Custom Car May 2025 by Assignment Media Ltd

Battle of the Builds

The workshop challenge that spawned Old Bones Fabrication’s patina-perfect ‘58 Husky

PLUS The Chevy 3100 universally known as ‘Frank’s truck’ – after the dog who used to ride in it to events alongside its proud owner Richard Hobson

EASY TIGER

Importer Len Quinton found a 1965 Dodge A100 Van in Texas. It had not been used for some time so Len will have some work to get it back in top order. Len just wanted a Van he could get into easily.

Pic: Christopher Tilley

News & reviews

Legendary hot rod and custom builder Gene Winﬁ eld, who passed away on 4 March at the age of 97, built his ﬁ rst hot rod at his home in Modesto, California when he was just 15 years old. After that ’29 Model A coupe was written off in an accident, he built a ’31 roadster.

Following a brief spell in the Navy, Gene decided he wanted to build cars full-time

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GeneWinfield

and set up Windy’s Custom Shop in the backyard of his mother’s house. He enjoyed racing on dry lakes, something he became very good at, until he closed his shop and joined the Army in 1949.

Gene still had modifying in his blood and, after having been stationed in Japan, he rented a small workshop with three other GIs where they started building cars. Towards the end of 1951, he returned

Contributors

Dave Biggadyke, Mike Pye, Keith Lee, James Webber, Olly Sack, Dan Fenn, Tom Alderney, Alice Fairhead

Photographers

Julian Hunt, Vic Peel, Harry Hamm, Richard Hair

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home and opened up his shop in his mum’s backyard once again, this time naming it Winﬁeld’s Custom Shop.

A couple of years later, he moved his shop away from the backyard but remained in Modesto, and in 1957 he came up with his signature faded, blended candy paint job technique. Shortly after this he built Jade Idol, the ’56 Mercury that was to gain him national recognition.

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Every e ort is made to ensure the contents of Custom Car are accurate, but Assignment Media accepts no responsibility for errors or omissions nor the consequences of actions made as a result of these. When responding to any advert in Custom Car, you should make appropriate enquiries before sending money or entering into a contract. The publishers take reasonable care to ensure advertisers’ probity, but will not be liable for loss or damage incurred from responding to adverts Where a photo credit includes the note ‘CC BY 2.0’ or similar, the image is made available under that Creative Commons licence: details at www.creativecommons.org

Pic: Laura Ayres

“Winfield Creations built over 20 cars for movies”

In 1962, Gene was hired by the AMT model company and subsequently opened a new shop in North Hollywood to be closer to the movie industry. Subsequently, Winﬁeld Creations built over 20 cars for movies, including Bladerunner, Robocop and Back to the Future.

In 1974, Gene began a stint working for Traditional Coach Works before opening a small shop in Van Nuys and then relocating

to Canoga Park in the late ‘70s. In recent years, he operated his shop in Mojave, Southern California.

Gene continued working right up until his death, travelling, creating and roof-chopping all over the world. Many readers will have met him when he did just that at the NSRA Hot Rod Supernationals in 2018 as a sprightly 91-year-old, something we comprehensively covered in the November issue that year.

In a career spanning many decades, Gene became known for his groundbreaking designs, extensive metalwork skills and, of course, his signature paint jobs. He fully embodied the true spirit of customisation and was a mentor to generations. His legacy will live on, not least in every roof chop and faded painted scheme.

Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. RIP Gene – a true icon.

Pic: Facebook Pic: Tony Thacker

Pic: Laura Ayres

Pic: Christopher Tilley

News & reviews Something for the weekend?

Detonation time

Edition 3 of The Hop-Up, the hot rod and kustom show organised by the Detonators London, takes place on Bank Holiday Monday 26 May. It’s staged at Westerham Brewery, Kent TN16 1QP, and places are limited. Entry to the pre-’66 show area is strictly by pre-entry only. To be considered for entry, email your details along with a photo of your car. Be quick though, it’s filling up fast.

Email: detonatorsccuk@gmail. com

Charitable effort

Popular gathering

Saturday 16 August is the date for Ford Pop Day, to be held at Industry amd Supply Coffee Depot in Weedon Bec, Northants NN7 4PS. The indoor event runs from 10am through to 3pm and will feature a display of hot rod icons since the ‘70s. www.industryandsupply.com

Some of you will know Alice Fairhead through her contributions to CC for several years, and this year she’s taking on her third Macmillan Mighty Hike. This will be a 25-mile walk in the Lake District along a pre-planned route on a set day, regardless of what the weather may bring. Raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support, Alice decided to complete her first Mighty Hike after losing her nan to Cancer. Alice is hopeful she can smash the Mighty Hike in June and raise money for such a worthy charity. If any of you wonderful readers would like to support Alice and donate to Macmillan Cancer Support, you can do so at www. justgiving.com/ page/prettywild-2025. Alternatively, scan the QR code (right)

Diss graceful

The 6th V8 Hot Rods pre-‘72 show takes place on Bank Holiday Monday, 25 August at The Cross Keys, Redgrave, Diss, Norfolk. The show runs from 11am through to 4pm, and on offer are a BBQ and live music. Entry is free and trophies for the top ten are up for grabs.

Facebook: V8 Hot Rods

Sunday jumbles

The first Huddersfield Auto Jumble of the year at the Old Market Building was held on Sunday 23 March. The remaining dates, all Sundays, are 20 April (Easter), 28 September, 26 October, 23 November and 28 December. www.phoenixfairs.jimdo.com

Powerful show

(with image Museum of Power) Sunday 7 September is the date for the American Car Show at the Museum of Power in Maldon, Essex. The show runs from 10am until 4pm and promises a large display of American and custom vehicles. Added attractions include a DJ, live music, dancers, miniature steam train rides, a model village, a crafty cabin, stalls and food vendors. The Steam Pump Tea Room will also be open. www.museumofpower.org.uk

Hayle geezers

The Proper Cornish Cruisers American Car Meets are held on the third Saturday of each month from April through to September. The gatherings are held at the Bird in Hand public house which is situated at the entrance to the Paradise Park Animal Sanctuary in Hayle, Cornwall TR27 4HY. www.propercornishcruisers.co.uk

Mugs game

If you remember the T-shirt designs offered by C-uk Nitro-Stevens, you’ll recognise the images on the mugs pictured here. Colin has reproduced three of those original designs for printing on to mugs so you can remember days gone by while enjoying your morning brew.

The Mr 6 design was done with full approval from Dennis Priddle, who often wore one of the shirts when at the Pod. The Summer of ’73 depicts Stardust and Paula Murphy’s car, while the third design is a homage to the original Dragfest.

Priced at £8 each plus £3.95 p&p, or £4.50 p&p for up to three, the mugs can be ordered by email to colinhotrodts@btinternet.com or via the C-uk Nitro-Stevens Facebook page. Payment can be made by either PayPal or bank transfer.

Talk back

Jerry Cookson will once again be taking to the mic and announcing at seven of this year’s drag and sprint meetings at Melbourne Raceway. “I’m looking forward to being at the track and working alongside resident commentator Paul Cumpstone”. commented Jerry. “I would like to thank Trevor and the Straightliners crew for this opportunity.” The ﬁrst meet at the track takes place on 12-13 April. straightliners.events/venues/melbourne-raceway/ Facebook: Melbourne Raceway

Testing current

News & reviews

This Digital Automotive Multimeter from Laser Tools offers 15 essential functions to accurately measure various electrical parameters. These include VDC, VAC, AC/DC amps, Ohms, RPM, dwell, duty cycle, frequency, and continuity test. It features a large 20mm main display with bar graph and switchable backlight for enhanced visibility in low-light conditions. The integral ﬂip-down stand offers hands-free use, and the multimeter is supplied with a protective carry case, test leads, and a 9V battery. www.lasertools.co.uk

News & reviews

Alan Loten

Second coming

Long-time quartermile campaigner Alan Loten passed away in March. Together with Brian Thomas, Alan built Paranoia, the Jaguarpowered Model T Altered, which debuted in 1975. The car was reborn a couple of years later with a narrowed body sitting on top of a tube chassis. The third incarnation came in 1981 with Paranoia running a new chassis and a 5-window Plymouth body, with the car being featured in the December ‘81 issue of CC. Alan sold his share in the car and retired in 1984 to concentrate on his family but returned 27 years later having bought back Paranoia from its then owner Martin Holgate. Alan ran in the ranks of Wild Bunch at Shakespeare County Raceway and more recently at Santa Pod.

Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.

RIP Alan

Steven Myatt

We were sad to hear of the passing of author and publisher Steven Myatt. Steven worked on and contributed to numerous magazines and newspapers over the years, including Custom Car. Following on from his contributions to SuperBike magazine he launched Back Street Heroes in 1983. Bikes played a major part in Steven’s life, and he got into building choppers at an early stage. He rapidly graduated to cars and was a founder member of Rainy City Cruisers. Steven worked on the Belle Vue Rod and Custom Shows, particularly in the areas of media and public relations, and was a valued member of the team. Many CC readers will remember Steven as the author of the 1980 publication entitled The Complete Customiser.

Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.

RIP Steven

Following the success of last year’s inaugural American Day at RAF Sculthorpe Heritage Centre in Fakenham, Norfolk, the organisers have decided to give it a second outing. The date is Sunday 10 August, and all American classic vehicles will be welcome. Along with the vehicles on display, the day will feature an American re-enactment, American football, live music, food trucks and a BBQ. Show vehicle admission is free (2 people per car) with complimentary tea and coffee. While pre-booking is not required, if you plan to attend an email to rshc1955@gmail.com would be appreciated to help judge numbers.

Facebook: RAF Sculthorpe Heritage Centre

Wheel appeal

Cragar 390 rims are another new offering from North Hants Tyres and Wheels. The wheels went into production a few weeks ago and at the time of writing prices hadn’t been ﬁnalised but were expected to be around £270-£290 each. All sizes, from 7x15 to 9½x18, are expected to be available by the end of June and North Hants Tyres are now welcoming enquiries. www.northhantstyres.com

Keep a low proﬁle

After the renowned Mangoletsi Weber DCOE Throttle Linkage System went out of production in 2021, the availability of low-proﬁle linkage options was very limited. Webcon, however, now offers an alternative manufactured from clear anodised billet aluminium to ensure outstanding longevity. It is ideal for single or twin Weber DCOE carburettor installations in a height-restricted application. www.webcon.co.uk

News & reviews

Healthy Moose

A recent Surrey Street Rodders charity of choice was Big Moose, a mental health support organisation set up to offer quick access to help when the NHS is unable to do so. Big Moose promises a response within 24 hours and an appointment with a qualified therapist within 7 days.

SSR made a generous donation to a long-time supporter of the club, Stuart Morrison, who ran the Farnborough Winter Half-Marathon in early February. Stuart set up a JustGiving page and thanks to SSR has already exceeded his target and the page is still open should anyone wish to donate.

