at the show there was plenty of WW2 period costumes to be seen, unfortunately not this year. The car show was due to start at 10am within the tower’s fields. I had a rough night before and had little sleep and woke up an hour earlier than I needed to, so I decided to get there early and make use of the additional time in hand. Thinking that I would be the only one there I was surprised to see two other vehicles already parked up, I found a place that I liked the look of and parked up which would be seen down the side of the tower’s line of sight as you drive in to the event.

A classic blue Ford Mustang parked on grass with trees in the background.

There was no need to clean the car as I hadn’t travelled far enough and the car was just getting warmed up. We had a bit of a chat and I got my chair early and planted myself down to watch the world go by with a bottle of chilled water. The weather was predicted to be good all day with the outside chance of rain and maybe a thunderstorm in the evening. The field started to fill up a little before the official start. There was expected to be around hundred cars supporting the club Bury Retro Car Club which I’m a member of.

With most of the cars now parked up I had a wander round to take some pics. There timings for the day were relaxed so you could come and go as you pleased, that meant that there was a turn over of cars throughout the few hours of the show while we were there.

The control tower was open which I have already covered in full in a previous post for this event and a few new exhibits.

After climbing the tower I took an above view of the cars in my field, then I noticed that I was in a Ford Capri sandwich. Not only that, that there was a theme – the line of cars was were various shades of blue.

A lineup of classic cars in various shades of blue, including a silver vehicle, parked on grassy terrain with a green field in the background under a partly cloudy sky.

About half an hour before I left the show this monster Chevy Silverado rolled in and parked in the space next to me, it instantly became by car of the show which absolutely dwarfed everything in the field.

Although it wasn’t supposed to rain until later in the evening there was a light sprinkling for about ten minutes which stressed me some what, but the breeze soon dried off the car once the light shower stopped. The darker clouds were looking ominous and starting to close in with the air felling heavy with rain, so the decision was made to make the dash home. Within a few minutes I was home after covering the handful of miles. As is the norm, the car got a quick wipe over to remove the road dust and I put her away.

Close-up view of a blue car roof covered in raindrops, reflecting the cloudy sky.

About half an hour later there was more rain, but nothing to heavy, certainly not a thunderstorm. The decision to leave was a correct one and pleased to leave when I did. It was a shame there wasn’t many more cars throughout the day as had been reserved for the day.

A classic blue Ford Mustang parked among other vintage cars at a car show, with grassy fields in the background and a clear sky.

Not a bad day out and the best part, it was just a few minutes from home.

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Kersey Mill Car Show 2023

I attended this show last year when it was held in May not in July as this year. The weather was predicted to be breezy but no rain, so I decided to go for it and turn up. This is a free show held in some nice surroundings just few miles outside of Ipswich.

As ever the alarm woke me to some nice sunshine which was drying the roads from the previous Saturday night’s rainfall. I opened the garage went through the process of getting the car ready to go out, that consists of unplugging the battery trickle charger and uncovering the passenger side of the car first. Then I walk round to the other side and fold up the cover, then I spotted a puddle on the garage floor. My heart missed a beat and then started to pound as I put the cover on top of the toolbox. I got on the floor to see what was going on and felt the puddle, it wasn’t sticky or smell of anything, that usually happens from a coolant leak. I looked around and couldn’t see anything immediately wet or dripping in the engine bay.

Behind me was my dehumidifier which looked to have water around it too. On looking the safety had cut out and wasn’t working, I usually hear a gentle hum and just thought that I hadn’t turned it on from when I was last in the garage. I turned it around and noticed the water collection draw was full, this was an overfill from the pipework that I had plumbed in to avoid constant emptying of the draw. What had happened was the drain pipe from the back now had a high hump point and the water wasn’t able to run away into the condensation pipe primarily used by the heating boiler. The angle of the pipe is fine when the unit is in a certain position, obviously I had moved the unit without realising, thus creating a slow back flow, the pipe would have backfilled into the collection draw and eventually overflowed which is when the safety would have cut in. The unit would have cut off, but the extra water in the pipe was just enough to overfill the draw. I grabbed a few old microfibre cloths and mopped the water up which looked a lot worse than it was, maybe a cup or so. Relieved I readjusted the pipe to the correct angle, and started the unit again to dry the garage while I would be out.

