Custom Car September 2025 by Assignment Media Ltd

Paul Wilson’s new ‘34 coupe is the realisation of a life-long dream

PLUS If anyone can build a shop truck that’s fun and usable, packs 300bhp and only cost about ten grand to build, it’s Bryan Whitﬁeld…

News & reviews

Inductive A

s is the norm, the latest inductees to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame were announced over the Dragstalgia weekend. A full proﬁ le of each inductee is available on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame website at www. britishdragracinghof.co.uk

The new members listed below will be formally inducted at the Hall of Fame’s 2025 Awards Gala on Saturday 15 November at the Oatlands Park Hotel in Weybridge, Surrey. Also to be honoured will be John Spuffard; selected for membership last year, John was unable to attend the Gala. Formally inducted in his absence, he will be accorded his due recognition on this forthcoming occasion.

Kenny Coleman ﬁ rst encountered drag racing in the 1970s and has since been a respected ﬁ gure on the scene, owning

and racing cars and achieving club and national championships while preparing and supplying engines for competitors throughout Europe in drag racing and in other motorsports. In the 1980s, Kenny played a pivotal role in the promotion of Super Gas Eliminator. He was involved in the formative years of Super Modiﬁ ed and also supported York Raceway. Kenny formed his Engine Data Analysis business in Yorkshire to build and dyno-test highperformance engines and continues to offer technical guidance in a personal capacity since retirement.

Keith Lee has made myriad contributions to UK drag racing for almost its entire existence – behind the camera and on the keyboard; in the commentary box; in the committee room and as an oﬃ cial; and even, brieﬂ y, on the track. A visit to Blackbushe for the 1964 International Drag Festival left an impression that would sustain him for life. Following an early start as engineer and racer, he found his true vocation as one of the great chroniclers of

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the sport – author, columnist, photographer, commentator, organiser and latterly as historical adviser to the Hall of Fame.

Nigel Patrick’s drag bike career, on two continents and beyond, reaches back to the 1970s. He has achieved success and respect as a racer, engineer, innovator, administrator and businessman on both sides of the Atlantic. A meteoric riding career, which began in Britain with a wealth of victories, championships and awards, was met in the 1980s with a call to migrate his engineering skills to California, where further success ﬂ ourished on and off track. In the 1990s, he even led an NHRA drag bike team to Japan. And he hasn’t ﬁ nished yet. Now in his seventies, he continues to accumulate championships on the US drag bike scene.

Kathy Taylor could not have imagined, on her ﬁ rst Santa Pod visit with friends in 1986, a future as one of the seminal ‘back-room’ ﬁ gures in UK drag racing – one of those individuals without whose contributions the

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

sport would not function. Yet an early spell crewing for bike teams and penning race reports would earn the recognition that opened doors into the sport’s administration, ﬁ rst as an SPRC Committee member and subsequently as Race Secretary, accompanied by ACU and UEM stewardships and all the compliances and complexities inherent in conducting modern-day international championship drag racing. In addition, she is a generous provider of sponsorships which reﬂ ects her love of the drag bike scene.

Celebrating 74 years

Jon Webster continues to enjoy one of the most proliﬁ c and storied careers in British drag racing. A 1980s start as an illegal street racer in Essex, which then progressed to Run What Ya Brung activities at Santa Pod, has burgeoned into a rare catalogue of achievements on the track – on two as well as on four wheels –alongside a ﬂ ourishing business as one of the UK’s pre-eminent constructors of specialist and competition cars and bikes. The array of trophies and championships amassed from his racing endeavours is matched by the trophies, championships, accolades, and world records accrued by the products of his workshop.

Jimmy Aspinal

Jimmy Aspinall died tragically on 12 July, aged 72. A founding member of North Wales – Coastal Cruisers, he also co-founded Whistlestop MCC, a motorbike club that brought together bikers from near and far to celebrate their shared love of riding. Jimmy was a respected roofer and was known as one of ‘Rhyl’s original DJs’.

Pic: Gofundme/ Linda BryanRathbone

Jimmy lived life to the full and was the life and soul of the party. He was a loving and loved dad and grandad and was always there when anybody needed him. He was a great bloke and a friend to so many. His passing leaves a huge void in the lives of all who knew him.

Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.

RIP Jimmy

Stop by showroomthe today to check it out.

RAISED WHITE LETTER TYRES 13”-15” MOST SIZES IN STOCK NARROW BAND, WHITEWALLS 13’-15”

News & reviews Something for the weekend?

The big one

Pre-entry tickets for this year’s NSRA Hot Rod Supernationals are on sale until Thursday 31 July but, if you miss the cut-off, you can still pay at the gate when you arrive – it’s just that it will cost a bit more. The dates are 8-10 August (plus Thursday 7 for NSRA members), and the venue is Old Warden Park, Bedfordshire.

The weekend offers talks and more from US guest Dave Shuten, stories and cars from the Reapers International Hot Rod Club – Australian Chapter and the return of the everpopular Tec Talks. The Saturday cruise is once again hosted by the Cannibals Car Club-UK , the prize draw is moving to Saturday night and on Sunday,

Just the drill

the Top 10 will be chosen by a panel of guest judges. The evening entertainment will be in the form of DJ sets, themed parties, karaoke and plenty of live music from a multitude of genres.

www.nsra.org.uk

Themed display

To celebrate this year’s Stars & Stripes All Americana theme at the VW Festival, the organisers are creating a special American car and hot rod display. The festival takes place at Harewood House, Leeds, over the weekend of 8-10 August. Owners of accepted display vehicles will receive a free day or weekend camping ticket for the driver and one passenger. If you’re interested, the organisers would like to hear from you at the following email address: info@vwfestival.co.uk

Webcon’s popular Jet Drill set has now been superseded by a more comprehensive and better value Tuner Drill Set. The set features five of each drills sized from 0.6mm through to 3.2mm, together with a new style, double-ended pin vice, all supplied in a double-latched case. The price is £61.44 including VAT. www.webcon.co.uk

Barn busting

Knuckle Busters at the Barns takes place at Stonham Barns Park, Suffolk, on 22-24 August. The weekend features displays of classic cars, hot rods, and bikes, with the main show day being Sunday, when it will be open to the public from 10am until 4pm. Other attractions include DJs, live music, jive dancers, a dirt track, food outlets and trade stands. Sunday only admission is priced at £7.50 per person, with under 12s and show car drivers admitted free. Weekend tickets are priced from £60, which includes camping.

www.stonhambarns.co.uk

Island takeover

Following on from this year’s staging in Cornwall, the NSRA has confirmed the 2026 Fun Run will be an Isle of Wight adventure. The dates are 25-31 May and the venue is the Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park. The activity programme will include a multitude of cruises, curry nights, pool parties, social games and party nights. The NSRA has secured the entire site, making it an exclusive event –provided the booking target is achieved. A variety of discounted accommodation packages are available and you’ve no need to fret about the cost of getting there either, as Fun Run attendees can benefit from event ferry crossing prices starting at just £49 each way.

www.nsra.org.uk

Best of all

We’ll be bringing you the full story on this year’s National Hot Rod, Custom, & American Car Show next month. In the meantime, though, we’d like to congratulate Kevin Barnaby for taking top honours in the Best in Britain display with his Zephyr Zodiac. We featured the Mk1 in our November ’24 issue and pictured here with the BiB shield is Kevin’s stepson, Stuart Laird, who built the car.

The dates for next year’s prestigious show have been conﬁ rmed as being over the American Independence Day weekend of 3-5 July.

Spiriting award

Congratulations go to Beverly ‘Bev’ Bradbury, BDRHoF General Secretary, Treasurer and director, in accepting the prestigious Peter Crane ‘Spirit of 76’ Award during Dragstalgia.

Bev fi rst encountered the sport of drag racing when she met her future husband, Stuart Bradbury, in the late 1970s, and she undertook a central role in the Hall of Fame in 2014 when fresh funding allowed the organisation to stage its fi rst fully independent Gala Awards Dinner. Bev’s position was formalised with the Hall of Fame’s incorporation as a limited company in 2016, when she was appointed a director, her role expanding signifi cantly after the death of her husband in 2020.

Bev’s day at Dragstalgia was made even more special with a passenger ride with Santa Pod track announcer Colin Theobald in his ‘69 Camaro SS ‘Bruce’. Unbelievably, Bev had never been down the track in the 45 years she had been coming to Santa Pod. But saving the best till last, Colin and ‘Bruce’ delivered in every way possible – the quickest passenger ride the Camaro has ever run with a fantastic 11.4968 / 118.25, leaving a memory that will never fade.

Pic: Jerry Cookson

Pic: John Proctor

Back in Black

Once something gets under your skin, when the time is right you can’t help but revisit it. Right down to the colour

Words: Dave Biggadyke Pics: Alan Kidd

In the early 1980s, a young Paul Wilson was working as an HGV mechanic.

In itself that is of no great interest to Custom Car readers, but it did teach him the way round a box of spanners. So much so that aged just 20, he embarked on his first hot rod build, a V8-powered Ford Pop. Running a de rigueur Viva IFS and Jag rear axle, Paul finished the Pop and joined the Steel City Cruisers members at the Donnie show in the late ‘80s.

A few years later, Paul’s ride was a ’57 Chevy, a car he sold to one of the UK’s first big lottery winners. Ever the petrol head, Paul then got into split-screen VW camper vans, very heavily, as he ran a business sourcing and restoring them; around 30 in total passed through his hands, he recalls. He was also into motorbikes.

