Tag: One man and his Mustang

Hedingham Castle Car Show

This car show is held at the oldest event that I attend. The castle itself is located in Essex and was built in the year 1140 by Aubrey II. There are many event types hosted here such as jousting, weddings, holidays, outdoor cinema, concerts etc. the one I’m most interested in is the annual car show. This year the sun was out and due to stay out all day. The event is held approx. thirty miles away from me and would take forty seven minutes to get there, mainly due to the minor roads and a town to navigate through. The gates open to the public at eleven, so all participants had to arrive by ten fifteen and be parked up by ten forty five. IT was a car show day and I was going to get a lay-in on a Sunday, win win for me! A really relaxing for two thirds of the drive until I got to Sudbury where a complete idiot, (which wasn’t what I called him), decided that he wanted to turn right after being in the left hand only lane. He chopped across the front of me so hard I had to brake hard and swerve out of the way. Obviously he knew I would back out the way as I wouldn’t want to damage my car. So if you are the driver of the red Mazda CX-5 who chopped in front of me with a car full of kids who might be reading this, may I suggest you take a couple of refresher driving lessons, or please come and find me at a car show where I might accept your apology and discuss your total disregard for other road users. I just seem to attract these morons for some reason. Anyway, the last part of the journey was around some winding country roads with some amazing views. I even had a classic Jaguar behind me, who left plenty of space between us and seemed to be enjoying his drive too.

I pulled into the venue and was told where my parking allocation would be at the ‘lake’ area.

A classic blue Ford Mustang parked at a car show with various other vintage cars in the background, surrounded by trees and event attendees.

The field was filling up and lots of cars were already in their lines. I gave the car the mandatory wipe over and started my walk up and down the field.

A blue 1966 Ford Mustang prominently displayed at a car show with various vintage cars and attendees in the background.

Some beautiful Corvettes were parked in the line I was in.

Where I was parked us were two Mustangs right behind me.

A real soft spot of mine is the beautiful Thunderbird, which was for sale.

I still crave these Audi Quattro, my modern day classic choice.

The Lotus stand was well represented.

I had now completed the field and started to walk up the slight hill towards the castle and the next display of cars.

A busy car show at Hedingham Castle with attendees walking among various classic cars and lush greenery.

At the top was the little bridge to get to the castle and the field. There was the usual food and drink stalls along with a three piece band to add a little light entertainment.

This field was mainly club stands with newish cars from MG which I didn’t take that many photo’s of. But the other privateers were worth the time to look around.

I walked back to the car for a well earned sit down in the chair and slap on some factor fifty sunscreen. My mate Craig had caught up with me and joined me for a sit down and chat. I was so hot sitting by the back of my car, we moved to the line of trees for some shade and discussed cars from the show.

A vibrant car show featuring various classic and vintage cars displayed on a grassy area with people mingling in the background.

My car of the show was this rather nice 1959 El Camino, I think its the rear fins that did it for me.

The show was due to close at four, about half an hour before that the cars started to leave. I decided that as it was hot I would join them for the journey home. The journey was amazing and there was hardly anybody on the roads near me which means I could just meander my way home unstressed.

A great day out again and a welcome return back to Hedingham Castle.

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Helmingham Hall Car Show 2025 (part 3)

This is the final instalment (part 3) of the Helmingham Hall car show for this year. I have covered some of the T110 area, the privateer cars and a relaxing (very British) tea and cake early in the afternoon. The last field to go which is on the right hand side as you walk out the Hall was reserved for the club stands. A little later I will reveal my car of the show and along with some action photos of my car that Craig took.

A lively car show scene at Helmingham Hall, featuring a variety of vintage and modern cars, with attendees socializing on the grass and club stands in the background.

We worked our way towards the far end of the field and would work our way back to the rest of the T110 cars where I had parked.

One of the Best looking Ferrari made, the 308. They look amazing in red, but this example in blue with tan interior totally rocks the combination. Crowd fund me (again) anybody?

The Subaru cars often have the nick-name Scoobies after the Scooby Do cartoon, I think somebody took it to the next level though.

Lotus stand had a nice mixture of cars

The Simply Mustang stand had the usual later models of cars with not a classic to be seen which was a shame. I mentioned about the Bullitt anniversary limited edition cars, on this stand there was another couple parked in a line, so that’s a total of three in one show.

Directly behind the the Mustangs was the Corvette club stand.

Taking up a large chunk of the field was the larger stands for Jaguar, BMW both of which looked very samey with mostly more modern cars that could be found in any carpark, so I didn’t take too many pictures of these stands.

