Custom Car May 2026 by Assignment Media Ltd

Nightmare on ‘35 Street

Mick Harle bought a ‘35 coupe with dated styling and death trap engineering. Now it’s pin-sharp and bang up to date –but he’s been through nightmares to get it that way

PLUS Bill Mitchell says he likes cars that are a bit out of the ordinary and a bit of a challenge. Giving new life to a ‘49 Devon pick-up ﬁrst rodded in 1986 and slowly rotting ever since sure ticked that box…

News & reviews

Red carpet event

The National Hot Rod, Custom & American Car Show is a full-throttle celebration of pre-1980 hot rods, iconic American classics, wild customs, lowriders and pure retro attitude – all wrapped into a proper festival weekend. On offer is the noise, the chrome, the rumble, and the atmosphere – all you could ask for of a weekend.

The venue is Lincolnshire Showground, and the dates are 26-28 June. Alongside the vast array of vehicles displayed both indoors and outside, there will be music, entertainment and festival vibes all weekend. Tribute acts performing live

include Amy Winehouse, Avril Lavigne and Ed Sheeran. Admission tickets also provide access to the Modiﬁ ed Nationals and the Ink & Oil Tattoo Convention.

Early access tickets are now on sale, allowing entry to the site at 10.00am on Friday, along with standard access tickets allowing entry from 2.00pm on Friday. Dedicated motorhome pitches are available, as are reserved camping pitches and luxury glamping. Single-day tickets with show car ﬁ eld access are available for both Saturday and Sunday.

Entries are still open for the focal point of the show, the prestigious Best

www.customcarmag.co.uk

Piston Publications Ltd, PO Box 8830, Burton on Trent DE14 9QW

EDITORIAL

Group Editor: Alan Kidd

editorial@pistonpublications.co.uk

Art Editor: Ian Denby-Jones

Contributors

Dave Biggadyke, Mike Pye, Keith Lee, James Webber, Olly Sack, Dan Fenn, Tony Thacker

Photographers

Julian Hunt, Vic Peel, Harry Hamm, Richard Hair

ADVERTISEMENT SALES

Assignment Media Ltd

Colin Ashworth 01283 742969

colin.ashworth@assignment-media. co.uk

MANAGEMENT

Publisher: Alan Kidd

editorial@pistonpublications.co.uk

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in Britain lineup which is showcased on the exclusive red-carpet display in the marquee. For consideration for the showcase display, email details and photos to nolimitseventsuk@gmail.com – it’s open to pre-1980 hot rods, classics, retro, custom and American vehicles only.

The organisers have pulled out all the stops to make the National Hot Rod, Custom & American Car Show 2026 something really special, and can’t wait to see you there. Get your tickets now to be part of this amazing community and keep an eye on the event socials for info updates.

hotrodandcustomshow.co.uk

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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

OSCAR time

Melbourne Raceway’s Spring Nationals on 11-12 April now has an added wow factor in the form of two cars from OSCAR (Old School Classic Altered Racers). Nick Davies will be at the wheel of his No Quarter ‘37 all-steel Fiat Topolino, against the Bryan Whitfield and Ian Tubbs High Spirits ’31 Austin Bantam coupe. The eighth-mile track will also be staging double header rounds for American Super Stock and National Street Car Challenge, as well as the Pro Comp Quick 8 Novelty Shootout. Graham Sykes will be on board his Force of Nature steam-powered rocket bike and there will be a full weekend of RWYB, No Mercy Bracket Racing, Junior Sprint Car and much more.

Facebook: Melbourne Raceway / 07971 172210

Real deal

Brian Crawford has taken the hard decision to sell his real deal ’32 Ford, as featured in our January ’26 issue. The coupe is a traditional ‘50s-style build running a French Flathead with Edmunds heads, Edmunds racing intake and twin 97s. Period parts are used throughout, the car is located in the Wirral and the asking price is £65,000. No swaps, trades or timewasters please. Call Brian on 07513 184149

Pic: Calum Pudge / Santa Pod)

News & reviews

Something for the weekend?

Mad for a quid

The dates for the Motor Madness and Music Festival staged at Great Yarmouth Seafront / Joyland Diner are 16-17 May. Organised by East Coast Pirates, there will be live music on both days, food vendors and trade stalls. For those attending both days, there will also be a party on Saturday night. The cost to be a part of the show is just £1 per wheel.

Facebook: East Coast Pirates Car Club

Carnival time

(with image Rainy City)

Hosted by Colin and Kerrie, The Rainy City Cruisers Custom Car Show & Carnival is on 12 July. The venue is Debdale Park, Hyde Road, Gorton, Manchester M18 7LJ, and all hot rods, bikes and trucks are welcome. It promises to be a great family day out.

Facebook: Rainy City Cruisers

Hop to it

The remaining dates for this year’s Sunday Breakfast Hops at the Barley Farm in Eccles, Manchester are 12 April, 10 May, 14 June, 12 July, 9 August, 6 September, 4 October, 8 November and 13 December.

Facebook: Breakfast Hop

Legends and V8s

The USA Snetterton 300 returns to Snetterton Race Circuit in Norwich on Sunday 26 July. This festival of American motoring features a mix of themed on-track entertainment and a lively off-track show. Circuit action will be headlined by Bernie’s V8s, while Legends Cars

will provide a grid of scaleddown American hot rods. Away from the track, an array of American vehicles, showcasing everything from retro rods to modern muscle, will be displayed throughout the venue.

www.snetterton.co.uk

Bank on it

Summer Bank Holiday Monday, 31 August, sees the return of the V8 Hotrods Pre-72 Custom and Hot Rod gathering at The Cross Keys, Redgrave, Suffolk. The show runs from 10.00am through to 4.00pm and, as always with V8 Hotrods events, you can rely on it being an awesome day.

Facebook: V8 Hotrods

Turn back time

If you fancy owning a true icon of UK hot rodding history, this could be right up your street. First built by Ian Etheridge in 1977, then updated with the fitting of a 5-litre V8 engine in 1978, the Venom Capri still wears its original paint and the interior remains untouched. The car is located in North Humberside and is priced at £11,500.

Facebook: UK Hotrods & Customs for sale

Full time

Arnie Pamnent, a regular sight on the dragstrip in his AMC Javelin in recent years, has for some time offered his talented services to fellow racers and American car enthusiasts on a part-time basis. He has now decided it’s time to up the ante and go full-time with his business,

Arnsbarn Autos. Based in the Peterborough area, Arnsbarn specialises in classic, modified, and American vehicles. Services offered include engine transplants, custom exhausts, chassis fabrication, suspension, brakes, welding and general maintenance and servicing.

www.arnsbarn.co.uk / 07907 14702

News & reviews

Impressive pair

LA Roadster Show will take place at Fairplex in Pomona on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 June. To celebrate both 60 years of the show and 80 years of So-Cal Speed Shop, the two legendary names in hot rodding are joining forces as co-presenters this year. This unique pairing has real promise of providing one of those ‘you had be there’ events. www.laroadstershow.com

News & reviews

Synchronicity

Accurate measurement of air ﬂ ow is an essential part of the set‐up process when you’re running multiple carburettors or throttle bodies, and that’s exactly what the Webcon STE Synchrometer does.

Two sizes are available, a high-ﬂ ow version measuring from 1-35 Kgh, which is suitable for most applications, and a general-purpose version measuring from 1-30 Kgh, which is suited for most applications using 40/45 DCOE and 40/44 IDF carbs.

www.webcon.co.uk

Mayhem on toast

The date for the next Original Sunday Morning Mayhem at the Sandwich Makers Diner, Hemel Hempstead HP3 8EW, is 19 April. The mayhem starts at 9.00am and all hot rods, customs, Americans, classics, bikes, and choppers are welcome.

Facebook: Sandwich Makers Diner

Phillip Higham

Phillip ‘Pip’ Higham has passed away peacefully, after suffering from cancer for some time. Pip’s ﬁ rst exposure to drag racing was at a round of the International Dragfest at RAF Woodvale in 1964. Having initially crewed on Fred Whittle’s Shutdown Comp Altered, Pip began racing on two wheels in the early 1970s.

Pip’s success revolved around his business, the Village Bike Shop in Manchester, with him helping fellow racers who wanted to go quicker than the rest. He became the ﬁ rst European rider into the 10-second bracket, and then the ﬁ rst ever into the nines. Pip clocked 160mph at the Brighton Speed Trials and regularly raced across Europe and ultimately America.

Pip was inﬂ uential in bringing together all parties needed to create a new quarter-mile track at York Raceway, his involvement enabling the raceway and PDRC to stage safe and successful events. In recognition of his contribution to drag racing, Pip was inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2017.

Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.

RIP Pip

Pics: Santa Pod

Chuting by

“Cars so fast, they need parachutes to stop them” was a slogan Santa Pod Raceway used to advertise its unique arrival on the British motor racing scene 60 years ago. And parachutes remain vital braking equipment to this day.

While brakes have improved beyond measure, so have dragstrip speeds. Late-1960s’ dragsters astonished fans with ﬁ nish-line speeds pushing 160mph – but today’s track record is 321mph, far exceeding anything people could have imagined when Santa Pod opened its gates as Europe’s ﬁ rst permanent dragstrip on Easter Monday 1966.

Since then, Santa Pod has expanded to become much more than just a racing venue. But the strip remains the heart of the matter – as the track’s 60th anniversary calendar attests. www.santapod.co.uk

Artisan Sundays

The Drink hot rod meets are held on the last Sunday of the month at The Artisan, Tring Road, Tring, Herts HP23 5RF. The meets run from 9.30am to 11.30am and the venue offers great parking and even greater breakfasts.

Facebook: The Drink Hot Rod Meets

Added cool

This year’s Retro Rides Gathering has an added twist courtesy of Giant Killers. Having a year off from staging their own event, the people at Retro Rides offered Giant Killers the opportunity to show what they’re all about to the wider community. This will result in some ‘60s / ‘70s custom ﬂ avour enhancing the Retro Rides Weekender at Goodwood Motor Circuit on 9-10 May.

retroridesevents.com

Pic: Keith Lee

RECOUPED

When a hot rodder tells you that was deﬁnitely their last build, they may well believe it at the time…

Words: Dave Biggadyke Pics: Alan Kidd

The feature on Mick Harle’s Matford Woodie in our October ’20 issue finished with a question. “So, Mick, is this the last car you’re building?” His response wasn’t exactly clear-cut. “I said so, didn’t I? But did I mention my mate in Florida rang a couple of years ago asking if I wanted to buy a Model A coupe? Err, yeah, of course I did…”

option in the long run. I did some serious thinking and decided that a ’35/’36 would be ideal for my needs.

“All I then had to do was ﬁnd one.

Mick got the stock coupe running and registered in his name. But that was as far as it went and he sold it in 2022.

That wasn’t the end of things, however, as Mick explained. “I’ve always been one of those rodders who, as soon as I’ve ﬁnished a build, I’m itching to start another. That way, I have a hot rod to drive and another project in the garage to get my teeth into.

“I didn’t fancy starting another build from scratch, though, preferring to buy a running car that I could change to suit me better. I also ﬁgured that would work out as a cheaper

“As luck would have it, I heard about a ’35 coupe for sale in Norfolk, so I went to have a look. It was a horrible 1980s’ build with bright yellow paint and a Dralon interior. They could be redone, though, and the car was running, albeit only on 6 or 7 cylinders. It was UKregistered but hadn’t been used on the road, and I bought it then and there without even considering test-driving it.