“I love anything that’s interesting and runs on petrol,” he confirms. “I was at York Raceway, sometime in the late ‘80s, when

Black magic

The unfinished ’34 coupe project that Paul took on was yellow. Very yellow Paul gets on with the daily grind…

Andy also supplied the crossmember with central prop loop

Front axle is a 47-inchwide dropped beam which Paul had re-chromed

With the engine, trans’ and prop fitted, Paul wheeled it all outside so he could stand back and take a look

Paul then prepped all the running gear components in readiness for paint…

…and with a complete change of rolling stock, there was plenty of grinding to do

The front and rear axles installed, and mounts for the Rover engine welded to the chassis rails

The next job on the list was to fabricate the stainless steel exhaust system

The Volvo 240 rear axle installation features a pair of adjustable coilovers…

…and stainless steel 4-bar location supplied by Andy Whithorn

The body bolted to the trolley jig that Paul fabricated

The dry-built rolling chassis was stripped down and bolted to the rotisserie that Paul had fabricated…

…which was then loaded on to the trailer and shipped off to the paint shop

Below: With the painted chassis back in Paul’s garage, final reassembly began

rear axle

Left: The blown Rover engine doesn’t leave much space for the radiator Left: With the engine and gearbox in situ… Right: …and the propshaft painted the same colour

The trolley jig made things easier when the time came to take the body to the paint shop

“It drives dead straight, and I’m pleased with that”

With the body prepped, it was ﬁrst coated with primer… …including the underside, which would then be painted cream

Holdgate coated the body in the blackest black paint Paul could lay his hands on…

I came across a black, blown ’34 coupe. It struck more than a chord with me and was added to my bucket list in an instant.

“That was as far as it got, though. As the years went by, I started to suffer with my eyesight, and nowadays my right eye may as well be made of glass. That was the catalyst to kick start me into getting things done while I still could, and in 2021 I bought an unﬁnished ’34 coupe project; a very unﬁnished project.”

The project was based on what is thought to be a Rodline body and a repro ’34 Ford rolling chassis, which Paul stripped to bare rails before stashing the unwanted running gear in his mother-in-law’s shed. He then

spent the next four years rebuilding the coupe from scratch, only getting it ﬁnished in early June this year. He did get sidetracked along the way, though, ﬁnishing off a Chevy pick-up project he bought from a guy in Norwich.

Added puff

With the pick-up subsequently sold on, Paul got back on to the ’34 build. The unwanted bracketry was removed from the chassis and a Volvo axle hung under the rear end. Up front, Paul installed a forged Ford dropped beam axle, with everything needed for that installation being sourced from Duksville Speed Shop.

The monstrous rear wheels are 15 x 15-inch rims from Sanders Engineering wrapped in Mickey Thompson Sportsman rubber

Front wheels are 4½ x 15inch Prostars shod in 165 proﬁle radials

UNDER THE SURFACE

The underside of the coupe is just as clean as the rest of it. The cream painted floorpan and the Blood Black Pearl painted chassis perfectly complement the stainless, chromed and painted rolling stock. The rear brakes are stock Volvo discs, while the GM front rotors are concealed by dummy Buick finned drums and heavily modified finned rear covers. The front axle, wishbones, spring and all the ancillary components are either polished stainless steel or chromed, and the Paul-fabricated stainless steel exhaust system incorporates electrically operated cut outs for when he wants to up the volume

“Tracked down an original opening ‘screen frame in the States”

Wanting a V8 between the rails, but not wanting to go overboard, Paul slotted in a Rover lump. In complete contrast to not going overboard, he then bolted a blower on top of it. That’s a hot rodder’s logic I guess. Paul had the blower rebuilt by Rob Firth of Firth Speed Parts Custom Machining and Fabrication in Blackpool, someone he describes as a very talented guy.

Bolted to the back of the Rover block is a stock BW 3-speed automatic transmission. Paul fabbed the 2-inch stainless steel exhaust system himself and there’s no surprise it incorporates electrically operated cut outs for when he really wants to announce his entrance.

With the rolling chassis complete, Paul stripped it down and bolted the bare rails to the rotisserie he’d fabricated. The assembly was then loaded on a trailer and transported to his friend Adrian Holdgate at AutoCraft in Rotherham. The chassis was prepped before being coated in Blood Black Pearl, with the rear axle and an assortment of rolling stock components being painted at the same time. Paul then painted further items such as the propshaft before reassembling the now detailed rolling chassis.

Authentic touches

Being a ‘glass body that hadn’t yet featured on a road-going car, all that was needed was to prep it for paint, as no way was Paul going to settle for the yellow gel coat it was currently finished in. Prior to that, though, a few issues needed attention.

The unfinished project had come with the door and rear window glass, but no front ‘screen. Fancying a touch of authenticity, Paul tracked down an original opening ‘screen frame in the States. He cut it down to fit the chopped body, had it chromed and fitted new glass.

Further authenticity came in the form of the front grille Paul also sourced in the States. “It wasn’t perfect, but I had it repaired before coating it with chrome effect paint,” he elaborated.

Adding yet more steel to the front end, Neil Tadman supplied the Rootlieb bonnet

Left stock internally, the Rover 3.5 V8 block has been decked and its heads skimmed, then reassembled using ARP head bolts. The 4-71 blower has been rebuilt and is topped off with a 500cfm Edelbrock carb and Hilborn scoop. The aftermarket ali radiator was sourced online and mounted on the cream-painted bulkhead, in an MSD Ultra ignition control with Bluetooth connectivity

top and sidebars. At the back, Paul opted to mount the boot lid rumble seat-style. Not that he had any intention of carrying passengers: instead, the boot is home to an aftermarket 12-gallon ali fuel tank.

Before Paul had lifted the body off the chassis, he fabricated a trolley jig it was bolted on to to enable it to be wheeled around easily. That also facilitated easy transportation of the coupe body to the AutoCraft workshop when it was time for paint. Paul joined forces with Adrian, with the duo completing the body prep. With that work complete, the underside and bulkhead were painted in a shade of cream.

When it came to painting the top side of the coupe, there was no doubt in Paul’s mind what the colour was to be. “Ever since that trip to York Raceway nearly 40 years ago, I knew if I ever built a ’34 coupe it would be painted the blackest black you can get.” Automotive reﬁnishing specialist Spies Hecker helped out with Paul’s quest, with the car being painted in the company’s 366

Chopped, blown, mega wide rear boots and blacker than the rubber stripes it leaves behind. The coupe not only looks like a hot rod, it screams it in your face

“The blackest black you can get”

A 13-inch diameter Grant steering wheel tops off the stainless column supplied by Duksville Speed Shop. The same company was also the source for the traditional white-faced DSS Instruments gauges, which are housed in a billet panel. Along with the usual switchgear and warning lights, the dash is also home to a couple of push buttons that activate the exhaust cut outs

The unknown origin seat has been cut and shut for a better fit, with the frame then being powder-coated. Paul Beedham at East Coast Upholstery sculpted the foam padding, then trimmed the seat in cream vinyl. Paul also trimmed the door cards and fitted the one-piece vinyl headlining. Mounted on the modified Rover shifter is the actuator for the Hurst Roll Control Brake Line Lock. In front of it, there’s a rev counter mounted to the trans tunnel

Not only does the front ‘screen open, the rear window winds down too. A nice touch for the balmy warm summer days we’ve been experiencing of late

coupe on the

Left: While its ﬁnish isn’t perfect, the opening front ‘screen surround is the real deal

boot

Flanking the original grille shell are a pair of unknown origin headlights which Paul picked up at a swap meet and had re-chromed. Behind the grille, a chromed plastic fan feeds air to the radiator to help keep things cool. This shot shows just how wide the rear track is, and how wise Paul is to have a more practical set of wheels as a backup

“I enjoy the building rather than the driving”

basecoat – which goes by the name of Extra Deep Black.

Accidental grilling

Along with the paint, another of the jobs that Paul entrusted to professionals was the wiring. This was ably handled by Dan and Lee at Richardson Auto Electronics, who based the system around a generic 14-circuit loom. The third outside-sourced job was trimming the interior, a task entrusted to Paul Beedham at East Coast Upholstery in Scarborough.

With the car almost totally ﬁnished, Paul experienced a minor faux pas in his garage which resulted in the front grille getting bent. Fortunately, a replacement was sourced from a guy in Manchester, which Paul had re-chromed and ﬁtted just three weeks prior to taking the coupe to the National Hot Rod Show in Lincoln. The bent grille has since been straightened by Adrian Smith at

The

is home to the fuel tank, Holley pump and cut-off valve. The playing cards painted on the tank depict the vintage of the coupe

The

red carpet at the National Hot Rod Show, with Paul and Alison together with sons Scott and Jordan

“Thanks to Adrian at AutoCraft for the paint, Dan and Lee at Richardsons for the wiring and Paul at East Coast Upholstery. Special thanks go to my wife Alison for being an absolute star and putting up with my car passion for more than 40 years”

Buckland Automotive Engineering, so Paul now has a spare. Just in case.

Unable to ﬁnd anyone willing to undertake the job, Paul bought a gauge kit and set up the tracking himself. “That worked well,” he told us. “I know I’ve only had the car on the road for tree weeks but it drives dead straight, and I’m pleased with that.”

On the theme of wheels, the car has two very different sets of them. The wide,

Understandably, the

the Mickey Thompsons, but there’s plenty more going on in between them with the fully detailed rear axle installation and stainless steel exhaust pipes. Rear lights are repro ’41-’48 Chevy. The number plate script says it all really: ‘Back in Black’

aggressive set is the mainstay, but when Paul fancies a different look, or needs to get the car on a trailer, he switches them. The alternatives are black painted steels with beauty rings and hubcaps. The rears wear 235/75/15 wide white BFG tyres and the fronts 155/15 Kontio wide whites.

For most people, the recent National Hot Rod Show provided their ﬁrst opportunity to view the ‘34 up close. It was well received,

with Paul going home with the trophy for Judges’ Award. “It’s only been on the road for a very short time, but it gets lots of attention,” he enthused. “I’ve no plans to change anything, although I guess it’s too early to tell just yet.