The Jenson and Aston Martin stands were a different story though.

Honda NSX in yellow, works for me.

We were now back to the top of the field just in time to get to the main driveway where cars are driven up and down to show the crowds after being interviewed by the compare for the day about their cars.

We made our way back to the T110 area and look at the rest of the cars parked on the other side of the drive to me. Then it happened; it started to rain, it was a very light sprinkling not a proper down poor. The owners of the open top cars were diving around trying to make their cars waterproof and sitting in their cars. It was something like an old school Le Mans racing start people running to their cars.

It would be nice to see a Delorean car without the ‘Back to the Future’ movie car props bolted into it.

Back at the car we got our chairs out ready for a a couple of hours people watching before we were allowed to leave the show at four thirty. We sat in the very fine drizzle which cooled the air down and I only had some minor beading on the car which wasn’t enough to run of the car. The fine misty rain lasted for a around twenty minutes after which the sun made more short appearances. The light breeze soon helped to dry the car off, no need to book a therapy session because my car got wet.

Mart’s Car of the Show.

According to the registration plate this is a Dunsmore MKIII from 1967, with a 3.4ltr engine. This is actually a kit car based on the rather average at the time Hillman Imp donor vehicle of the era below.

A vintage white car parked on a paved surface, surrounded by greenery.

I don’t know why I choose this over the more obvious ‘bought not built’ cars. Perhaps it was the green leather stitched up the back of the car or the (suspected) Jaguar engine under the hood which I sadly didn’t get to see. But, I appreciated the huge amount of work that has gone into this car from what it was, to what it is now. It was just different and caught my eye.

As the time moved slowly towards leaving time the sky was getting darker and more menacing. We decided to leave sooner than later in case the drizzle came to a lot more than that. As we were packing up Craig had an idea; as we were allowed to drive down the full length of the drive he would run ahead get a good position to take a couple of action shots. I wouldn’t be to popular to hold people up so we could get some good photo’s, but so be it. As I was one of the first to leave it wasn’t to busy to be fair. The guy in the Aston Martin behind me realised what was going on, he thoughtfully sat back from me to allow it to happen. Here are those photos which look pretty cool.

A view of Helmingham Hall with classic cars parked outside. A pathway leads to the entrance, framed by trees and banners for 'Bridge Classic Cars'.
A classic blue Ford Mustang driving on a gravel path surrounded by greenery and event fencing.
A classic blue Ford Mustang driving along a tree-lined path at a car show.
A vintage blue Mustang driving down a tree-lined path at a car show.
A blue classic Mustang car driving past trees at the Helmingham Hall car show.

After these action photos I stopped the car and Craig jumped in to start our trek home. As a reward for his picture taking efforts, I found a quiet place to pull over, we swapped seats and Craig drove the last dozen or so miles home. We pulled onto the drive as a few spots of more sinister sized drops of rain intermittently started to land on the car. I ran around the car as quickly as possible to get the road film off knowing what was about to come down. Immediately the cleaning had finished, I jumped straight into the car as the rain started to literally fall out the sky as I moved the car forward, within seconds there were pools of water in the road and on the drive, everything was soaked, it was if somebody had turned a shower on. I got the car in the garage with only a few spots of rain on the top of the car. The drying towels came out to wipe the car over yet again, before covering the car over.

Close-up view of a blue car roof with water droplets, showing a garage interior in the background.

A delay by another minute or so and the car would have been drenched and the therapy session would have to have been booked! The rain wasn’t letting up, Craig took out his camera’s SD Card as we ran into the house. I downloaded his photo’s onto my PC ready to edit them a bit later for this series of posts. Once the rain eased up an hour or so later Craig left for home with my thanks.

It was a great day at my favourite show of the year, fantastic cars, lots of nice people that I spoke to and mate with me for the day, which was nice change from being on my own. Thanks to Craig for the photos and putting up with me dragging him around the fields, although the tea and cake helped I’m sure.

A blue classic car, likely a Ford Mustang, parked on a green lawn with trees in the background. The view is from the rear of the car, showcasing its round taillights and license plate, which reads '1966 OX' from Michigan. A gravel path is visible, leading to other vehicles and people in the distance.

I have only four more potential shows that I’m booked in for. Hopefully I will find some more where I can just turn up.

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Helmingham Hall Car Show 2025 (part 2)

Continuing on from part one of this car show series at Helmingham Hall, Craig and I still had many lines of cars which now seemed to have no logical alignment due to the number of cars as I mentioned previously. By no means a criticism, I just think they had more than they catered for, which means more lovely machinery for us to look at.