The drive was enjoyable, with sun and cloud taking it in turns to dominate the sky, but the grey clouds were the majority of the sky the closer I got to Kersey. I arrived some thirty on minutes later and asked where to park. I was directed to be on the right of the driveway on the grass near the entrance. I parked up on my own like some sort of Billy-no-mates!

I waited for an hour or so and went for a walk round. It looked obvious that there wasn’t going to be a big turn out due to the weather. There was a couple of lines of cars in place so I started there.

There was a car there that was getting some attention, but I couldn’t put my finger on it why. The car just didn’t look right. I will get to the reason why a little later. when i then became evident why it raised my suspicions. The front bumper just didn’t seem to sit right to me.

Walking over the little bridge to the area where there was some ‘street food’ stalls cooking some amazing smelling food. Near them was a few more cars. I stopped to talk to Paul for a while who owned the Capri, the same model and body kit a friend of mine had when I was an apprentice.

The Rolls Royce was real nice car and a candidate for my favourite car of the show.

Just past the food stalls was a few more cars outside what looked like the owner of the mill house.

Another candidate for my favourite car was this Ford Cortina, the simple reason being was that my Grandfather owned a blue one. Right next to it was a Ford Anglia, another car that my Grandfather owned.

Towards the back of the house there was little walkway with a sign for the cars to display and parking for the public parking. Unfortunately they never got used.

Mart’s Car of the Show

The little courtyard had a couple of cars there which was where I saw this nice Sunbeam Alpine.

That was pretty much it round that side of the venue, so I wandered back to where I was parked up. On the other side of the driveway some more cars had turned up thankfully.

The weather was very changeable with a couple of very light spitting of rain episodes, not enough to bead on the car though. But when the sun came back out along with the slight breeze it soon evaporated away, just like last week.

Back towards where I was parked a few more had parked up, a couple of which I had seen before with their v8 swap outs.

Back to the Lamborghini Countach I mentioned earlier, the owner had opened it up then I realised straight away what was wrong. The car was a kit car and the engine was a Land Rover v8 lump.

For a kit car it was done very well I might add. But, when you start to look around properly you could see the build quality wasn’t quite there. The car left an hour or so later, when it started up it made a nice rumble granted, but it should have been a very shouty howling V12. I had posters of this car on my walls when I was at school, the super car I always wanted, and still do.

Did you know:

That iconic rear wing was purely cosmetic. The Countach actually suffers front axle lift at high speed, and bolting a park bench on the back only exacerbates the issue. But customers loved the look, so engineers zeroed out the wing’s angle, rendering it non-functional. It was designed as a one-off for F1 impresario Walter Wolf, the spoiler wasn’t an official option either. Once the look caught on around 1976, Lamborghini couldn’t afford to re-homologate the car with a new aero wing. As a workaround, completed cars were taken off the assembly line driven to the factory parking lot, where employees installed the rear wing using an electric hand drill while awaiting dealer transport. Apparently the installation of the wing only took about 10 minutes.

After a four or so hours at the show I decided it was a bit slow for me too and left to go home. A shame because it could have been a nice show.

I was emailed a couple of photos yesterday; Thank You Scott. One as I was talking to somebody and the other as I was leaving.

Having a proper camera instead of a cell phone camera makes a difference. That’s all I’m gonna say on the comparison.

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Truth Or Myth?

I was told about a ‘scratch hack’ many years ago that removes light scratches from car paintwork, within seconds and cost virtually nothing. Sounds to good to be true right? I’m talking about the trade (not so) secret of the commonly used product WD40. I often wondered if it was true but never had a reason to find out. If I had a problem with paint, I would correct and protect it properly.