SSR would like to thank everybody who supports Wheels Day and makes such donations possible. CC would like to thank SSR for all their hard work and for being such a nice bunch. www.justgiving.com/page/stuart-morrison-big-moose

Triumphant breakfast

The dates for the Coleshill Auto Breakfast Meets on the last Sunday of each month are 30 March, 27 April, 25 May, 29 June (Big Day Out), 27 July, 24 August and 28 September. The meets are open to all classic cars, trucks and bikes, and breakfast and refreshments are available. They all take place from 9.00am at the Triumph Factory Visitor Experience Centre, Normandy Way, Hinckley, Leics.

Facebook: Coleshill Auto Breakfast Meet

Tight fit

Restricted access is no problem with this lowprofile socket and bit set from Laser Tools. The highly versatile 52-piece kit features a 252mm dual-purpose flex-head ratchet spanner and bit driver, along with a comprehensive selection of low-profile sockets, bits and 1/4” drive extensions. The ratchet spanner is equipped with a springloaded retaining clip to keep the sockets in place and the bit driver features a three-position lever for left, right, and lock. Two ¼ inch drive extension bars, a ¼ inch drive socket adaptor, an 11mm hex drive to ¼ inch shank magnetic bit adaptor and a 60mm magnetic bit holder with quick chuck end are included in the set. www.lasertools.co.uk

Lincoln nights

The Back to our Roots Classic Car Meets at The Railway Inn, Thorpe on the Hill, Lincoln, start on Thursday 22 May. The gatherings start at 5.00pm and further dates this year are 19 June, 17 July and 11 September.

Tooling around

The Laser Tools 5-in-1 Air Tool kit includes five interchangeable tool heads, easily swapped using a secure quick-release system. The head tools are an air drill, a ½ inch drive ratchet, a die grinder, an angle grinder and an angled die grinder. The comprehensive kit, which includes four head-swap spanners and an air-tool oil dispenser, promises to be a game-changer for workshops, offering flexibility, power, and space-saving practicality.

www.lasertools.co.uk

Norfolk rocks

The organisers of the Dereham Classic Car Show and Rock n Roll Music are inviting entries from show vehicles dating back to the rock and roll era. The event will take place on Saturday 14 June at The Greenstone, Dereham, Norfolk.

Facebook: The Greenstone

Grumpy Day

Pre-registered tickets are now available for Grumpys 5th Classic Bash to be held on Easter Sunday, 20 April, in Longport, Stoke-on-Trent. The Bash kicks off at noon and along with the classic show the day offers live music, quality food, and select stalls. Due to space limitations, all pre-’75 4-wheel vehicles must be preregistered.

Facebook: Grumpys Classic Bash

Made in Chelsea

The 50th Anniversary Chelsea Cruise is on Saturday 31 May from 7pm. The pre-event publicity says it all: “Bring back the retro times just cruising the King’s Road low and slow.” Help make it a night to remember.

Beach boys

Dates for Hayling Hotrods at the Beach have been confirmed as 1 April, 6 May, 3 June, 1 July, 5 August, 2 September and 7 October. The fun starts at 6pm at Funland, The Seafront, Hayling Island, Hampshire. Facebook: Hayling Hotrods at the Beach

News & reviews

Old Skool

Staged at the Anglia Motel on the A17, not far from Spalding, Lincs, the details of this year’s Old Skool Cruisers meets have been announced. The meets are all held on a Sunday and the dates are 27 April, 25 May, 29 June, 31 August, 28 September and 26 October.

Facebook: Old Skool Kruisers

Only a dog as cool as Frank can have a truck named after him

Pic: Richard Hodson

When you realise it’s cheaper to hot rod a ‘50s pick-up than buy a new van, the path you take is a given

Words: Dave Biggadyke Pics: Alan Kidd

BEING FRANK

Richard’s intention was to ditch the home-made bull bar that was ﬁtted to the pick-up – but then it grew on him, so it remains in place. It has gained a length of rope though

I“A length of railway track welded across the rear chassis rails”

t may be best if we start by clearing up any possible confusion. The ’54 Chevy 3100 pictured here is known as Frank’s truck. The thing is it’s owned by Richard Hodson, not Frank.

We’ll let Richard take up the story. “Frank was my dog, a much-loved companion who went everywhere with me until he passed around 2½ years ago. He was a bit of a character and everybody knew him. So much so that the Chevy became known as Frank’s truck. I even set up a Facebook page in the name of Frank Hodson, and many people know me as Frank, not Richard.”

At ﬁrst glance, there appears to be Mooneyes stickers on the trailing edges of the front wings. Richard doesn’t do vinyl though and close inspection reveals they are hand painted logos with just a hint of their possible origin…

Back in the day, Richard, as we’ll call him, was an out and out Ford man. “I was really into Escorts and Cortinas, that sort of thing,” he explained. “I then strayed into the world of VWs for a few years. I was never a fan of American cars, although I did have a commercial bent.”

That penchant manifested itself when he bought this pick-up in 2015, although back then it didn’t look like it does now. In reality it sort of did look very similar, but we’ll come to that later.

The rationale for building a ’50 pick-up came about after Richard had been looking

Breaking a cardinal rule, Richard did allow vinyl decals on the doors for a while when the pick-up was used for promoting his friend’s custom motorcycle business, Mint Customs. The residue left behind when the stickers were removed has the look of old timey sign writing

The pick-up as bought in 2015. Richard was right about the paint exhibiting more white in places

Although the bodywork was left alone, the bulkhead was tidied up a bit

The additional train track rear crossmember added during the pickup’s former existence was somewhat agricultural

Part way through installing the rear axle. Note the extensive boxing of the chassis rails

The severity of C-notching the rear chassis rails is evident in this shot

The pick-up may look rough and ready on the outside but underneath it’s a different matter

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Preparation- Remove all plugs from block & heads, acid dip. Replace all plugs, Core plugs to be brass. Pressure test to check for cracks. Line-bore cylinder block, machine decks parallel to crank centre line, rebore/hone block to pistons, commonly, +.030”. Replace cam bearings. Fit camshaft. Clean & balance all reciprocating p arts. Check clearances- main bearings, conrod bearings, crank end float, conrod side clearance, piston rings & pistons. [some engines have new conrods, others are recircled and fitted with ARP bolts]. Fit pistons to conrods & assemble bottom end. Fit timing gears & chain, time in camshaft. If it is a std engine, then the C.I. heads are fitted with guide liners if required, 3 angle seat job, new valves, springs, seals, rockers, collets. The heads are then installed with new lifters & pushrods.

Chevy Shortbed Fleetside, V8/Manual, fresh paint, arrow straight body, new oak bed/polished stainless strips, new suspension, new Halibrand wheels/tyres, California rustfree, one year only small window cab, all work recently completed with only a handful of miles

Original V8/Automatic car, new top and top rams, new carpet, very straight rustfree body, California car since new, on the button driver

1959 EDSEL VILLAGER LONG ROOF WAGON, V8/THREE ON THE TREE $12,250

Factory V84bbl/3spd manual, p/s, p/b, a/c, same family since new sold in Monterey california, parked in 1972 and there it sat until recently, very solid rustfree car, original owners manual, a/c unit instruction book and warranty card, many old ca registrations, original hubcaps, starts and runs, currently has no brakes, unrestored survivor

Dodge ram extra cab V8 magnum/auto, 4wheel drive, p/w p/seat, a/c, alloy wheels, bedliner, California zero rust truck on the button very good driver can be sold with or without camper shell

Black plate California rustfree van, factory V8/Auto, vintage slot mags, new screen & rubber, built from new as a camper, recently used by a local handyman, camper equipment removed, on the button driver

Rustfree sunbleached body and underside, new brake & clutch hydraulics, rebuilt fuel pump, runs and drives, excellent original chrome, sold new in the USA, not to be confused with the usual UK welded patched nightmare, not the cheapest but certainly the soundest original one you'll ﬁnd outside of Australia

6 Cylinder/Manual, put into storage 1999, recently removed, none of the usual corner, fender, hinge pocket rot, excellent cab ﬂoor, requires no patch panels or welding vintage camper shell, chrome steel Wheels, refurbished original seat, currently a non runner

at a fresh van for work. “I was quoted over £37 grand for a new VW van and thought I could build an old truck for that,” Richard quantiﬁed. The late Darren Smart came across the Chevy, a non-runner and mechanically stock, languishing in a desert in New Mexico. He imported it to the UK; Richard viewed it as soon as it docked and didn’t hesitate in buying it.

On track

The pick-up was cut apart as opposed to simply stripping it down, as certain additions ﬁtted during its life had been welded in

place. One such addition was the length of railway track welded across the rear chassis rails, Richard presuming it was part of an industrial spec tow bar. Obviously, that was going to have to go.

The chassis rails were boxed, additional crossmembers were added and the rear rails were healthily C-notched to ensure the back end sat nice and low. A Classic Performance Products crossmember and Mustang IIbased IFS were grafted on at the front and a 10-bolt Chevy axle hung under the rear, with the suspension incorporating an air bag on each corner.

The IFS features air ride, power steering and disc brakes, with the rear stopping power provided by rebuilt drums. The brakes are actuated by a bulkhead mounted master cylinder and servo. The fuel tank, air cylinder and compressors were mounted between the rear chassis rails, and a small block V8 was slotted in at the front.

When it came to the bodywork, Richard summed it up perfectly. “We didn’t do a bloody thing to it. That’s not strictly true as, just like with all of them, there was a bit of rot in the cab corners. We repaired one corner with new steel grafted on to the

“If it ain’t scraping it ain’t low enough”

Richard ﬁrmly hit the nail on the head when it came to how low the pick-up sits when parked up

The 10-bolt Chevy rear axle is located by a triangulated 4-bar arrangement. Suspension is taken care of by a pair of Air Lift Dominator bags

Mounted under the bed floor, aft of the rear axle, are the 5-gallon spun ali air tank, twin Viair 440 compressors and the fuel tank that was purposely designed for Chevy pick-ups but proved to be a pain to fit Note the King Dick spanner spreader bar, and the hi-tech prop keeping the floor elevated

Although initially he wasn’t a fan, Richard decided the RSJ rear bumper was part of the pick-up’s character, so he kept it. In keeping with his ethos of using as many genuine parts as possible, the rear lights are original, right down to their glass lenses. They are mounted inside the lengths of large bore tubing that were already welded to the heavy-duty bumper

Left: Raise the bonnet and you’ll come across a 350 Chevy crate motor, dressed with ﬁnned rocker covers and ﬁtted with Block Hugger headers. The carb is a 600cfm Edelbrock topped off with a shotgun scoop and the transmission a TH350 automatic

Right: The aftermarket large core ali radiator Richard ﬁtted solved the issues with the engine initially running too hot

“It should be a relatively easy fix on the side of the road”

inside, simply to cover the holes up, and new glass and rubbers were ﬁtted. That’s about it really.”