We worked our way up the decade assigned rows in ascending order, towards the two thousand’s line I didn’t take that many photos, as to be honest there wasn’t anything really special, well maybe the the odd one or two which did catch my eye.

The timeless beauty of the Aston Martin Vantage – I may start a go fund me page to buy one of these, anybody want to start me of with a donation?

Maybe a crowd funded Chevy Camaro SS, again beautiful.

Did I mention a crowd fund for a Dodge Charger R/T? Stunning.

I remember these Lotus cars quite clearly as it was all the rage to have the JPS – John Player Special (cigarette manufacturers) livery on the Lotus cars which was made famous by the legend of Ayrton Senna. Today it’s unthinkable to have such livery on a car, shame because it was such an iconic brand.

A classic black Formula 1 car with a distinctive gold 'John Player Special' livery, driven by Ayrton Senna on a racetrack.

We found Craig’s mate’s MX5, so I couldn’t resist a checky business card on his screen.

As I mentioned before this field is for the individual entries of which there was a few Mustangs dotted around. There was an anniversary Bullitt which is supposed to be quite rare, but more on that in part 3 when I get to the Mustang stand.

Back to the other modern cars in the lines.

At the far end of the field was a section dedicated for the army vehicles.

The time was now a quarter to one, so we made our way back to the Hall’s courtyard for the tea and cakes. On the way we passed John Grose of Ipswich who had a stand just to the side of the T110 section. On their stand was a Mustang Dark Horse which turns out a rather nice 500bhp from factory. The 0 to 60mph time is a mare 4.1 seconds! That’s right up there with many super cars and almost hyper car levels of performance.

A modern Ford Mustang parked on green grass at a car show, with people and tents in the background.

On the John Grose stand next to Dark Horse they had a more eco friendly Ford electric model and other makes of cars to fill the spaces.

All of this while being serenaded by the brass band playing Star Wars and other theme tunes.

A brass band performing under a tent in a park, surrounded by an audience. Musicians are playing various instruments, while some audience members watch from a distance.

A couple of minutes later we were at the main entrance, crossed over the little moat bridge into the courtyard. I turned around to look back out to the fields.

The courtyard was eerily quiet, no hustle and bustle of people. We had a choice of cakes which were hand made and rather scrumptious, I could easily have demolished a couple more slices. Craig chose his cup of tea to go with his chocolate cake, I had the raspberry ripple. I don’t drink tea or coffee for no other reason than I don’t like the taste of them, never have. I asked for a cold drink if they had any, my option was a cup of water that they used to boil and make the tea with or nothing. I took the kind offer of the cup of water.

We sat and ate our cakes and just relaxed for half an hour or so. The little tables were spread out around the court yard far enough apart that we didn’t have to listen to anybody else, in fact the silence was quite tranquil.

A quick pic of craig doing his thing before the crowds got going.

A blue 1966 Ford Mustang parked on a grassy area with a historic brick building in the background, where people are admiring vehicles at a car show.

Here is that photo he took above.

A vintage blue Ford Mustang parked on green grass, with a historic building in the background.

In part three we go back out to the other field where the club stands are, more Mustangs, and my car of the show.

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Helmingham Hall Car Show 2025 (part 1)

Early February this year I decided to try something different to attend my favourite car show, Helmingham Hall. Normally the entrance fee is £12 per car (driver and one passenger) for this show. There is an alternative which what they call ‘The Tollemache 110’ option. This is for a limited number of cars. One hundred and ten cars max are allowed to park at the front of the Hall, but it comes at cost, quite a lot of cost actually. The plus side is that that you get a tea or coffee, slice of cake for the driver and one passenger plus a commemorative plaque of the day. To pay three times as much entry fee is a gamble, especially when the weather is unknown. Back then I paid the money and hoped the sunshine on the day. My rule is still based on if it rains or I know that it will rain, the car doesn’t come out the garage. So it’s a lot of money to pay and not turn up.

This a show where my good friend Craig joins me for the day, one it’s nice to have company at a car show, secondly he has a great camera and takes much better photos than me. We were swapping messages all week before the show debating the weather, it was going to rain! I have a total of five weather apps I use just for car shows. Four of the five said that there would be light rain at mid afternoon around three for an hour or so, the other one said all rain all afternoon. I decided on this occasion that as it was only light rain while I was there, and not driving there or home, this would be would be acceptable. Craig Turned up at twenty to eight in the morning on a Sunday which felt like the middle of the night. We had chairs, food, coats and camera equipment all neatly packed into the trunk. Craig filmed the car backing out the garage, which I was quite pleased with.