“It’s everything I wanted it to be, but you should never say no to a Ford in a Ford. I enjoy the building rather than the driving, and I’ve already started on my next project…” CC

A more minor distraction came in the form of an Indian bobber that Paul sorted last year, ﬁnishing it in the same colour as the ’34

The Chevy pick-up with rust-look paint that proved a distraction part-way through the build of the coupe

Paul’s attention is now directed at the unﬁnished ’41 Willys project he’s recently taken on, telling us the big block-powered coupe will be very much a street and strip car

rear proﬁle is dominated by

Weekenders

Mid-June saw the third staging of Street Weekend, a drag racing event with a strong hint of a reliability run in the mix. The event has grown in popularity in a very short time and this time round, 176 vehicles had entered – although not all made it to the start and a few more failed to make it to the end.

The mix of vehicles taking part was as varied as you can get, which made it all the more interesting. Support vehicles were allowed, as were trailers – with the strict exception of those capable of transporting cars. Rules as to what vehicles could enter were few and far between, with the main criteria being that they were street legal and fit for purpose. Any tyres were permitted, but arm restraints were mandatory for any open top or windowless vehicles. Drivers needed to wear a helmet,

and RWYB regulations applied as relevant to each track.

All drivers needed to produce a valid driving licence, or a relevant Motorsport UK licence, to sign-on at both Santa Pod and Melbourne Raceway. And anyone found breaking UK road rules or generally driving like a dick during the event would be disqualified from taking any further part.

In addition to the winners pictured in this report, Antoinette Atkinson won the £100 Santa Pod award for the Most Creative Photo. The NSCC and SPR Spirit of Street Weekend Award (voted for by the drivers), winning £500, went to Owen Forrest, again not pictured, for giving up his weekend to help others in need.

Thanks go to all those behind the scenes for making it happen, but even bigger thanks go to all the race teams who took part.

On the road

The reality is that the times run on the tracks are only one part of Street Weekend. There’s also the 400 road miles that need to be travelled. If that wasn’t enough, each of those miles was covered in the soaring heat the weekend had to offer. Racers decided when they wanted to travel between the tracks, the only condition being that they had to visit each of the checkpoints along the way and take a photo as evidence.

On Track

The cars ran at Santa Pod on Friday, Melbourne Raceway on Saturday and again at the Pod on Sunday. The track conditions were different on each day, starting with a freshly prepped surface at the Pod on Day 1, an unprepped ⅛-mile strip at Melbourne on Day 2 and finally back at the Pod on Day 3 – after the track had been subjected to a full day of RWYB. The drivers submitted their lowest recorded time on each day; the three times were added together and the lowest total time was declared the overall winner.

■ Pic: Julian Hunt

Pic: Julian Hunt

Pic: Tog for Eurodragster.com

Pic: Julian Hunt

Pic: Lindsey Adams

Pic: Victoria Smith

Pic: Callum Pudge

Pic: Abi Tether

Pic: Callum Pudge

Pic: Julian Hunt

Pic: Chris Slater

Pic: Callum Pudge

Pic: Julian Hunt

Checkpoint 1

Checkpoint 2

The first stop on Friday was Houndshill House, a historic former manor near Stratford-upon-Avon. This provides a scenic home for Caffeine&Machine in the heart of the Cotswold countryside.

Website: www.caffeineandmachine.com

With the quickest times on each of the three days logged and recorded, the sums were done and the Top Five Overall placings announced.

It was then on to the Peak District – Hassop Station and Monsal Trail Cycle Hire to be precise. Housed in a restored 19th-century railway station, this stopoff point offered a café, gift shop, cycle hire and accommodation.

Website: www.hassopstation.co.uk

2ND PLACE 1ST PLACE

■ Pic: Julian Hunt

Pic: Rhys Griffiths

Pic: Lola Cavey

Pic: Caffeine&Machine

Pic: Lola Cavey

Pic: Simon Prest Pic: Lola Cavey

Pic: Lola Cavey

Pic: Caffeine&Machine

Pic: Lola Cavey

Pic: Sarah Hall

Pic: Callum Pudge

Checkups

In between running on the two tracks, the cars had to cover around 200 road miles on a route from Santa Pod to Melbourne Raceway on Friday, then the same again, following a different route, on the return journey the

Checkpoint 3

following day. To make sure all was above board, the cars had to visit a couple of checkpoints on each of the journeys where the driver had to have his photo taken wearing a Santa Pod-issued traffic cone hat.

Checkpoint 4

Saturday’s first stop-off was at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre in East Kirkby, near Spilsby, Lincs. The hanger doors were opened at the former WW2 Bomber Command airfield, providing photo opportunities in front of the running Lancaster bomber Just Jane.

Website: www.lincsaviation.co.uk

The final checkpoint was Belvoir Retail Village at Belvoir Castle, Grantham, Lincs. Outlets on offer include Belvoir Bistro, Farm Shop, The Duchess Collection, Balloon Bar and Vale House Stays.

Facebook: Belvoir Retail Village

Pic: DB Pic: DB

Pic: DB

Pic: DB Pic: DB

Pic: DB

Darkside Developments Quickest Diesel Award (£500): Audrius Bagdonavicius (Audi A5) – 30.1968

Unusual Car Sales Hard Luck Award (£600): Kieran Jenkins (1700cc Ford Fiesta) – for repeated breakdowns before, during and after the event

Santa Pod Raceway Awards

Pic: Tog for

Pic: Julian Hunt

Turbosmart Quickest Turbo Award (£500): Rob Carter (427ci VW Passat) – 20.6301

Quickest FWD (£250): Simon Fogg (2.3-litre Crankworx Corsa) – 28.2545

Modurstang H Pattern Award (£500): Tom Semper (2100cc Ford Anglia 100E) – 29.1503

Suffolk Speed Shop Quickest Estate / Wagon Award (Mooneyes trophy): James Murray (5300cc Ford Cortina Estate) – 26.2353

Coolest (£250): Justin Woolner (Vermin’s Diner Chevy pick-up) – voted for by the drivers

BEAUTY & THE BEAST

WE RECENTLY SHIPPED A 1999 LAND ROVER FORWARD 100 TO SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO FOR CLIENT HUGO PICTURES BELOW SHOWING THE BEAUTY OF PUERTO RICO

DODGE DART CONVERTIBLE - $11,750

Original v8/automatic power top car , new top and top rams, new carpet, bucket seats,4bbl holly carb, california car since day one, very straight rustfree body and ﬂoors good on the button driver.

records, some extra parts.

LHD van sold new in Canada, rebuilt MGB engine, overdrive gearbox, rear axle, front disc brakes and steering, new wire harness fuse block, new clutch, electronic ignition, stainless exhaust, on the button.

V8/auto, p/s, p/b a/c california car since new, one family owned since new stored indoors since 1972, new dual master cylinder/booster new wheel cylinders hoses, rebuilt 4bbl carb, new points distributor cap, plugs, plug wires, new powder coated steel wheels runs and drives good.

V8/auto, p/s p/b, 4wd locking hubs, roof rack, front winch mount, lift kit, original patina, Levi denim interior is tired just like those old work jeans runs and drives great ready for some serious mud plugging ..

Sold new in the usa, original rustfree sunbleached body and underside, all new brake/clutch hydraulic, rebuilt fuel pump/carb excellent original chrome , if the patina look is youre thing this is the one for you ,on the button driver.

Minx

US Automotive Quickest American Car Awards

2ND PLACE

The Grins

While driving is essentially what Street Weekend is all about, the reality is there’s far more to it than that. It’s the friendships, both new and old, and the camaraderie that make it so special. Everyone is there for everyone else and they all have each other’s backs. Lending tools and parts, and an extra pair of hands if needed, whatever it takes. Laughs abounded and the memories will be everlasting. That really is part and parcel of a very special weekend.

1ST PLACE 3RD PLACE

Trailing behind

Trailers play a big part in Street Weekend, whether it be for carrying camping gear or spare parts. They also offer transportation options for wheels and tyres, and assorted body panels. Oh, and they also add to the spectacle when the cars towing them are invited to do burnouts at Santa Pod once the racing has finished…

Pic: Tog for Eurodragster.com

Pic: Julian Hunt

1st place (£450): Rob Slater (540ci ’57 Chevy) – 23.4217

2nd place (£200): Thomas Parry (Chevy Nova) – 25.6126

3rd place (£100): Graham Smith (’57 Chevy Snow White) – 26.6053

Pic: Lindsey Adams

Pic: Victoria Smith

Pic: Julian Hunt

Pic: Libby Griffiths

Pic: Julian Hunt

Pic: Tog for Eurodragster.com

Pic: Rhys Griffiths

Pic: Ian Walley

Pic: Julian Hunt

Pic: Victoria Smith

Pic: Julian Hunt

Pic: Abi Tether

Pic: DB

Pic: Julian Hunt

Pic: Lola Cavey

Pic: Julian Hunt

Pic: Callum Pudge

Pic: Julian Hunt

Seventies Style

Words and Pics: Steve Edwards

Rich Voyce restored his ’77 Dodge Tradesman into a period-correct homage to the custom vans of the era

Rich Voyce’s Dad, Roy, always had cars about the place. He’d been a mechanic in the Army and wanted his son to have a steady, dependable job. Roy had a point and it’s been proven right, as Rich has always had work – as well as some cool cars. Some of them were a bit on the Max Power side of things, but in his defence it was the style of the time.

He also built a very cool SoCal ’72 Beetle, which was sold to buy an ’82 W123 Mercedes-Benz which Rich ﬁtted with a full set of hydraulics. That got him hooked on the lowrider scene, and it was only moved

on to release funds when he got an offer he couldn’t refuse. This wasn’t an offer for the car – but the opportunity to emigrate to Brisbane, where a classic car garage he’d been in contact with was after someone understood British tin. Obviously Rich was perfect for the job and after selling the car and convincing his girlfriend Tonia that an adventure would be fun, they set off. After a while, they ﬁgured out that life Down Under wasn’t really for them. But by now they had attended various Aussie hot rod events and Rich had made the decision that he needed a V8 in his life. On their return to the UK (and on Tonia’s birthday, no less),

he bought an ’85 Buick Electra so he could get back into the lowrider scene.