A little about WD40 first.

I was first developed around the early 1950s by Rocket Chemicals based in California who later changed their name on the basis of their product. The name WD40 stands for Water Displacement 40(th formula). The actual formula is a trade secret and only been held in secure vault in San Diego California since 2018. The product has not been patented to this day, to do so the ingredients would have to be disclosed. So if you want to copy it you could, if you try and reverse engineered like many others have and call it a different name.

The actual product hasn’t been changed for many, many years. The product was initially developed for a company to protect the outer skins of a super delicate skin of a ballistic missile from rust and corrosion. It later went on to find a host of household uses such as lubrication, protection and cleaning when it became commercially available in the very late 1950s. I won’t go into that side of it, you only have to look at YouTube or TikTok for various household hacks, from removing sticky labels, worktops, hinges, freeing up bolts etc.

I just want to look at this product from a car detailing point of view. It can be sprayed under the car to freshen things up, stop squeaks, apply a coating prior to winter to stop door rubbers sticking, short term storage or just polish up a bit. There are other products out there can do these dedicated tasks better than WD40, but not all of them together like this versatile ‘Jack of all trades’ product can.

Now of course there will be pros and cons for this ‘hack’;

Pros

  • Cheap, cost of a cup of coffee
  • Quick to use
  • Instant results
  • Looks OK
  • Disguises light scratches
  • Forms a protection barrier
  • Can prevent rusting
  • Long shelf life

Cons

  • Temporary fix
  • Only light scratches disguised
  • Body shops hate it
  • Often used to make cars look better than they actually are
  • Can be messy
  • Oil based
  • It can mess detailing pads up

The fact is that if you are spraying WD40 on anything, you are spraying an oil based type of product. Like I said in the cons, it’s only a quick fix and the old scenario of the car lot salesman showing you a gleaming car gives this hack a bad name.

The opportunity I had to try this hack out was that I had to remove a couple or stuck on hard plastic sill protectors on a car. Once they were removed it had left a couple of light scratches on the paint, even with my gentle panel removal tools. They are difficult to see but they are there.

So the tip so simple; spray a little on the paint and wipe over. Nothing could be easier, you don’t even have to rub it in just spread it about a bit.

The result is a miraculous cover up so the exposed paint could be seen again without the scratches.

So, does it work then? Yes – sort of

On the deeper scratches it improves it, but it doesn’t wipe them out. On lighter scratches does.

How? It’s all down the way light is reflected from the paint. The oil settles into the scratch and makes the light ray dispersion more uniform thus it disguises the scratch or swirl. This is a similar principle to car paint glaze which is a more durable option which needs a wax to protect it. I explain this paint defect principle in much more detail here. or cut and past this to your browser: htts://onemanandhismustang.com/difference-between-waxing-polishing-and-your-paint-job/

The general rule of thumb is if you can feel the scratch with your finger nail, you have a problem. If you can’t feel the scratch then it can be buffed, glazed or hidden in one way or another.

As the WD40 is oil it will eventually disappear due to the elements if on an exposed area. If the product is rained on a lot, it will need regular applications. So, if you want to mask or ‘hide’ a light paint surface imperfection, then you could use this product on a temporary basis. If you are going to buy a car, gently feel the paint to see if there is a oily film to the surface.

Another down side is that dust can settle in the WD40 spray and stick to it, so wiping it away could introduce more problems. The reason body shops don’t like it is the fact it’s oil based and once on your hands can be transferred all over the workshop. To clean it up properly in order to spray paint anything properly, this makes it all the more time consuming.

I tend to carry a small ‘sample’ sized can for a couple of reasons;

If you get a stone chip and can’t get to fix it for a while, spray the area with the WD40 and it will form a temporary barrier until you can fully remove it later to fix the chip.