“When it was delivered to my house, I gave it a quick check over, tightened some obvious loose bolts, cured the misﬁre and took it for a test drive. I only made it to the end of my road before turning back. There was horrendous banging from underneath and the brakes locked up with ease.

“Back home, I put it up on the ramp and instantly questioned what I’d bought. It was

Under the front end, there’s the drop tube axle that was ﬁtted when Mick bought the coupe, only now it’s installed as it should be. The axle hangs from a transverse leaf spring and stopping power has been improved thanks to a ’69-’73 Mustang disc brake conversion

Having removed the nerf bars that were on the car, Mick ﬁtted the second-hand front bumper and irons he bought from Phil Perry. Not being keen on the small aftermarket headlights that were also on it, he ditched them for the original buckets included when he bought it. These have been ﬁtted with an adapted ’37 Ford Halogen conversion kit, which came from Dave Cox, and repro original lenses. The spotlights and brackets were sourced from Speedway Motors and are wired in as indicators. Below, the rear window winds down for ventilation

a death trap – back street engineering at its very best.”

Missing in action

Mick identiﬁed the source of the banging; a front wishbone chassis mounting bracket with a ﬂame-cut hole for the securing bolt to pass through. Various parts of the chassis and crossmembers had been hacked about to provide clearance for the running gear, and there was no way it could be driven as it was.

Despite Mick never intending to take the body off the chassis, the only option was for a full strip-down and rebuild. When he undid the body mounting bolts, the chassis surrendered and sagged in the middle. Rust wasn’t the cause; the centre crossmember had been removed and it was only being bolted to the body that gave the chassis some semblance of rigidity. Having made up templates of the replacement crossmember sections he needed, Mick called upon Whengparts to supply them laser cut from steel plate.

More nightmares were discovered, which Mick duly rectiﬁed. “It was a case of more

“A well-planted car that drives really nice”

time than money to put things right,” he told us. He also unearthed evidence of some previous occupants, like rat nests under the seats and headlining and a hornet’s nest clinging to the chassis for grim death. Fortunately, all had been abandoned. Mick worked his way through the chassis, doing jobs which included boxing the front rails and fabricating new engine mounts.

With the chassis sorted, Mick began to re-install the running gear, ensuring it was all ﬁtted correctly this time. The front axle was retained, as were the split wishbones that located it, although the rose joints were replaced with tie rod ends. The rear axle was also repurposed, with Mick rebuilding the drum brakes as he’d identiﬁed that delaminated shoes were causing the issues he’d experienced on his brief test drive.

The parallel leaf springs were reﬁtted and to bring the rear down, Mick installed 3-inch lowering blocks which he shaved a bit at a time to get the ride height he wanted. The hydraulic shocks already ﬁtted appeared to be new, so Mick saw no reason to change them.

Mick persuaded Whiff Smith to come out of retirement once again and trim the interior in sumptuous Malbec leather. The interior door handles are Morris Minor, the column is Ididit and the steering wheel is a repro ’40 Ford by Vintique. The AutoMeter gauges came with the car but have now been reﬁtted in a way that’s more pleasing to the eye. Mick admits to having pushed the boat out and had the interior garnish mouldings re-chromed, along with the dash waterfall he got from the late Pete Edwards

The S-Type Jaguar seats came with the Woodie when Mick ﬁrst bought it and have now been stripped of all but a couple of their electric motors. Behind them is a parcel shelf, with a hatch through to what Mick describes as a practical boot space

The period looking headlining is more of Whiff’s handiwork

Although the coupe was already rolling on steel rims, they weren’t to Mick’s liking, especially as the fronts were 14-inch diameter. Luckily, he had a pair of 7 x 15 rims left over from the Woodie build, which are now on the front of the coupe. The rear wheels are 8 x 15 steels, while the tyres are Hercules MRX PLUS IV P205/70R15 and Omni Classic X P235/75R15 front and back respectively

New running board runners have been ﬁtted and the door handles replaced as the ones ﬁtted were mismatched. The paint is a Fiat 500 colour, most likely Cappuccino, although there’s an outside chance it could be Mocha Latte as they are very similar. Either way, it’s a coffee colour, very similar to an original 1935 Ford hue

The bright yellow coupe that Mick bought in August 2022

…and even more hacked off to provide clearance for the lowslung alternator

…the flame cut hole in a front wishbone mount…

On the face of it, the ’35 looked to be a solid car. Looks can be deceptive, though…

With the rot cut out, new floor panels were fabricated and welded in place, together with a bolt-in transmission tunnel

…as Mick soon found out. The first issue he unearthed was the repair panels pop riveted on top of the rotten floor

The only option was to fit a replacement crossmember and mount the alternator higher up, of course

…and the ¼-inch boxing plates dubiously tackwelded to the chassis rails

The rolling chassis prior to Mick stripping it down and rectifying the back street engineering issues

Further issues included crossmembers being cut about for clearance…

The damaged crossmember was repaired with the addition of fresh steel plate…

The only option was to separate the body from the chassis to access the areas that needed attention

…oversize holes and loose bolts on the rear spring hangers…

Such issues included a chunk of the front crossmember having been hacked off for clearance…

…the centre crossmember section having gone awol, causing the chassis to sag…

… and Whengparts laser cut the steel to replace the missing centre sections With the repairs completed, the chassis was painted black

The Ford 8-inch runs 3.00:1 gears, which is good for fuel consumption. The axle installation features hydraulic shocks from the original build, which appeared to be brand new

Mick then began to reassemble the rolling stock, modifying the exhaust system so it runs through the chassis crossmembers

The block and inlet manifold were cleaned and painted before the engine was refitted on new mounts

Left: The labourintensive task of removing all that yellow paint begins

Right: With perseverance, Mick got the entire body bare metalled

The interior of the body was painted to help prevent rusting The front-end panels were refitted… …as were the running boards and rear wings. Mick then modified the rear bumper irons for a tighter fit

The coupe was pushed outside for a breath of fresh air

Yet more rubbing down and beginning to prep for paint ensued

Apart from the lashings of Dynamat, the interior was more functional than comfortable in the early days

He did see the need for a rethink when it came to the handbrake, however, as the cable was simply poked through holes in the chassis but never connected. A solution came in the form of an electric handbrake conversion kit from Hollin Applications Ltd. Designed for Motability applications, this was far more cost-effective than a proprietary hot rod conversion kit.

No slacking

Unimpressed by the slackness in the steering, Mick junked the Vega box that was fitted and replaced it with a Borgeson box installed on a freshly fabricated mount. Although unsure of its history, Mick was satisfied with the engine internals following inspection after removing the intake manifold and sump. He checked a couple of the crankshaft bearings and found the shells were marked +20, indicating the engine had been rebuilt sometime in the past. Mick also made good use of the exhaust already fitted, although he did modify it to better suit the refreshed chassis. The TH350 transmission was treated to a new filter and

fluid and was dressed with an ali pan. Mick revealed that it now shifts much better as he actually connected the vacuum pipe when he reinstalled it.

“The chassis surrendered and sagged in the middle”

Fully intending to tackle the bodywork himself at home, right down to painting it, Mick bare metalled the body and had the ancillary panels blasted. “There was plenty of yellow paint on it,” he quipped. “The metal underneath it didn’t appear to be too bad, though. In fact, the body was the best bit about the car.” Apart from the floor, rust was at a minimum, although there were a few dents that had been filled rather than hammered out. Replacement floor panels were fabricated and welded in place, and the few other rust areas were sorted.

It was then time for body prep but the problem was that task didn’t float Mick’s boat. “I hate rubbing down and prepping,” he explained. “There was dust everywhere, it was horrible.” Good friend Colin Ayres then offered him a lifeline. He rang Mick to say that

Terry, the body man and painter he used at Colbrook Specialists at the time, had just had a cancellation if Mick could make use of his services at short notice. No persuasion was needed, and a couple of days later Mick was heading north on the A1 with the coupe on a trailer behind him.

Contrasting

With the car back from paint, Mick began the final assembly. He fitted a new roof insert panel, together with the correct rubbers, and rewired the car using a kit he’d picked up in the States. A Mini wiper motor was repurposed, providing 2-speed operation with park. “They’re the best wipers I’ve ever had on a hot rod,” Mick enthused.

The outer surround of the original front grille and cross bars were in good condition, but the chrome was flaking on the vertical

Much to Mick’s relief, a cancellation resulted in the final prep and paint being completed in Stilton

Back at Mick’s garage, the final finishing and assembly began…

…work that included wiring the coupe

The coupe was destined soon to lose its stablemate, Mick’s Matford Woodie

Randomly, Mick already had a new boot handle in stock, although he can’t remember why, and the rear bumper was already ﬁtted. Mick did cut down the irons, though, to move the bumper closer to the body. The rear lights are repro original style LED Units, and Mick bought the vintage AAA National Award badge on eBay

Mick showing off the wipers he’s so pleased with. The wind-out windscreen, together with the side and rear windows, is ﬁtted with new E-marked glass cut to pattern by Caldwells Windows in Wigan

“Hacked about to provide clearance for the running gear”

The engine is a 350ci small block from a mid-’70s Chevrolet Camaro. It was ﬁtted with a castiron inlet manifold and 4-barrel carb adapter, which Mick switched to an Edelbrock manifold, topped off with a Holley carb with vacuum secondaries. The manifold is painted Chevy orange, as is the engine block, and Rams Horn headers, a new water pump and a PerTronix distributor and new leads have been ﬁtted

“Thanks to Colin Ayres, Dave Cox, Whiﬀ Smith, Terry for the paint and my everlasting tea lady, Paula”

bar insert and it had been damaged at the bottom. Mick repaired the insert, rubbed it down and painted it black in contrast to the chromed surround.

Mick got the coupe on the road just after Easter 2024, just missing out on debuting it at Wheels Day. It wasn’t finished, though, as save for the seats bolted firmly in place, there was no interior to speak of. By then, though, Mick had sold the Woodie and needed a ride for the summer months, so he decided to run the coupe just as it was until Whiff Smith had time to fire up his sewing machine. When that time came, Mick made up the door, rear side, and kick panel cards, and Whiff did the rest.

“It’s a really comfortable car,” Mick enthused. “It’s the ﬁrst hot rod I’ve had with individual seats, and not sliding around on a bench seat really makes a difference. It’s a well-planted car that drives really nice, it doesn’t wander and you feel like you’re driving rather than riding it. I’ve ﬁtted bump stops on the back, which improved things, and just recently I’ve added Easysteer electric power steering. It’s chopped into the steering column and, although I’ve not yet tried it out on the motorway, it works really well.

“I drove the car to the Fun Run in Cornwall last year and I’m booked in for the Euronats in France in July, as I’ve no qualms about driving it. I don’t plan to change anything, although I may redo the exhaust at some stage. And before you ask, no, I’m not building another car. I’m not bored with this one yet. My wife Paula does keep mentioning another truck though…” CC

BUDGET BUSTER

Bill Mitchell only bought this car as he fancied a bit of British, but its rebuild turned into a labour of love and diamonds

How it started

If you can remember back as far as 1986, you might recall this Best of British offering from Str**t M*ch*n* in January of that year. The features on the three cover cars inside were somewhat lacklustre, but it shows the Devon as Nick Dunford built it in the mid-’80s, complete with Wade-blown Daimler 2.5, Daimler IFS, Jag IRS and Keystone Vortex and Appliance Smoothies.

