Well here it is, show season is under way, with the flurry of shows at the start of April until we brave the rain and wind at the end of season shows in October.  We could pretty much find an interesting car event to go to every weekend, and occasional week day, of the summer.  In recent years our particular niche of 'retro' as a show description has grown, whilst the word pops up all over the place in show names there are really three main shows in the UK aimed squarely at 'us'.
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Retro Mania - 5th and 6th June, Weston Park, Shropshire.
Price - Weekend, on the gate £15.00 Adult / Child £6, in advance Adult £12 / Child £5 , Sunday only Adult £7 / Child £3.
The most northerly of the shows in the calendar is also the first and the newest.  Running in parallel to the Dubmania event Retro Mania promises a weekend of all kinds of modified classics, with camping available on the 5th and evening entertainment it is a great excuse to meet up and have a party before the main show day on the Sunday.  The team behind Retro Mania are also the people behind the excellent Ultimate Dubs, so they know how to put a great show on.  Last year was sadly a victim of our inclement summer weather in the UK, with the met office promising a long hot summer this year we're sure this is going to be a roaring success.  You can check out more information on their website.


Retro Show - 17th and 18th July, Santa Pod, Northamptonshire.
Price - £15 per person on the gate £12 in advance for Sunday, Weekend £25 on the gate, £20 in advance.
In some ways the oldest of the shows here, it evolved from the defunct Retro Cars Show and had a few format changes over the past couple of years.  Last year it return to being a Sunday event and has proven to be a reliable show to visit for track action and club stands.  With the Saturday being a RWYB day as well it means if you head up for the weekend you can get your car down the strip until you shatter your diff or smash a piston through your bonnet, nice one.  Additionally to the cars Retro Show also has scooters and bikes in attendance, as well as evening entertainment for those staying the weekend.  www.retroshow.co.uk


Retro Rides Gathering - 8th August, Haynes Motor Museum, Sparkford, Somerset.
Price - £7.50 per person on the gate, £5 in advance
It is difficult for me to be unbiased about The Gathering as we're quite involved with it, but I will try.  After a few years shifting from venue to venue The Gathering has finally settled at The Haynes Motor Museum, with a good sized show field, a track and the museum it has found a good home.  Action comes courtesy of the track with RWYB sessions running all day, there is a good diverse range of club stands and invited cars to keep people happy.  For the past few years the weather has been kind to The Gathering making for a nice relaxed weekend in the sunshine.  Camping is available but not widely advertised, so check their Facebook page for details. www.retroridesgathering.com



The great thing about these three shows is that they are far enough apart that you can pretty much easily attend each of them, also they are each such a different type of show that you won't be having repeated experiences.  Whatever you do make sure you get to at least one and support your UK show organisers, it really is hard work!

Posted on: April 14, 2010 04:58

The show season in the UK is gradually heading towards a close, but we try and pack in as much as we can here in the UK, this weekend just gone being no exception.  We get to see two sides of the VW scene with this weekends shows, Edition 38 being one of the premiere show and shine events in the water cooled calendar, VW Action being a great fun aircooled weekender with drag action at Santa Pod.
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Edition 38

This show brings out the finest in the UK's water cooled VWs, with many people using this as the target show for their builds.  The show and shine competition categories and numerous and cover just about every concievable VW with some specific awards for specific items like interiors or engineering.  One of the most interesting thing from this years event is the presence of the Type3Detectives, bring a bunch of air cooled flavour to the show and winning a bunch of prizes in the process, including best in show for their fantastic white Brazilia.

Of course in this day and age the pictures are online pretty much straight away, the Edition 38 forum is the first port of call for pictures and reports.

Then we are off to Flickr for some more sets :

Matt Stanton
AshManDanger
Jon Morgan

The photo above came from our man Rob's excellent set, some of which you can see on his blog entry.

VW Action

At the other end of the spectrum is the camping, fancy dress, music, drag racing, show combination that is VW Action.  Show organising vetrans Brett Hawksbee and Brian Burrows organise this mixture of frivolity and fuel at Santa Pod, they know their audience and supply a great weekend.  Whilst the camping and general entertainment is about as relaxed as it can be, the on strip action is serious as ever with top fuelers alongside the best of the UK VW scene's power houses.  This year is particularly special for Brian as he is no longer going to compete in drag racing, he went out in style, piloting a top fuel car up the strip for the first (and last) time, a dream realised.

