Busy Weekend Part 2

Having got up early yesterday for  the excellent Wheels Day, we were up early again, heading in the opposite direction for the Brooklands "Spring Gathering". The weather had looked iffy, but turned out better than forecast, so another excellent day was had. The variety of cars was again good - though not as "extreme" as Wheels Day & after a while the sun came out - ish. We also had a guided tour of my nephew's girlfriend's car restoration training workshop which was good.

I'll start with this '56 Chevy, certainly a bold colour choice, buy it just worked.

Isn't that lovely? Styling wise I don't think the Americans get it right that often, but when they do it can be very good indeed.

Subtle, well proportioned & easy to live with.

The paint on this was amazing, the sun came out just as we were talking about it & WOW!

You wouldn't want to get even a minor scratch on it though.

Zoom in - go on.

Back in the late '70s you didn't see a V8 Pop because no-one had worked out how to fit one in & keep some space in the inside. This one had a large V8 & four useable seats, which speaks volumes for the quality of the engineering. 

The "quilted" aluminium firewall was a work of art too.

A "Vincent Hurricane" - essentially a new body for a rusty Spitfire. You don't see too many around any more.

VWs & their offspring always feature heavily, & these two Type 2 pick-ups were very nice.

As was this GP Beach Buggy.

And this Nova with a Lotus badge. There were kits available to fit a Ford engine onto the VW transaxle, so it mat be that this car has a TwinCam. There was another Nova with a tube chassis & what appeared to be a mid mounted Alfa Boxer engine.

Classic Model A Hot Rod. It has been racing a Pendine Sands.

I got arty.

There was one of these at Wheels Day & I don't think it was the same one.

Also in the very small but sweet category was this Fiat 500. There seemed to be a great many Fiats in attendance.

Early Corvette was nice, but.....

...not as nice (to my eyes) as the slightly later one. I'll say it again - why doesn't a Cobra manufacturer make an early 'vette shell to fit their chassis?

Another Fiat - not one I was familiar with, I thought it was a Saab Sonnet at first.

Pretty little thing.

Freshly wrapped Haines Roadster looked good, the "wear" & "dirt" is in the wrap.

No manufacturer anywhere has ever made a car that had better styling than the two door MkI Escort. But now they're trying to see you a four door electric Capri.

I rest my case.

Weirdness. I'd guess that an Australian wanted the ultimate in a luxury "ute".

Body panels were perfectly straight & fitted well. Very impressive.

Yellow Tiger was just lovely. there were perhaps four Tigers in attendance. I would imagine some were ex-Alpines.

Representing the exotic end, were a couple of Maseratis, which were pretty stunning.

And finally. A friend sent an ad for this a couple of years ago when it was for sale. Someone thought "what if Lotus had done the Consul Capri instead of the Cortina". So they built one using Lotus Cortina parts & carrying out the same sort of mods - like the extra instruments & the wide steel wheels. It looked REALLY good.

Busy Weekend Part 1

The Easter long weekend, my girlfriend & I had a busy weekend planed, she arrived on Thursday after a nightmare journey down the A1 & M25, then had to get up early to jump in the Stylus & go to Wheels Day.

This wasn't just any old Wheels Day, this was the 50th Surrey Street Rodder's Wheels Day. As we trundled down the M4 we started seeing other interesting cars around us, then just as we pulled onto the off slip, everything stopped. there was a queue right down to the roundabout & then all round the roundabout, after that it cleared a little, so it wasn't actually the car show causing it, but people blocking the roundabout by not making sure there was a gap to drive into before moving. I took us 1/2 hour to get in, but later there were suggestions that it was taking two hours.

Anyway, Wheels Day 50 was brilliant with a very diverse range of cars, some of which are presented below. This year it stayed dry & we had a fantastic day.

Slightly ratty Ginetta. Looks like it's getting some love though.

My Nephew's 100e

My Brother's Prefect

Model B pick up in red oxide.

No idea what it is, other than it's a Pontiac & I'd guess at 1958

Unbelievably small Fiat 500

Now this was brilliant, how crazily over-the-top can you go? there were a number of cars that would've taken the "most outrageous in show", until this turned up. It's called "Warchief" & has a Red Indian motif, from the laser cut feathers in two lines along the top, to the cowhide "vinyl roof", then there was the copper wire stitching between the panels - oh & the six wheels. I doff my hat to the creator.

It was surrounded by smiling people all day.

It's not easy to roof chop a morris minor & make it look right, there's a lot of curves & not much length to blend them out it, but this one was superbly done. Oh - & then there was the huge modern V8 in it too. Superb workmanship & engineering.

Variety - we like that in a car show 

Citroen Light 15 cabrio, found as a heap of wreckage & restored.

Oh - & a large duck

Two '30s pick ups. The silver one - actually bare aluminium - is all hand wheeled. again superb workmanship.

There was a shed with various race cars in, including this rail car with two V8s - well, you would wouldn't you?

Also indoors was this beautiful MkI Cortina, with a few tasteful mods

  And a MkI Capri with a 6.3 V8 beautifully installed

Will you look at that? That's a 1950s designer's idea of a practical delivery truck. Just stunning.

This camper's owner probably thought it would be the most outrageous car at the show, close, but no cigar.

Sweeeeeeet!

This was interesting. As a model A, it would've left the factory with a four cylinder Ford engine & indeed, that's what it still has.........

,,,,,,but that's a Zetec, dressed up to look old. The braded cable, the brass fasteners & the plumbing all combine to make you doubt the evidence of your own eyes. Very very clever & probably does 40mpg

Pretty sure it wasn't an original, but it was a very good replica.

Revenge, I've told the story before, so I won't bore you again. Just fantastic!

Another contender for the outrageous award. Must try harder.

Not outrageous, just a bit weird. It was called "The Meowdi".

Clearly someone though this '59 Cadillac was lacking some length, so put a "continental" spare wheel kit on it.

For some people restoring a car just isn't enough of a challenge. How about restoring a lorry to carry it about on?