Words: Mike Pye Pics: Alan Kidd

In 1986, things were getting all a bit VW crazy in the specialist men’s magazine world. The car ones that is. While Custom Car was gearing up to launch VolksWorld magazine the following year, and the first Bug Jam was a glimmer on the horizon, Str**t M*ch*n* was well into its project Cal Look Beetle build and running a UVA Baja Bug Shootout competition.

In between all that air-cooled action, though, SM came out with a ‘Best of British’ themed issue. Among the cars loosely featured was a 1949 Austin A40 Devon pick-up with a Wade-blown, 2.5-litre Daimler poking through its bonnet. Built by a young farmer named Nick Dunford, it was a pretty classic example of its type at the time. Looking at it now, you might question the mismatched wheels and tyres, enthusiastic wheelarch gaps, pine running boards and reflective Q-plates, but 1986 was a long time ago now, even if it doesn’t sound it.

The car did the rounds with Nick for a while, gaining a 350 Chevy when rebuilding the Daimler proved an expensive proposition before being sold in 1992 to someone in Cornwall. At the tail end of the ’90s, it headed east to Norfolk and stayed in the same ownership there for more than 20 years, having a few more modifications done, but never made it back on to the road.

A bit of British

“I bought it 2023, just because I fancied something British really, something sort of old school style but with a bit of muscle,” its current owner Bill Mitchell tells us. “It was in a bit of a state when I got it so, before I did anything with it, I thought I’d try firing it up. But when I was checking all the levels I found there was no oil in the supercharger.” That set the stage for what was to follow.

“When I did get it started, it filled the whole garage with smoke, so I turned it off and took the supercharger apart to inspect it.”

Finding all the seals had dried out, Bill wisely thought he’d better check the engine over as well, even though the guy that sold the car to him assured him it was all brand new; he just couldn’t locate the paperwork to go with it.

Suffice to say, that was the start of a comprehensive rebuild that began with the chassis and didn’t stop until Bill was happy to turn the key for a second time, some 18 months later.

“That’s a slow build for me,” laughs Bill. “And it only took that long because I had two hernia ops and a ruptured stomach in the middle of it. That took four months out of it.”

To put a bit of context to this, Bill is no stranger to this sort of work. Or to hard work either. He describes himself as sort of semiretired now, but he still owns WM Mitchell Engineering in Derbyshire and in his time has clocked up an impressive list of automotive builds, from Autograss and Stock Car racers to muscle cars, off-roaders and hot rods. Some of his current ﬂeet he’s bought – such as Andy ‘Smurf’ Smith’s ’31 Ford Tudor that was on the cover of Str**t M*ch*n* in January ’99 – others he’s built from scratch (see the ‘Here’s one I built earlier’ box out on p25).

“I’ve worked in engineering all my life, starting as an apprentice pipe ﬁtter / welder,”

he explains. “So I’m fortunate that I’ve worked with all types of steel and I’ve got a wellequipped workshop at work and a pretty decent one in my garage at home. Though I’ve always made a point of not mixing my work and personal projects.

“I just like doing things that are a bit different. And a challenge.”

High kicks

So, after he’d started by drawing up a new chassis in 80 x 40mm, 3mm wall box section, cutting and welding it all together was a regular day at work for Bill. Inspired by Ray Irish’s old Devon pick-up from the late ’90s,

“If someone tells me something can’t be done, I’ll have a go at doing it”

he decided it should sit low, not nose high and up in the air, so a six inch kick-up was incorporated at the front and a four-inch kickup at the rear.

After that, he set about transferring some of the main components across. The 10-inch narrowed XJ6 IRS was retained but the Viva IFS that the previous owner had put in was deemed outdated and, well, not very pretty.

In its place, Bill made his own IFS. It’s based around Mustang II uprights and uses his own chromoly upper and lower arms. Adjustable coilovers, Wilwood hubs and disc brakes and a modiﬁed Triumph Herald steering rack round out the front end.

The 350 Chevy Nick had ﬁtted was gone when he bought the truck, replaced with a Brodix-headed 383 stroker backed by a GM 700 R4 trans’. Both got a check over and a refresh, which thankfully backed up the previous owner’s claim of the engine being all new.

The only major change was to move the whole lot four inches back in the chassis to give more room for a radiator and ancillaries up front. Though that obviously meant the bulkhead had to be re-worked around it, and the steering and the pedals moved back too. Cause and effect.

Next, Bill started to look a bit more closely at the body.

The bits Bill

off

When the old current bun hits the paint, the combination of champagne gold and Renault Inferno under the lacquer really come to life

The Blown the Budget graphics on the doors are all hand painted, the work of Nigel Day a.k.a. Harry’s Hot Rod Shop

cut

the inside edges, he re-purposed into ﬂares on the front wings, which cover Rocket Launcher wheels and 165/65-15s. “I don’t like to waste anything,” he says with a grin

Don’t tell the restorers, but the rear arches are NOS Mk1 Transit twin wheel pick-up pieces, cut and widened to cover Bill’s choice of American Racing Torque Thrust D rear wheels and 295/70-15 tyres

The bed liner Bill made from 1.2mm polished aluminium sheet, hand formed and bead rolled with thousands of diamond shapes. Beneath the nitrous bottle (which will eventually be plumbed in, although it isn’t here) is a Bill-made stainless fuel tank and the battery

Here’s what Bill bought in 2023. The bones of it were there but unfortunately a lot of those bones were rotten to the core

It was also given a good kick up the arse, before the Jag XJ6 IRS from the original build was bolted back into position

Making life more difficult for himself, Bill decided it should split part way through the front wings

Left: Yep, Bill made the rollcage structure too, this time from 316L stainless tube, polished and TIG welded

And so he started again, beginning by building a complete new chassis. It’s loosely based on the original, but kicked up at the front…

Deciding the front end that came with the truck was “a waste of space”, Bill collected the necessary steel panels and…

Next came Bill’s re-imagining of the pick-up bed. Starting with a few flat sheets of steel and his dimple die set

Next stage was painting everything. White for the chassis and as a clean base layer under the colours on the body.

…and with Bill’s own design of IFS, which uses Mustang II stub axles

…set about turning them into a one-piece tilt front. A lot easier said than done

The custom stake pockets were fabbed from 1mm flat steel

Left: And, with Tracy’s help on the manual bead roller, turned a whole load of sheets of stainless into diamond pattern panels that he used to line the bed… 12. 13. 14. Build-up time

You won’t be surprised to hear Bill took on the task of wiring the truck himself from scratch, too 15.

…cover the transmission tunnel and finish the inside of the doors

Below: Finishing things off, all the diamond panels were given a coat of gloss white 16.

Scratch built

“It was just rotten everywhere,” he recalls. “I ended up cutting out the whole ﬂoor and bulkhead and making that all again from scratch, as well as the entire pick-up bed. Even the roof gutters were rotted away, so I cut them all off and de-guttered the roof as I was going along.”

According to Bill, the one-piece front that came with the truck was a combination of glass ﬁbre, ﬁller and very little steel. “I could have just gone to Pro Laminates and bought one of their ’glass front ends. It would have been a lot easier. But I got it into my head I wanted it to be all steel.” That meant a lengthy process of sourcing the necessary panels, repairing them, welding them together

Bill cites Ray Irish’s old Pro Street Devon pick-up as one of his inﬂuences, which convinced him his truck needed to sit lower rather than higher

and then coming up with a method of strengthening, attachment and tilting.

Making life harder for himself, somewhere along the line Bill decided he wanted to have the wings split more in line with the cowl than the A-posts, which complicated matters further. Oh, and to incorporate a scoop, too.

“The hours I’ve got in that panel alone. I was well over 100 before I stopped counting,” he laughs. “but then I just had to keep going.”

After days and days of wheeling, shrinking, stretching, welding and grinding, he ended up with a ﬁtting and functioning version of the idea he had in his head.

And after doing all that work at the front, he couldn’t just bolt the old bed back on, could he?

Left: The engine came with the pick-up. It’s a 383ci Chevy with Brodix street heads, an unknown make supercharger and a pair of Edelbrock 600s. Bill’s had the sump and heads off, just to check it over and conﬁrm everything was new. “I can’t tell you much about it, other than it’s got a lot of expensive parts in it,” he says with a grin

Bill didn’t want the supercharger sticking up through the bonnet, so he moved the engine back and down in the chassis and made up a steel scoop to keep it under wraps

“Yeah, that got a bit out of hand, too,” he confesses. “I didn’t count all the hours but I’ve easily got 8-10 in each of the stake pockets, which are fabricated from 1mm ﬂat sheet. I did those because I wanted the bed to look a bit more American.”

And that’s without mentioning all the punched and ﬂanged holes, the miles of bead rolling and all the diamond rolled aluminium sheet. “Yeah, Tracy [that’s Bill’s wife] certainly knows how to work the bead roller now,” says Bill with a grin.

Summing all this up, the scuttle, roof panel, back of the cab and the doors are pretty much all that’s left of what Bill started with, which makes the timescale he pulled it all together in even more impressive

“The hours I’ve got in that panel alone. I was well over 100 before I stopped counting”

“It’s definitely orange, but it looks gold in places in some lights, red in others”

As you’ll have seen from the build box on p22, about the only part of the truck that made it through the rebuild unscathed was the doors. Yes, this truck was a built hot rod when Bill bought it, but he’s done a whole lot more than just give it a freshen up

That starry-eyed theme continues into the cab, with yet more diamond rolled sheet pressed into service as the door panels and transmission tunnel. OMP wheel, B&M shifter, Auto Meter gauges and OBP pedals show Bill isn’t afraid to mix and match hot rod and race car inﬂuences to get the look he’s after. The orange and white FK Motorsport seats were bought trimmed like this in Germany, and they set the stage for the colour scheme of the truck. Orange TRS harnesses were the only option for Bill

Good buddies

“I just enjoy building them, and I like to do everything myself, as far as possible.” Though he’s quick to acknowledge his best mate and accomplished F1 Stock Car and Autograss racer Dan Johnson, who he spends as much time working on cars with as he can. Plus his good buddy Mick, who helped ﬁnesse Bill’s prep work on the body and put on the colour coats. Otherwise, it’s all his own work.

When it came to choosing a colour, Bill let the seats decide. That is to say he bought the seats, already trimmed, in Germany and they set the scene for the rest.

“After I bought the seats,” he explains, “it was always going to be orange, but I couldn’t decide what orange.” A Renault Clio Cup provided the inspiration in the end, and a bit of detective work by Tracy elicited the necessary details, so an order was put in for some base white, champagne gold and Renault Inferno, which found their way onto the body in that order.

With about 95% of the work on the pick-up carried out by Bill, there aren‘t a lot of people to mention, but he asked us to thank Harry’s Hot Rod Shop for the artwork (you’ll ﬁnd him on Facebook), Dan and Mick for their help with ﬁnal prep and paintwork and his wife Tracy for her patience, assistance and understanding

“It turned out really good,” says Bill enthusiastically. “It’s deﬁnitely orange, but it looks gold in places in some lights and red in others.”