Rich had also seen a cheap replica of a Jurassic Park movie car and, as a huge fan, knew he could do better. So when he tripped over a ’93 Ford Explorer in great condition, that’s exactly what he created. He did such a good job that he and Tonia now regularly get work for the car as other fans hire it for hen nights, proms and so on.

Camp and quirky

The Buick was then sold to make space on the drive for another V8. Tonia was campaigning for some sort of quirky camper

van, thinking of a Commer or an old Bedford; Rich hadn’t done one before but he wanted to keep the peace. He thought a classic American van might be a good compromise, as it would make a perfect practical camper conversion and while also having that awesome V8 rumble.

His search turned up a short-wheelbase Dodge Tradesman van that was being sold by Rob Kilham at East Coast Buggies. Unfortunately, someone had already nabbed it, but the good news was that Rob had another Tradesman already on route. This one was a ’77 long-wheelbase version ﬁtted with a 318 V8 but without windows.

Some people have a fairy at the bottom of their garden, but Rich had a pair of Cragar S/S rims and that’s much more useful. He did still need a pair for the rear, but Rob Kilham at East Coast Buggies, who had sold him the van in the ﬁrst place, came up with the goods. Somewhat reluctantly, but Rich got them off him in the end and wrapped the whole lot in BFG’s best

On its arrival into the UK, the couple set off to Rob’s base to have a look. The van had lived in Oregon and been used by a Hell’s Angel to transport his bikes about. It was painted in a shade of copper but every panel needed attention. The engine and mechanicals appeared to be good order and the front had a very nice dash, some Captain’s seats and quilted door cards; on investigation, it turned out that the original dealer, McDermott Motors of Alamosa, Colorado, had sent it to have work done at Custom Van Designs in Palm Springs, who were putting out ‘factory customs’ at the height of the van craze.

The drive home was not a good one, as the engine was getting hot very quickly. Its cover had to be removed and its heater put on full blast to stop it from overheating. Still, Rich had bought a project van at a good price, so some work was to be expected.

He was happy to do most things himself, but he outsourced the job of sorting the carb and stem seals to Jim Smith at JLS

Automotive in Stourbridge. The rear axle, meanwhile, was rebuilt by Central Axle Services in Birmingham.

Once the mechanicals had been brought up to scratch, it was time to turn their attention to the interior. When stripping an old Yank vehicle for work, you usually ﬁnd some unusual stuff – but even then, Rich was a little rattled to discover some live ammunition and a home-made shiv knife in the van. A little more positively, he also found the original dealer sticker – which he has since had recreated.

While it was stripped bare, the van was treated to a full rewire as it had been messed with over time. The couple also decided to install a permanent bed, with Tonia constructing the frame from two-by-four and some plywood. There’s plenty of storage under it, with a full sized spare and a leisure battery with the appropriate split-charge set up under there too; up top is a domestic double bed mattress, which Rich and Tonia say is very comfortable.

Rich and Tonia were very much going for a period feel with the van. He did the chippy work in the back while she looked after the soft furnishings, and the result is fabulously seventies

Fabric conditioner

She also found some 1970’s style curtain fabric and, by backing it with a sheet of the correct size, made a very retro duvet cover. Warming to the task, she went on to make some blackout curtains for the front, too. Rich built the furniture which houses the cooker and sink from some reclaimed caravan units and a neat table, designed for a boat, was found on eBay. Rich just added the requisite floor mount where he wanted it.

Now, though, it was time to get serious. Which means it was time to look at the bodywork. This was trusted to Kerry Coe of Coe’s Kustoms; he’s not the nearest paint shop to Rich and Tonia but, after seeing his work on the lowrider scene, they both knew he was the only man for the job.

In addition to the dents and dings, there were some rusty bits that needed replacement and welding before Kerry could get the van smooth and into primer. He kept them up to date at every stage of a process that eventually lasted six months before they could come and recover their van.

The brief had been to recreate a period vehicle with a street van feel so that it would have looked right at home cruising Van Nuys Boulevard with the latest hits from The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac or Jackson Browne blasting out of the speakers. Kerry laid down some BMW Copper paint, to which he’d added some extra sparkle, following that with some period style graphics utilising shades from the Volvo and VW palettes. That was followed with a copious amount of clear. Underneath, it has been shot with Raptor urethane coating to keep the dreaded tin worm at bay for many years to come.

“You’re looking at one of the few vehicles outside the US that have been invited to join the California Street Vans club”

Then it was back to Rob at East Coast Buggies, who had a pair of Cragar S/S rear wheels in stock. He wasn’t really wanting to part with them, but seeing what a cool van they were going to be going on must have helped loosen his grip. The fronts, meanwhile, were already sitting in Rich’s garden and just needed a good clean, then on went a set of 225/60R15 front and 275/60R15 rear BFGoodrich Radial T/As.

The finished product? You’re looking at one of the few vehicles outside the US that have been invited to join the California Street Vans club. These guys celebrate vintage and custom vans from the heyday of vanning and they know what a good ‘un looks like. The Dodge immediately started seeing regular use as a camper, and simply as a great ride in which to cruise around with that V8 burbling away. Dad definitely knew best.

An a air of the Hartham Out & About

Words & Pics: James Webber

Event: Plus 44 Show

Date: 1 June 2025

Venue: Hartham House

Sunday 1 June saw the team behind Plus 44 Automotive stage their annual show. Held in the grounds of Hartham House in Wiltshire, the event once again failed to disappoint with the variety and quality of vehicles on show.

Around 750 cars were on display, as usual parked at different angles and in different areas to give us photographers plenty of scope for creativity. A small area was set aside for the food court and licensed bar, and coffee vendors provided refreshments throughout the day.

Cars in different areas were asked to be parked up by 9.30am, while the general public entered from 10am. In the classic section, the team of lowriders from Lay ’n’ Play put on displays of cars bouncing on their hydros.

Around 3.30pm, it was time for the awards – which included Top 20, Best Air, Best Wheels and Best Bay, as well of course as Best in Show and Runner Up. Show organiser Christian Gale thanked his team and sponsors, saying it been a stressful couple of weeks running up to the show

– but that the effort they had all put in did not disappoint.

The quality of cars that enter is getting better and better each year and the show is fast becoming one of the most popular events on the calendar. Definitely worth putting in your diary for next year – stay across it on the socials and on their website at www.plusfourfourautomotive.co.uk.

Paul Lorne’s Out on Bail runs in the modified 100e class and is powered by a 555ci BBF

’83 Chevy C10 features a whole lot of custom touches

Above: Lee Faber built this Chevy 3100 pickup largely himself; he won the Meguiar’s choice award

Luke Hopson built this ’74 Commer pick-up with Mercedes OM605 turbo motor himself and was awarded the runner-up spot by the Best in Show judges

Below: A lot of custom chassis work went into getting this Ford pick-up on the ground o

Auto focus

Time Traveller

It took a long time from when Bob Hawkins first experienced drag racing to when he first took a trip down the quarter himself. But once he had taken the plunge, he was well and truly hooked!

Back in 1973, the 16 year old Bob was asked by a friend at work if he wanted to go along to Blackbushe – and he was well impressed by the sight and sound of Clive Skilton and Dennis Priddle smoking their fuel dragsters down the airfield track. While you could imagine a scenario of inspiring the young man to build a car to race, he actually had designs on Formula Ford – which is what he did for the next ten years, until a bad crash left him with smashed ankles.

■ Words and Pics: Keith Lee

During this period, Bob did go along to Santa Pod a few times. After his accident, however, and with two kids by then, he stayed away from motor sport for the next 25 years.

Come 2009, and feeling bored, Bob thought about getting back to racing. He looked through some adverts – and came across one for a little Chevy slingshot

dragster. He knew nothing about it – but he bought it anyway!

Within a short time, Bob was wondering why he didn’t just do this when he was 16. “It is not regulated like Formula Ford,” he explains. “Suddenly I had this V8 engine and I could do what I liked to it.”

His shorty dragster had a history dating back to 1968, starting with Reg Sommers – who built a Ford Zephyr 2.5-litre powered machine which was later fitted with a blower. A few owners later, it ended up in Bob’s hands. He christened it Time Traveller and joined up with the Wild Bunch – and has thoroughly enjoyed running with them ever since.

opportunity to step up his performance. He had just dipped into the sevens in the 125-inch wheelbase TT entry, with a heavy shot of nitrous in unblown form, before his son Tom took over driving, pushing it to 7.55 as a blown methanol burner. But Tom’s real yearning was to go round corners, so the first dragster was sold – leaving Bob with his new 200-inch Tuttle-chassised machine, which was more suited to ramping up in the performance stakes.

A step up in the performance ranks came when the Speed Demon slingshot came up for sale. Vic Hammond had imported the US-built car in 2008 and it was successfully raced in the Supercharged Outlaws over four years, hitting a best time of 7.4 sec / 197mph. Sadly, Vic had become too ill to drive and Sam Freeman drove it for him.

With Vic’s passing, the blown 350 Chevy was put up for sale and Bob relished the

It is somewhat ironic that Bob’s worst moment would come in 2019, when he ended up being smacked into the wall by a flying Sam Freeman in his own slingshot dragster – which went out of control when the fire bottle set itself off and sent Sam spinning! Bob would have been well ahead of the carnage had his mag not just failed, making him a part of the mayhem as he ended up hitting both walls!