Root canal

Richard is a carpenter by trade and wanted something a bit different to the norm for the bed floor. “I visited a local reclamation yard to see if they had anything that fitted the bill. Amazingly, they had some jarrah, an Australian hard wood. It had been used as timber piles in the Grand Union Canal, until it was discovered that American red swamp crayfish were living behind the piling and the wood was removed and replaced in a bid to eradicate the invasive species.

“The jarrah is more than 100 years old, which is perfect for a beaten-up old truck. I cut it to size and machine routed the grooves for the metal bed strips then ﬁtted it to a steel frame, which lifts up for access to what lies beneath.”

The interior is a mix of old and new, and even something blue, a bit like a bridal ensemble. The bench seat is the original, albeit revamped, and the gauges are modern repro copies of those the Chevy left the factory with. A couple of period-looking gauges hung under the dash are old time army truck air brake dials, modiﬁed to provide Richard with the info he needs relating to the pick-up’s air ride system.

Talking of the air ride, Richard carefully designed the plumbing to only incorporate a single solenoid that controls the tank pressure. Everything else is controlled manually, so if something goes wrong it should be a relatively easy ﬁx on the side of the road.

Along with the plumbing, and everything else really, Richard sorted the pick-up’s electrics himself using a generic aftermarket kit with a 12-circuit fuse box. The exhaust system that exits just behind the cab is Richard’s handiwork, and he also fitted an electric wiper kit. Twice actually, as working on his back to install it behind the dash, he inadvertently fitted it upside down the firsttime round.

User friendly

Richard finished the project and got the pick-up on the road around May 2016. Since then, he’s clocked up around 10,000 miles of pretty much trouble-free motoring. “The rear axle is running 2.73 gears so it’s never going to win a drag race. It flies down the motorway though and easily cruises at modern day traffic speeds.

Wheels are Detroit Steels, 8 x 18 at the front and one-off 10¼ x 20 at the rear. Wanting a really tight ﬁt, Richard had the rear rims cut and banded to the right size by Steve Feathers at Banded Custom Wheels in Chelmsford. Chances are they will be sporting a different colour powder coating sometime soon. Rubber band tyres are Uniroyal at the front and 35-proﬁle Dunlop SP Sport 01 at the back

Above: Directional duties are handled by a Banjo wheel mounted on an aftermarket tilt steering column. The dash houses a repro speedo and multi-gauge, while the air ride gauges mounted underneath have military origins. Some of the original Chevy switches have been retained, with the modern switchgear for the air ride being hidden from sight

Left: The original bench seat has been refurbished, right down to the inclusion of heater pads, and trimmed in Nappa leather by a guy in Essex. The diminutive door cards have been trimmed in similar fashion

“I built it to be user friendly and an everyday usable truck. It drives real nice and sits great, especially when parked up, although I do tend to drive it lower than I should do. As long as I don’t go mad that’s bearable and as someone once said, ‘if it ain’t scraping it ain’t low enough.’

“There were a few tuning issues at the beginning, and it did run too hot, but a fresh, more suitable radiator sorted that. A case of function over form I guess, as the old school style rad I ﬁrst ﬁtted looked better but wasn’t up to the job. The truck’s been really good and has never let me down.

“I’ve not painted the bodywork at all and as it sits outside all year round. I think its ﬁnish has improved over time. It was whiter when I ﬁrst got it, which may have been a light coat of primer applied over the original paint that is gradually wearing off. I rub it down with linseed oil every now and then, which works well. The powder coating on the wheels has taken a bashing so they may be in for a colour change in the near future, but I don’t plan to do anything else to it.

Question is whether Richard is sitting back reﬂecting on what he has achieved with the pick-up or planning the build of that roadster he has in stock?

“Thanks to Darren Smart, Steve Feathers, Dave Nuthall and everybody that gave me good advice along the way. Special thanks to Liz, my girlfriend, who has been at my side every step of the journey.”

The wood used for the bed ﬂoor is older than the pick-up itself. The pipe running around the bed sides came from an old diesel bowser on the farm which Richard put on the pick-up as a giggle. That was 8 years ago, and it’s been there ever since

“I built a ’31 coupe a couple of years ago that I haven’t used much yet, and I’ve a ’28 / ’29 roadster in raw form that might get built. I’ve enough to keep me busy without messing with the truck!”

In no way is this a show vehicle. Instead, it is a usable hauler that can be used and abused, if need be, and one that is maturing with age. It is pretty much just what Frank wanted. You can’t ask for more than that. CC

Clamps & Crush Tubes are Stainless Steel

When you build cars for a living, sometimes you need a little incentive to build one for yourself

Words: Mike Pye Pics: Alan Kidd

In the thoroughly modern age in which we live, things are just done differently.

The Luddites among us – and I do include myself in that group – might prefer face-to-face interaction and good old telephone calls but, as those of us with young kids will be painfully aware, that’s not necessarily how the younger generations want to operate.

That said, I’m still taken aback when doing interviews for Custom Car features and people tell me they don’t use email / WhatsApp (other messaging services are available) or the internet. That’s not the case with the young guns at Old Bones Fabrication in Andover though.

A quick Google of that company name will bring up countless Facebook, Instagram and YouTube links, with a rash of accompanying hashtags. #retrorace is just one of them, and neatly explains what this car is all about. I’ll let the main man there, Steve Jones, explain: “It wasn’t meant to be a competition at first. It was just something that came together with Anthony [Fryett] at Autostyl and Ged [Bermingham] at Body and Soul Auto Works. None of us had ever met each other, we were just chatting over social media and one of the subjects that kept coming up was that we all had our own projects, but never got time to work on them.

“I know, let’s have a build off!”

The power of three

That in itself is a perfect example of the power of social media as the three businesses are situated in Hampshire, Cornwall and Cardiff respectively, so it’s not like they were popping in to check on each other’s progress. At least not in person.

And so, during the dark hangover of Covid in 2021, the stage was set for a three-way build off, with the ambitious target of the Retro Rides Weekender in early 2022.

All three builders already had their project vehicles in stock. Steve’s was a 1958 Series 1 Hillman Husky he’d bought about four years previously. Antony down in Cornwall owned an ex-US postal service Grumman

“We all just figured we needed a deadline to get our arses in gear and actually finish something for ourselves”

LLV van, into which he planned to insert a six-cylinder Mercedes OM606 diesel motor, while over in Wales Ged pulled a ’65 Ford F-250 long bed out of storage, with plans to mildly uprate the 362ci FE motor that was in it and generally improve the running gear.

“We all just ﬁgured taht we needed a deadline to get our arses in gear and actually ﬁnish something for ourselves, rather than just doing customer work all the time,” recalls Steve.

There was certainly no shortage of enthusiasm for the build off at the start, but it very quickly became apparent that what there was a shortage of was time. “And of

course egos came into it,” laughs Steve. “It was always good natured, but we all wanted to outdo each other as well, and to use the cars as a platform to show what we, and our various businesses, were capable of.”

Realising they had been a tad optimistic about the timescale, the deadline was pushed forward to the Retro Rides Gathering at Shelsley Walsh in August 2022. That still didn’t leave much time.

Atlantic crossing

Part of what attracted Steve to the Husky in the ﬁrst place was that it was an unusual car, particularly being a left-hand drive

example which had twice made the journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Anthony’s Grumman, meanwhile, is a right-hooker despite being as American as mom’s apple pie, because while the postman always knocks twice he doesn’t want to get knocked over even once.

“I’d ﬁrst seen the car when it was having some work done on it at Valley Gas,” recalls Steve. “I just loved the colours, and how quirky it was. So when it came up for sale a short while after for a ridiculously cheap price, I snapped it up.”

The car had been given a new coat of paint at some stage in America and ﬁtted

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Above: Engine is a 2.0-litre four pot from a Ford Focus ST170. That number refers to the power output as standard, but this one makes a little more now, thanks to…

Right: …the addition of a Holset HE221 turbo with internal wastegate on a Steve-made manifold. Other details include a Mamba blow-off valve, Ramair Proram ﬁlter and ARP rod bolts. Otherwise it’s stock internally, but should still make around 300bhp

with a 2.3-litre, four-cylinder, Ford Lima engine and auto’ ’box. That’s the lacklustre, base model engine of the Mustang II range that came on line in 1974.

“I didn’t care about the engine as I was always going to pull the running gear, but it had this lovely patina that I was really keen to keep,” explains Steve. “Price was a big factor in the whole build off. It was all self-funded, and I’m not made of money, so I had to think everything through from an engineering perspective rather than just throw money at it.”

The concept, then, was to give the Husky a kind of road / race makeover, all within the conﬁnes of the original body. And not to paint it. The race was on.

Steve’s choice of power unit was the similar, but vastly better, 2.0-litre, fourcylinder Ford Focus ST170 engine. To give the engine bay some visual appeal, he decided to ﬁt Omex individual throttle bodies (ITBs as the tuner crowd likes to call ’em) and back that lot up with a six-speed manual ’box from a Mazda RX-8, which was picked up for a song.

“I was going to keep it naturally aspirated at ﬁrst, but then decided to make life more diﬃcult for myself by banging a turbo on it,” he says with a grin. That of course meant more one-off fabrication work was going to be required, but the result was a substantial boost – no pun intended – to the potential power output.

Audi TT inlet plenum was an eBay score. Steve modiﬁed it for the intercooler pipework and it feeds into a set of Omex direct to head throttle bodies. 440cc injectors are from a Vauxhall VXR

Car was 900kg originally and Steve reckons it weighs around 850kg now. With some 300bhp on tap, that’s enough to make it a lively performer

Talking point

“Many tuners don’t like turbo through throttle bodies, it’s not the done thing, but I just see that as a challenge,” adds Steve. “Plus, I knew it would make for a talking point at the shows.”

The plan all along was to keep the car understated looking – so no fancy chrome wheels, the original paint and just a mild update to the interior. Of course, things progressed from there, in every area. They always do, right?

The biggest setback came when Steve started looking more closely at the chassis in order to tidy up the big hole that had been

cut in it for the previous engine and make new engine and gearbox mounts.

“These cars actually have a pretty decent chassis originally, so I was just going to strengthen it where needed and use bespoke air bags over shocks at the front, because of the lack of room for anything else really. However, it turned out the ﬂoorpans had been replaced at some point – and when I say replaced, I mean new sections had been put in but not welded in, just gobbed over with inches of sealer. Finding that took the wind out of my sails a bit,” he recalls.

The overall premise never changed, but things evolved as the build progressed. “It

was always going to be my car, not just an advert for the business. So I tried to do it as well as I could, and put a lot of thought into making it a nice, fun car to drive.