The sun was out and we had a journey of two halves, first to the petrol station where we met up with Craigs other friend who was also going in in Mazda MX5. He followed us to the event which was only around twenty minutes later. It would have been quicker if it wasn’t for the driver in an Austin Healy in front of us thinking he was driving a Sherman tank down a cycle lane. We dived of to some back roads to avoid him and save my sanity. It was longer by a couple of minutes, but it did mean that we had a clear road driving at our own pace. We pulled into the event where we were directed down the main driveway to park out the front of the Hall. We was directed to a great slot next to the path which leads to the main entrance for the Hall. The only down side was that the ground wasn’t level where I parked as it was on a little slope, a small price to pay for a good location.

A classic blue 1966 Ford Mustang parked on the lush green lawn in front of a historic brick building. People are seen socializing in the background, and another car is partially visible.

Once you have parked up, you can collect your show plaque and place it by your car, just a little A-frame with a A4 printed history of your car. The boards can be seen lined up in the above pic, Craig found our board and placed it at the front of the car. He decided to take some photos before the world and his mate were allowed into the show at ten. Even so, it was still busy.

Due to the sheer number of photos, I took over six hundred pics of the one thousand two hundred cars that turned up. For that reason, I will split this show over three posts. Hopefully it will avoid readers getting cramp in their hands scrolling through the all the pics in one go. Like I said Craig’s pics are so much better than mine so here a few to start with. The rest of his pics will also be spread out over the next couple of posts.

A blue Ford Mustang parked in front of Helmingham Hall, showcasing the historic building's brick architecture and entrance, with several classic cars visible in the background.
Close-up view of a classic blue Ford Mustang's headlight and grille, with a historic building in the background.

In the main archway there there was a table looked after by a woman who took your preferred afternoon spot for tea and cake. We decided at around one in the afternoon would be good. More on this a little later.

We started in the T110 area to the left of the house as you walked out, by now the general public were being let in and it got busy very quickly.

The real thing in White and a replica in red, the ever beautiful Countach.

Then the timeless Ferrari Dino, with a fury passenger.

We the main field was split into years, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 2000s. Due to sheer number of cars the lines did get a little mixed up. But we started just behind the vendor stalls where the oldest cars were and then worked out way to the far side of the field to the more modern stuff. Well that was the theory, but it didn’t work out practically though.

At the bottom of the field is a large pond getting on for a lake.

Wide view of a car show at Helmingham Hall, showcasing vintage cars and attendees enjoying the day near a large pond surrounded by greenery.

Working but up the next rows.

Nearer the top was an area for Hotrods.

After this was the second half of the field and John Grose of Ipswich stand who had a mixture of cars, including a rare Mustang.

2
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Culford Classic Car Show 2025 (part 2)

Continuing on from part one I was now standing by the performance car stands of Porsche and Ferrari. The stands are always popular with some old school examples along with some newer models. One Porsche in particular that caught my eye was the camping version on top of the car. Knowing the Porsche engineering it would be well made, but if I paid that amount of money for a car I don’t think would want to sleep on it.

A little bit further up the line was an individual entry, perhaps my favourite Porsche of all time, the beast which was the 911 Turbo, a stunning example in black which makes it even more menacing.

Some more of the Porsches from the private entries.

As much as I love a Ferrari, seeing nothing but red ones can make the area look a little samey. The 308 which got plenty of my attention was the best looking model there in my humble opinion. I may see an F40 in real life, then I might change my mind, maybe!

The longest vehicle (in total) was this big Chevy and a boat hanging off the back of it, well over forty feet long.

I’m not a huge BMW fan, but they made a couple of iconic cars, the M1 again, which I have never seen in real life and there is this legend, the original M3.

Moving past the club stands onto more individual cars.

Mart’s Car Of The Show:

My favourite of the show wasn’t in fact a car, it was a van and a very famous van as it was part of much loved and ever popular comedy series Dad’s Army. This is that original van from that show.

A vintage 1935 Ford BB van painted in blue and yellow with the name 'J. Jones Family Butcher' displayed on its side, parked on grass with a historic building in the background.

A little history borrowed from Wikipedia:

Dad’s Army is a British television sitcom about the United Kingdom’s Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and originally broadcast on BBC1 from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. It ran for nine series and 80 episodes in total; a feature film released in 1971, a stage show and a radio version based on the television scripts were also produced. The series regularly gained audiences of 18 million viewers and is still shown internationally.