Having endured a few incidents in circuit cars, Bob was unharmed and unfazed by the experience. Sam was also fine. Although Bob has been having another crack at circuit racing, started during Covid, if push comes

is what TT looked like in earlier times,

This

when Reg Sommers built the dragster using straight-six Zephyr power. It ﬁrst ran unblown, but also gained this front mounted blower a couple of years later

Bob launching Time Traveller at Shakey back in early 2013. From a 150 shot of nitrous, he was up to using a 450 shot to run as quick as 7.9s in the shorty dragster

A typical launch in TT2, the slicks just getting a slight spin as the front end lift is countered by the wheelie bars

to shove and he had to choose one to drop, the drag racing has now bitten too deep to let go!

You would not call Bob a showy character, but rather a considered racer who always endeavours to be well prepared. However, when it comes to lighting up the evenings, he is a king of the fire burnouts, as pictures of one of his flamers were shared around the globe.

Bob has set himself a challenging target to aim for. “I want to beat Dennis Priddle’s 6.04s. I have that number written on a board in my garage.” To date, he has pushed Time Traveller 2 to a best time of 6.43s / 212mph. Bob’s car is a very different set-up to the Mr Revell machine in which Priddle stormed to that best ever mark in April 1975, a record which remains unchallenged by any slingshot in Europe.

Essentially, Bob uses a big-block Chevy to power his 200-inch wheelbase car, which he regards as a strong motor. However the combustion chamber is not so suitable for running on nitro as the Chrysler hemi. In terms of transmission, the Powerglide is a very different beast to the normal clutch and Lenco/B&J combination one usually employs. The ‘glide does need some slip off the line, and also at the top end, which does result in lower terminal speeds. Mind you, Bob has still picked up the dreaded tyre shake with this combo!

Bunch, of which his Springbridge Direct landscape materials company is a sponsor, Bob does admit to preferring heads-up racing. Dragstalgia is a season highlight for him, as he takes part in the Cannonball competition which features a mix of the quickest nostalgia cars around.

To date, Joe Bond is closest to the slingshot record, having clocked a best of 6.20s / 226mph in the Bond, Hannis and Osborne car. Bob himself has pushed TT2 to quickest marks of 6.43s/212mph.

He might be the only slingshot racer in the country currently using nitro. Bob blames Robin Read for his conversion to the hard stuff, following a long chat at a Hall of Fame gala!

While he does enjoy always being the chase car when he is running with the Wild

Unfortunately for Bob, this year’s Dragstalgia was a fraught one. After a promising 6.51 / 185 first round effort, the motor suffered burnt piston issues. A setback, maybe. But I wouldn’t bet against this determined racer in his unorthodox nitro Chevy achieving that record mark at some point.

A two-part picture of that unfortunate crash, shot from behind the start line. The top pic shows Sam airborne, with the ﬁre bottle still spraying, as he makes contact with TT2. Below, Bob smacks into the wall after the front end was hit; he came to rest against the opposite lane wall

One of Bob’s ﬁery burnouts. This one was back in 2014, and he was also invited to perform them at the NitrOlympX in Hockenheim

The main crew behind Bob. From left: John Sheehy, Dave Williams and Ted Hawkins

Launching hard, and trying to avoid tyre shake, as Bob continues to chip away at his times

Eyes sunk deep inside of the helmet, as the blower looms large in front of him during the burnout

From the 2023 Cannonball at Dragstalgia, where Bob took on Rob Elsom’s Dirty Deeds funny car

Here’s what Steve Neimantas bought originally, that then went to Mark Butterworth before ending up with Bryan. The sheetmetal was excellent but the running gear upgrades that had been done in America were appalling

When someone like Bryan Whitfield – the now ‘retired’ boss of Roberts Motor Bodies in Sheffield – says they plan to “chill out a bit”, you have to wonder who they’re trying to kid. People like Bryan don’t do chilling out, as proven by the fact that in addition to the truck featured here, we’ve already got another of his recent creations, which the majority of you won’t have seen, in stock for a future issue.

“I’m retired now, I won’t be doing too many more,” he says, with that Sheﬃeld twinkle in his eye. “I’m starting to feel it, I really am. I get up at 7 and think I’m 25 years old, but then by one o’clock I need an engine crane to get me up off the ﬂoor!”

Yet there Bryan was at this year’s epic Dragstalgia meet, cheery as ever, playing front man on the OSCAR (Old School Classic Altered Racers) tent, within which sat his High Spirits Fuel Altered Bantam. Not the sort of thing most people use to ‘chill out’.

But the ’35 Ford pick-up you see here is a different beast entirely: a sensible, built-on-abudget, street / shop truck. The sort of thing you can jump in any day of the week and be conﬁdent it will get you where you need to go with minimal drama and expense. The secret to that is under the bonnet, and it’s not what you might expect in a traditional hot rod.

Common sense

“It were Tubby’s fault,” laughs Bryan. “He went to a show and saw one of these engines in a Mazda MX5 – a Rocketeer conversion. The fella said it were lighter than the four-cylinder engine he took out and did 30 miles to the gallon. That just sounded like a whole load of common sense to me. That were the whole goal with this thing.”

Bryan Whitﬁeld’s goal with this project was to see if he could build a fun, useable shop truck for under ten grand. Did he succeed?

Words: Mike Pye Pics: Alan Kidd

A quick chat with Bryan’s good buddy at Sheﬃeld Engine Services conﬁrmed the integrity of this often-overlooked power unit, and so Bryan went looking for one. Money

came into it as well, but we’ll come back to that in a moment. The engine in question is a Jaguar 3.0-litre, dual overhead cam V6. Well, actually a Ford one, but it came out of a Jag’.

“I bought a real nice, 52-plate S-Type for £1000,” Bryan recalls. “It were just a lovely clean car, and to begin with – ’cause I’m getting on a bit – I wanted to use the auto’ ’box that came in it, but everybody I spoke to said don’t get involved with the TCM [transmission control module] on that.”

So Bryan did a bit of digging, first looking to see if there was an adapter plate available to mate a Powerglide, or a C4, something like that. But then he stumbled upon the sixspeed manual out of a Mazda RX8. “They’re brilliant,” he says, “the rotary engines in them things rev to like 10 and a half grand, so the ’boxes have to be really strong. But then the engines blow up, so there’s loads of these ’boxes kicking around; you can pick one up for about £200.”

That’s £1250 so far, plus £15 for a secondhand adapter plate off eBay.

Molten octopus

The trouble with modern engines is they’re ECU controlled, which can be a headache, and the inlet manifolds are often plastic and not very appealing aesthetically. Or, as Bryan put it, “It were the ugliest fookin’ thing you’ve

“I don’t give a shit what it makes, as long as it idles and goes smoothly through the rev range. And it does”

ever seen; like some sort of octopus had been melted on to the engine.” He’s got a way with words our Bryan.

It was John Sleath that suggested Bryan have a word with Bogg Brothers in Yorkshire – obviously – and Steve there came up trumps. “I took the engine up to him on a pallet, along with a piece of 10mm ali plate, and came back with a custom-made inlet manifold with two sets of Triumph Triple throttle bodies, the linkage and everything. All I had to do was drill a hole in the firewall for the throttle cable.” The cost? £450.

It was that man Sleathy again that then put Bryan onto Canems in Scunthorpe (www. canems.co.uk) for the standalone ECU, necessary to get the engine up and running. “David there were brilliant,” remembers Bryan, “he came down to take a look, told me where I should put the ECU [another hole in the firewall required] and then returned six weeks later with the control unit, wiring harness and everything. He fitted it and it fired up and idled straight away.”

Leaving Bryan with the advice to see John Sleath to have the engine set up properly on his rolling road, the ECU wizard disappeared into the night. “All that, including the rolling road time, cost me just £1600,” reports Bryan. “And it works perfectly.”

So, where are we at now? £3265.

’Ammer time

A custom-made tubular exhaust would have been nice, but Bryan kept reminding himself this is just a shop truck so, having

It’s a shop truck and it gets used as one, so the secure storage locker and tow bar aren’t just there for effect

Gone are the ugly factory intake manifold and throttle body, replaced by twin banks of Triumph motorcycle triple throttle bodies on a custom fabricated inlet manifold by Steve Bogg at Bogg Brothers. With a standalone ECU by Canems, it’s a compact, efficient induction solution

We wouldn’t normally show a gnarly exhaust manifold like this, but it’s relevant here as it’s another example of Bryan’s get-it-done attitude on this truck. That’s a factory Jag’ cast manifold with a Bryan-made turn down that houses the exhaust gas temperature sensor

thrown the first set of ugly cast manifolds away, he nicked the pair off another Jag’ he snagged for £200 – a manual version this time, bought instead of paying the £1000 he was quoted for the necessary flywheel. After MIG brazing a piece of tubing to the end of it, he stuck it in a vice and “’it it with a fookin’ ’ammer” until it fit. “It’s real tight around the steering because the engine mount on that side is a part of the oil filter system, but we got there in the end.”

When asked about the power output of the engine, Bryan laughs. “I don’t give a shit what it makes, as long as it idles and goes smoothly through the rev range. And it does.” For the record, it’s around 300bhp, with a similar torque figure.

Ironically, one of the problems encountered was the weight of the engine –or lack of. Normally, when you drop a heavy old V8 into a leaf spring suspended chassis, you expect things to sag and settle down a bit. Only as the Jag’ lump weighs just 250lb, the springs stood firm, and it took two trips to Springcoil in Sheffield to have the leaves adjusted to get the truck sitting right.

The final piece of the powertrain is the Ford 8.8-inch back axle. That came with the truck, albeit appallingly fitted. Remounted, properly this time, with one of Andy Whithorn’s 4-link kits that, according to Bryan, come in at around a third of a price

As far as Bryan is concerned, the only thing that makes this truck feature worthy is the unusual choice of engine. “It’s just a great, economical way of having a bit of performance,” he says.