You can read more about the show here, but you know we're all about the photos on entries like this so go and check these out :

JD Shotz

Tobes49

Speedman whose picture we used above, hope that is cool with you Steve?

Perhaps it is indicative of the style of the event that the photos available are as much of the people that attended as they are the cars

Julian Robinson provides us with a lot

So which one will you be at next year?

Posted on: September 8, 2009 05:02

Once a year I go to a car show and don't even really go through the gate.  I don't see a single club stand line up, I don't really get to have a look around any of the cars, I get tired (very), thirsty (very), hungry and a little sunburnt.  I do this because I love cars and I've found some other people that love cars enough to do this alongside me.  In doing this we make sure that a large group of people who also love cars can get together, talk about and enjoy their cars.  They can take them on the track, or the rolling road.  They can park alongside friends and celebrate the diversity of their hobby.  They can check out a museum together, see some unique vehicles and some history.  They can bond and form a stronger community around the cars.  They can support the traders that have come to the show and ensure the financial future of our hobby.

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I, or I should say we, because the whole venture is not a one man band but the work of a dedicated few, do all this and then afterwards we get look at the pictures or videos and see the reactions through a haze of exaustion, knowing that we've given something back to our community.

Retro Scene Mag managed to find some time between standing on gates and point people in the direction of different club stands to let Simon grab some photographs.  You can find them on our flickr photostream.

There are a number of photosets on flickr including tonylanciabeta and our good friend Fergus so be sure to check them out.

Also NightmaresRacing on Youtube has some video of the track action

If you've got any more photo collections of youtube footage to add drop us a comment.

 

Posted on: August 18, 2009 02:49

Since my last post here was all about how a small, driving based meet is more fun than a static show I am now going to feel quite contradictory by raving about a, err, static show.

Once a year, on a mid week evening, it seems all the old car and bike people on the planet – and some from further a field – converge on the Hertfordshire town of Harpenden for “Classics on the Common.”  Numbers in the past have exceeded a coupe of thousand though this year the damp weather resulted in a lower turnout.  However the mix was as eclectic as always with some real treasures in amongst the usual classic car fare, helped by the forward thinking 20-years-and-older criterea for cars on display.







Car of the night for me was thanks to a brief sighting of an incredibly beautiful Alfa Romeo 6C Touring.  I saw it drive by but could not find where it parked – it’s that kind of night.  



The common started emptying earlier too but since all the vehicles are shepherded in one direction a crowd lines the street to see them drive by adding a not so static element to the evening’s fun.





There are lots more images in the RSM flickr gallery here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/retroscenemag/sets/72157621892077090/


Posted on: July 31, 2009 04:12

One Sunday in late July I’m usually found walking around a field to the west of London for the annual Uxbridge Autoshow. While it is a great “traditional” classic car show I was somehow relieved to have something else to do that weekend this year. A member of the hot rod club I’m in had organised a small run around abouts Bedfordshire, where he lives and looks after a successful traditional rod building business. About a dozen cars and perhaps twice that number of people were involved, a fraction of the numbers at Uxbridge yet more enjoyable for it.

Having gathered at base camp a line of rods and customs rolled the few miles to his shop Buckland Automotive to check out the current projects and repair a cracked exhaust on one members old bike.

From there a scenic route was plotted along some narrow twisty lanes, final destination being Twinwood Airfield, a World War II air strip that had strong links with the musician Glenn Miller. Some of the buildings have been restored to period correct condition and there is also a museum (and annual festival) celebrating Miller’s music on site.

WWII garage. The sidevalve block on the bench had been extensively stitch welded and was probably Willys in origin.

Crash damaged aero engines are chilling reminders of past heroes.

All in all a more inspiring day out than looking at lines of cars stationary in a field.