“Even with the best intentions, though, you can’t build a car like this on a budget. If you want to do the best you can, you have to be prepared to dig deep at times. It’s the time itself, though, that is the biggest investment.”

Swanky kit

That’s why you’ll find some pretty swanky components under the crusty skin, from

Wheels are the original Husky steels that were originally banded but then later turned into three-piece, 17-inch split rims. Tyres are 165/40-17s and 195/40-17s

the Wilwood pedal and cylinder set up to the Ford GT-spec, six-pot billet calipers on custom made 300mm discs from Wortec up front.

Save for the strengthened and modified Hillman lower front arms, the suspension is entirely made by Steve, with bag-over-strut air bags all round supplied by Limebug. The rear end is now a triangulated 4-bar supporting a Quaife LSD-equipped Atlas axle and Sierra brakes.

“Yeah, I suppose I kind of fell into the trap I was trying to avoid,” grins Steve.

So, did the three car builders make their self-imposed deadline?

The truck from Wales fell by the wayside early on, the pressure of running a business taking its toll. But the other two builds did arrive at Shelsley Walsh under their own steam and needless to say both went down a storm. Mission accomplished.

Steve admits the Husky wasn’t entirely finished at that point and so cites he first big road trip as the journey to Petrolheadonism in London in 2023, in the company of Anthony and his Grumman. Two hours in

“I don’t have the capacity to have a really nicely painted vehicle in my life,” says Steve. Hence why Dan Payne at Payne’s Pinstriping was called in to add a dose of faux patina to the existing weathering, along with the company call-outs on the doors. Note all the chrome work has been brushed to take away the shine

central London congestion showed up the fact the cooling system needed a major rethink, but the boys still had a lot of fun.

“Mine and Ant’s relationship has grown immeasurably over time and that’s been an integral part of the Husky build. In fact, I’d say one of the real highlights of this whole thing has been not just building a unique car for myself but building friendships, making memories and enjoying the journey, even when shit goes wrong.”

Thankfully, the engine survived the overheating experience and some excellent

after-sales service from Edwin at Motorsport Electronics – the supplier of the car’s standalone ECU – has helped coax it up to form since. “Those guys have been brilliant,” reports Steve.

Another big thumbs up comes for Chris Burns at Retro Retrims in Taunton who has had the Husky in on a couple of occasions to improve and upgrade the interior.

Thrill ride

So, after all that effort, I asked, what’s it like to drive? Cue laughter. “I had quite a few

problems with it last year,” Steve admits, “but now I’ve got the cooling and the boost sorted. It’s quite a handful. The suspension and ride is actually quite nice, but it’s still like driving a vibrating bean can.” Hence why it’s in the trimmers right now for a headliner and a bit more interior. “As it is now, you can’t drive it without noise cancelling headphones.

“It’s powerful, but not stupidly so, and the turbo comes in instantly; there’s no lag. When it does, it pulls you all over the place, and you’ve got to have your wits about you.

Under the faux patina paint, this car is all about the details. And there are plenty of them to keep you coming back for more

“It’s definitely a thrill ride, but what I like best is how much it makes everybody else smile”

Above: Door panels and Cobra Cub buckets were trimmed by Chris at Retro Retrims in distressed material to bring them in line with the exterior paintwork. At time of writing, the Husky was back with Chris for some additional soft furnishing to make it a little more hospitable to drive

“I suppose I kind of fell into the trap I was trying to avoid”

Below: Wilwood pedal set-up works a pretty fancy set of custom spec’d front brakes from Wortec that sees Ford GT-spec six-pot calipers clamp down on 300mm discs

Steve says he just had to have a CAE shifter, and reports that it’s amazing to use, though with a six-speed ’box the gears are so close together you have to be very precise with it. Hydraulic handbrake looks like a ﬂy off unit, but has a lock-out function so it can operate as a regular one too

As Mota Lita steering wheels are virtually next door to the Old Bones workshop, Steve popped in to see if they had a boss for a Hillman column kicking around. Amazingly, they found one, and did him a killer deal on the dished Mk3 wood rim wheel to boot. Gauges are by New Vintage USA, the big one being a beige face Quadzilla Woodward that covers oil pressure, fuel level, revs and GPS speedo. Elsewhere, you’ll ﬁnd a separate water temp gauge and down in the console a clock, AFR meter and the air ride controls

The display in the rear adds to the fun aspect of the build. The laughing gas tank is the air reservoir, while the gas welding torch is the air exit when the system is purged. The air ride install is another area Steve says may get a revamp in the near future

What looks like a cup holder behind the seats is Steve’s stereo system – a Bluetooth speaker that uses his ’phone as a head unit, though this is another area in line for a revamp. Car might also get a half ’cage before its planned trip round Goodwood Motor Circuit later this year

“It’s deﬁnitely a thrill ride, but what I like best is how much it makes everybody else smile. You can’t really not like it.”

The icing on the cake for all Steve’s efforts was being placing in the Top 3 at BHP Fuel Fest in Exeter. Then being invited to be part

of the 2023 Hot Wheels Legends tour and making it to the Top 10 in that, and winning the Best Old School award at Tucked. Recognition where it’s due.

Asked if he has any further plans for the car, Steve was quick to reply: “My goal for this year is to take it up the quarter mile to see what it will do, as well as round the track at the Retro Rides Weekender at Goodwood in May. I think I’ll learn a lot more about driving it there, though it needs some better tyres for grip, and an electric steering upgrade might also be wise,” he laughs.

That laugh is what this project has been about all along. Sure, there have been unforeseen diﬃculties, and no doubt a few sleepless nights along the way, but it all started out as a bit of fun and the end result is a very individual car that is clearly a lot of fun to drive. CC

“Thanks to Ant at Autostyl for helping me stick at it and getting me through some awkward times. Also the whole Old Bones team that have helped out, Paul at Wortec for the brakes, Edwin at Motorsport Electronics for help with the ECU and mapping, Chris at Retro Retrims and Dan at Payne’s Pinstriping for the paint and logos.”

NSRA SWAP MEET | NORTH WEALD, ESSEX, 2 MARCH

WORDS AND PICS: DAVE BIGGADYKE

Pulling into North Weald Airfield for this year’s staging of the NSRA Southern Swap Meet invoked emotions previously unencountered at this event. The bright blue skies and brilliant sunshine were a phenomenon rarely associated with this season’s-opening gathering of eager traders and overly enthusiastic punters.

Okay, I had to scrape the ice off the car before setting off, but that was a small price to pay for a day of warmth and brightness. I’m sure some people exhibited

Pod face before trading ceased, and I’ve never experienced that before.

Was that an omen though? It’s on the cards that after a run of seven years, this was to be the last Swap Meet to be held at this particular Essex location. That was another reason for the mixed emotions, but if it proves to be the case it was a ﬁtting swan song. The place was buzzing and the moolah ﬂowing.

For many, the success of any such event is all down to the bargains you score or the parts you manage to move on to a new

home. It’s far more than that though – it’s catching up with old friends and maybe even making new ones. If the only thing you bought was a cup of tea, then it wasn’t a waste of a day, it was a memory made. And a happy one at that.

The red and blue coats of the NSRA team that pulled it all together did a great job once again. We didn’t hear a single complaint regarding the organisation and that’s a credit to all involved. It is, however, saddening to hear that post-event, the task they undertake was made even harder by

“The place was buzzing and the moolah flowing”

There were plenty of slot mags up for grabs. This set of 15-inch rims and tyres was reasonably priced at £650, although the 5 on 5½ inch PCD rather limits their appeal

We don’t know the asking price but presume it was reasonable as this

a few selfish individuals. These volunteers accept that clearing up litter and general waste is par for the course, but disposing of unsold items left behind by thoughtless

traders takes that to another level. Just because it’s a chore loading up and carting home bike wheels, suspension arms and steering columns is no excuse for leaving

them behind. Please spare a thought for the people left to clear up your mess. Fortunately, that was only a slight downside to a great day, and something

Also looking sexy in the sunshine was this restored Harrison heater which originally kept the chill off the occupants of a Pontiac Deluxe

Super sexy Eelco fuel pumps and associated hardware were up among the rarest items on offer

Straight six-powered ’35 Chevy coupe looked to be a solid car. The asking price was £13,500

’32 Ford chassis sold almost instantly

SHOW TIME

The car show area in the car park was the busiest I’ve ever seen it, no doubt thanks to the sunshine. Some had already left by the time I got to walk around them, but here are just a few of those I did come across – some of which sported for sale signs supplementing those on offer within the trading area:

Resplendent in the Essex sunshine, this ’69 Dodge Charger was one of the cleanest muscle cars I came across

‘65 Ford Falcon runs a rebuilt 302ci V8, C4 transmission with shift kit, 8-inch rear axle with Trutrac LSD and uprated suspension. The interior has been renewed and features a Dakota dash. It’s a lot of car for the £23k asking price

Making the most of the street and strip, Rob Turrington came along in Anglia Saxon, his 10-second Outlaw Anglia race car

Chopped and 2-doored ’65 Vauxhall Victor FB is a new one on me. The body is mounted on an Audi S4 floor pan complete with 4.2-litre V8, coupled to a 6-speed auto’ with traditional shift and flappy paddles and full Quattro 4x4 running gear. How cool is that?

The Kaufmanns arrived in a couple of cars built by the late Dave Haskell, the most recent build being the ’34 sedan in the foreground with the Pop parked up behind it. Both understated cars oozing class and quality

If memory serves me correctly, this flip fronted, 2-doored ’48 Austin Devon was originally built by William Cattell in the late noughties

Built by Burnham Autos in 2000 for Mike Hughes, power for this Rodline bodied ’34 coupe comes from a built 3.9-litre V8 from a TVR mated to a BorgWarner T5 5-speed manual gearbox. The price tag on this well proven hot rod is £32k

Another car flexing its muscle was this ’69 Pontiac GTO Judge, with rear spoiler and concealed headlights. Presumably a Ram Air 400 lurks beneath that telltale twin scooped bonnet

According to the sign this ’68 GMC pick-up may be for sale. Under the bonnet there’s a 420bhp small block Chevy mated to TKO-500 5-speed transmission, and the possible asking price is £25k

Dom Romney has been punting this ’40 Ford coupe for a while, but amazingly it hasn’t sold yet. The asking price is £36k and for that you get a 350 Chevy with double hump heads, a TH350 trans’ and a whole wad of history

Ideal for those who like to be that bit different, this ’34 Hudson Terraplane Deluxe, as favoured by John Dillinger, was a possible snip at £2500

Below: For extra huff and puff, this Dyers 8-71 blower complete with Hilborn EFI is ready to bolt on to a big block Chevy. It comes with everything needed including an EFI ECU and loom, a Weldon external fuel pump and Hilborn flow and return filters, all for the knock down price of £7500

Is it just me, or is the stock of used valve covers offered by Pete Whiteside increasing year on year?