Asked if he had any other cars left that he’d like to build, Bill thought about it for a brief moment. “I’d just like to get all the ones I’ve got to a point that I’m happy with them,” he said, before adding “the Devon was supposed to be the last one, but now I’m doing another Model A, and I have got another idea in my head…”

We won’t give too much away as, given Bill’s rate of progress, we have every faith in him to pull it off, so all we’ll say for now is that he’s already got the base car but wants to put a V12 in it. Just not a V12 like you’ll ever have seen before…

“If someone says you can’t do something, I like to try and do it.” Seems as good a place as any to sign off, that, safe in the certain knowledge this won’t be the last time we talk to Bill Mitchell. CC

Here’s one I built earlier

Engineering

Pro Street 105E Anglia was bought as an almost ﬁnished car from a couple of Bill’s friends after one of them sadly passed away. A 361ci big block Chevy and Old British panda car livery always raises a

This is Bill’s latest project, yet another Model A sedan, this time with a tubbed rear, full tilt rear axle and the 750bhp, ali-headed 383 Chevy and two-speed ’Glide out of his old Comp Altered, which ran in the nines. This should be a fun one

Pride of Bill’s collection is the ex-Smurf Smith ’31 Model A Tudor Sedan that was the cover car on the January ’99 issue of Str**t M*ch*n*. It’s got Wisbech

IFS and an all Mopar 318 / 904 drivetrain

The

smile

Also Essex V6 powered is Tracy’s Model Y, which was built as the couple’s wedding car and has recently been given a refresh and mild makeover

Next in Bill’s Model A sedan line up is this full fender ’28 / ’29 with 302 Ford power

This more traditional style fenderless ’28 / ’29 sedan is ’glass bodied, and has an Essex V6

OUT OF THE

Ian Young was after something unusual to replace his Model A hot rod. He found it in a ’63 Nova wagon – and set about making it not so much unusual as unique

Words & Pictures: Dan Fenn

Getting paid to create world-class show cars sounds like a pretty good deﬁnition of living the dream. It’s a dream Ian Young lived, though needless to say it’s not quite what it sounds.

Until his recent retirement, Ian worked for a company which, among other things, built the bodies for manufacturers’ concept cars. We won’t name any names, obviously, but his portfolio has some seriously big names in it, along with no end of cars which, at the time, were globally recognised.

One thing he worked on that we will name wasn’t even a car. It was a ﬁlm prop. The ﬁlm

was 1995’s Judge Dredd and Ian’s employer was tasked with creating the aggressively shaped bodies that were dropped on to a ﬂeet of ex-Army Land Rover 101s to create the City Cabs you saw running about the place on the silver screen. They were distinctively shaped and every bit as distinctively coloured, that colour being an in-your-face shade of yellow.

At around the same time, Ian was building himself a Model A sedan with a Rover V8 and Volvo rear. What colour was it to be?

After some discussion, both internally and with his workmates, he came to the conclusion that, well, hot rods are meant to

be seen. And there was plenty of paint left over from the Dredd job, so on it went.

Fast forward the thick end of twenty years and the Model A had found itself a new owner in France. Ian thus had a wad of money burning a hole and he was after spending it on something unusual. Enter stage left a ’63 Chevy Nova which had been brought in to the country by no less a luminary than Keith Harman. It was a wagon, so it certainly ticked the unusual box – Ian says he understood it to be one of only two in the country at the time, which may or may not be correct but there certainly weren’t lots of them.

ORDINARY

It was blue at the time and pretty much completely stock but for a set of slot mags. However it had deﬁnitely been around the scene, because a big part of its character were the stickers adorning its rear windows which placed it at events dating as far back as 1967 at Lakeland Raceway in Tennessee. It’s possible that these were added after the fact, of course, but the wear and fading on some of them looks pretty genuine and anyway, who’d be sad enough to pull a blag like that?

Anyway, Ian had a plan. The big wagon wasn’t going to stay stock – it was going to get built, and it was going to get built right.

“Best of everything,” he says now, and having done his research along the way he can be pretty conﬁdent that that’s what he achieved.

Body beautiful

Being a bodywork man, that part of the job came naturally. Not that the Nova was in bad shape, though the fenders were sufficiently beaten for Ian to decide that replacing them was an easier option than trying to bring them back. Rust repairs were minimal, with the exception of the boot floor which was “like a paper doily” thanks to an unidentified water leak that had left it damp enough for long enough to let the worms in.

Chevy’s ZZ5 crate engine is a 350ci small-block with Fast Burn ali heads and LS-style beehive valve springs, giving it 400hp at 5600rpm and 400lbf.ft at 4000rpm. Ian shelled out for the Turn-Key version of the engine, which came with an HEI dizzy, carb, balancer, starter, fuel and air-con pumps, alternator and accessory drive

Firing is controlled by a 6AL ignition box from MSD. Ian’s old mate, the late John Rowley, fitted the engine using a Billet Specialties alternator bracket, ali pulleys and ceramic coated headers. The rad and fan look like they could keep a Deltic from overheating but in fact it used to get a bit touch and go in this department, until Ian added the shrouds you see above the grille in the main picture to channel more air through them

Ian used ’62 lenses for the front side and turn lights, because he preferred the clear look to the amber that became standard a year later. They’re too modern for the 60s, he reckons – and amber would look terrible against all that yellow, too

Having re-hung the front doors on new hinges, Ian also refurbished all their handles and mirrors. Window rubbers were replaced throughout the car, too – except the quarter lights, which were out of stock when he went shopping

The bumpers weren’t too clever, either, which is why they’re not chromed. Ian decided that getting them good enough to paint was, well, good enough. We’re talking the art of the possible, here – he’s a hands-on hot rodder, and even on a best of everything build you’re still weighing it up against the day job, family life and the cost of living. Anyway, in between the bumpers is where you really notice the difference

between what he bought and what he has, because his lockdown project was to baremetal the whole thing and respray it in that same shade of Dredd Shed yellow. Or Young Yellow as some of his friends now know it.

“I’m not a painter,” he stresses, though if cars could talk the Nova might take issue with that. With some supplies borrowed from his workplace, he transformed his garage into a spray booth and got down to business, door shuts and all, with the results you see here – which are exceedingly presentable without taking it to the point where filling a scratch would mean baremetalling it all over again.

There’s some devil in the detail, too. He replaced all the window rubbers (with the exception of the quarter lights, which were out of stock at the time), rehung the front doors on new hinges and refurbished all the door handles and mirrors. You might spot ’62 lenses on the front side and turn lights, too – ’63 was the year they became amber but Ian prefers the clear look. “Orange to me seems too modern for a 60s’ vehicle,” he explains. It wouldn’t look great against the yellow of the bodywork, either.

As for the wheels and tyres, the short story is that they’re 7x17 Billet Specialties Fast Lanes with 215/45R17 Avon ZV5s up front and 225/45R17s at the back. The long story is that getting the right offset was a pig. “Depending on who you talk to, 4.75 inches of back spacing seems to be optimum. I used 4.5 inches and I still had a tyre rub up inside the rear wheel arch –though apparently on these first generation Novas there can be a difference of up to 2.2 inches from side to side. And it’s not always the same side!”

Just like eddy

It was worth all the effort, because the wagon’s stance on its wheels is spot-on whether aired out or sitting up at road height. The stainless tailpipes exiting just behind the rears add a vibe to its look, too, by extending the line of the sill bottoms – though this was actually the standard position on the Nova wagon, thanks to its electric tailgate window. Drive with it down, as people did, and with a tailpipe exiting out the back of the vehicle the eddy currents in the air mean it would suck all the fumes straight into the cabin.

7x17 Billet Specialties Fast Lanes carry 215/45R17 Avon ZV5s up front and 225/45R17s at the back. There’s 4.5 inches of back spacing in them, which still wasn’t enough to prevent one of the rears from rubbing. Just one of them, mind…

Mainly, though, we like the noise that comes out of them when Ian fires it up. And this is where the whole best-of-everything approach really becomes apparent.

Many a build has stumbled, stalled or fallen flat on its face thanks to a promising sounding engine bought from a trustworthy sounding seller that’s turned out to be a big old hunk of scrap. Ian wasn’t really very interested in making that mistake; no way was this ever a chequebook project, but he decided to invest where it really mattered and brought in a ZZ5 Turn-Key crate engine.

Replacing the stock 194ci (3.2-litre) sixpot, this is a version of the 350ci SBC with Fast Burn ali heads and LS-style beehive valve springs for higher performance up top; step on the gas a bit and it’ll dish out 400hp at 5600rpm and 400lbf.ft at 4000rpm. It first came out in 2014 and Ian’s was one of the first to be shipped to the UK. He chose the Turn Key package because, as the name suggests, it came with everything short of a car to put it in – we’re talking HEI distributor, carb, balancer, starter, fuel and air-con pumps, alternator and accessory drive. Comprehensive, it is.

Ian trusted the fitting job to his old friend, the late John Rowley, a hot rodder who lived locally to him. John installed it using an MSD 6AL ignition control box, Lokar dipstick, Billet

Like paint and wheels, stickers can be the making of a car – but they need to be done right. And like patina, they can be faked but never convincingly. The Nova came to Ian with a decent collection and in his time he’s added more, creating a record of events it’s been to in more than half a century of enthusiast ownership. There’s some fantastic provenance here

Specialties alternator bracket, ali pulleys and ceramic coated headers. Behind it went a 700R4 from Bowtie Overdrives, which in turn spins an 8.8-inch Ford Explorer axle – whose presence brings an LSD and disc brakes to the party.

Ups and downs

The Ford axle is held in place by a 4-link kit from Ridetech, which also supplied one of its computer controlled air ride systems with Shockwaves air springs on all four corners. Up front, it’s on upper and lower control arms from Church Boys Racing, with the same company’s rack and pinion steering turned by a three-spoke wheel via an Ididit shifter column.

All this involved going shopping with a lot of companies Ian had never dealt with before, which is where the aforementioned research came into it. “I got myself on to the Nova forums and spent a lot of time talking to people in America about what works and what doesn’t,” he says. “I soon picked up patterns in what they were saying and learned what I should be doing with it.” Not a bad way to find out about which suppliers are going to treat you like they value your business, that, too.

The build spec is getting pretty tasty by now, and you can add a classic upgrade loom from American Autowire (also as recommended by the forums) and a custom gauge cluster from Speedhut, the latter including a GPS speedo. But something is missing, and it’s this something that brings the story up to date.

A couple of years ago, the unthinkable happened and Ian moved house. We can tell you that his new place is a gaff to be proud of, but that’s because he’s poured his heart, soul and bank balance into it – and one thing it doesn’t have is a big garage. His previous home was particularly well endowed in this sense – it’s where he built and sprayed

the Nova, so moving to one it’ll fit in with a couple of inches to spare was definitely a culture shock.

All this, anyway, is why the project stopped short of completion. Agonisingly short, actually, as all the car really needs is an interior to finish it off. There are carpets and vinyl door cards in there but the seats are under blankets, it wants a headliner and the steel dash, while it has been flaked and pinstriped somewhere back in the distant past, is well past its prime. Ian had planned to trim it out in yellow to match the body

Original vent panel could be plumbed to take air-con from the pump included on the ZZ5. Ian hadn’t got round to installing it before his new house took over, but it would be (sorry) a cool way of doing it

(and what a mouth-watering prospect that would be), but when every pound you spend on your car could suddenly be going instead on sorting out your family home, it’s time to remember that it’s not actually a way of life life after all and, when all’s said and done, is just a hobby.

Having said that, it’s hard not to feel that with a bigger garage to store it in, Ian would be doing just that and biding his time until daily deliveries of flooring and kitchen units are a distant memory and finding a trim shop can once again get his full attention. As it is,

though, he decided a while ago that the Nova needs to find a new home.