Posted on: July 27, 2009 07:19

Stuart Izzard has been one of the stalwarts of the UK Retro scene since it first had a name and probably for some time before that.  His Mitsubishi Sapporo became one of the most well known cars in the UK scene, appearing at many shows, in magazines and in many photo galleries.  Stuart sold the Sapporo earlier this year, so we've all been very keen to see what he did next.  We caught up with him at the Retro Rides Ace Cafe meeting and were not disappointed with the work so far, and there is more to come from this build.



Name: Stuart Izzard

Age: 33

Occupation: Main dealer Mechanic (VW)

Past rides: super early three door sierra, VW Type 3 squareback, Model T hotrod, Nova SR, Mitsubishi Sapporo GSR, Toyota Celica 2.0GT, BMW 735i, Saab 9-5 Turbo, Skoda Favorit, Mazda 323 (2nd Gen)

Belong to any clubs?: Nope

Favourite colour of Tshirt: Any

What's in your dream garage?: Datsun Laural coupe SGX, C110 skyline GTR, 63 Chevy Impala, Toyota 2000 GT, lots of cheap cars I'd own now with £££s wasted on them!

Choose one...speed or style: Style (it doesn't matter how fast other peoples cars are if you're not driving them, but if they're stylish you can look all you want!)



CURRENT RIDE:

Make: Vauxhall

Model: Cresta Deluxe

Year: 1967

Mods: two inch lowering blocks on the rear, Reduced springs on the front, luminition ignition, heated rear screen, electric washer jets! 4speed manual conversion, dynamo swapped for alternator.

Wheels and tyres: Standard 14" steels in satin black



Plans: Band wheels, decent/ discreet audio install, Drive.

Car was one owner from nearly new, bought as a write off and reshelled with brand new shell by previous owner, now with 70,000 miles on the clock, it was garaged all its life but used regularly until 2005, was used for towing "pieces of eight" (mk 1 Capri drag racer with Teclement fuel injected Damiler Hemi V8) back in the 70s.




Posted on: July 20, 2009 03:46

We're not really ones for posting single links to ebay sales, so we'll attempt to expand on this one a little, so you can understand how cool this sale is and maybe some rich benefactor may decide to look kindly upon us and buy it as a present!

Above is a photo as it is now, however the first incarnation of this awesome Hillman Husky to hit print was in November 1988, built by Chris Hay as an everyday street rod works van for his plumbing business, pulled along quite happily by a 2 litre Alfa twin cam lump.  It is pure unadulterated cool already, smooth body, subtle custom mods, great paint and detailing as well as a bit of a power hike!  You can see the Street Machine article on the Beardmore Brothers Website here.

This wasn't the end of the story for this particular Husky though.  It dissappeared for a while when it was bought by one Dave Rothwell, a man of considerable talent within the UK hot rodding and custom scene.  This Husky can be seen in the background of a photoshoot from Custom Car in 1995, but it wasn't until 2000 that it got a feature of its own.  Dave Rothwell is a credit to this hobby, a man with talent and a consummate attention to detail.  He also isn't a man who has a rules book it would appear.  Once it broke cover again the car featured a turbo charged Cosworth engine, new paint, new interior, new wheels and a few other subtle exterior mods, like indicators, as well as sprucing up of the breaks and running gear.  The full Custom Car feature can also be found on the Beardmore Brothers Website.

Not only is this car a reflection of the quality of retro cars in the UK scene, but it has also served as an inspiration to many current car builders, and hopefully future car builders, an exercise in suitable mods performed very well from the first incarnation to its current state.

So if you fancy buying it, check out the ebay advert.  If you do buy it, please feel free to drop us an email,.. or the keys.

Posted on: May 5, 2009 05:00

It’s all about 2TOTM at the Carrington Arms in Ashby Folville! No, I’m not referring to some sort of satellite navigation device, but the classic car and bike meet that happens on the second Tuesday of the month (geddit?, You’ll remember it now!).

The cricket ground is opened up to a spectrum of cars ranging from the rare to the ridiculous and everything in between. From Kit cars to hot rods it’s all here.