An unusual swap meet offering was Will Clark’s Pro ET dragster. We understand it’s available for offers around £11k

Another pick-up and yet more patina. This ’72 Chevy runs a 350ci

motor and TH400 transmission, and the brakes have been rebuilt. All that for £19,500

Ford V6-powered Model A sedan Gasser was priced at a very reasonable £12,500, especially considering it’s registered as a Rodshop Model A Sedan

The sign on this Willys coupe simply read: “Yes. £17.5k.” Basic, but tells you all you need to know, I guess. Judging by the reg plate, our money is on the build being based on a Scimitar chassis

UK registered ’30 Model sedan looked solid for the asking price of 10 large. It comes with a new wood kit too

For those preferring a nicely painted finish, this ’54 Chevy 3100 has undergone a nut and bolt restoration and is fitted with a V8 and a Jag front clip. The price tag was £37,995

that most people wouldn’t have been aware of. We’ll leave the last word to NSRA Trade Co-ordinator, Andy Sawyer: “Despite having had major problems with pre-entries thanks to failings with Royal Mail, I believe both trader and public gate numbers were up on last year. I had people that sent in booking forms in January that I hadn’t received, and going through BACS payments to reconcile bookings up until Saturday evening wasn’t much fun.

“A shortage of helpers and Blue Crew, Tim Mansell with his broken wrist and Trevor Gardiner having to leave early due to illness meant we were pushed. However we all pulled together to make it into a successful event.

“The ground has indeed been sold – last year should have been the last and, as far as we are aware, this one definitely was the last. If anyone has any ideas of an alternative venue around the same area, we would be interested in having a look to enable the Swap Meet to continue in 2026.” Over to you guys. Your input in finding an alternative venue really would be appreciated. CC

Vortec crate

Words: Dave Biggadyke

Pics: Colin Ayres

We last visited Colin Ayres’ latest project in the August ’21 issue, so maybe a brief recap is in order. Project X, as we refer to it, had been buzzing round in Colin’s head for around 30 years before he embarked on the build when Covid hit.

In the feature we ran almost four years ago, the ﬁrst stages of the two-door coupe conversion had been completed in Colin’s workshop. Meanwhile, Ray and Connor had been busy over at Rayvern Hydraulics in Guyhirn, Cambridgeshire. It was there that the chassis had been upgraded and notched, with a new chassis section being grafted on

at the rear to ensure the car lays frame when parked up.

Considering who was fabricating the rolling chassis, it will come as no surprise that air bags were ﬁtted on each corner. The engine and transmission were installed, and the dramatically reworked body mounted onto the revamped rolling chassis.

Since our last feature, life has had a habit of getting in the way of the project at times, as so often can happen. Colin’s not one to do things by halves though, and his life issues included selling his business and retiring, along with having a heart attack. That is all behind him now though and by the time you get to read this the car will have been

painted. That is assuming Colin can make his mind up between the two colour choices he’s narrowed it down to.

A slot has already been secured with Chris Vining at Custom Coach Trimming in Evesham to get the interior stitched, so things are moving at pace right now. Colin was planning on debuting the car at this year’s Supernats but has wisely decided that may be a step too far and has now set his sights on a 2026 debut.

The time is ripe, however, to reveal the true identity of Project X – not least of all because the front grille shell pictured here is a bit of a giveaway. Give yourself a pat on the back if you spotted it’s a 1961 Bentley S2.

The base vehicle for Project X was originally a 4-door sedan, which Colin saved from being scrapped and bought sans engine and running gear

The original rear ‘screen aperture was laid down to smoothly ﬂow from the trailing edge of the roof to the top of the boot.

When we last visited Project X, the laid-back front ‘screen was ﬁnished…

Rewind to when Colin ﬁrst started the project by bare metalling the doors, bonnet and boot lid, which are ali while the body itself is steel

The roof was cut off and laid back to convert the sedan to a coupe. The B-pillars were to be removed so their misalignment was no problem

Power for the car comes from a 1993-vintage, fuel injected 6750cc V8, mated to a GM 4L80E automatic transmission

…and fresh metal had been added to inﬁll the rear side sections of the roof.

When he removed the car’s roof, Colin also relieved the doors of their window surrounds

With the new rooﬂine formed, it was a matter of trial and error with black primer until the new length of the front doors was determined

The B-pillars, cut from the ’93 Bentley that provided the engine and gearbox, were let into the sills and welded into place

The template for the door window glass clearly shows the angle of the trailing edges

A completed lengthened door frame awaiting a new ali outer skin

With lengths of box section temporarily holding the new B-pillars in place, patterns for the rear side windows were formed

The front doors were lengthened by around 8 inches, with an extended ali inner framework being formed ﬁrst

The rear edges of the lengthened doors were cut from the donor ’93 Bentley. A clever move as their proﬁle matches the new B-pillars and they have bear claw latches already ﬁtted

As the fresh metal was to be welded to the body, the shortened rear door voids were filled with sheet steel. Steel frameworks were fitted first, adding strength and providing mounting points for the window winder mechanisms

Prior to ﬁtting the new outer skins, the mechanisms for the powered windows were ﬁtted inside door frames

Wheels of choice are 18-inch diameter Coys forged billet ali smoothies

With all the unwanted holes in the bulkhead welded up, Colin applied a skim of ﬁller to smooth it out

The end justiﬁed the means, with the sedan now looking like it could have rolled off the production line as a 2-door coupe

With the doors now completed, the time-consuming task of body prep began

The front bumper is original – all three of them – with the overriders removed. Now tucked into the body, three bumpers had to be cut and shut to form the V shape that ﬂows around the bottom of the grille shell. This itself was chopped around 2 inches at the bottom

As was to be expected, getting the bodywork nice and smooth was a lengthy process

The tucked-in rear bumper is also original, but now with the overriders removed and cut outs added through which the exhaust tailpipes will exit

Unlike father, like

Even

if your dad wasn’t

into cars, his influence can still lead you down the righteous path

Words: Tom Alderney Pics: Alice Fairhead

So many of us have our dads to thank for getting us into cars. It might be the classic old dailies they took us to school in, the brightly coloured hot rods they brought out at the weekend or those times we spent helping them in the garage… gather together any group of car people and a story about dad will never be far away.

Gary Byrne’s dad managed to get him into it without even being interested in cars himself. ‘His idea of working on his own cars was limited to emptying the ashtray!’ laughs Gary. ‘But dad worked in flight operations for Air France at Heathrow all his life and if he

found any interesting magazines people had left on inbound flights, he’d bring them home for my mum or me and my brothers.

‘He regularly brought home copies of Mad magazine, which we all loved, but more importantly he’d give me any car magazines he found. And because a lot of the inbound flights carried passengers from the US, he often found titles such as Car Craft and, most important of all, Hot Rod magazine.’

Gary had already been into cars of the Corgi, Dinky, Airfix and Hot Wheels variety, and now he was ready for the real thing. Reading the American rodding mags led to him attending the Crystal Palace Custom Car

shows in the early 70’s and, being a South London boy, being part of the Chelsea Cruise scene in its very early days.

His first forays into customising were ‘the usual wide wheels on mundane cars.’ But then he joined the 1980 Hot Rod and Custom UK magazine trip to the Western Street Rod Nationals in San Jose and came home inspired to build his own rod. Using a 283ci SBC and a chassis from Vital Equipment, by the mid-80s he was going about in a Pop. This is something we’ll come back to later. But 1989 saw Gary doing the honeymoon thing, and we all know where that leads. Sweden, obviously.

son

Wedding present

It’s not the first place that comes to mind, but Gary had just married a Swedish girl so in that sense it was perfect. In fact it was so perfect that while they were out there, he bought a ’61 Volvo PV544. He says his new wife ‘probably wasn’t too surprised.’ They drove it home and got down to the business of living, home-making, having kids and… buying another Volvo. It was 1996 by now and the Byrne garage became home to a ’67 Amazon two-door which went on to gain American Racing TT2 alloys and ‘the usual suspension mods.’ What he really wanted in it was a V8, however,

and two years ago he bought a blueprinted 383 Chevy, put a Tremec TKX behind it and commissioned Geof Hauser to build a bulletproof 9” rear axle to seal the deal.

Sounds like it’s going to be a bit of kit, that. We shouldn’t have too long to wait to see the proof, either, because Gary expects to have it back on the road this year. At which point he’ll be a man with a choice of Amazons to have fun with.

That’s because come 2014, the pressure of only owning one of Volvo’s finest became too much and he picked up a longabandoned project which had last been on the road in the ‘90s and not touched in

about half a decade. If this sounds like an impulse purchase, however, it was anything but: he knew exactly what he was wanting to achieve and how to get there.

Having seen Vöx, the famous Ferrarislaying Amazon on YouTube, whose builder Mattias Vöcks went on to become Chief Engineer at Koenigsegg, Gary was inspired. Not so much by its speed as its style: Vöx, which is now owned by Guy Martin, is a two-door wagon, and that’s what he wanted to create.

The attraction of the project he found, ‘covered in dust and full of junk in the proverbial council lock-up,’ was that

Amazon and swallow hard

This is what Gary says he should have walked away from on that November’s day in 2014. But apart from anything else, those tail lights were a cry for help from a car that needed saving…

A year or so later, the huge job of replacing the crusty stuff underneath the vehicle progresses. Repairs were needed to the front crossmember… …and the inner wings…

Before and after: every offside underﬂoor crossmember needed to be replaced, along with both ﬂoorpans

Someone put a lot of work into doing that to the tail light housing. Gary put a lot of work into putting it in the dustbin of history

Back home after half a decade untouched and ready to be loved. Note the crude attempt at tunnelling the headlights

…not to mention the outers

We once saw a rally crew using ﬁller to hide a crack in their cage after a roll. So this is only the most fearsome bodge we’ve come across. The T bar that sprays oil on to the timing gears, er, who needs that when a wood screw ﬁts in the same hole…?

The lower portion of the panels aft of the rear arches was looking as bad as more or less everything else on the bottom half of the car. Gary used replacement panels from a sedan – the ribs were never used on the wagon in factory form

The rounded back bumper is no place for a number plate, so Gary cut and shut it with the mount from a spare front unit – leaving the tailgate clear for pinstriping 15.