If you are suffering from damp in your distributor cap (back to old school cars now) or HT leads etc, you can spray this to disperse the water. After all that was it’s sole purpose for development.

Did you know?

To get those super smoky burnouts in Hollywood films easily, they used an application of WD40 on the tyres! Not that you should ever do that of course, as it could be frowned upon by the local law enforcement agencies. 😉

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That’s The Ticket

Last Sunday was another sunny day and I was raring to go, the drinks and lunch were packed in no time and the ticket to get in was printed out the night before. Once in the garage I put all my day’s supplies on the slide top tool cart. I put Hedingham Castle waypoint into the satnav and put the cool bag in the trunk. I got in, placed the satnav on the centre console, put my sun glasses on and reversed out. The satnav journey was adjusted for ‘A’ roads not the country backroads that I knew were tight and were going to be very dusty, that would make the journey around six minutes longer. I didn’t care to be honest as I was already enjoying the drive. I was just cruising along without a care in the world until I saw the signs for the castle, and thought to myself best I get the ticket on the dash in order to get in. Nope, I had left it on the tool cart back home in the garage. This could now turn out to be just under an hour drive there for nothing, then the drive back home. Nobody was directing the traffic in with a few from this side of the road then a few from that side etc. it was a free for all. However – we are civilised drivers in classic cars and some were letting others in. I pulled into the entrance gate and there was the slowly moving queue to get in. I frantically looked through my phone to look for the email confirmation I was sent. I eventually found it with the poor signal slowing things up considerably. At the check point the lovely lady marshal asked where the display ticket was. I had explain what had happened and showed her the email. She was great and pointed me to the area to park up.

Hedingham Castle is just outside Colchester in Essex. The castle was built in the 11th Century, so it’s old!

I managed to get a look around the grounds before the main public was allowed in. I don’t know why, but I really like this picture of the row boat tucked under a tree. The mini castle was for the resident ducks that lived on the two tiered lakes.

I was parked up on the lower field this time as I wasn’t part of a car club and had a little glimpse of the castle through the foliage.

I took a walk around the lower field.

Perhaps my favourite ‘Modern Classic’ the mighty Audi Quattro.

Walking up towards the castle the steep driveway cars were parked on the left and right where I was parked last year when it rained all day.

Near the top is a main house which had this amazing steam car parked outside with a diagram of how it worked.

Parked in a little area under just before the bridge was some military vehicles which grabbed some attention throughout the day.

On the upper fields there were the car clubs around the outside.

Around the back of the castle was a bigger open area where more cars were lined up in no particular order.

This camper had an awesome roof rack, From the movie Gladiator, Maximus Decimus Meridius; “Are you not entertained?”

There was some rather tiny little cars that were proving popular.

The we had some red rockets, from Japan the epic NSX, Europe’s Lancia which became the main rival to the Audi Quattro in rallying and some muscle from the USA.

The other side of the castle had some more military vehicles.

After my return back to the car I started speaking to some lovely couples and we chatted the afternoon away. Wonderful people who owned these vehicles, it made for such a nice day.

Not forgettin’ mine which was parked next to that beautiful Cortina 1600E.

Throughout the day I let a few people sit in my car, and a family from Dearborn spent some time chatting to me. thanks to all those that stopped by, I was on verge of losing my voice I was talking so much. Some would say that’s no bad thing though! 🤦‍♂️

The journey home was awesome, I left about an hour early to avoid the busy leaving time and enjoyed a beautiful ride home. A great day out here when the weather is nice, slightly overcast and warm with some great people too.

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Americana (last) Car Show of 2021.

This show was held at Stonham Barns organised by the Knuckle Busters Car Club on the 19/9/2021. This particular car show was for American cars only and is usually well supported and this time around that was no exception. I arrived early and I was asked if I wanted to attend in the centre ring. Why not? Early bird gets the worm and all that. I parked up next to some stunning cars which made my car look like a Matchbox or Dinky toy!