The first car that caught my eye was a rare Moskvitch sporting a roof rack and suitably eastern block accessories. This particular car had celebrity ties having been used in the film “Mrs Ratcliffe’s Revolution” starring Catherine Tate. There were two cars used in the film and the owner of this one bought the pair!

This super clean Manta GTE hatch was un-restored and even still wearing its factory paint! These pics don’t even begin to tell the story of how clean it was; such a nice car.

Sat in the middle of a quartet of fast Fords including a Lotus Cortina, Escort Mexico and Lotus twin cam Anglia was this 60’s street racer look Anglia. It was super clean with all unnecessary trim removed, smoothed or colour coded. Power was provided courtesy of a fruity pre-cross flow.

By around 6.30 the field was packed!

Diversity? A Ford Galaxy and a Mitsubishi Evo parked together!

And the oldest car in attendance award goes to...

This hot rod rattled some windows on entry and was certainly a favourite with the crowds.

Check out the rest of the pics from the meet on our Photostream and see how many time you say “I’ve not seen one of those for a while” out loud!

It’s also worth mentioning that they have a BBQ as well as curry and chilli on the go, so if you are heading over straight after work you can get a good feed too!

Good pub, good food, good crowd, great atmosphere and amazing cars; a perfect way to spend a spring evening! Hope to see you at the next 2TOTM!

Posted on: April 16, 2009 03:24

My thoughts have recently been turning to engine transplants in Triumph Heralds. As a result I recalled perhaps the most bodacious of original period conversions, the Brabham Herald Climax.

The original 1959 Herald had a 948cc engine carried over from the Standard 10 and even in the slightly tuned sportier Coupe offering had a 0-60 time of 23.3 seconds. Jack Brabham was Formula One world champion in 1959 and 60 but did not just build, race, modify and drive racing cars. He started a company in Surrey modifying road cars too. 18 Months after the Herald was launched they were offering to fit a race bred Coventry Climax engine into your car with almost double the horsepower of the factory lump cutting that 0-60 time to just 13.3 seconds and top speed to nearly 100mph. Not blistering by todays standards but a massive leap over the standard car and the same as a then current MGA. I can imagine the driver of a “proper” sports car like that being somewhat miffed at being equalled by a tinny small family saloon!

Anyhow, I suspect that not many Heralds were converted and even fewer will have survived, perhaps proved by the fact I cannot find a single decent image of one on the internet though the TSSC are planning to have one at the Herald 50th celebrations later this year.

Other road cars also received Brabham tuning – there are mentions of Sunbeam Rapiers – but the other one to stick in my mind is the mid sixties Vauxhall Viva HB. Before Vauxhall put the larger 2 litre and 1600 cars the hot HB was a Brabham SL90 with modifications made to the original 1159cc engine. Again only a handful remain though it seems they do pop up at the occasional show.

 

 

Posted on: April 15, 2009 03:30

The Easter weekend is a pretty big weekend in the UK Retro calendar, the first big meet of the year happens, Wheels Day, as well as a lot of smaller local meets and a number of motorsports event.

We have a bit of coverage from both ends of the spectrum.  Due to circumstances beyond our control our planned attendance at wheels day was somewhat curtailed... okay it was stopped in its tracks, so we have had to rely on the internet again to bring you some links so you can get a full flavour of this fantastic event.  Luckily the mighty tonylanciabeta came up trumps with 533 photos from the somewhat damp event.  Check them out here : http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonysphotos/sets/72157616497786613/, his set provided the picture above and below.

For some more coverage check out Grantgb's more modest, but very cool, 40 picture set here : http://www.flickr.com/photos/grantgb/sets/72157616496109043/

Retro Scene Mag managed to get to the other end of the spectrum, a small local meet organised by Deviltorque, we took a handful of pictures for you to enjoy : http://www.flickr.com/photos/retroscenemag/sets/72157616700573442/ . This scene was repeated across the country at many different venues.  It really has been a great weekend to get out and enjoy your cars, in spite of the rain on Friday.  Lets hope the rest of the show season is as good.

We'll leave you with a video from Youtube of cars leaving the Wheels Day event, be sure to click on the video and check out the related ones as it is the first in a series.

 

 

Posted on: April 13, 2009 05:11