‘I was suffering from a case of rose-tinted specs’

YELLOW CARS

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n Grouped Display Vehicles must be booked in advance

n Access on Sunday 6th July 10am-4pm

n Save 20% when you book in advance

n £8 per adult | £4 per child (5-15)

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Real ale and cider tent | Street food vendors and food court | Picnic area

Shop from our many stalls selling everything from car accessories, camping equipment, gifts and novelties | Children’s inflatables and activities

JOIN US FOR A CAR EVENT UNLIKE ANY OTHER IN THE UK

Thousands of yellow cars are coming together for the biggest gathering of yellow cars on record. Bear witness to the spectacleit’s bound to put a smile on faces young and old alike! Take a look around our groups of display vehicles, including Super Cars, Classics, 4x4s and Custom Cars. And look out for some famous cars and faces you just might recognise.

someone had already started taking it down that same road. ‘The drivetrain was still fitted but the shell was gutted,’ he says. ‘The two-door conversion had been started and the doors sort of latched. The seller had performed some dubious ‘custom’ modifications to the tail lights (twin ’39 teardrop lights set at 45 degrees to each other!) and the front headlight mounts had been modified for a crude tunnelled look.

‘I should have walked away but I was suffering from a case of rose-tinted specs, thinking I’d save myself all the hassle of doing the two-door conversion. Famous last words! So obviously I bought the thing and dragged it back from near Dartford to my home in Hampshire.’

Hideous

If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out, to quote one of the most extraordinarily optimistic suggestions anyone has ever made. Gary’s eyes weren’t offending him but those lashed-up front wings deﬁnitely were so the ﬁrst thing he did was pluck them out and dump them.

Then he got the engine ﬁred up, which wasn’t as much of a mission as you might expect after all that down time; one of the reasons why Amazons are so popular, and enduring, is that their ‘Red Block’ engines are pretty much bomb proof. This one appeared to have been rebuilt at some point with oversized pistons, but it seemed to have been done well… right up until Gary pulled the timing cover to ﬁt a hotter camshaft

Optional ‘shorty’ roof rack from the US is almost as rare a sight over here as, well, a two-door wagon. The slats’ position almost touching the roof itself means it’s not much use for actually carrying things, but it doesn’t half look cool

and to inspect the timing gear. ‘On looking closely, I spotted that the small T-bar which sprays the timing gears with oil had broken off and in its place was a wood screw!’ Reassuring. But he pressed on and got the engine sorted, and with a half-race cam and 40 DCOE carbs it showed 150bhp on the dyno. The problem was that you had to wring its neck to get at the power – so he subsequently ﬁtted a fully rebuilt 2.0-litre Red Block engine with a milder cam and 45 DCOEs. This only puts out 140bhp but in Gary’s words it’s ‘inﬁnitely nicer to drive, with lots of torque and easily accessible power.’ There’s an overdrive gearbox behind it, rebuilt by Hardy Engineering in Leatherhead.

Down below, Gary stripped off all the suspension, replaced a bent nearside lower wishbone and sent everything off to be blasted and powder coated. ‘The classic rally boys love Amazons,’ he says, ‘it was easy to find and fit a full poly bush set and Gaz adjustable shocks front and rear. I also fitted

an adjustable rear axle panhard rod and an uprated front anti roll bar, as well as new front discs, calipers and rear drums. Amazon suspension is by coils all round, so I ﬁtted 60mm lowered springs at the front and 40mm at the rear with both pairs supplied by Classic Swede in Anglesea.

‘Amazon parts availability is amazing, with several specialists here and abroad. In the UK, the top guy is Simon Richardson at Brookhouse Volvo in Ipswich – if he doesn’t stock something, he can get it!’

So now it’s running and driving right, but it’s still more of a souped-up classic than a custom. That’s however, is where the twodoor body comes in.

‘It was a nightmare when I bought it,’ admits Gary. ‘The inner wings were just crudely bent sheets of ﬂat steel. I replaced both inner and outer wings and kick panels, and the front crossmember needed repair.

‘Every offside underﬂoor crossmember was replaced, along with both ﬂoorpans.

Whitewalls from North Hants Tyres live upon a set of early style banded steelies with matching hub caps, measuring 6.5” at the front and 7” at the rear

Only a true Amazon expert would recognise that the side trims are hybrids and the ribbed lower panels are from a sedan

The rear number plate is normally located on the tailgate, exactly where Gary’s pinstriping needed to be. To clear the way, he moved it to the back bumper – which is curved, so he let in the mount from a spare front bumper he had handy

“Luckily,” on the nearside only one crossmember and half the ﬂoorpan needed doing! Then at the rear, much fabricating and welding was needed not just to repair the sheet metal but to remove the previous owner’s custom mods.

Flow Rider

And there’s more. When Gary bought the Volvo, its rear side windows were very long and, he says, ‘made the vehicle look a bit

like a hearse.’ His solution was to fabricate a C-pillar, cutting it at an angle to match the D-pillar. He also cut and angled the door and body B-pillars to match the same angle as the D-pillars.

‘The point of this,’ he says, ‘was to make the car look “factory” as opposed to modified. I think I’ve succeeded, because at first look most people tell me that they never realised that Volvo made a two-door estate. I like the way the whole body flows.’

Volvo’s Red Block engines will put up with most things, and the 1.8-litre example Gary got with the Amazon was putting up with having been repaired using a wood screw. It still soldiered on, however, though with a half-race cam and 40 DCOE carbs it only woke up when it was being thrashed. The solution was to swap in a later 2.0-litre lump, with 45 DCOEs and a milder cam meaning it’s only a little less potent but a whole lot more drivable

There’s a big giveaway waiting, which is when Gary pops the solenoids to open the doors. This would be giveaway enough in itself, but then you’re confronted with a set of suicide doors and anyone who still thinks it’s factory standard at this point really needs to go to more car shows. He says the solenoids were a lot of work to set up – as was the doors’ ﬁtment, with 7-8mm panel gaps on three edges and 10mm on the remaining one.

It might make people think it’s a rare factory 2-door wagon when they ﬁrst clap eyes on it, but when those two doors turn out to be of the suicide persuasion everyone can immediately see that it’s something out of the ordinary…

The seats were retrimmed in leather to mimic the design of the original vinyl. The door cards and rear side panels match them, though these are all custom, as are the carpets down below

Below: The front grilles were donated by Gary’s son Alex, who had just removed them from a ’64 Amazon of his own

Above: Among the abominations Gary had to undo when he ﬁrst bought the Amazon were twin ’39 teardrop tail-lights set at 45 degrees to each other. Seldom has the phrase ‘less is more’ been so literally true

The factory-fresh appearance also hides a range of other modiﬁcation which ‘you’d have to be a Volvo anorak to spot.’ There’s a one-piece front bumper instead of the original three-piece unit, for example, and the rear number plate (which normally lives on the tailgate) sits in a front mount cut out from a spare bumper and let in to the curved back unit. Ribbed lower panels behind the rear wheels were saloon-only from the factory, the estate getting plain steel, and

the long side trims are made up from P1800 rear side trims on both doors with twodoor Amazon rear trims behind them.

Holding it all up are early style banded steelies with matching hub caps measuring 6.5” at the front and 7” at the rear, wrapped in whitewalls from North Hants Tyres. The front grilles, meanwhile, were donated by Gary’s son Alex (‘he’s a good boy!’) who removed them from his own ’64 Amazon.

want to add up the cost, unless of course it’s because they’re about to write an invoice. Not to worry, though, he has other things to occupy his mind.

Other things like that second Amazon, which at this moment in time is coming along very nicely. But that’s not all.

Remember what we were saying earlier on about his ﬁrst proper hot rod being a Pop? Well, much as he’s come to be an Amazon man he hasn’t forgotten his roots.

‘Marriage and kids intervened but I kept the Pop and by the late ‘90s, I had started work to radically change it. Unfortunately I was one year into the rebuild when my wife and I separated, giving me new priorities such as ﬁnding a new house for me and the boys we shared.

‘Everyone will know that selling any abandoned project takes time, which I simply didn’t have on my side. So I had to break my beloved Pop.’

That’s a downer and a half, but here comes the silver lining. ‘Possibly to assuage my guilt, I’ve recently bought the ex Keith Atkinson ’59 Pop Orange-A-Peel. Like my old one, this too is an abandoned rebuild project – I’m planning now to restore it back to its original 1980 spec.’

Amazon

The whole lot was finished in a coat of Volvo’s own Polestar Rebel Blue on the main body, with Fenster Grau (‘window grey!’) on the roof. Gary sprayed it at home, and also fitted the roof rack – a US market option ‘shorty’ unit and like hens’ teeth on this side of the Pond. ‘The chap I bought it from intended to fit it to his own Amazon estate but eventually sold it to me because he couldn’t bring himself to drill eight holes in his pristine roof to fit it! As a roof rack, it may look great but it’s actually almost useless because the slats sit directly on the roof, meaning you’re very likely to scratch the paint if you attempt to load it up. It does look good though!’ He won’t be the first person in Custom Car to fit something for that reason…

Inside, a full leather retrim matches the style of the original vinyl, while the door cards and rear side panels are all custom. Amazons normally have rubber floor mats, so after fitting a full set of insulation mats he had some custom carpets made and fitted by Hide and Seam in the New Forest.

Dare ye not

‘Mechanically,’ says Gary, ‘almost every component is new or rebuilt. I daren’t add up the cost!’ No-one who’s ever done a project

Exciting times ahead, then. But for now, Gary has a two-door wagon that looks like it was always meant to be that way and has the added bonus of winding up the sort of classic car sniffers who, frankly, need to be wound up at every opportunity. And best of all, it’s a constant reminder of why he fell in love with them in the ﬁrst place.

‘My older brother had an American school friend called Cal,’ he reminisces, ‘whose dad was a visiting lecturer on a one-year detachment from the States to teach at a London university. He owned a brand new cream coloured, left hand drive Amazon wagon, which rather strangely wore Swiss number plates.

‘That puzzled me, so on a trip in it one day I asked him why it had been registered in Switzerland. He explained that he always wanted one and decided that while he was over in Europe, he’d buy one and ship it back to Oregon after his year was up – and that he’d make a special trip to purchase his new Volvo in the country it came from!’

Gary chose not to correct him. But who knows, maybe after all these decades Cal is back home in the US and loving Amazons too. They’re easy to fall for, after all – and as we all know, so many of us have our dads to thank for getting us into cars. CC

The

originally wore a three-piece front bumper, which Gary has replaced with the cleaner lines of a one-piece unit

Auto focus

1975 remembered

The news regarding funny car racing at Santa Pod this season is sounding very positive indeed – especially in the ‘big show’ category, which will be running at four events and is excellent for race fans. The return of the Showtime name – coupled with US racer Terry Haddock driving – will be a combination to watch.

Dale Leeks will also be a driver to follow, as he transitions from two to four wheel competition at the sharp end. In addition will be the nostalgia nitro funnies in their own battles as well.

Way back, 50 years ago now, funny car racing was very much in its infancy, as it was less than two years previous that this class of car actually started to compete in Europe. What 1975 brought with it was the start of a more competitive era for this new favourite of race fans. Whereas in 1974, when there were a maximum of four cars late in the season, ’75 would see up to eight of the plastic fantastics doing their thing.