I parked next to a massive Buick that could only be described as a ‘land barge’, such a nice car it was too. Me and the owner sat in our chairs and chatted most of the afternoon.

I decided to have a wonder round and take the pictures before the public came in.

I thought I would batch the Mustangs together here, but there wasn’t as many as I thought there would have been.

A car I had seen a couple of shows earlier, but I couldn’t get that close to before. Another iconic car from Ford – the Torino. I wanted that car so bad as a little boy. My nan even knitted me a Starsky jumper. Thinking about it; I still want one!

This Corvette was beautiful.

The ones next to it weren’t to shabby either.

Back to the other cars now and in no particular order.

Truck Time. I was speaking to the guy who owned the Viper powered truck, he said it scared him on two levels; one the petrol it used and the other was that the truck wanted to kill him!

We have to pause and and look at what Pontiac did when they created this gorgeous and much coveted car.

And my no means least, I was also strangely drawn to the taxi as well.

Throughout the day there was music and a really good live band with plenty of 50’s rock & roll with a little dancing as well.

The day was dry and warmish and didn’t rain for a change. A great day and so much American iron I wanted to drive home. But, I could only drive one home and that was my little lady.

So that’s it, my last car show of the season and the drive home was the scenic route to make it last that bit longer. I was sad the shows were over. There are some New Years day runs, or Boxing day runs but I don’t attend them as the weather is usually bad or there is salt on the road.

When I got home the car was wiped over with a quick detailer that is carnauba infused. The chrome wheels were waxed but not buffed off, the wheels also got a squirt of Gibbs Brand into the seams to protect over the winter. The tyres given a heavy coating of tyre treatment before being put in the garage. Even though my car’s garage has a radiator to keep the frost out and a dehumidifier as well that runs day and night; the car still needs protection. I intend to get the car out over the next couple of months to give the car a polish and proper wax ready for next years shows, providing I have two clear days of dry weather to do it. The wax I use is recommended to leave on and cure as long as possible. Which in my case is overnight. The next day I will buff and shine up.

I will still be doing updates and I aim for some car detailing product reviews, so keep an eye out.

For Sale:

I have been selling a few of these ‘T Park Lock’ handles and the feedback has been good. I even sold out my first batch and now the second has arrived. I’m even throwing in a free little key ring as well now while the stock lasts. Click here to go to the For Sale page to buy one. Press to lock system and simple to fit with no modifications needed at all to your car.

It was a good year for 2021 car shows, let’s hope there is more of the same for next year. But, this is the UK after all and it rains – a lot! So I’m not gonna hold out to much hope that they will all be dry and sunny. We can live in hope though.

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Stonham Barns

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.

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Most Revealing….

For a number of years since I started my blog I have keept my identity off the web. A little background as to why. My blog was intended to be a diary of the build progress of my Mustang and nothing much more. Somewhere to store my thoughts and photos if you like, my build diary. The posts back then had a little write up so I could read it through a number of years later. That little diary has evolved into something much more now, almost a website with lots to look at, obviously something I’m very pleased about. I now do reviews of car detailing, books, tools, memorabilia, collectables and articles. After a few early posts on the blog I started to get emails from people to say they enjoyed what I was doing. Thinking about what was happening I stepped up my game pretty quickly and started to create more how to guides, processes and instructions on what I had done or I was doing at the time. This of course was a view from a man on the street who had never done anything like restoring a classic car before. I made mistakes and they were corrected with the help of Mustang Maniac and all was well again. All of that hard work comes to a giddy height when I go to a car show. Late November 2019 I was invited to attend the “Lancaster insurance Pride of Ownership” at the Birmingham NEC. There was ten of us (finalists) there and I did a comprehensive write up of the show over the three days which it ran. The only downside was that it was marred by cheating of the winner which I proved and fully documented. All that aside there was some massive plus points about that show too; I meet some wonderful people, shared many laughs, got foot ache, back ache, lost my voice, I got a severe case of larringitus thrown in too, all in the name of a great time at a car show. And where is all this going you may ask?