He’s not really been pushing the sale, and you can’t blame him. But £18,000 would make it yours and even in this day and age when everybody’s skint and a gallon of gas costs more than a week in Vegas, that’s a lot of Chevy for your cash. If you’re interested, drop us an email here at Custom Car and we’ll pass it on.

You’ll be seeing the Young name again in these pages, hopefully later this year, as Ian’s brother Graham is just finishing off a project

of his own. They built a Pop together back in the 70s, with a Rover V8, Jag rear and Viva front, so they’ve got previous in this game –and Ian fancies doing another in the future:

“I would like to get a stock 103e Pop, put on some banded stock wheels, Bellamy front axle if I could find one, and hop the motor up with period tuning parts. An old school British hot rod, if you like.”

So that’s something to look out for, and we don’t think it’ll be hard to spot. If nothing else, see if you can guess what colour he’s most likely to paint it… CC

Speedhut gauge cluster includes a GPS speedo. The dash has been prettied up in the past but it could definitely do with being redone – Ian’s plan was to paint it yellow, natch. It wouldn’t take a lot of tidying, along with a trim job on the seats and headliner, to make a really nice cabin out of this

Coronation strip

The National Finals at Santa Pod saw titles decided and champions crowned across the whole spectrum of British drag racing

Pro ET

Nick Mugridge had already been crowned Pro ET champion by the time Marc Huxley’s breakout handed the final to Charles Seward. Mugridge, who qualified ninth from a field of 35, saw off Collin Morrice (who had earlier won the Perfect Light award in Q4 with a 0.0001 RT) in E1 before losing to Rouven Dawson on a double breakout at the next attempt, but that was enough to seal the deal for 2025

VW Pro

Eighteen years in to his racing career, Luke Stevenson clinched his ﬁrst national title when he defeated Carl Goldsmith in the VW Pro ﬁnal. After Jake Fronda had dominated in qualifying, Stevenson ran a 11.4661/121.00mph PB in E2 before taking out Fronda’s conqueror James Hodson in the semi aboard his Golf. Goldsmith route through eliminations saw him put away Wayne Gill, Ed Keech and Michael Strachan, but Stevenson had too much for him at the last and took an emphatic victory to secure the top spot

■ Words: Olly Sack

■ Pics: Graham Watkinson

VW Sportsman

VW Sportsman was won by a VW sportswoman this year as Lily Stevenson made it a family double by taking the title in her debut season. The 20 year old rookie went into the event having never lost a green light race – and she kept that up, albeit it by putting a cherry on the tree in E2. That was never going to take away her crown, but it did at least give everyone else a chance and it was Bruce Harvey who took it, going 13.8179 / 100.51mph in the ﬁnal on a 13.61 dial while alongside him Andy Cooper broke out

Comp Eliminator

With the 2025 racing season ready to reach its climax, it was all roads lead to Podington for the National Finals. A total of 22 different classes, including 14 on four wheels, were to be decided over the course of the weekend; in a few cases, the destination of the championship honours was already known, but even then there was still plenty of pride to play for.

The event was largely blessed by good weather, with a two-hour rain break on Saturday afternoon the only significant interruption to proceedings. This came after a close call for Neil Midgley in Top Fuel Bike, however, when he came off after contacting the wall beyond the stripe and suffered various injuries including deep friction burns from sliding across the track.

Things came close to going pear shaped in Outlaw Flat Four, too, when a wheels-up launch by Mark Eltringham turned itself into a wild ride that saw him veer luridly across the centre line. His opponent James Wotton somehow

managed to avoid him as he fought to bring the Karmann Ghia under control, ultimately missing car and wall by inches before spinning to a breathless halt as the hill rose in relieved applause.

We don’t tend to talk much about the marque in Custom Car but other Volkswagen related highlights included a family one-two in VW Pro and VW Sportsman, won respectively by father and daughter Luke and Lily Stevenson. The latter concluded a title-winning rookie year in which she never once lost a race on a green light.

One to watch for the future there, for sure. And the same can be said for Skye Collier in Super Comp, who was only running licensing passes at the event but was already smashing down strong times in the 8.9s.

With several new and refreshed cars getting ready to make their debuts in 2026, the coming season is set to be a vintage on. For now, congratulations to the reigning champions – and to everyone who made the contests for last season’s titles so engrossing.

Rouven Dawson led from the start in qualifying and was rewarded with a bye in E1 before defeating Spencer Tramm and Emma Goddard on the way to the ﬁnal. His opponent here was Dan Williams, who got past Terry Newton and a struggling David Henderson before taking a bye of his own in the semis. It was 2022 champ Williams who won it on the day but that didn’t stop Dawson from clinching the 2025 Comp Eliminator title

Nostalgia Super Stock

Chris Goodale and Dave Billadeau traded places early on at the top of the qualifying list – before meeting again in the ﬁnal after both got solo runs in E1 and were aided by red lights for their opponents in E2. With both ﬁnalists powered by Billadeau-built engines, it was Goodale who took the win – however it’s Billadeau that was crowned Nostalgia Super Stock champion for 2025.

Chris Goodale won it on the day in Nostalgia Super Stock in Russo’s Rat, the storied Chevelle which we featured in March ’24. The rebuild on the vehicle was managed by Dave Billadeau, his rival in the ﬁnal – and the 2025 NSS champion

Street Eliminator

Victoria Smith, Joseph Baxter and Mark Sheridan all had turns on top of the list in Street Eliminator, the latter thanks to a PB run of 7.2893 / 200.64mph in Q4. There were PBs (two of them) for Michael De Souza, too, as well as a ﬁrst run in the 8s for Joe Stevens.

De Souza posted yet another PB in E2, albeit in vain as Anthony Higgs put him on the trailer. But this round also saw the 2025 champion crowned as Rob Carter saw off James Murray to reach the semis.

A PB of 7.4455/208.01mph for Higgs didn’t get him any further as it was preceded by a red light, so it was Baxter and Carter in the ﬁnal after the latter was helped through by another cherry for his opponent Bill MacDermid. Carter wasn’t resting on his laurels, keeping it pinned to take victory on the day and celebrate his title in style.

Super Pro ET

Bradley Didwell was crowned Super Pro ET champion after a contest which saw him put out Baylee Ashdown on a double cherry, Colin Millar on a breakout and Mark Bailey on a red light to earn a bye in the semis. Having made the early pace in qualifying, Didwell’s closest rival Philip O’Brien was a no-show in E1, while Billy Gane lost narrowly to Daniel Giles after topping the qualifying table. The other semi saw a red light for Scott Hauser putting Lee Huxley through to the ﬁnal, where Didwell was waiting – but this time it was Huxley whose lane lit up as Didwell Racing took back the title it had previously held in 2023

Wild Bunch

Prior to the National Finals, the size of the entry list and the points available meant Team Rebel were confirmed as winners of the 2025 Wild Bunch series. And Rob Brown celebrated with a performance fit for a champion as he piloted Rebel through to the final – via a PB of 8.341 while running a bye in the semis.

The other semi saw a PB, too, as Philippa Turton in the ever-popular Bitchcraft ran 10.179 at 128.35 mph – a huge breakout but a monster of a pass nonetheless. Alongside her, Marie Mills broke out too but by a far lesser amount, meaning she went through to the ﬁnal. Both chose conservative dials rather than going for broke, with Rob ﬁnishing the season on a high by taking a holeshot win.

Junior Dragster

Reigning champ Luke Mugridge had already retained the 2025 before the action started, so he was very much the one to beat here. Nobody could improve on the 0.0022 RT that saw Frankie Kent top the list going into the show, but that didn’t translate into qualifying success as a red light in E1 meant defeat to Chevrolet Checkett.

Chevrolet had a bye in E2, then it was Luke’s turn in E3 as both progressed to the semis. Here, Luke lost out to Jake Cooper and Chevrolet to Daniel Todd. Daniel was the only driver not to break out at this stage, and he held his nerve to take the win with a 8.0078 / 80.93mph (7.98) run in the ﬁnal.

Pro Mod

Pro Mod is run by Motorsport UK, rather than being part of the National Drag Racing Championships, but that doesn’t make it any less dramatic (or loud). Andres Arnover went into it at the top of the leaderboard but it was David Vegter who dominated qualifying – albeit from the pits, where he was working on his car after posting a 5.8332 / 242.88mph pass that wasn’t bettered until eliminations god underway.

When they did, however, the focus shifted to Michel Tooren – who smashed it with a new PB of 5.8089 / 247.69mph. Andy Robinson beat Jean Dulamon in the only contested race of E1, setting up a semi in which he lost out to Tooren. Arnover was waiting, after Vegter red lit alongside him, and it was the Estonian who took the win in the ﬁnal as he celebrated his ﬁrst Pro Mod title.

Michel Tooren fell at the ﬁnal hurdle in Pro Mod, but on the way he posted a monster PB of 5.8089 / 247.69mph

Super Comp

Leah Kellett made it five in a row in Super Comp, taking her now-customary title win despite losing the final to Ellie May Brown. Warren Watts took the Perfect ET award with a time of 8.9003 on his first run but it was Charles Seward who led the way throughout qualifying – before the two of them lined up in E1, with Warren going through on a double breakout. Brown also went through on the lesser of two breakouts in her race against Geoff Cowley, then both she and Kellett won their semis when Watts and Dave Fulton respectively also broke out. No such trouble in the final, where Brown’s 8.9393 / 155.75mph won the day against the already crowned Kellett.

Skye Collier is deﬁnitely one to watch in Super Comp. Running licensing passes at the National Finals, she put in a series of times including a 8.9180 / 146.80mph that say she’s going to be competitive from the word go this coming season

Super Gas

Sara Unsworth, Stuart Morrice and Stuart Doignie all took turns on top of the Super Gas qualifying list. Doignie was already certain of retaining his title, and he led the way going into the show before seeing off Wayne Hiscock and Conrad Stanley en route to the semis. Here, Stuart Morrice edged Andy Harrison on a double breakout while Doignie took a bye to set up a battle of the Stuarts in the ﬁnal. A 9.9788 / 135.75mph run meant Morrice took it on the day

Sportsman ET

Gary Lake completed a hat-trick of Sportsman ET titles in 2024 and had already added a fourth by the time the National Finals kicked off. After Rob Cresswell had led the way in qualifying, Lake saw it through as far as E2 before red lighting his way out of the show to the beneﬁt of Felicity Gibbs. She in turn took it as far as the semis, only to lose out on a double breakout to Kirstie Tramm. The other semi saw another breakout, this time for Aaron Springford, which allowed Dan Hollaway through to the ﬁnal – where a red light for Tramm handed him the win

Outlaw Flat Four

Mark Eltringham topped the list throughout qualifying, giving him a bye into the semis where he came up against James Wotton in a race you may well have seen on social media. Eltringham launched hard in his Karmann Ghia before swerving wildly across the centre line and back, ﬁnishing up by spinning to stop in one of the best saves you’ll ever see. How he avoided the wall, and how Wotton managed to avoid piling into him, no-one who saw it happen will ever know, but both emerged intact as Wotton progressed to the ﬁnal aboard the legendary Velocirazor – winning comfortably from Jonny Marriage with a run of 11.3303 / 120.15mph.