The Home Guard consisted of local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service, either because of age (hence the title Dad’s Army), medical reasons, or by being in professions exempt from conscription. Most of the platoon members in Dad’s Army are over military age and the series stars several older British actors, including Arnold Ridley, John Laurie, Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier, many of whom had served in World War II in real life. Younger members of the cast included Ian Lavender, Clive Dunn (who, despite being one of the younger cast members, played the oldest guardsman, Lance Corporal Jones) and James Beck (who died suddenly during production of the sixth series in 1973). Other regular cast members included Frank Williams as the vicar, Edward Sinclair as the verger, and Bill Pertwee as the chief ARP warden. Following the death of Lavender in 2024, there are now no surviving principal cast members.

Corporal Jones driving the (his) van.

A Porsche and Ferrari display at a classic car show, showcasing both older models and newer versions, including a distinctive camping car on display.

The rest of the cast with the van:

The series has influenced British popular culture, with its catchphrases and characters being widely known. The Radio Times magazine listed Captain Mainwaring’s “You stupid boy!” among the 25 greatest put-downs on TV. A 2001 Channel 4 poll ranked Captain Mainwaring 21st on its list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. In 2004, Dad’s Army came fourth in a BBC poll to find Britain’s Best Sitcom. It was placed 13th in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, and voted for by industry professionals.

The series is set in the fictional seaside town of Walmington-on-Sea, located on the south coast of England, not far from Eastbourne. The exterior scenes were mostly filmed in and around the Stanford Training Area (STANTA), near Thetford, Norfolk. Walmington, and its Home Guard platoon, would be on the frontline in the event of a German invasion across the English Channel. The first series has a loose narrative thread, with Captain Mainwaring’s platoon being formed and equipped, initially with wooden guns and LDV armbands, later on with full army uniforms; the platoon is part of the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment.

The van is a 1935 two-ton Ford BB, one of the first commercial models produced at Ford’s Dagenham factory when it opened in 1931. It was discovered in a dilapidated condition in Streatham in London by Frank Holland, an assistant property master for the BBC. Such was its condition that the van was on the verge of being scrapped. Holland contacted Fred Wilmington, whose company supplied vehicles to the BBC; he purchased the van and restored it to full working order.

Later Paul Joel, a designer working on Dad’s Army, spotted the van among Wilmington’s stock of vehicles and obtained it for use in the series. The van was repainted and had “J. Jones Family Butcher” sign-painted on its side panels. The van still has its original engine from 1935.

I spent a fair while talking to the guys who look after the van at the Dad’s Army museum in Thetford. Ford took the van and handed it their apprentices to restore it, all for free! Hats off to Ford on that. As a kid I just loved this program, it was harmless and such a well written comedy.

I particularly remember the side of the van which had little port holes that swung open where the men could poke their rifles through. You can just about make out the swinging covers here just above the “Family Butchers” writing.

An image from the program where the port holes were used.

A variety of performance cars on display, including Porsche and Ferrari models, with attendees admiring the designs.

The van was used to carry all the items to the show so was pretty full up. You can see the port holes clearer on the right.

Interior of a vintage van filled with various items like wooden boards, bags, and tools, reflecting clutter and preparation.

Up front cab.

The fully rebuilt original engine:

An antique vehicle's engine is exposed with various mechanical components visible, set against a backdrop of a car show.

To round of the show I have saved a few Mustangs, although there wasn’t that many there.

Close-up of a blue 1966 Ford Mustang, showcasing the front grille and headlights, with a Michigan license plate.

It was a great show with lots of people there. The sky did cloud over a little early afternoon. I left about half an hour before the end of the show to miss the inevitable line of cars trying to getting out. Unfortunately quite a few had decided on the same idea, it took around fifteen minutes to get out of the grounds. The journey home was a pleasant cruise, although I sped up little due to a few spots of rain on the windscreen, I needn’t have worried as it came to nothing which made a nice change.

A well organised show with some great cars.

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Culford Classic Car Show 2025 (part 1)

One of the biggest car shows in the area is this one held in the private school grounds of Culford boarding school, to give it its full name Rotary Classic Car Show at Culford. It’s located only fifteen miles or so away from me. It’s a nice straight road for most of it with only a couple of miles of back roads. With that in mind, the past it has always been a bit of nightmare to get in with the queues so they have moved the entry times to a very early 6:30 to 8:45, after that you won’t be allowed into the exhibition field, but you will be directed to the public car park. The public were then allowed in from 10am onwards to 15:30 when the show closed. I must be mad, up at 6 on a Sunday morning? Due to the number of cars I have split the show report into two posts sharing just under the four hundred photos I took during the day.