Well, during the time at that show I was asked so many questions by many people. A few people recorded a conversation via mobiles etc. One notable instance was a nice guy who wanted to take a photo of me with the car and recorded what I was saying. I wasn’t sure what I was thinking at the time, but I agreed and so the photos were taken and his questions were answered. I thought no more of it. That was until a couple of weeks ago, when out of the blue I was contact by a weekly journal called “Classic Car Weekly” here in the UK. A link to their website is here. There was a couple of phone calls and emails to confirm a couple of points. I was asked if I had any photos of the original state, just a few maybe around 4,500 or so at last count. I had to pick a few out to send them of the car during that long build process over the four and a half years it took to complete.

The result is that I featured in this week’s edition of the paper released on the 8th April 2020. If you are quick you might even be able to get a copy. I even made the front cover;

The article is a full page interview and pictures.

The main heading refers to a reveal; where there it is, a picture of me.

To mark the occasion I bought a copy or four, one to read, one to keep prestine and the others just in case.

Now that you know what I look like, please come and say hello if you see me at a car show. That’s of course providing that Corona virus doesn’t keep us locked down and we can actually get to a show this year. I need to drive my car, it’s been five months now – FIVE MONTHS, just sayin’!

Until that next car show, keep safe and stay at home.

UPDATE: 13/4/2020

I have been asked by Richard if I can make a readable version of the article.

As requested here is a high res scan of the article converted to a PDF to download.

ccw-8-4-2020Download
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End Of Season Show?

It’s almost the end of the car show season and I have potentially attended the last car show of the season for me. There are two more shows in my diary that I intend to go to, one of which is at the end of this month and the other in the middle of October. Past experience tells me that these are going to be rained on due to the UK winter being under way. So I won’t be getting the car out for those, even if there is the slightest chance of rain.

Last weekend was the Fornham Classic & Sports Cars by the lake show, a lovely setting that is more like cars by the large pond rather than lake to be honest.

This is a popular show and you have to be booked in, to get in. There is a huge selection of different cars on display without it being to big a show that you rush around to see it all. The weather forecast was for a sunny day and it did last all day I’m pleased to say. The car show is only located twenty odd minutes away from me, so I even had a little snooze before I needed to get up and be there by nine thirty. I arrived at the farm’s turn off and we were ushered in without hardly any delay, they had opened both ends of a field to filter the cars in. A great job by the marshals all day in fact. I was parked up and a huge Plymouth Road Runner pulled up next to me, now I thought my car was long! So less words and on with the pics. These were taken as I worked up and down the lines of cars.

There were some amazing super cars there which I have grouped together here;

Perhaps the best looking Fiat to be accepted as a Ferrari, the achingly beautiful Dino!

Then ultra modern Lambo, the first I have seen in the wild as it were.

A nice selection of Mustangs, both old and new;

Some super old pre war category cars;

By around lunchtime the show was packed and full to the brim.

Then I found this Triumph at the end of a line, for me this was my car of the show.

Yes, that really is two child seats that pull up in the trunk area almost hanging out the back of the car. Seat belts? Nahh, not in those days.

Some more of the cars that caught my eye;

When I got back to my car I decided to get the hood up and compare the Plymouth next to mine. It must have been a good half meter longer than mine.

My final arty pic of my car, please with the shine on this one.

I hope I have a more shows to finish the year of nicely. But, I’m not gonna get to excited just yet though, knowing my luck the clouds are already gathering for me. This is a popular show and seems to be getting bigger by the year, but with the other hugely popular show in the area ‘Nowton Park’, being cancelled this year because it got to big for the small car club organisers to handle believe it or not. This show looks like it would need to restricted the numbers, or at least make it only for cars that are over twenty years old. There was a lot of cars that were pretty much brand new in show, like I have said before, I can go to any super market car park to see those. And yes, that goes for the new Mustangs as well.