Mark Eltringham only made it to the semis in Outlaw Flat Four, but he had the crowd on their feet with the save of a lifetime after swerving both ways across the whole strip, missing both James Wotton and the wall by a coat of paint and ﬁnally spinning to a halt. Great entertainment but even greater laundry bills

Words: Dave Biggadyke

Pics: Steve Cook

There must be something in Yorkshire water, other than what’s good for brewing a cuppa. It’s an element that makes hot rodders look outside the box and create something unique

PROGRESS REPORT: PART 6

In the last instalment, we focused on cutting out the doors, creating their inner frameworks and forming the door shuts. This procedure was repeated to form the lower section of the split-opening tailgate, albeit with a totally different hinging mechanism.

We also take a look at the fabrication of a sliding load area and the forming of the distinctive rear light stanchions. Finally, there’s a look at the opulent, yet functional, dashboard, designed to house the gauges and switchgear already ﬁtted to the Atlantis when Steve bought it.

Oh, there’s also a hint as to the ﬁnal ﬁnish of the interior. Or, at least, some of it.

To bring the project up to date in real time, at the point of writing the wiring installation had just been completed. Steve

was excited to tell us that he and Graham then intended to ﬁre up the engine in the next few days, check that everything is working as it should and get the car moving under its own steam. Hopefully that went to plan, as there’s nothing more inspiring than the ﬁrst time everything bursts into life.

We’ll update you on progress in a couple more instalments without revealing all of the details. We do, after all, need to hold some things back and keep an element of surprise for the full feature on an Atlantis like no other.

Firstly, a recap as to how the tailgate was formed from polystyrene sheet and polyurethane foam…

…before the upper window section was cut out, with the glass ultimately being hinged to open upwards and the solid bottom section hinged to open downwards

The lower tailgate hinging mechanism was trialled using strips of plastic window trim, before the hinges and mechanisms were made in steel

The framework runs across the entire length of the tailgate’s bottom edge for maximum strength and rigidity

Steel support sections were also added higher up the tailgate as mounts for the Range Rover drop-down stays

Before that, though, the cut-out tailgate needed tidying and strengthening

As with the doors, the lower tailgate section was carefully cut out with a jigsaw, with the resulting void revealing the inner box section frame

The rear quarter bumpers originally ﬁtted to the Atlantis were clamped into position and new mounting irons were formed from 6mm and 3mm steel plate

Box section steel was cut to length to form a rigid framework to carry the hinges

As with the doors, strips of plastic window trim formed the inner tailgate frame, with the inside edges coated with ﬁbreglass matting and the plastic trim removed once cured

The hinges were formed from stainless steel, the shape being a nod to the original Atlantis

Although temporarily mounted in this shot, the hinges will bolt directly into the drilled and tapped box section framework

Conscious that the drop-down tailgate would hinder access, Steve fabricated a sliding load area ﬂoor on extended runners. Beneath that is a sliding storage drawer, which will be home to ‘shooting brake’ accessories

The hinge plates for the upper tailgate window section were also formed from stainless steel

To utilise the additional front indicator pods that had been cast for use as stop / tail lights, ﬁbreglass stands were initially sculpted from foam. The red lenses are by Harley Davidson and awaiting ﬁtment are ‘90s Ford side indicator repeater lenses

The dash was purposely designed to house the Jaguar gauges and switchgear that were already ﬁtted to the Atlantis, although the speedo will be substituted for a GPS

“A hint as to the final finish of the interior”

NEXT TIME: Wagon wheels

A teasing pic as to what the ﬁnish on the dash may ultimately resemble, although there’s a lot more to follow. It is a Woodie after all…

unit

Left: The custom dashboard was formed from foam over a cardboard base then covered with masking tape and ﬁbreglass matting, as is the norm

radiator mascot

Macarthur park up Out & About

Words and pics:

Dave Biggadyke

Event: All American Day

Date: 18 January

Venue: Macarthur Square, Campbelltown

Down Under in Australia, the 43rd All American Day was held at Macarthur Square, a shopping centre in Campbelltown on the outskirts of Sydney. Previous stagings had attracted more than 400 American vehicles of all shapes and sizes, from very large to mega large – but perhaps the weather gods knew there was an Englishman in town, because two days of rain in the run-up to the event dampened the spirits of many who decided to stay home in the dry.

As things turned out, the rain held off on the day itself. But for the first time ever, the organisers played it safe and relocated the show to the stand-by undercover car park. Despite numbers being down, there was still an array of more than 100 vehicles on display for the visiting public, some of them in attendance for the first time.

Being a popular and therefore busy shopping centre, especially on a Sunday, there was no shortage of inquisitive eyes, and it was good to see vehicle owners take the time to answer questions and generally chat to members of the public,

with some even encouraging younger visitors to sit in the driving seat. Talking of youngsters, the show supports the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation, Westmead. The Mustang

Owners Club of Australia (NSW), which organises the day, expresses thanks to the show’s sponsors for their generous support and to all the exhibitors for ignoring the weather forecasts.

Michael Rahn’s ’56 Chevy Belair was awarded third place in the Street Machine category. Together with his dad, Michael rebuilt the car around 25 years ago – it’s a credit to their workmanship that it’s still winning trophies

’67 Ford Mustang is a C code car running a 289 V8 and 4-speed Toploader. The Fastback underwent a complete restoration programme in 2012-13

First place in the Hot Rod category went to the ’30 Chevy 3-window coupe of Andrew Godsell

Dodge Charger R/T attracted a lot of interest from exhibitors and visitors alike

While not as plentiful as on these shores, there were a few ‘50s pick-up trucks on show, such as this ’59 Chevy Apache

Second generation Ford Galaxie 500 has a 427 under the bonnet, which first appeared as a factory option in 1963

You wait for ages for a Ford Fairlane 500, then two come along at once. Colin Kenny-Levick’s ’59 on the right came third in the Ford (excluding Mustang) category

and

Two very similar Model A roadsters, apart from one has canvas and the other has what appears to be a polished ali roof

First place in the Corvette category went the way of Clive Owerko’s immaculate ’63 Split-Window

the

its

at the Ford

the

Loving

colour of this RS Camaro. The wheel and tyre combo helps too

775bhp 540ci aluminium big block

a full manual Turbo 400 Shift Rite transmission

coupe

The red band tyres really work on this lowered Chevy pick-up, enhancing the polished 5-spokes and clean lines of the bodywork

Jeff Wilson was one of the owners offering youngsters a sit in the driving seat in the ’81 Corvette he’s owned since 1997. Unusually, the 350ci small block runs on LPG

Christian Merrigan’s ’38 Ford Tudor is a matching numbers car, which presumably impressed the judges as it was the winner in the Vintage Pre-’48 category

Produced

Motor Company’s Dearborn plant,

Mercury 8 made

debut in 1939. Lifting the bonnet revealed a 239ci Flathead V8 backed up with a 3-speed manual transmission

Running with the Original Boyz out of Sydney, this Chevrolet Impala represented the lowrider scene and sported some neat custom touches

A brace of Pontiac Trans Ams from the seventies. The same, but oh so different The

Pro Touring ’69 Camaro RS runs a

Jeff Wilson was one of the owners offering

Roarin’ Forties

Ford’s Model 40 took its time to become a hot rodders’ favourite. But these two California rods built by celebrated British expat Jay Dean are great examples of its potential

Born out of the Great Depression and based on Bob Gregorie’s diminutive 1932 Model Y, the up-scaled ’33-34 Model 40 had a 112-inch wheelbase, weighed 2400 pounds and, at 85hp (1934), packed the most Ford V-8 power to date. It wasn’t the quintessential Deuce but it was a sleek looking ride that gradually gained popularity with hot rodders.

Take, for example, these two 34s: Stacie Depner’s Roadster and Simon Gluckman’s 3-window. Both were essentially built by Brits, albeit in California – Stacie’s by the late Jay Dean of Nostalgia Ranch, Fallbrook, and Simon’s by… well, Simon, with a lot of help from his mate Troy Ladd of Hollywood Hot Rods in Burbank, California.

Stacie grew up in Wisconsin, in a carlovin’ family which clearly inspired her: “I studied engineering for five years at the University of Minnesota.” She’s now the VP of Product Development and Operations for a Palo Alto start-up.

“I moved to California at the end of 2014 and jumped right in,” she continues. “I went to the first RPM Nationals at Barona, organised by Justin Bass and Russ Hare, and just loved it. I got my first drive down the strip in 2022 in Jesse Hernandez’s ’s bangerpowered Model A and was hooked. The following year, I raced my Chevy-powered Model A wearing the number 111.

“I love the Model A and still own it, but I’d always wanted a ’34 – it’s my favourite. I bought an original steel roller from Jay

Words & Pictures: Tony Thacker

Simon Gluckman: ’34 3-window coupe

Simon loved the coupe with its old 286ci 8BA but he figured he’d really love it with more power. That came from a 394ci Olds block, which Troy Ladd built up with help from Dave Akard and Charles Franklin. The finished engine features big-block Chevy H-beam rods, Ross Racing 8.25:1 pistons, an Oregon Cam Grinding billet steel roller cam for hydraulic lifters and modified 440 Chrysler rocker arms, and the ali scoop hides an adapted Offenhauser 325 intake, a 6-71 Mooneyham blower and a pair of modified 750cfm Holleys

Americans might need this good old English phrase explaining to them. After that, well, they might need it explaining to them all over again

Simon sits in an ali bucket upholstered in antique brown leather, surrounded by a Troy Ladd cage and held in by a Crow 5-point harness

Chassis was bought new from RJays Speed Shop in Missouri, with Troy at Hollywood Hot Rods adding a 4-inch kick-up in the rear. Suspension is traditional reversedeye leaf springs and QA1 shocks

Left: The Woods and Holly Racing logo is a play on Hollywood Hot Rods that Simon and Troy came up with

Stacie Depner: ’34 roadster

’40 Ford steering wheel spins a Neal Jennings box via a ’34 column. Dash is ’40 Ford DeLuxe, shifter is Hurst

Charles Franklin at Vintage V8 Restoration in Orange County built the bottom end of the 8BA engine, following machine work by Mike Herman at H&H Flatheads. Jay at Nostalgia Ranch added the original Navarro heads, the intake and those three Stromberg 97s. The scoops came from Roadster Supply, as did an eFire ignition set-up

No-frills interior features genuine aluminium bomber seats upholstered by Rex Copeman

Up front, Stacie’s Roadster runs a 4-inch dropped I-beam with a chrome ’34 leaf spring, Lincoln brakes and Goliath friction shocks

Pewitt in March 2020. Because of Covid, and my workload, the car sat in my garage until my friend Charles Franklin could start on it.

“Charles, who operates Vintage V8 Restoration in Orange County, began the build. He did much of the basic chassis work, installed the ’40 Ford DeLuxe dash and, after the machine work had been done by Mike Herman at H&H Flatheads, built the bottom end of the 8BA flattie.

“Around this time, my career became busier and the only way I could get the car finished was to take it to my good friend Jay at Nostalgia Ranch.”

Northern exposure

Simon’s story is somewhat different. As a boy, he grew up in North London – and like so many of his generation he was hugely influenced by American Graffiti. “I saw the light,” he says, not being one to mince words.

“My first ride in a yank was in Peter Stevens’ ’57 Chevy 210. I fell in love with Tri-Chevys, got into Harleys, and joined the Smoke City Wheelers – I seem to remember they chopped a double-decker bus.”

Simon made a name for himself as a photographer in Europe and New York, and in the early 2000s he moved to Los Angeles – where he dived deep into the thriving local hot rod scene. Over the past 20 years, he has owned several – in addition to a string of other American cars and trucks.