Usually the night before I put on my Galaxy smart watch so I don’t forget it, as a novelty it records the sleep etc. I got into bed late Sunday morning and the dogs were restless with the heat and kept mooching around eventually settling. The alarm did wake me up into a dazed and confused state, I was tired. I got myself ready loaded the cool bag with some niceties for a chocolate rush once I got there. I wouldn’t check my watch for the sleep details until I had taken photos of most of the cars. Here is the picture of the amount of sleep I rustled up from the night before, just a little under three hours, of which two half were light sleep.

Close-up of a smartwatch displaying sleep tracking data, including hours of light and deep sleep, with a blue classic car in the background.

As I arrived at the venue I was asked where I was going to be parking I showed them booking form for the Bury Retro Car Club who had a reserved plot of field for us. The bloke didn’t have a clue and sent me on my way with, “go and see that bloke with the high vis down there”. I drove to him and asked for the car club, he responded with, ” he should know as he has the parking list mate”, promptly followed by “drive to that bloke with the high vis down there”. So I drive to the third bloke who says, “all the club stands are over there, I don’t know why they sent you to me”. Where was he pointing to? Right by the first bloke I spoke too. Now I had to drive back across the field looking like a complete ass to get roughly where I wanted to be. I found the stand and parked up with the rest of the guys already there, the time is now roughly 7:45 and it was warming up. I had a chat with the guys and gave my car a quick wipe over to get rid of the dust from the dry roads in the school grounds.

Front view of a blue 1966 Ford Mustang at a car show, showcasing its chrome grille and headlights.

The big advantage being in so early was that I could wander around to look at the cars without the distraction of the visiting public getting in the way. Having said that, I think many people had the same idea and it was still fairly busy for nine in the morning, especially near the coffee and burger stalls.

A view of the Rotary Classic Car Show at Culford, showcasing a lineup of classic cars parked on a grassy field, with trees and banners in the background under a clear blue sky.

I started by taking some pics of the club stand.

Then a nice gentle wander up and down the lines of cars working left to right across the field.

A view of the Rotary Classic Car Show at Culford, featuring a vibrant lineup of cars including a yellow and a green Abarth, with a historic building and people enjoying the event in the background.

I cam across this 1974 Ford Escort Mk 2 which had under side paint shown via a mirror just as good as the top. A trailer queen, but it didn’t get my vehicle of the show, I will reveal that in part two of this show.

The posh club stands Porsche and Ferrari were well stocked and I will start with those in part two. This was about half way round the field and i took a bit of a break under a line of trees. I did detect a waft and unmistakable smell of some special hand rolled cigarettes made for sharing which would come from Central Asian origin I dare say. I just hope they weren’t the ones driving home! It was hot but just starting to cloud over a bit which made it a bit more bearable wandering around.

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Ringshall Car Show 2025

Last weekend there was an fairly well advertised car show at a little village called Ringshall about twenty minutes away from me. Last time I attended this show it was a bit overcast and a very light drizzle pretty much all the time I was there. This time the weather was so much warmer and clear skies, the sun cream would be needed for sure. Arriving at the field I could see a few cars and a couple of stalls around the edge of the field. The marshals directed me to the far side of the field where I parked up and looked at my watch, wondering if I was so early the other cars hadn’t arrived yet. The show was officially open to the public in half an hour, although the public were already arriving. The show is held in the village hall grounds, inside the village hall itself there was a few craft style stalls which saw a steady stream of people in and out. However not many of those visitors at the event walked towards the cars.

A classic blue Ford Mustang on display at a car show with its hood open, showcasing the engine. Other classic cars are visible in the background on a sunny day.

There was basically one back line of cars and second row in front, about one third of the way along the field. I decided to walk up and down in the glorious sunshine for some pictures, which didn’t take long.

Down the left side of the field there was a a few tractors, and motorbikes.

The rest of the vehicles that were on the next row.

The show had a couple of cars turn up later on and many didn’t stay long. In fact I only stayed a couple of hours myself and left before the midday sun got to hot. I felt sorry for the event organisers as not many cars turned up around, only forty or so. I’m not sure why there wasn’t more cars there on such a nice day. Checking my phone I couldn’t see any other shows on that day in the area. A shame, but I guess not all car shows will be well attended. I only spoke to three people throughout my time there. One of which was a bloke who insisted on telling me what oil, petrol (gasoline for my friends across the pond) and timings I should be using for my car as he told me, “I’m a mechanic you know”. Thanks for the advice mate, but I was to hot and bothered to argue with his rather suspect and poor recommendations.