Behind the 300bhp Jaguar / Ford Duratec V6 is a Mazda RX8 six-speed manual ’box, with a Mazda friction plate, Transit clutch and a £15 eBay adapter plate

Above: Interior accoutrements are also largely things Bryan already had in stock, from the So-Cal Speed Shop gauges and four-spoke steering wheel to the old Vintage Air heater. An old clutch pedal was found in a box and modified to fit, likewise the counterweighted shifter

Right: ven the interior was done on a budget of buttons, the seat being an old one Bryan had lying around, chopped and narrowed to fit, then trimmed buy a local fella in leather-look vinyl. As luck would have it, the same guy had some offcuts of Wilton carpet in the perfect colour

Bryan laughs when he says he hasn’t spent a single penny on chrome for this truck. The headlights and handles are what came with it, just cleaned up, and the rare Mercury bumpers he got for a song. “It’s basically been built with all the crap I had lying around. Half of it’s probably not even mine,” he laughs

of the branded kits available. Adding £500 brings the total outlay so far up to £3965. The axle is nothing special, being open diff’ with a set of regular drum brakes hanging on the ends, but it gets the job done.

Perfect union

It was a similar story with the Mustang II front clip. Already fitted, but by someone

Wheels are the Wheelsmith wires with stainless spokes off Steve Neimantas’ old Speed 33 roadster. They’re 5 x 16s and 8 x 16s and Bryan has settled on Bridgestone 235/6516s on the rear for the best compromise between acceleration and motorway cruising

who shouldn’t be allowed near cars, so Bryan re-did all of that as well, putting a new power steering rack on it while he was about it. “It’s in perfect union with the pump on the Duratec. Honestly, it steers like a Maserati this truck, it’s beautiful to drive.”

It’s got some fancy wavy disc brakes on the front but they were picked up for a song, too. A £150 song to be precise. That’s £4115

Early Ford buffs will know straight away this is a ’35, not the very similar ’36 model, due to the position of the Ford V8 badges in the middle of the louvres on the engine sides. There are other minor differences, but that’s an obvious giveaway

now, plus a couple of hundred for the new rack. Call it £4500.

What about the wheels, though? Surely they pushed things over budget? I suggest.

To which Bryan replies: “You remember Steve Neimantas’ black Speed 33 roadster?”

Sure do. “Well, when he decided to re-do that as a Westergard-style custom, we did the work on it, and I was able to get the old

wheels off it for £1200.” Not cheap, but price up a set of these Wheelsmith chrome wires today and you’re looking at around five and a half grand, so definitely a bargain.

It was a similar story with the ultra rare ’40 / ’41 Mercury Eight bumpers and overriders on the truck. They too were once on Steve’s 33, having been sourced at great expense from Europe. Bryan snagged ’em for just £200, bringing the running total up to £5900.

Forgive us the crass references to money throughout this feature, but it’s an important part of the story. “I’ve got national debt in me grey and white car [referring to his ’55 Chevy that was on the cover of Custom Car in October 2021],” says Bryan wistfully, “so this one had to be done on the cheap, and it was.” Under 10 grand on top of the purchase price was the goal.

In Mark’s memory

The truck itself was originally bought by Steve Neimantas on one of the Yorkshire lads’ regular trips to California. The same

ORGAN DONOR

The Jaguar S-Type is not what you’d call a hot rod. Not the 1960’s version, nor the early 2000’s model. The later one, which arrived in 1999, was a capable, refined, four-door saloon car that your dad would probably have quite liked. Ford owned the iconic British brand at that time but, when it came to the V6 engines that powered the majority of S-Types sold (excluding the blown V8-powered S-Type R), it turned to Porsche for design help, while also buying in the expertise of Cosworth in cylinder head manufacture. The result was an all-aluminium, dual overhead cam motor that was far more than the sum of its parts.

Two different capacity versions (2.5 and 3.0-litre) of the petrol unit were produced throughout its near 20-year lifespan and found their way into everything from Ford pick-ups to Lincoln SUVs, via various Mazdas, sporty Mondeos, the Ford GT and, when two were welded together, Aston Martin’s V12 rocketship. That’s by no means a full list either. In fact, so bewildering is the number of variations, we’ll keep it simple here and tell you the one in Bryan’s truck is an AJ30; that’s the 3.0-litre, 240bhp / 220lbf.ft version used in the Jaguar S-Type between its introduction in 1999 up until the end of 2002 (2003-on versions are slightly less powerful).

Gearboxes in the Jag’ donor cars range from five-speed Getrag manuals to five-speed Ford and six-speed ZF autos, with a six-speed manual available in the 2.7-litre diesel models. Beware, though, all the auto’ units use a TCM (transmission control module), which brings a whole extra level of complexity to any potential engine swap.

“That just sounded like a whole load of common sense to me. That were the whole goal with this thing”

trip that Bryan bought his ’55 on incidentally, both vehicles coming out of the back yard at Randy Winkle’s Famoso Speed Shop. On the ’plane home, it was promised to Mark Butterworth, son of Bryan’s great friend, the late Roger Butterworth. “He was an absolute diamond of a kid,” says Bryan, “the lad spent most of his life waiting for a liver transplant and then, after he ﬁnally had it, he died of a heart attack shortly after. It were tragic, he were just 35 years old.”

When Mark had to admit he wasn’t well enough to see the rebuild through, Bryan gave him the ﬁve and a half grand he’d paid Steve for it and, where Bryan’s ’55 was built as a tribute to his father, Roger, this one is Bryan’s tribute to Mark, hence the reference on the bed side.

Overlooking the appalling workmanship underneath, the truck was rock solid, with mint sheetmetal, Bryan estimating he’s done only a few hours’ welding on the whole thing. It had a smack up the front at some point so, rather than trying to repair that, Bryan cut the front of the chassis off and replaced it. He even made the grille insert himself from welding rod, but you’d never guess if we hadn’t just told you. “I’m not joking, it’s a proper cheap job this,” he says with a grin.

Everyone will have their own idea of what a cheap job is, of course, but did it come in under ten grand? That was always going to be a tall order, given the £5.5k purchase

price, and Bryan’s honest appraisal of the cost is around 13-14 grand, all in. To put that into some sort of context, that’s a very similar ﬁgure to what many drag racers tell us they budget for a season’s racing, assuming they don’t break anything. We’d say that comes ﬁrmly under the ‘cheap’ heading for a complete car, wouldn’t you?

Mass destruction

There have been a couple of teething issues with the set up, the most drastic being the ﬂywheel destroying itself after about 1000 miles. That’s when Bryan discovered it’s one of those pesky dual mass units. When he was quoted £1000 for a new one, he thought bugger that and welded up the old one. It’s been good as gold in the 6000 miles he’s done in the truck in the six months since ﬁnishing it.

That tells you all you need to know. As did seeing the truck being driven around the pits

The cab has been chopped two inches, but Bryan’s actually got John Reid on the lookout for a replacement roof so he can un-chop it and then raise the seat to make the truck more comfortable to

Colour is Rolls-Royce Brewster Green, with a Sheﬃeld Council grass cutter green stripe. The reason for the stripe is it’ll make re-painting easier if / when the proposed un-chop of the body takes place

drive.

by various different people at Dragstalgia with a bunch of friends hanging out of it laughing. It may only be an old shop truck to Bryan but, talking to him about it, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say it’s one of the best cars he’s ever built. That other people are also getting such obvious enjoyment out of it is an added bonus.

Karma undoubtedly played a part in its construction, a few people paying favours along the line, and there’s no doubt he got killer deals on some of the parts through good friends. But you know what they say, what goes around comes around, and I’m a ﬁrm believer in that.

Perhaps Bryan actually will now chill out and enjoy life a bit. And when he wants something more raucous to drive, there’s always the ’55 or the High Spirits Altered. Or the other car we mentioned in passing earlier – but we’ll come back to that one in a future issue. CC

The tailgate has been replaced with one from a ’40 / ’41 truck “’cause the original looks like a farmer made it,” says Bryan. The teardrop tail lights he had on the shelf, so they went on the truck

Fun, fun,

PART 1

A new format for the NSRA Fun Run brought hot rodders ﬂocking to Cornwall for a week of festivities. With so much going on that we can’t ﬁt it all into one issue, this month we look at the action from Monday to Friday; next time round, we’ll round things off with the weekend

Hi-de-Hi

Although participants arrived throughout the week, and even stayed for longer in some cases, Monday was the oﬃcial meet-and-greet arrival day. Rodders were directed to the NSRA show ﬁeld, where a warm Cornish welcome awaited them.

Pic: Hannah Thomas

The NSRA committee and helpers, along with Millie the German Shepherd, eagerly await the ﬁrst of the new arrivals

Colin and Sue Ayres and Mick and Paula Harle made a holiday of it, travelling around for a few days on their way to Cornwall and again on the way home

Ken Junior and Becky Amos made a father-daughter entrance, having driven down together from Peterborough

Pic: April Sheppard

Pic: Anon

Pic: Grant Pinney

fun…

WordsPics: Dave Biggadyke

Pics: As credited

Following a couple of years in the wilderness, this spring the NSRA decided to put the fun back in the Fun Run. It was a brave move, not least because it was a week-long event. There was also the matter of it being staged in Cornwall, not exactly a central location. At least it meant participants would have to drive their cars – and drive them they did.

Although the fun started on Monday and ﬁnished on Sunday, participants could arrive and depart on whatever days suited them best. Some attended for just a few days, while others were there for the whole week; some even made a holiday of it and stayed for longer. The tie-up the NSRA had with the holiday park owners, Away Resorts, ensured total ﬂexibility both in terms of duration and accommodation.

We asked NSRA PRO, Grant Pinney, for his take on the new look Fun Run. “The NSRA Fun Run is oﬃcially on the move. Members backed a fresh format after a vote at an AGM and the committee set out a bold new plan: to take the Fun Run around the country each year, turning it into a rolling adventure. With the support of Away Resorts, who’ve agreed to host us for the next ﬁve years, that vision is now a reality.

not reﬂecting the total number of people attending. Something we can maybe work on moving forward. Some folks headed off before the Sunday show, but just as a few rolled out, the locals rolled in, keeping the show ﬁeld buzzing with fresh arrivals.