“I had a ’53 Chevy pickup that needed sorting,” recalls Simon. “I ended up at Troy’s Hollywood Hot Rods, where they fixed it, and it was through Jim Aust, who was working at Troy’s at the time, that I found the ’34 body.

“I wanted that sixties drag car look and the body Jim found at the Kennedy Boys had been chopped aggressively by Mark Codd – 5 1/2 inches out of the A-pillars and six inches out of the back. I love its early, lakes style profile – it’s not the easiest thing to drive on the street but I got used to it real quick.”

Collector’s corner

Meanwhile, Jay was getting into Stacie’s project. “The bones of the car were great,” he said. “It had a good, original steel frame, body, hood and grille, however, the louvered decklid is from Rootleib. Stacie had a lot of parts that she had been collecting – they just needed to be carefully assembled and detailed.

“Up front there’s a 4-inch dropped I-beam fitted with a chrome ’34 leaf spring, Lincoln brakes and Goliath friction shocks from Jim Bennett in England. Out back, there’s an original ’40 Ford axle fitted with a Halibrand quick change and Ford juice brakes. The steering box is from Neal Jennings, the column is ’34 and the wheel is ’40 Ford.

“She was going to use a Ford three-speed box behind the flattie, but I persuaded her to go far a Borg-Warner T-5 five-speed manual. It’s lightweight and compact but provides good, versatile drivability.

“The trans was fitted using a Speedway adapter and we used a Hurst shifter. We also added the original Navarro heads, the intake, three Stromberg 97s and those neat scoops from Roadster Supply. The eFire ignition also came from there, too.”

Jumping in

Simon, meanwhile, found Roy Forbes, a member of the ‘Peckerheads’ in Reno, Nevada. “Roy had a complete Model 40 rolling chassis with juice brakes and everything for a good price,” he says. “I jumped on it and we were ready to go.”

Guess where the rolling chassis went? Yep, to Jay at Nostalgia Ranch, where the first version was built. “I bought a cheap 8BA flathead,” said Simon. “And, as happens when you buy cheap, within a few weeks of driving it I trashed the motor.

“That made me realise this was a special car and I needed more power. That’s when I went to Bob McKray in Mission Viejo, who built me a hot, Eddie Meyer equipped 286ci 8BA with a pair of Strombergs.

“Jay installed that with a T-5 5-speed. And it was fast. I raced it at the RPM Nationals in 2021 and ’22 – it was great fun to drive and, with the flattie, I would drive it on the street three or four times a week.

Love and lust

“But even though I loved the car, I lusted for more power. I’ve always loved those vintage Olds Rocket engines and eventually found a good 394ci Olds block – so I decided to redo the car. I sold the original chassis and purchased a complete new one from RJays Speed Shop in Butler, Missouri that has a tubular ’34 style crossmember assembly. The suspension is traditional reversed-eye leaf springs, ladder bars and QA1 shocks.

“Meanwhile, Troy added the 4-inch kick-up in the rear. The block also went to Troy, who I have to thank as there is no way I could have achieved this build without his help – he did all the engine building and a lot of other things besides.”

The machine work and balancing was handled by Dave Akard at Burbank Speed and Machine. Charles Franklin handled the offset crank grinding and parts sourcing, before Troy began the build using big-block Chevy H-beam rods, Ross Racing 8.25:1 pistons, an Oregon Cam Grinding billet steel roller cam for hydraulic lifters and modified 440 Chrysler rocker arms. With all the mods, the capacity topped out at 431 cubic inches.

Atop the block sits an Offenhauser 325 intake modded to fit the 394, a 6-71 Mooneyham blower and a pair of modified 750cfm Holleys. They also hand-formed the ali ‘shoe box’ scoop before Malex added the graphics. Malex also lettered the car.

Simplicity

Both rods have simple, racecar style interiors. Stacie’s consists of a couple of real aluminium bomber seats that were

upholstered by Rex Copeman at Rex Upholstery in Escondido – frills there ain’t. The pedals are original ’34 with a dual master cylinder and the shifter is Hurst. Besides the stock ’40 Ford instrument cluster, there are ancillary pressure and temp gauges mounted under the dash.

Simon’s coupe is a bit more business-like but still no-frills, with a sturdy cage designed and built by Troy enclosing more aluminium bucket seats nicely upholstered in antique brown leather with Crow 5-point harnesses. The factory gauge cluster is supplemented with a large tacho mounted below the Bellstyle 4-spoke wheel.

Externally, the two cars are obviously very different. Simon’s carries its original patina with his 159 race number on the doors and that tremendously British slogan ‘The Dog’s Bollocks’ on the decklid. On the cowl is the Woods and Holly Racing logo, which is Simon and Troy’s word play on Hollywood Hot Rods. Whichever way you

look at it, the car is tough – and, during shakedown runs at the 2025 Mooneyes Christmas party at the In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip 1/8-mile, ran mid-to low 7s. “This was only my second time out,” said Simon, “and I know it’ll go faster.”

After she did much of the prep, Jay painted Stacie’s Roadster Chevy truck white with that gold centre line in ’56 Chevy Grecian Gold. At the time of photography, the car had yet to be striped but Stacie has run it on the 1/8-mile at Barona in the low-9s.

“We haven’t dialled it in yet,” commented Jay, “there’s a lot more in it yet.”

Both Simon and Stacie struggle with seat time – with the closing of Irwindale, there just aren’t enough opportunities to race and dial in. However, there is no denying that despite their differences, these Brit-built 40s are two of the hottest in the LA scene. Following his tragic passing at this year’s Grand National Roadster Show, Jay will be sadly missed indeed. CC

British expat Jay Dean played a big part in bringing both ’34s to life. He’s going to be a huge loss to the hot rodding community

SoCal

Diaries

Former Custom Car editor

Tony

Thacker lives in California these days, and this month he’s Ore-gone to Portland to check in on an old friend

Heading north

It’s been more than a decade since I last attended the Portland Roadster Show (PRS), which this year celebrated its 70th anniversary. Located 1000 miles north up Interstate 5 from Los Angeles, it’s a good 16-hour drive – best taken in two legs as you need your wits about you to navigate the Cascade Siskiyou mountains in northern California and the Klamath Mountains in southern Oregon. Both ranges are fun but both demand your attention.

Outwardly, Portland could be called a ‘green’ city, or a ‘sanctuary,’ and it has an obvious problem with homelesness. But under the skin it’s a car town, with its own city-owned Portland International Raceway that hosts a weekly summer car show. This attracts an average of 1500 cars – yes, every week.

Founded in 1956, the PRS is an all-volunteer e ort that has been owned and produced by the Multnomah Hot Rod Council which, in turn, was founded in 1954 by breglass pioneer Dee Wescott of Wescott’s Auto Restyling. More than anything, the PRS is an active charity generating funds to provide automotive based scholarships and support to many local charities. And yes, I can now tell you for sure, they put on a good show.

love

by Lucky

Customs,

Pontiac

Is it a question of how many windows do you want, or will there be another one along in a minute? Either way, these buses are now valued at about $4.5K per window

I’m not a big RPU fan –they’re too snug – but my pick for the Best of Show was Kent Brosseau’s (Brosseau’s Coachworks) ’29 powered by a Navarro/ T5-equipped 8BA built by H and H Flatheads

You can’t fault a Shelby GT350 and number 5S243 is one of two rally cars built in 1965 by Shelby for the IX Rally Internacional de las 24 Horas. A trunk re forced the team of Bob McKay and Paul Martel team to a DNF

Not for me, but you can’t fault the Atomic Creamsicle, a faithful recreation

Antioch, CA

Richard Zocchi’s ’62

Grand Prix that was rst built by the late Gene Win eld

simple customs. In 1953, Ina Mae Overman drove her brand new ’52 Lincoln Capri to Valley Custom Shop, Burbank – and here it is restored to its 1956 spec by Terje Moseid’s Kustom Garage

One of the cleanest Camaros on the oor was this ’67 displayed by Pro Tek Automotive of Portland and owned by Mike and Katie Christopherson. I’d have liked to see the hood on but it was a tough build

Not often you see these two together but what a sight: Spence Murray’s original ‘Dream Truck,’ built between 1953-57 for Rod & Custom magazine, and Ryan Timmons’ ‘Dream Delivery’ tribute

I love ’27 Roadsters but I didn’t quite dig the Chevy LS-3powered ‘One O ’ built by Daryl Schroeder’s Speed & Custom for Sean Gores. Tu motor, though

Yes, please, I’ll take two. Dave Sweeney is the proud owner of this 1965 Repco Brabham BT14 supplied with a 1600cc Ford twin cam engine, which was intended for the popular Formule Libre racing series

Another stunning tribute was Lonnie and Geraldine’s Gilbertson’s 1960 Thunderbird in the killer style of Larry Watson, with paint by Tony Wilson. Lonnie hosts Portland’s infamous ‘Tranny Show’

Slammed Chevy C-10s are like Parisienne dog poop – everywhere. Not typically with long beds, fender skirts, swamp coolers or door dings – but if it oats your boat, go for it

and

I get the copper-plated bullets decorating the grille but perhaps another 36 poking up through the hood of Jerry Logan’s 1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville was just a shot too far from builder Kindig-It. Again, though, if it oats your boat

As is often the case with American indoor car shows, pinstriping exhibitions and auctions are a big part of the event – as evidenced here by Portland based Kassidy Rae

Carl and Tracy Jones’ beautiful 1960 Gen II Corvette was built for them by Wicked Fabrication, Auburn, Washington and features an LS-3 with a hot cam, a TKX 5-speed and a Ford 9-inch of all things

You don’t see many of these in the UK, let alone Oregon, but English cars like Tanya Foreman’s 1958 Hillman Minx convertible were fairly popular in the post-World War II years

There are ’40 Ford pickups and then there’s The Frenchman’s ’40 Ford pickup built by Mad Max Creations out of Washougal, Washington. Power comes from a 331ci Ford stroker by C’s Machine

Total favourite

Best Muscle Car of the show was this super detailed Hellcat-powered ’70 Charger, built by 29-year-old Josh Sanders of Sanders Street Rods in Enumclaw, Washington

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 editorial@pistonpublications.co.uk

APRIL 2026

11-12 Spring Nationals Melbourne Raceway. www.straightliners.events

12 Bernie’s V8s and Historic Outlaws Silverstone Grand Prix www.berniesv8s.com

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

12 Sunday Breakfast Hop Barley Farm, Eccles, Manchester Facebook: Breakfast Hop

13 Full Throttle Monday Elvington Airfield, West Yorkshire www.straightliners.events

16 Spur Gear Car and Bike Meet The Spur, Slindon, West Sussex Facebook: Spur Gear Car and Bike Meets

18-19 Springspeed Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

19 Breakfast with the Reapers Boar Inn, Moddershall, Staffs 07928 214543 / 07976 655636

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

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

19 Original Sunday Morning Mayhem Sandwich Makers Diner, Hemel Hempstead. Facebook: Sandwich Makers Diner

19 Solent Renegades’ Start of Season Show The Farmhouse, Burrfields Road, Portsmouth. www.solent-renegades.co.uk

21 Drag’n’Drift Dakota Raceway, Smeatharpe Airfield, Devon. www.straightliners.events

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

23-26 Isle of Man Ford Fest www.iomfm.com

24-26 North East Rod & Custom Weekender Darlington Facebook: North East Rod & Custom