If this is the last show of the year for me, it was a great way to end the season.

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On My Own

Last weekend was another double header car show, both of which I was looking forward too. On the Saturday was the Knuckle Busters shows at Stonham Barns for American cars to be held over the full bank holiday weekend, that’s four days if you read the leaflet. Then on the Sunday it was Lavenham Classics Car Show. Last year it absolutely poured down with rain, a show that I left early from as it was that bad. So this post is a double car show delight. The weekend was promised hot days everyday and they weren’t wrong.

Saturday: I got up a little late as the snooze button was to much of a temptation as the dogs couldn’t settle and kept me awake for a fair amount of the night. Everything was ready the night before and I just had to fall out the door and get in the car. Knuckle Busters is an all American affair which I was eager to be a part of. I arrived at ten(ish) thinking there would be a queue to get in. Driving closer to the main entrance no cars. They were doing well with the marshalling. Then I got to the main entrance, I was told it would be £10 to enter for the day, it was £10 each day actually. When I looked at the field it wasn’t full and they marshal felt sorry for me (I think) and let me in, free. I was told what area to park in and I could take my pic. The options were (not) limited.

I checked the leaflet to make sure I had the right day!

Yep, Friday, Saturday, main day on Sunday and leave Monday so it says. A little bemused I wandered around the only stall that was set up and listened to the conversation. People were supposed to turned up Saturday evening for the bands and not during the day for a pre show as it were. Well, apart from the odd car, I was the odd one!

The food stalls weren’t open so I was missing out on a bacon roll, people were wandering back to their caravans while pulling barrels of water which were dotted around the outside of the field with the odd American tucked up next to them.

After an hour nothing was happening, for the first time at a car show I was bored. I had read the news on my phone, checked my emails and posted a social media or two. I heard a nice v8 rumble and got excited, only for it to coast go back to the caravan. I was the only car on the ‘Show Field’. I played a little game – I decided that I was the judge for the day.

Obviously I won the (imaginary) trophy for ‘Best In Show’. 😂

I know this is a good show on the Sunday, but don’t post it as a weekend event if it’s not!! The funny thing is that I filled up with fuel on the way home, I had a couple of conversations in the petrol station about my car which was more than the whole time I was at the car show. 😀

Sunday: Up bright and early with everything being set out ready the night before. Not quite so local this show, but it’s a beautiful drive through the countryside with some wonderful scenery going through some tiny little villages. Lavenham Classics Car Show is a charity event and cost £10 to get in. I arrived at the gates as was marshalled in, there was no queue. I pulled into the field and people were parking up. I was shown to the American area and Again I had pick of the area as I was first there. I parked on the end which would be one of the first cars you see when you walk in and look to your left.

This is a unique show as it’s arranged in a circle and not straight lines. shortly after I arrived and messed around with the cleaners I started to chat with the other arrivals. A ’67 Convertible, and a lot newer Roush powered S550 Mustang. There was also some Corvettes who took up the rear of the area, we were all spaced out nicely. I took a walk around the relaxed and very friendly show, I just walked around clockwise.

This Renault was a huge car and a full nut and bolt restoration.

This very early MG had a rare kit for a bolt in super charger.

A few super cars turned up which were parked near the entertainment tent and the BBQ food. There was a guy on an acoustic guitar that played a long set which included a couple of Pink Floyd songs, one of which was Wish You Were Here, simply brilliant.

A Beautiful Bentley

The rest of the cars.

Then back to our Americana little section.

There are a number of behind my car shots, if you are wondering why; I had the luxury of finding some shade instead of keeping out of the rain.  😎

The overall view from my slightly up on the hill pearch?

This week I was going to post a little bit of work I had done on my car after the Stonham Barns show where I left early. That can wait till the next post now.

A great weekend with beautiful weather for a UK bank holiday for a change. 😃

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