“We had a week packed with epic cruiseouts and great company, and it all ran with barely a hiccup. Massive thanks to the crew at Proper Cornish Cruises who showed us the very best of their beautiful corner of the world. They did the hot rod community proud. The Sunday show and shine was the cherry on top. The weather forecast looked sketchy, but we were blessed with sunshine. Dozens of stunning cars rolled in; many we’d never seen before. Participant’s Choice went to a freshly built local truck that stole the show, and we even had new members sign up.

“With Cornwall wrapped up in style, we’re already looking ahead to next year. The Isle of Wight is our next destination and we can’t wait to see what adventures it brings. If the ﬁrst year of the new Fun Run format is anything to go by, we’re in for an amazing ride.”

“For 2025, we kicked things off in Cornwall. And while we admit to being a little nervous about whether people would make the trip and enjoy a full week of cruising, the turnout and feedback proved we had nothing to worry about. It was a hit. The vibe on site was super chilled. Loads of people camped up and did their own thing, which meant the cruise-outs had a constantly changing mix of cars hitting the roads, offering something different every day. We never had all the participants on site in the same place at the same time, with the numbers on each cruise

We have no more to add to that. Everyone we’ve spoken to has nothing but praise and would like to thank those behind the scenes, especially the Proper Cornish Cruisers, for their slick organisation. Many people commented that they appreciated the freedom of choice on offer, some days heading out on the organised cruise, other days doing their own thing with family or friends.

That sounds ideal to us; we’re looking forward to crossing The Solent already. Meanwhile, however, this month we’re bringing you all the action from Monday through to Friday. Check back in with our next issue when we’ll lift the lid on the weekend’s fun and games.

“They did the hot rod community proud”

The Montgomery family travelled from Cromer to take part in the Fun Run

BHRA members drove 347 miles to get a group photo when they arrived at the holiday park

Pic: Grant Pinney

Mine’s a tea – Pics: Ken Amos Jnr

Early on Tuesday afternoon, 44 cars headed off to take in a local heritage tin mining attraction. A journey of around ten miles later saw the cars assembled in a privileged parking area at Cornwall Gold and Tolgus Mill in Redruth. Not only was history on offer but savouries, cakes and classic Cornish cream teas were also on the menu.

Things went slightly awry, though, as despite being warned in advance by the cruise organisers, the staff were ill-equipped and the cream teas soon ran out. The chocolate cake proved a popular alternative, but the carrot cake was a different story. A minor inconvenience that didn’t detract from driving with like-minded people along a scenic coastal route. However, it did mean the cream or jam ﬁrst question was never unequivocally answered.

Licking it

Despite it being spontaneous individual actions rather than an oﬃcial happening, it’s good to see the spirit of The Big Lick is still alive.

Pic: April Sheppard

Pic: Ken Amos Jnr

Pic: April Sheppard

Pic: Hannah Thomas

Ships ahoy

The midweek cruise on Wednesday took a picturesque 21-mile route to Falmouth, culminating in the 58 cars cruising through the normally traﬃc-free streets of the town centre. Exclusive pre-booked parking

had been arranged on the cobbles at Maritime Square, adjacent to the Maritime Museum. It was a perfect day, made even better by the sun shining.

Pic: Mick Harle

Pic: April Sheppard

Pic: Ken Amos Jnr

Pic: Sue Ayres

Pic: Colin Ayres

Points of view

There’s little point in travelling to Cornwall and not taking time out to act like a tourist and check out the countryside. With stunning scenery like this, you can understand the NSRA choosing it as the venue for the ﬁrst of their week-long Fun Runs.

“Put the fun back in the Fun Run”

Scrumpy time

Thursday’s trip out attracted 52 cars on a 16-mile jaunt to Healeys Cornish Cyder Farm near Truro. Healeys is the home of Rattlers Cyder and optional cider tasting tours were on offer, although not recommended for hot rodders out on a cruise. The farm animals and restaurant were a better bet. The return journey took in Hell’s Mouth on the stunning north coast.

Pic: April Sheppard

Pic: Ken Amos Jnr

Pic: Hannah Thomas

Pic: Hannah Thomas Pic: Hannah Thomas

Pic: Hannah Thomas

Pic: Ken Amos Jnr

The fun

The fun run was as much about the people as the cars. Whether they be organising the week’s activities and cruises, taking in the sights with family and friends, catching up with old acquaintances, behaving like proper tourists, enjoying the evening entertainment and being part of the spirit of the event, or simply making fools of themselves at the pool and beach parties. Whatever people were doing, they all had a smile on their faces, even Richard Black – at least we think that’s a smile lurking behind his beard.

Pic: Hannah Thomas

Pic: Hannah Thomas Pic: Hannah Thomas

Pic: Hannah Thomas

Pic: Hannah Thomas Pic: Hannah Thomas

Pic: Hannah Thomas

Pic: Hannah Thomas Pic: Hannah Thomas

Pic: April Sheppard Pic: April Sheppard Pic: Ken Amos Jnr

Pic: : Grant Pinney

Pic: : Grant Pinney Pic: : Grant Pinney

Pic: : Grant Pinney Pic: : Matthew Stanley

Main in the rain

The weather may have brought a premature end to this year’s Main Event, but a packed Santa Pod crowd still witnessed some spectacular action before the meet was called

This year’s Main Event got underway properly on a sunny Friday morning with the Sportsman classes beginning their qualifying sessions in earnest. As this event marks the first round of the FIA / FIM European Championship, the biggest guns of all come out to play, making it a hugely popular event for spectators as the racers present knowing it’s all to play for. With close to 300 teams on site, representing all the major car and bike classes, it offers a drag racing fix unlike any other meet at Santa Pod, bar the European Finals in September.

Filling the bill alongside Top Fuel Dragster, Top Fuel Bike, Funny Car Cup, Top Methanol, a huge 16-car Pro Mod grid and Pro Stock

was a varied field of front and rear-wheel drive Comp Eliminator entries, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Pro and Pro ET, as well as Street Eliminator, Junior Dragster, various other bike classes and a bunch of exhibition vehicles, including the insane Force of Nature steam bike of Graham Sykes. There were even a couple of Nostalgia Funny Cars on site, so definitely something for every fan of European drag racing.

Unfortunately, while the ingredients were all there, the weather had other ideas, keeping the hard-working track crew busy drying and prepping the damp track for a midday start on both Saturday and Sunday. The top classes then clearly struggled with the conditions, tyre shake being the most common affliction.

They weren’t the only ones suffering, either, as electrical issues across the site saw the control tower lose power intermittently throughout the Saturday. The server went down and then dropped out completely on Sunday afternoon, too, bringing an end to the event’s ever-popular online coverage.

There’s no doubt there was some great racing, but the on / off rain delayed proceedings and, ultimately, forced the race director to call the meet at 4.30 on Monday, with all classes prevented from running to their conclusion. With the next round of FIA European Championship action taking place at Tierp Arena over the weekend of 9-10 August, the teams were left hoping the weather in Sweden proves more amenable.

■ Words: Mike Pye

■ Pics: Julian Hunt

Funny Car Cup

Andy Raw temporarily swapped seats from Nostalgia Funny Car to Nitro Funny Car, doing his licensing runs in the Elsom Motorsport One Bad Texan Toyota Camry Funny Car this weekend. Likewise, Dale Leeks in the Beast from the East Camry.

It was Terry Haddock again in the hot seat, though, putting on a ﬁne show in Bob Jarrett’s Showtime Charger, 4.402 / 213 in Q2 for the top spot in the class.

Top Fuel

The Top Fuel entries were having all manner of problems on the Saturday, with no team making a clean pass. The ﬁrst Fueller properly down the track was Susanne Callin in Q3 on Sunday, a 3.903 / 312mph pass pleasing the expectant crowd – only for her then to stall in the semis, letting Jndia Erbacher through to the ﬁnal.

One of the best races of the weekend saw Brit Liam Jones take the win in the other semi, with a 4.141 / 217 to Dennis Nilsson’s explosive 4.383 / 191.

Note the new protective canopy on Nilsson’s machine. These are commonplace now in the US, so it’s only a matter of time before we see them on all European TFs.

Dennis Nilsson

Liam Jones

Dale Leeks

Andy Raw

Pro Modified

After taking a year off, Dutchman Marck Harteveld came out ﬁghting in the Voodoo Hemi Superbird in Q3 on Sunday, clocking a new speed PB of 244.10 on a 5.871 blast that put him straight into the number one spot and toppled Mats Eriksson’s 5.914 / 241, putting the pair up against each other in one side of the semi-ﬁnals.

Pro Stock

22-year-old Henry Riehl is the only non-Swedish competitor in Pro Stock, ﬁelding an appropriately German Mercedes CLK-bodied entry to a 7.027 / 195 in Q2. With all the other racers in the sixes, though, he had to work

Top Methanol

Young Tina Høst Nedregård had a lucky break in the quarter ﬁnals of Top Methanol when Tony Bryntesson’s car failed to start on the line, giving her a double bye into the ﬁnal against consistently quick fellow Swede Jonny Lagg, though sadly the race itself didn’t take place.

The Netherlands’ David Vegter wasn’t going to sit by and watch, mind, carding a fastest in class 5.808 / 243 to take out Jon Webster in round one. He would have run against Andy Robinson in the other semi had the action not ended there.

Shout out to the UK’s own John Tebenham for his 5.987 / 239 pass in Q4, going on to nail a holeshot on the hugely experienced Bruno Bader in round one before going out to Harteveld in round two.

hard to catch the experienced Swedes. A 6.953 / 199 was good, but not enough to beat 13 times European champion Jimmy Ålund in round one. Also of note was Robin Norén, who clocked a fantastic 6.612 / 207 on a bye in round one, but the class never made it any further than that.

