Coming up...

VW Expo @ Stonor Park

This weekend sees the 30th running of this event, a long time favourite and Lo 'E' Nuf's "local" show.

All the usual stuff: Trade Stands & Autojumble, Concours d’Elegance, Club Displays, Air-cooled Avenue, Miss VW contest and Children’s Fancy Dress (under 12’s).
Also this year they are celebrating 40 years of the Golf & Scirocco.

Tickets:

Adults £10

Rug rats and brats under 16 go free

Satnav: RG9 6HF

Chiltern Hills Rally

This year's Chiltern Hills Rally was held at a new venue in Weedon, just outside Aylesbury, and featured all the usual attractions: vintage and classic cars, autojumble, craft stalls, dog show and large kids' fun area. The show venue had moved due to the previous site being prone to flooding - no chance of that happening this year, the main risk being sun burn.

Citroen BX based Dualatron

Watch out, it's the Rozzers

Rat-Look Singer Le Mans

One for Toby

The Bertini GT25 is a new re-skin kit for the BMW Z3

The mighty Mitsuoka Viewt

A Birks Motors regular spotted in the wild

A standard Caddy - a very rare beast

Coming up...

In the US they have the Hot Rod Power Tour where over 2000 cars take part in a week long cruise visiting a different car show or drag strip each day.

This year some of the folk at the V8UK Forum decided to 'ave some of that and came up with the UK Power Tour, visiting 3 drag strips in 3 days over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Starting at 9am on Saturday at the Southern Counties Raceway 1/8th mile strip in Rye, Sussex before visiting the Yanks Weekend at Avon Park and Volks Power's Power Fest at York Off Road Centre Raceway. (Santa Pod is holding the FIA European Championships this weekend so is unable to host the Power Tour).

The rules are simple:
MOT & Tax
Street Tyres
Valid Insurance
1 Run at each strip qualifies you in the event
Fastest timing slip of the day to be handed in
No Bikes
No Trade Plates
No Rental Cars
No Support Vehicles
Pump Gas Only (If you can find it at a petrol station you can stick it in)
Equipment rules apply to street and strip

There are 2 classes: V8s and The Others.

Sunday at Avon Park is the Yanks Weekend (inc Gary's Picnic) and features Big Bucks Bracket Gamblers, Supercharged Outlaws, Outlaw Street, Wild Bunch Nostalgia Drag Racing, Honda Drag Series, European Outlaw Flat Four VWs, National Association of Supertwins, 8.50/9.50 Bike & ET Bike and the Tot Rod Drags.

Sunday Tickets are £15, kids under 16 go free.

Cor blimey!

Sal's car is nearly there, just a couple more finishing touches and then it's Stonor Park here we come.

Coming up...

This Sunday is the Chiltern Hills Vintage Vehicle Rally, back after a year's break. Featuring just about everything from steam engines to vintage and classic cars and customs. Along side is a large autojumble, craft stalls, dog show, children's rides and a beer tent.

New Venue

This year's show is at Weedon Park near Aylesbury

Sat Nav: HP22 4NN

Tickets: Adults £6, children go free

Gates open 10am

Also on is the LTVVWOC's Dubs At The Park held at Easthampstead Park near Bracknell.

BBQ, Beer tent, traders, bands & DJs are all there to distract you from the hundreds of VWs.

Tickets are £5 for adults, children under 16 go free.

Coming Up...

May is a busy month, the show season is upon us.

Sunday May 4th is calendar stalwart Stanford Hall, an excellent show with a vintage bias in a beautiful location.

Tickets:

Adults £8

Children £1

Gates open 8am, Sat Nav: LE17 6DH

If that doesn't tickle yer what nots there is Atomic - the Mid Century Vintage Fastival - at Sywell Aerodrome, nr Northampton

They say:

Exploding onto the scene with the scream of a Sabre Jet and the rumble of V8 motors, ATOMIC is an all-action celebration of mid-century music, style and glamour. Marvel at a huge display of classic and custom cars, browse the very best vintage and retro stalls, rollerskate to the sound of ‘50s rock’n’roll and enjoy a top-quality, international line-up of bands and DJs, in 5 music venues.

During the day, hot rods will race on the runway as breathtaking aerial displays take place overhead. In the evenings, you can dress to impress, dance ‘til late, sip ATOMIC cocktails and enjoy a classic movie on the open-air drive-in screen.