A major development was a four-round European Funny Car Championship planned for 1975, which featured two rounds at Mantorp, Sweden, along with two in the UK. This was sponsored by the Tor Line ferry company. The surprise was that the UK rounds did not feature Santa Pod. Clive Skilton’s European Dragways had set up the event in conjunction with the Swedish Hot Rod Association. Not only that, they were talking about an eight car field competing!

led on to a grand finale at Snetterton in September. But sod’s Law prevailed in the final run to claim the championship.

Yes, it was the old rivals out looking for the win. Clive’s car had lost reverse, and then had problems staging. Motors and drivers got very hot – and NDRC starter Phil Drage had to sprint into position to flag start them! Priddle disappeared, while Skilton changed lanes in pursuit. Arguments about not being ready followed, but eventually Dennis Priddle was announced as victor of the first ever European title.

The first round was unfortunately rained out, with the next being the NDRC meeting at Wroughton. It would have featured eight entries, but one of the Swedes had to cancel. Clive had joined the ranks for this year in his black VX4/90 Vauxhall, but it was his old nemesis Dennis Priddle who came out victorious in his new Avenger 2. After early problems finding grip, Dennis dominated the field, beating Clive in the final with FTD of 6.94/204 to 8.03s.

Clive got his revenge in Sweden, as the pair again ended up together in the final; which all

Not to be upstaged in the funny car stakes, the BDR&HRA July International at Santa Pod boasted a full eight-car field, although one of them was the newly completed final version of the Tee Rat fuel altered. Prime attraction was what would become the new Gladiator Vega for Allan Herridge to drive, which the Pod had imported. Driving the orange Chadderton and Okazaki car was the legendary Dale Emery – who was kept busy keeping the slick car in a straight line. Interestingly, it was Herridge in the old-style Stardust who came out victorious at the end of a busy

■ Words and Pics: Keith Lee

Leif Daback driving the blown Chevy Volvo-bodied Backﬁre entry. Note the ankle-biter canard wings on the car!

The Euro championship came down to this ﬁnal race at Snetterton. You can see Phil Drage between the two cars, as Priddle in the far lane shut down an out of shape Clive Skilton

Dennis Priddle in the Avenger 2, which saw him win the ﬁrst European funny car championship

weekend, as he actually reset both ends of the class record at 6.66s/213mph!

One thing this year brought with it was something which no driver wants to experience, when Leroy Chadderton came over in September to drive the car. It was the first scorching fireball to be witnessed in this country! Leroy kicked a rod out on a solo run for the final win, which demolished the motor in spectacular style. There have been more than a few more over the years, but I guess you can say that Leroy showed everyone how it was done!

This event also featured the first time that the new full track lighting system was used. This allowed fast – and most importantly safe – high-speed night action to take place.

In addition to the rise of funny car racing, 1975 also saw the introduction of what

would prove to be a very popular class –Pro Comp. Promising dragsters, funny cars and altereds in the mix, these could use either blown methanol motors or run injected nitro.

Kicking off with an event at Blackbushe, Mike Hall was the first victor in the popular Shutdown altered – now based on the original Priddle Avenger chassis, as he won that first eliminator in April. This win he repeated at the first Santa Pod event for Pro Comp in July, as he pushed the rapid Bantam into the sevens.

team gave it a real shot – only for the lights to apparently fail. Despite this, the slingshot got up and put in an awesome pass – all to no avail!

It was quite a year for Dennis Priddle, who was also busy doing battle in his Mr Revell front-engined fuel dragster. Early in the year, Santa Pod put up a £500 prize for the first 5-second run – and at a low-key one-day event on April 20, Dennis ended up match racing Pete Crane. The Priddle

They came round later in the day for a repeat. Priddle drove round Crane, as he again blitzed the quarter and recorded that amazing 6.04s number – which is still talked about by all who were there that memorable day.

Dennis himself was not so happy with what happened that day – and just two weeks later at Snetterton, he would be very shaken when his already halted car was clipped at high speed by an out of control dragster. By the end of the season, his own dragster would be in the hands of Mike Hall in Pro Comp as Dennis concentrated his attention on the blossoming funny car class.

Not a fuel car, or Pro Comp, but Sweden’s Svante Ericksson was virtually unbeatable in his unforgettable injected Chevy Jeep whenever he appeared

A modern funny car is a far cry from a 1975 model, but the principle is just the same in layout and intention. Hit it with all you have –and get the crowds cheering for more!

Dennis Priddle wowed everyone when he hit an outstanding 6.04s record in the old style front motor car. Shown against him is Pete Crane in Stormbringer

Fred Larsen in the Sundance Kid dragster. Out of the Commuter mould, the very new Norwegian dragster was a little light in the roll cage department

Dale Emery ﬁghting the imported Vega, which would eventually become Gladiator, after it was nearly destroyed in a ﬁreball!

Mike Hall in Shutdown is pictured during the inaugural Pro Comp eliminator, which was staged at Blackbushe

In from the cold Out & About

Words & Pics: Alice Fairhead

Event: Cold Turkey Run 2024

Date: 28 December

Venue: Cromer, Norfolk

As you probably know by now, the Brass Monkey run to Wells has come to an end. Fear not, though, we’ve all been rescued from the postChristmas blues by a replacement meet in Cromer.

Rather than one cruise to the finishing point, we had four, from Great Yarmouth, Swaffham, Bury St Edmunds and Peterborough via Kings Lynn. The cruises weren’t really on route for me, so I headed straight to Cromer to watch the cars arrive. With everyone gathered at the various starting points, they set off aiming to arrive in Cromer at around 11-11.30. The Swaffham cruise arrived first, followed by Great Yarmouth, then Peterborough/Kings Lynn and finally Bury.

Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side, with a heavy sea mist and chilly temperatures making it a rather short day out. A lot of people, myself included, decided not to stay as long as we would have if the sun had shown its face. Still, we didn’t let that get in the way of a good catch up.

For updates on this year’s meet keep an eye on Bod Here on Facebook.

Even with the weather so grim you can hardly see them, there’s nothing that can beat the sight and sound of a cruise coming your way

Chris Carr out and about in Irene, his Chevy van which we featured in our November ’23 issue

Tim Mansell was definitely the furthest travelled – 200-plus miles to get to Cromer in these sort of conditions is a seriously good effort

Ben and Gary Montgomery cruising Cromer

Old custom still going or new custom in progress? Either way, I’m interested to see what happens

That would be the biggest vehicle on site… and the smallest

Can’t remember the last time I saw an Edsel before this

weren’t to be deterred though

There’s no way you can fail to be cool with matching flame jobs

The miserable weather seemed to have kept most hot rods tucked away at home – these two

Vans are definitely making a comeback. Santa hats never went away

Phil Robinson in his Pop, closely followed by son Jacob in his 100e

BRENTACRE

NB: We advise you to double check with organisers that the event or show as listed is still going ahead, to avoid any wasted journeys. To submit an event, email alan.kidd@assignment-media.co.uk

APRIL 2025

12 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

12-13 American Super Stock Revival Rd 1 Melbourne Raceway Facebook: American Super Stock

12-13 Kickback Show Three Counties Showground, Malvern kickbackshow.com

12-13 No-Prep Drag Racing Manston Raceway Park, Kent Facebook: Manston Raceway Park

12-13 Spring Nationals Melbourne Raceway, York. www.straightliners.events

14 Top Speed Monday Elvington Airfield, Elvington, West Yorkshire. www.straightliners.events

15 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

18 Wheels Day Newbury Showground, Berkshire www.surreystreetrodders.com

19 American Car Meet Bird in Hand, Hayle, Cornwall www.propercornishcruisers.co.uk

18-20 Festival of Power Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

20 Grumpy’s Classic Bash Longport, Stoke-on-Trent Facebook: Grumpys Classic Bash

20 Huddersfield Auto / Retro Jumble. Brook Street, Huddersfield. www.phoenixfairs.jimdo.com

20 Krispy Kreme 20th Anniversary Cruise. Krispy Kreme, Shannon Corner, New Malden, Surrey. Facebook: Krispy Kreme Cruise Surrey

21 Easter Bonnet Parade. Banham, Norfolk. Facebook: Iceni C.A.R. Club

26 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

26 Straightliners Smeatharpe, Devon.www.straightliners.events

26 Gathering of Geezers IV Whitewebbs Museum of Transport, Enfield. Facebook: Whitewebbs Museum of Transport

27 Old Skool Cruisers Meet Anglia Motel, A17, Spalding, Lincs Facebook: Old Skool Kruisers

MAY 2025

2-4 Nostalgia Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

3-5 No-Prep Drag Racing Manston Raceway Park, Kent Facebook: Manston Raceway Park

3-5 Velocity Vintage Drags Manston Raceway Park, Kent www.velocityvintagedrags.racing

4 BHP Show Kent Showground, Detling, Maidstone. bhpshows.com

4 ‘Normous Newark Autojumble Newark Showground, Newark, Notts. www.newarkautojumble.co.uk

6 Hayling Hot Rods at the Beach. Hayling Island Seafront, Hampshire. Facebook: Hayling Hotrods at the Beach

7 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

10 Only Fools and Motors Meet The Five Bells, Tydd St Mary, Lincs Facebook: Only Fools and Motors

10 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

10-11 American Super Stock Revival Rd 1 Melbourne Raceway Facebook: American Super Stock

10-11 Melbourne Mayhem Melbourne Raceway, York. www.straightliners.events

11 Classic Ford Show South of England Showground. Facebook: Classic Ford Show

11 Victory Wheelers Hayling Reunion Funland Amusement Park, Hayling Island Facebook: Victory Wheelers

16-18 Border Raiders Run Bruce’s Cave Camping and Caravan Park, Kirkpatrick Fleming, Dumfriesshire. Facebook: Border Raiders Run 20-25

16-18 Doorslammers Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

16-19 Fins’n’Chrome Car Show Gypsy’s Green Stadium, South Shields. finsandchrome@hotmail.com

17 American Car Meet Bird in Hand, Hayle, Cornwall www.propercornishcruisers.co.uk

18 Classic Wheels Rutland Showground, Oakham www.classicwheelsrutland.co.uk

18 Krispy Kreme Cruise. Krispy Kreme, Shannon Corner, New Malden. Facebook: Krispy Kreme Cruise Surrey

20 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

22-25 Elvington Speed Week Elvington Airfield, Elvington, West Yorkshire. www.straightliners.events