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

26 FBHVC Drive-It Day www.driveitday.co.uk

26 The Fast Show Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

26 Gathering of Geezers. Whitewebbs Museum of Transport, Enfield. www.whitewebbsmuseum.co.uk

26 The Drink Hot Rod Meet The Artisan, Tring Facebook: The Drink Hot Rod Meets

MAY 2026

1-3 Nostalgia Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

2 Only Fools and Motors

Tydd St Mary, Wisbech, Cambs Facebook: Only Fools and Motors

2-3 Leadroom Traditional Kustom Kar Show Sandown Park Racecourse, Esher, Surrey www.thetattooexpo.co.uk

2-3 Pendine Speed Weekend Pendine Sands, Carmarthenshire www.straightliners.events

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

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

9-10 Melbourne Mayhem Melbourne Raceway www.straightliners.events

9-10 Retro Rides Gathering Goodwood Circuit, West Sussex. retroridesevents.com

10 Spring Break Kustom Kulture Show Stonham Barns, Suffolk www.stonhambarns.co.uk

10 Victory Wheelers Hayling Reuinion Hayling Island www.facebook.com/groups/ VictoryWheelers

10 Sunday Breakfast Hop Barley Farm, Eccles, Manchester Facebook: Breakfast Hop

11 Full Throttle Monday Elvington Airfield, West Yorkshire www.straightliners.events

15-17 Doorslammers Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

16 Art of Auto Show Bull Inn, Newborough, Peterborough Instagram: the_art_of_auto

16-17 Bernie’s V8s and Historic Outlaws Thruxton (British Truck Championship). www.berniesv8s.com

16-17 Duchy Ford Show Watergate Bay, Newquay, Cornwall www.duchyfordclub.co.uk

16-17 Motor Madness Festival Great Yarmouth Seafront / Joyland American Diner Facebook: East Coast Pirates Car Club

17 Breakfast with the Reapers Boar Inn, Moddershall, Staffs 07928 214543 / 07976 655636

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

17 Fins ‘n’ Chrome Car Show Gypsy’s Green Stadium, South Shields Facebook: Fins & Chrome

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

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

21 Spur Gear Car and Bike Meet The Spur, Slindon, West Sussex Facebook: Spur Gear Car and Bike Meets

22-25 The Main Event Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

24 Great Eastern American, Classic, Vintage, Car, Scooter and Bike Show Lowestoft & Yarmouth RUFC. Paul: 07900 005871

24 Throttle Bicester Motion, Oxon. www.vhra.co.uk

24-25 Cars & Kirmes US Car & Oldtimers Show Germersheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

25 The Hop-Up Westerham Brewery, Westerham, Kent Facebook: Detonators CC

25-31 NSRA Fun Run Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park Isle of Wight. www.nsra.org.uk

29-31 Flat Caps and Ferrets Fire Up Auto Show Phoenix Sports and Social Club, Brinsworth, Rotherham Exhibitors: flatcaps.yas.25@gmail.com Traders: flatcapsNferrets@gmail.com

29-1 June VanJam Fir Tree Farm, Warmington. www.vanditos.co.uk

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

31 One-Off Custom Show

Rising Sun, Hazel Grove, Stockport Facebook: Rainy City Cruisers

31 The Drink Hot Rod Meet The Artisan, Tring Facebook: The Drink Hot Rod Meets

JUNE 2026

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 Hot Rods and Hills Park Foot Holiday Park, Penrith www.parkfootullswater.co.uk

4-7 Street Weekend Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

5-7 Hot Rod Rumble The Camp, Ramsey, Huntingdon www.hotrodrumble.co.uk

6 Only Fools and Motors

Tydd St Mary, Wisbech, Cambs Facebook: Only Fools and Motors

6-7 Bernie’s V8s and Historic Outlaws Brands Hatch (Speedfest) www.berniesv8s.com

6-7 Street Weekend

Melbourne Raceway www.straightliners.events

6-7 Wheels Weekender

Bottisham Airfield, Cambridgeshire Eventbrite: The Wheels Weekender

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

8 Full Throttle Monday Elvington Airfield, West Yorkshire www.straightliners.events

12-14 The Old Race Clairmarais, Pasde-Calais, France. www.theoldrace.com

13-14 Sportsman Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

14 Sunday Breakfast Hop

Barley Farm, Eccles, Manchester Facebook: Breakfast Hop

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

18 Spur Gear Car and Bike Meet

The Spur, Slindon, West Sussex Facebook: Spur Gear Car and Bike Meets

19-20 LA Roadster Show

Fairplex, Pomona www.laroadstershow.com

20-21 Argyle Mile

Campbletown Airfield, Scotland www.straightliners.events

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

21 Breakfast with the Reapers Boar Inn, Moddershall, Staffs 07928 214543 / 07976 655636

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

BRENTACRE

21 Rainy City Cruisers Car Meet Old School BBQ Bus, Chadderton, Oldham. Facebook: The Rainy City Cruisers

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

26-28 Dragstalgia Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

26-28 National Hot Rod, Custom, & American Car Show Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln. www.hotrodandcustomshow.co.uk

27-28 Bernie’s V8s and Historic Outlaws Donington Park GP www.berniesv8s.com

28 The Drink Hot Rod Meet The Artisan, Tring Facebook: The Drink Hot Rod Meets

JULY 2026

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

3-4 Hangar Rockin St Stephan Airfield, St Stephan, Switzerland. www.hangarrockin.com

3-5 MPH Vintage Sprint Denethorpe Airfield, Corby. www.mphdrags.co.uk

3-5 V8 Brothers Village Gits, Belgium. www.v8brothers.be

4 Drag’n’Drift Dakota Raceway, Smeatharpe Airfield, Devon. www.straightliners.events

4 Only Fools and Motors

Tydd St Mary, Wisbech, Cambs Facebook: Only Fools and Motors

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

9-12 European Street Rod Nationals Sillé-le-Guillaume, Sarthe, France. www.esra-rod.eu

9-12 Goodwood Festival of Speed Goodwood Estate, West Sussex. www. goodwood.com

10-12 Summer Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

11-12 Jet Fest Melbourne Raceway. www.straightliners.events

12 Custom Car Show and Carnival Debdale Park, Gorton, Manchester Facebook: Rainy City Cruisers

13 Full Throttle Monday Elvington Airfield, West Yorkshire www.straightliners.events

17-19 Rock ‘n’ Ribs Festival Bath and West Showground, Somerset. www.rocknribsfestival.co.uk

18 In the Mood, Presenting Wings & Wheels South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum Doncaster Facebook: Mick Tebbs / Les Andrews

18 Mustang Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

18-19 American Auto Club UK Summer Nationals. Upton Upon Severn Worcestershire www.american-auto-club.co.uk

19 Breakfast with the Reapers Boar Inn, Moddershall, Staffs 07928 214543 / 07976 655636

19 Deuce Day British Motor Museum, Gaydon www.deucesofbritain.co.uk/deuce-day

19 Ford Show Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

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

19 VHRA Swap Meet The Camp, Ramsey, Cambs. www.vhra.co.uk

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

24-26 Bug Jam Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

24-26 National Street Car Challenge Car Show Grange Park Sports Club, Wetherby, West Yorks www.nscc.info

24-26 Weekend of Wheels Moor Green, Nottingham www.coffeencarsuk.club

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

25-26 Bernie’s V8s and Historic Outlaws Snetterton USA 300 www.berniesv8s.com

26 Bristol American Car Show Keynsham Rugby Club. Facebook: The Bristol American Car Show

26 Newbury American Auto Jumble Woodside Farm, Newbury. Facebook: Newbury American Auto Jumble

26 No Guts, No Glory Manston Raceway Park, Kent. Web: 4bk00h-0u.myshopify.com

26 Summer Drags Manston Raceway Park, Kent. www.velocityvintagedrags.racing

26 USA Snetterton 300 Snetterton Circuit, Norwich. www.snetterton.co.uk

AUGUST 2026

1 Only Fools and Motors

Tydd St Mary, Wisbech, Cambs Facebook: Only Fools and Motors

2 Rally of the Giants. Stonor Park, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire www.stonor.com

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

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

6-9 NSRA Hot Rod Supernationals Old Warden, Bedfordshire www.nsra.org.uk

7-9 Mopar Euro Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

7-9 Retrofestival Newbury Showground. www.retrofestival.co.uk

8-9 Midsummer Nationals Melbourne Raceway www.straightliners.events

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

10 Full Throttle Monday Elvington Airfield, West Yorkshire www.straightliners.events

14-16 Steel City Cruisers Rod Run Hooton Lodge Farm, Rotherham www.hootonlodge.co.uk

15 Drag’n’Drift Dakota Raceway, Smeatharpe Airfield, Devon. www.straightliners.events

15 Innit to Winnit Bull’s Head, Herstmonceux, East Sussex. www.bullsheadborehamstreet.com

16 Breakfast with the Reapers Boar Inn, Moddershall, Staffs 07928 214543 / 07976 655636

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

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

22 Bernie’s V8s and Historic Outlaws Oulton Park US Autoshow www.berniesv8s.com

22-23 Greenlight Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

23-24 European No-Prep Nationals Manston Raceway Park, Kent. Web: 4bk00h-0u.myshopify.com

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

28-31 Hot Rod Hop Scald End Farm, Thurleigh, Beds Facebook: Cannibals Car Club – UK

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

31 Kuckle Busters at the Barns Stonham Barns, Stowmarket, Suffolk www.stonhambarns.co.uk

31 V8 Hotrods pre-72 gathering The Cross Keys, Redgrave, Suffolk Facebook: V8 Hotrods

SEPTEMBER 2026

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

4-6 The Trip Out Euston Park, Suffolk. www.thetripout.co.uk

5 Only Fools and Motors

Tydd St Mary, Wisbech, Cambs Facebook: Only Fools and Motors

5-6 Bracket Bonanza Melbourne Raceway. www.straightliners.events

6 A602’s Autorama Fairlands Valley Showground, Stevenage. Facebook: A602’s CC Autorama Show

10-13 Euro Finals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

10-13 Race the Waves Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire. www.backfireinfo.weebly.com

11-13 Goodwood Revival Goodwood Estate, West Sussex. www.goodwood.com

12-13 Pendine Sands Hot Rod Races Pendine, Carmarthenshire. www.vhra.co.uk

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

13 Top of the Pops 2 Industry and Supply, Northamptonshire Facebook: Industry and Supply

13-14 Locked and Loaded Manston Raceway Park, Kent. Web: 4bk00h-0u.myshopify.com

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

17-20 Isle of Man Festival of Motoring www.iomfm.com

17-20 Speed and Wheelies Week Elvington Airfield, West Yorkshire www.straightliners.events

18-20 Hot Rod Drags Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

19-20 Bernie’s V8s and Historic Outlaws Brands Hatch GP www.berniesv8s.com

20 American Car Show Stonham Barns, Stowmaket, Suffolk ww.stonhambarns.co.uk

20 Breakfast with the Reapers Boar Inn, Moddershall, Staffs 07928 214543 / 07976 655636

20 Krispy Kreme Cruise Krispy Kreme, Shannon Corner, New Malden. Facebook: Krispy Kreme Cruise Surrey 25-27 National Finals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

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

26 Drag’n’Drift Dakota Raceway, Smeatharpe Airfield, Devon. www.straightliners.events

26-27 Sywell Classic: Pistons and Props Sywell Aerodrome, Northants www.sywellclassic.co.uk

27 American, Rod and Custom Show Fort Paull, Hull. yancs1@yahoo.co.uk