I enjoyed the drive home where a car took its time to overtake me. The youngster sitting in the back was having a good look and waved to me, I gave him a little hooter back with a big thumbs up which made him smile. For me, that made my day too.

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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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Chipping Away

The first of June’s car show took me into another county of Norfolk to a little place I had never heard of before, Gissing. According to Google maps it would take me about forty five minutes to get there and thirty one miles away. The difference of miles and time tells me that this was going to be little village roads and not main roads.

I packed my bag, double checking that I had my phone this time, my spare phone was charged and I had a full tank of fuel. Starting the journey there was a cloudy sky, but it was getting brighter as the miles and minutes ticked by. The first three quarters of the trip was main roads and pretty much straight forward and a nice pleasant cruise. A couple of miles out from the venue I was told turn left. The lanes were fairly narrow full of potholes. I rounded a corner into the village called Burston where a complete nightmare was waiting in front of me; the road had just been stone chipped! In the UK the councils can’t be bothered to put a nice tarmac road surface down so they just chuck tons of stone chips and gravel on the road where the cars are left to squash it down. It’s utter laziness from the councils which I dare say is also to save money. I stopped and thought about doing a U-Turn to go back on myself. That wasn’t going to happen as I couldn’t make the turns needed in the narrow lanes, I had to go on.

I dropped the car into low gear and just let it roll forwards on idle tick over. Even that was too fast as I listening to the sound that makes any car guy’s skin crawl, the metallic tinkling of stones bouncing off the underside of the car. I slowed down even more, now I’m literally moving slower than a walking speed. By now there were a couple of other cars joining me wanting to get past. Tough, I wasn’t going to go any faster – end of! After about five minutes or so the road for a residential section widened where I pulled over to the side and stopped to let the other cars behind me past. A U-turn would be possible at this point, but I would have to go back over what I had just come through and not get any closer to the event. The issue then would be the cars going to the show where I would then be going against that traffic, on stones and gravel, on a single track road. This was a loose loose scenario for me.

After the cars past me I took this pic after they roared off, you can just about make out the stones.

View from the hood of a blue car driving on a narrow, stone-chipped country road surrounded by greenery.

Just after this straight bit of road there was a corner to the left. As if things couldn’t get any worse, they were about to, two road sweepers going slower than me. They were brushing the stones about making horrendous dust clouds, I sat well back wondering what to do making up new swear words as I broke out into a cold sweat. I couldn’t sit behind them as stone chips would make the front of my car look like the surface of the moon.

The road did have passing points a little further up due to the narrow roads. My strategy was to time it so that I could speed up a little to pass the sweepers at the wider part and get past them. The only good thing about this scenario was that the first sweeper didn’t have the middle of the road brush working and was just sweeping the the side of the verge. Getting past them I didn’t hear any of the dreaded metallic tinkling, although I would be thoroughly checking at the show.

I reckon this village stretch was just over a mile took me around twenty minutes to navigate, that isn’t an exaggeration either as I could have literally pushed my car faster. Emerging from the village the roads the roads were back to tarmac and pot holes again. Even then it was a gentle increase in speed as I didn’t want stones flying off the tyre treads up onto the paint job. A few minutes later the SatNav announced I had arrived at my destination on the left.

I was directed onto a field to park up trunk first near a fence. I got out and started look around my car. The detailing products were out during the cleaning I paid extra attention to any body damage. There was one tiny little chip which luckily hadn’t gone down to the metal on the headlight door, this will be sorted out when the weather is nice. The cars that were following me in were also moaning big time about the stones. According to one bloke from the village he said that they only put the stones down the day before.

The show was busy and my first time here in Gissing. In fact it got busy enough that some classic cars were parked within the public car parking.

I wandered around my little section of the field.

A classic blue Ford Mustang parked in a field during a car show, surrounded by various vintage cars and spectators, with a church in the background under a partly cloudy sky.

Really nice Ford Model T

At the end of the rows of cars I could walk onto the hard standing part of the show, again only a couple of rows of cars.

A crowded classic car show in a field, with attendees walking among vintage cars, under a partly cloudy sky.

My Car of the show was this 1935 Ford Model C Touring.

At the end of the hard standing car park there was a nursery who looked to be having their own car show!