23-26 Run to the Sun Newquay. www.rtts.co.uk

23-26 The Main Event Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

25 Old Skool Cruisers Meet Anglia Motel, A17, Spalding, Lincs Facebook: Old Skool Kruisers

26 The Hop-Up. Westerham Brewery, Kent. detonatorsccuk@gmail.com

26 – 1 June NSRA Fun Run. St Ives, Cornwall. www.nsra.org.uk

29-1 June French Street Rod Nationals Parc de Cepoy, Loire Valley. www.fsra.info

30-1 June Rods’n’Rockers Dunnington, York. Tel 07736 668925

30-2 June VanJam Fir Tree Farm, Warmington. www.vanditos.co.uk

31 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

31 50th Anniversary Chelsea Cruise. King’s Road, London

31 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

JUNE 2025

3 Hayling Hot Rods at the Beach. Hayling Island Seafront, Hampshire. Facebook: Hayling Hotrods at the Beach

4 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

5-8 Hot Rods and Hills. Park Foot, Pooley Bridge, Penrith Facebook: Hot Rods and Hills

7 Only Fools and Motors Meet

The Five Bells, Tydd St Mary, Lincs Facebook: Only Fools and Motors

7-8 No-Prep Drag Racing Manston Raceway Park, Kent Facebook: Manston Raceway Park

7-8 Players Classic Goodwood, West Sussex. www.players-show.com

7-8 Sportsman Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

7-8 Straightliners Race Meet Elvington. www.straightliners.events

8 ‘Normous Newark Autojumble Newark Showground, Newark, Notts. www.newarkautojumble.co.uk

13-15 Street Weekend. Santa Pod / Melbourne. www.santapod.co.uk

14 American Car Meet Bird in Hand, Hayle, Cornwall www.propercornishcruisers.co.uk

14 Dereham Classic Car Show and Rock n Roll Music

The Greenstone, Dereham, Norfolk Facebook: The Greenstone

14-15 American Super Stock Revival Rd 1 Melbourne Raceway Facebook: American Super Stock

14-15 Race the Waves. Bridlington, East Yorks. backfireinfo.weebly.com

14-15 Street Car Weekend Melbourne Raceway, York. www.straightliners.events

15 Krispy Kreme Cruise. Krispy Kreme, Shannon Corner, New Malden, Surrey. Facebook: Krispy Kreme Cruise Surrey

16 Top Speed Monday Elvington Airfield, Elvington, West Yorkshire. www.straightliners.events

17 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

21 Run What Ya Brung – Saturday Night Special Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

21-22 Duchy Ford Show. Watergate Bay Touring Park, Newquay www.duchyfordclub.co.uk

7-8 Straightliners Race Meet Cambeltown, Scotland www.straightliners.events

22 BHP Fuel Fest Westpoint Arena, Exeter, Devon. bhpshows.com

22 Custom and Classic Show. Royal Gunpowder Mills, Waltham Abbey, Essex www.customandclassicshow.co.uk

22 Summer Brighton Run. Redhill to Brighton Facebook: The Brighton Run

29 VHRA Swap Meet Ramsey, Cambridgeshire. www.vhra.co.uk

27-29 Dragstalgia Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

27-29 National Hot Rod, Custom and American Car Show. Lincoln Showground, Lincolnshire www.hotrodandcustomshow.co.uk

28 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

29 Old Skool Cruisers Meet Anglia Motel, A17, Spalding, Lincs Facebook: Old Skool Kruisers

30 GAS Bash Santa Pod Raceway. chris@fgoodale.co.uk

JULY 2025

1 Hayling Hot Rods at the Beach. Hayling Island Seafront, Hampshire. Facebook: Hayling Hotrods at the Beach

2 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

4-5 Hangar Rockin St Stephan Airfield, St Stephan, Switzerland. www.hangarrockin.com

4-6 MPH Vintage Sprint. Deenthorpe Airfeld, Corby, Northants www.mphvintagesprint.co.uk

4-6 Rattlers RoundUp. The Holman Clavel public house, Taunton, Somerset. Facebook: Rattlers Rod and Kustom

4-6 V8 Brothers Village Hooglede, Belgium. www.v8brothers.be

5 Straightliners Smeatharpe, Devon. www.straightliners.events

5-6 Big Yellow Car Show Cheshire Showground, Knutsford www.bigyellowcarshow.co.uk

5-6 Summer Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

10-13 Goodwood Festival of Speed Goodwood Estate, West Sussex. www.goodwood.com

11-12 Mustang Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

12 Only Fools and Motors Meet The Five Bells, Tydd St Mary, Lincs Facebook: Only Fools and Motors

12-13 American Super Stock Revival Rd 1 Melbourne Raceway Facebook: American Super Stock

12-13 Straightliners Race Meet Melbourne Raceway, York. www.straightliners.events

13 The Ford Show. Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

15 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

18-20 Hot Rod Rumble. The Camp, Ramsey, Huntingdon www.hotrodrumble.co.uk

18-20 Mopar Euro Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

18-20 Rock’n’Ribs Festival Wincanton Racecourse, Somerset. www.rocknribsfestival.co.uk

19 American Car Meet Bird in Hand, Hayle, Cornwall www.propercornishcruisers.co.uk

19-20 American Auto Club UK Summer Nationals. Upton Upon Severn, Worcestershire www.american-auto-club.co.uk

BRENTACRE

20 DeuceDay British Motor Museum, Gaydon, Warwickshire www.deucesofbritain.co.uk

20 Krispy Kreme Cruise. Krispy Kreme, Shannon Corner, New Malden, . Facebook: Krispy Kreme Cruise Surrey

25-27 Bug Jam Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

26 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

26-27 No-Prep Drag Racing Manston Raceway Park, Kent Facebook: Manston Raceway Park

27 Auto Extravaganza Walpole Community Centre, Walpole St Andrew, Cambs. www.kingslynnkruisers.co.uk

AUGUST 2025

1-3 Hot Rod Hayride. Bisley Shooting Ground, Surrey www.hotrodhayride.co.uk

1-3 Ultimate Street Car Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

2 Only Fools and Motors Meet

The Five Bells, Tydd St Mary, Lincs Facebook: Only Fools and Motors

2-3 American Super Stock Revival Rd 1 Melbourne Raceway Facebook: American Super Stock

2-3 Straightliners Race Meet Melbourne Raceway, York. www.straightliners.events

4 Top Speed Monday Elvington Airfield, Elvington, West Yorkshire. www.straightliners.events

5 Hayling Hot Rods at the Beach. Hayling Island Seafront, Hampshire. Facebook: Hayling Hotrods at the Beach

6 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

7-10 NSRA Hot Rod Supernationals Old Warden, Bedfordshire. www.nsra.org.uk

8-10 Retrofestival Newbury Showground. www.retrofestival.co.uk

9-10 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

10 American Day RAF Sculthorpe, Fakenham, Norfolk. Facebook: RAF Sculthorpe Heritage Centre

10 Ford Fair Silverstone Circuit www.fordfair.co.uk

10 ‘Normous Newark Autojumble Newark Showground, Newark, Notts. www.newarkautojumble.co.uk

14-18 Hillbilly Hoedown Crystal Lakes Leisure, Huntingdon. www.hillbillyhoedownweekend.co.uk

15-17 Hot Rods in the Borders Lilliardsedge Holiday Park, Jedburgh. Facebook: Hot Rods in The Borders

16 American Car Meet Bird in Hand, Hayle, Cornwall www.propercornishcruisers.co.uk

16 Elvington Modified Nationals Elvington. www.straightliners.events

16 Ford Pop Day Industry and Supply, Weedon Bec, Northants www.industryandsupply.com

16 Straightliners Smeatharpe, Devon.www.straightliners.events

16-17 Greenlight Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

17 Krispy Kreme Cruise. Krispy Kreme, Shannon Corner, New Malden, Surrey. Facebook: Krispy Kreme Cruise Surrey

19 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

23-24 Knuckle Busters at the Barns Stonham Barns, Suffolk www.stonhambarns.co.uk

23-25 No-Prep Drag Racing Manston Raceway Park, Kent Facebook: Manston Raceway Park

25 Bay Cruisers CC Drive and Jive Auto Show Whitstable Bends, Kent. www.driveandjive.uk

25 V8 Hot Rods Show Cross Keys, Redgrave, Norfolk Facebook: V8 Hot Rods

29-31 VW Action. Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

26 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

29-30 VW Action Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

29-31 Blue Ridge Runners Weekender West Huntspill, Somerset. www.blueridgerunners.co.uk

30-31 Straightliners Race Meet and American Super Stock Revival Rd 1 Melbourne Raceway Facebook: American Super Stock www.straightliners.events

31 Old Skool Cruisers Meet Anglia Motel, A17, Spalding, Lincs Facebook: Old Skool Kruisers

SEPTEMBER 2025

2 Hayling Hot Rods at the Beach. Hayling Island Seafront, Hampshire. Facebook: Hayling Hotrods at the Beach

3 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

4-7 Euro Finals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

5-7 Kustom Kulture Blastoff Slates Farm, Market Rasen, Lincs. www.kustomkultureblastoff.co.uk

5-7 The Trip Out Euston Park, Suffolk. www.thetripout.co.uk

6 Only Fools and Motors Meet The Five Bells, Tydd St Mary, Lincs Facebook: Only Fools and Motors

6-7 Petrolheadonism Live Herts County Showground, Redbourn www.petrolheadonism.live

6-7 Straightliners Race Meet Cambeltown, Scotland www.straightliners.events

7 American Car Show Museum of Power in Maldon, Essex www.museumofpower.org.uk

7 Flames’n’Dice Wearmouth Colliery, Sunderland. Facebook: Flames’n’Dice 12-14 Goodwood Revival Goodwood Estate, West Sussex. www.goodwood.com

12-14 Hot Rod Drags Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

12-14 Hot Rod Hoedown. Barrasgate Farm, Annan.Facebook: Hot Rod Hoedown at the Steading

#89502C 6v 60A 2 Groove Pulley...$479

#89502S 6v 60A 3/8” Pulley...........$241

#90502S 12v 60A Two Wire...........$343

#90502HO 12v 100A Two Wire......$188

#905022 12v 100A 3/8” Pulley.......$160

#905023 12v Chrome 3/8” Pulley...$154

#905024 12v 100A 5/8” Pulley.......$263

#R3902 100A GM 1955+................$211

#17294 100A GM 1-3 Wire.............$212

#37293 150A GM 1-3 Wire.............$250

#17078 65 Ford 1G........................$212

#R3903 Ford 1965-1989................$205

#13237 Hwy 15

Rod............$693 #500944 Hwy 15 Nostalgia..........$2217 #500695 Hwy 22 Street Rod..........$768 Alternators

Alternator

Official Broker of the NSRA

The best classic American experience is just a new set of tyres away. We stock new tyres in period-correct patterns in a huge variety of crossply and radial sizes and styles, including: black wall, whitewall, pinstripe and raised white letter. From chrome and ﬁns to fenderless hotrod, truck, muscle, custom or military – your classic American is even better on the right rubber and thatʼs all we sell at Vintage Tyres. Branches at Beaulieu and Bicester Heritage.