Tickets are a painful £42 per day - kids under 16 go free

Sat Nav: NN6 0BN

The following weekend sees the Apex Festival back for its 3rd go at Lydden Hill race circuit in Kent.

Making a change from all the straight line Pod stuff it features everything from the Ex-Jason Plato British Touring Car, Drifting Air-cooled Bugs, Retro Mk1 Golf Berg Cup Racers, Single Seater Race Cars, Zetec Powered Mk1 Escorts and Fiestas, Hill Climb Spec MX5 and Beetles, Outlaw Porsche 356, Bike engined sprint cars and of course the infamous Race-Taxi FB1 (Twin Turbo Porsche powered split screen bus - seen overtaking a 911 and pretty much everything else out on the circuit at the time.. really!) Each year it just gets better and more thrilling to witness as we draw cars in from all over Europe..

The Retro Drift Challenge will return this year with a full challenge round, which will see even more paint scraping, tyre smoking, sideways automotive ballet (Not sure how they will take being likened to a Ballerina.. who knows you may see a Tutu in the paddocks!) - Nothing would surprise us, these guys 'n girls know how to have a laugh and put on a show!

Tickets are £40 for adults, £10 for 12s-16s, under 12s go free.

Sat Nav: CT4 6ET

The same weekend is the NASC Neil's SpringNationals at Drayton Manor theme park near Brum

Later in the month is the Chiltern Hills Vintage Vehicle Rally, nr Aylesbury and Dubs At The Park, nr Bracknell on Sunday the 18th. And the month is rounded off with a new event, the UK Power Tour. Details later...

Wheels Day revisited

I gave up trying to get to Wheels Day when I was 3 hours into a 90 minute journey with at least another hour to go. It took an hour to queue across Guildford and the queue didn't let up for the next 10 miles! Meanwhile Pollock and Julia slipped in the back entrance with no trouble and had a lovely time.

Surrey Street Rodders have issued the following statement:

The 40th Wheels Day was not as the Surrey Street Rodders would have wished.
We anticipated an attendance of 6,000 people which would have been an increase of 50% of our best ever Wheels Day.
Dunsfold Park has informed us the actual number on Good Friday was in excess of 18,000.
We are sorry for the problems this unprecedented turnout of vehicles caused.
At one point we did stop charging entry, in order to get as many people as possible on site and try to alleviate the 12 mile traffic jam.
Since the show a tirade of negative forum postings, abusive phone calls, emails and now accusations of inappropriate dealings with Wheels Day money have led to the following decision.

There will be no more Wheels Day in its present form.

The Surrey Street Rodders would like to thank everybody who has supported us in the past 40 years and helped so many charities; you are a credit to our hobby. 

Fingers crossed that Wheels Day returns in some way in the future...

St George's Day

 

Today we celebrate St George, the 3rd Century Greek-Palestinian serving in the Roman Army who was beheaded for his beliefs but is now recognised as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and a prominent military saint (shurely a contradiction in terms?) Oh, and a dragon's in there somewhere as well, obviously.

8.2s @ 167mph

Santa Pod hosted the Festival of Power over the Easter weekend and Richie Webb was there with his 'new' Cabrio complete with a winter's worth of tweaks. He entered in the Super Comp class which has a class break-out index of 8.90s.

First sighting run, straight off the trailer, so to speak:

8.35s @ 163mph - a new European record for an aircooled VW.

Second run: Lots of wheelspin meant Richie backed off and pulled the shoot early - resulting in an 8.905s @ 121mph and Number 1 qualifying spot!

Saturday was a case of deja vu all over again. Up, up and away...

Just like the good old days.

Sunday rolled around and it was Eliminations round 1.

 

8.206s @ 167.9mph - a new, new European record for an aircooled VW and elimination from competition - oh well.

Congrats to Richie and the team - a 7sec run beckons...

That Good Friday Feeling

This year Easter is one week after Big Bang which means Surrey Street Rodders' Wheels Day, and it's at a new location. After many years at the MOD site in Aldershot the show has moved to Dunsfold Aerodrome near Guildford - home of that pokey lil TV show...

The 2 golden rules still apply:

No Burnouts

No Dogs

Entry is £5 adults - OAPs/kids go free

Gates open 10am

SatNavs aim for GU6 8HY or GU6 8TB (2 entrance gates)

Approx 90mins from Bicester or 75mins from St Albans

Wheels Day 2013