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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mart’s Car Of The Show.

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

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

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

I especially love this shot.

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

Thanks for letting me use the photos Lee.

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