The village hall next to the nursery was selling craft type stuff, plants and some BBQ food. The funny thing about the plants was that they were selling well to the wives who had arrived with their husbands. I heard a couple of ‘discussions’ not quite arguments had taken place once the plants had been taken back to the classic cars where the owners were sitting. One owner was getting quite upset once he heard the words, “It’s just a car” and he didn’t want them in the car because of the dirt, I could see his point to be fair. Now if the husband had bought in a dirty carburettor into the kitchen to be cleaned, I dare say it would have been a similar sort of argument.

Once I had finished walking around I got back to my car where the chair came out ready for some lunch and a long cool drink.

Close-up view of a blue classic car at a car show, showcasing its sleek design and shiny chrome details, with a vintage car visible in the background.

It is worth noting that the field we were told to park up was occupied by sheep previously. Needless to say there was wool and err ‘waste’ all over the field, making a simple walk in the field just a perilous as the drive in to the show, but for different reasons. I didn’t want to be cleaning that stuff out my car once I got home.

A close-up view of a grassy area with scattered bits of white fluff, possibly sheep wool, among the green grass.

It was a well supported show with around hundred and fifty cars at a guess. The best thing about this show was that these were all new cars to me and I didn’t recognise any of them from previous shows. The weather on the day was all over the place with the sun in and out, but at least it didn’t rain.

A classic blue Ford Mustang parked at a car show, surrounded by other vintage cars and attendees observing the event.

Before I set of home about an hour before the show was due to end at five, I spoke to one of the marshals and asked him a better way home to avoid the road chippings. I had a nice little tip and checked it out on the SatNav. This route would add about three miles in the opposite direction to start with for the journey home, but it would be worth it to avoid any potential damage from stones. The trip home took me just under an hour and was all main roads once I left the village. Apart from the stone chippings on the way in, I’m glad I went as I got to see some different cars parked up at a show that I hadn’t seen before.

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A Trio Of AMT Dealership Models

At the beginning of May I was contacted by a guy who had just finished reading about my AMT dealership models which I had posted about with some history a while ago, link here. That guy’s name was Kevin who emailed me some photos of a model that he had found at an estate sale. I responded as soon as I could to say that I was very interested. A few emails were sent back and forth where we arranged a fair price for his find, time and effort plus the postage and packaging of course. Kevin emailed me to say he had received the money and sent me a copy of the tracking number from the US Postal Service where he had kindly posted it pretty much the same day. The package arrived across the pond to the UK a short ten days later and was very well packaged.

After carefully unwrapping the packaging to expose the contents I was thrilled to see this little beauty, yes it’s just a box. But, it has survived six decades so it’s very, very cool in my eyes.

Opening the original posting box with even more care I could see the model inside. The box was fragile and I made a point not to overbend the carboard as I didn’t want it to tear.

The model enclosed model is the American Blue version which was in near mint condition.

Taking the car out the box to take some photos. The dimensions are exactly the same as my other ones just over 7″ long and just under 3″ wide.

The inside of these models have some amazing details.

Not only is it rare to find a boxed dealership model in such good condition, this one still had the original press release leaflet that came with it. I have never seen one of these before and I’m sharing the images I have taken of it to share and historic relevance. Again due to the paper being sixty plus years old, I didn’t fully straighten out the leaflet or open the folds fully, as I didn’t want to weaken the paper or risk damaging it.

The leaflet is printed in such a way as you open it the images and text read correct.

Front page:

Reverse Page:

First opened page:

Fully opened front page:

Reverse Full Page:

As my other two models are in a display case I had to get a matching case for this one with the box.

My other two prized AMT Dealership models:

My latest American blue AMT model now in my collection:

Here they are together, probably not going to be handled again for a very long time.

My red and white dealer models now share their case with a couple of the rare editions matchbox toys donated to me by a fellow Mustang enthusiast.

I’m absolutely delighted with this addition to my collection. It’s all down the thoughtfulness and kindness of Kevin O’Donnell for contacting me. It still amazes me that the postage box has survived when they are usually binned there and then. These cars were more often than not given to children to play with when the new models came out, thus they invariably had a tough life there after it would be fair to say. As for the press release leaflet that would have gone the way of the postal box, in the bin. The complete model package had travelled one last time across the pond to it’s new pampered home in the UK.

That just leaves me to say a huge ‘Thank You’ to Kevin for getting in contact with me.

If you would like to contact me regarding some memorabilia you would be willing to part with or can provide any information at all, please feel free to leave a comment on my pages or just drop me an email:

onemanandhismustang@gmail.com.

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