Germany’s Sylvio Straunch, meanwhile, debuted a brand new dragster, but the Engine Ghost Racing Team struggled with engine problems and keeping the front end down in qualifying on Saturday.

Marck Harteveld

Henry Riehl

Tina Høst Nedregård

David Vegter

Robin Norén

Sylvio Straunch

Nostalgia Funny Car

The ever-popular nostalgia ﬂopper class brought Saturday’s proceedings to a pleasing close, Apache vs Venom, with Tim Garlick running stronger this time with a thundering 6.084 / 229. Thank you and good night.

Comp Eliminator

It’s hard to believe there are now four of the exclusive COPO Camaros racing here in the UK, and three of them were contesting the hugely varied Comp Eliminator class at the Main Event. American David Barton’s 427ci version put in a best of 8.848 / 151, while the two blown 350ci versions were both in the sevens, Nic Williams going fractionally quicker than Rouven Dawson, 7.810 / 174 to 7.882 / 174, though Dawson secured pole. What we now need is a 2023 ZZ632 version to see how that compares.

Super Gas

Street Eliminator

Proving anything still goes in Street Eliminator, Kai McSweeney has entered the fray in this ’85 Chevy Monte Carlo, which looks like a very comfortable place to spend 11½ seconds and hit 120mph.

Less comfortable, though, was Graham Smith’s wild ride when his Grimhilde ’57 Chevy turned itself into a ﬁreball. We’re pleased to report Graham is okay and, with the generous help and support of the British drag racing community, the car will be rebuilt

The cats among the COPO pigeons, however, were Dan Williams and Terry Newton in the rapid Escort van, recording a fastest ever pass for a Zetec-engined car in Q4 with an 8.731 / 170 pass, then improving to 8.710 / 170.43 for second spot and a position in the semis, though they weren’t to be.

It was the Brogie Ts of Stuart Doignie and Dave Fulton heading the 20-car ﬁeld at the end of 9.90 Super Gas qualifying, and both racers continued through the two rounds of eliminations that took place, taking out Vic Parsons and Wayne Hiscock respectively in the latter. Other runners still in the game at that point included Andy Dibley, Andy Harrison and number 20 qualiﬁer Leigh Morris, who dispatched Stuart Morrice, Sara Unsworth and Mark White in that order. That was as far as things went though.

Tim Garlick

Kai McSweeney

Graham Smith

Andy Dibley

Terry Newton

Stuart Doignie and Dave Fulton

David Barton vs Nic Williams

Super Comp

Dave Fulton led the 11-car Super Comp ladder at the end of qualifying, running just 0.0024 off the class’ 8.90 dial in. Seven other runners were also in the 8.90s, proving how tight the competitors in this category are.

After that, only one round of eliminations took place, and that saw Fulton through on the number one qualiﬁer bye, followed by Stevie Gates, Warren Watts, Ellie May Brown, Ronald Huis and Andy Clifford in the nostalgia FED.

In a show of great drag racing sportsmanship, when a lifter let go in Leah Kellet’s dragster in the ﬁre-up lane, her childhood friend Billy Everitt stepped up and lent her his 540ci Duster to qualify on the Sunday. What a hero.

Super Pro ET

At the end of qualifying, it was Elodie, one of the three-strong Dubois family of French racers, leading the charge into eliminations, 37 other racers hot on her heels. All three Dubois progressed through the ﬁrst round of eliminations but, come the end of the second and ﬁnal round, Patrick had fallen by the wayside while Elodie and Fabien were still going strong, in the company of Alan Didwell, Tom Atkinson, Callum Swinchatt, Joshua Duncan and Daniel Giles.

Special mentions go to Bernard Saz, who travelled up from Andorra with his latest Citroën-based creation, and the wonderfully named Christian Schneebeli, who brought his radical ’57 Chevy from Switzerland to compete against Super Pro ET racers from Holland, Germany, France and, of course, the UK.

Leah Kellett in Billy Everitt’s Duster

Ronald Huis

Christian Schneebeli

Bernard Saz

Fabien Dubois

Junior Dragster

A strong ﬁeld of 25 turned out for the Main Event and, at the end of qualifying, Jake Cooper was at the head of the pack, earning himself a bye into round two. There he was joined by Chevy Checkett, Richard Wilcox, Kai Cooper, Teddy Sullivan, Molly Openshaw, Grace Smith, Amelia Innes, Nieve Devey, Ada Cassisi, Like Mugridge and Tom Peters. By the end of the second and ﬁnal round, the grid had reduced to J and K Cooper, Sullivan, Smith, Innes, Cassisi and Mugridge, but that’s where the fun ended for the junior class for this weekend.

Pro ET

Amy Watkins was looking unbeatable in the early rounds of qualifying. But then in Q4 there was a big change around at the top, with Don Scott now heading the packed ﬁeld of racers into eliminations. Unfortunately, rain ensured the class only went as far as round two and, at that point, Bill Wilson, Jon Turner, Rouven Dawson, Mason Griﬃths, Jess Bishop, Nick Mugridge, Ronnie Mercer, Brett Featherstone, Billy Everitt, Debbie Clarke, Dave Rudd, Amy Watkins and Neill Watkins and Germany’s Thomas Bublitz were all still in the running. Until next time…

Top Fuel Bike

It was a mixed bag for the Top Fuel Bike competitors at the Main Event, but honourable mention goes to Sweden’s Rikard Gustafsson for being the only one in the ﬁves this weekend, carding 5.797 / 234 to top the ladder in qualifying and then 5.833 / 222 in the one round of eliminations that took place.

Grace Smith

Jake Cooper

Amy Watkins

Jess Bishop

What’s occurring?

Words & Pics: James Webber

Event: Barryfornia

Date: 18 May 2025

Venue: Barry Island promenade

What’s occurring? Back in May, Nessa may well have been asking exactly that – the answer being that Barry Island became home to the annual Barryfornia show.

Held on the promenade along the seafront, the show was open to Volkswagens, American cars and bikes. Vehicles were asked to be parked up by 10am, when the show would officially open, after which the public could venture around and look at the variety of vehicles on show.

The absolutely stunning weather brought people in their thousands down

to the promenade, making it one of the busiest shows on record. Hosts Rothink, the clothing brand, had a stall selling some merchandise and a few other traders and local craft artisans were pitched up and down the promenade.

Once everyone had admired the cars, they could spend the rest of the day on the beach or take the kids to the funfair. Gavin and Stacey fans, meanwhile, could grab a cuppa and a bite to eat at the famous café

from the iconic TV series or head to the amusements arcade (‘The Slots’) where Nessa maintains law and order when she’s not driving her HGVs or hanging out with John Prescott.

Around 3pm, it was time to hand out the top 10 awards. This is definit ely one for families and clubs alike, so follow Rothink and Barryfornia on the socials for details of future events.

’65 Mustang had modern suspension upgrades and was fitted with a rare Whipple supercharger

Vans are definitely on the way back

This ’55 Ford F100 pick-up was originally built by Neil Giraldo, Pat Benatar’s guitarist

Cylinder head and engine reconditioning

Crank Grinding / Balancing

Vintage Engine Works Carried Out

Rebores

Precision Machining

Parts Supplier

On-site Repairs

Hamlins

BRENTACRE

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

AUGUST

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

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

2 Only Fools and Motors Meet

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

2-3 American Super Stock

Revival Rd5 Melbourne Raceway Facebook: American Super Stock

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

16 Elvington Modified Nationals Elvington. www.straightliners.events

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

16 Hullabaloo Newmarket HarleyDavidson, Newmarket Facebook: Newmarket Harley-Davidson

16 Straightliners Smeatharpe, Devon.www.straightliners.events

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

8-10 VW Festival Harewood House, Yorkshire. info@vwfestival.co.uk

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

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

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

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

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

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

22-25 Hot Rod Hop Thurleigh, Beds cannibalscarclub.enginehousetickets. co.uk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

30-31 Straightliners Race Meet and American Super Stock Revival Rd 6 and Finals Melbourne Raceway. Facebook: American Super Stock. www.straightliners.events

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

SEPTEMBER

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

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

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

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

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

5-7 Steel City Rod Run Hooten Roberts, Rotherham, Suffolk Facebook: Steel City Cruisers

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

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

7 Flames’n’Dice Wearmouth Colliery, Sunderland. Facebook: Flames’n’Dice

12-14 Goodwood Revival Goodwood Estate, West Sussex. www.goodwood.com

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

12-14 Hot Rod Hoedown. Barrasgate Farm, Annan.Facebook: Hot Rod Hoedown at the Steading 12-15 Isle of Man Ford Fest www.iomfm.com

13-14 No-Prep Drag Racing Manston Raceway Park, Kent Facebook: Manston Raceway Park

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

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

18-21 Isle of Man Festival of Motoring www.iomfm.com

19-21 National Finals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

19-21 Normandy Beach Race Sword Beach, Ouistreham www.normandybeachrace.com

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

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

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

20-21 Pistons and Props Sywell Aerodrome, Northamptonshire www.sywellclassic.co.uk

BRENTACRE

20-21 VHRA Pendine Sands Hot Rod Races. Pendine, Carmarthenshire www.vhra.co.uk

21 Ford Fest. Mallory Park, Leics. www.fordfestshow.co.uk

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

26-28 Flat Caps and Ferrets Elland Cricket Club, Halifax. Facebook: Flat Caps and Ferrets Huddersfield

26-28 Yorkshire American Car Club American, Rod and Custom Show. Fort Paull, Hull. yancs1@yahoo.co.uk

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

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

27 Straightliners Smeatharpe, Devon.www.straightliners.events

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

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

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

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

OCTOBER

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

4-5 No-Prep Drag Racing Manston Raceway Park, Kent Facebook: Manston Raceway Park

4-5 Malbourne Finals and Fireworks Melbourne Raceway, York. www.straightliners.events

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

5 Victory Wheelers Hayling Sunset Funlands Amusement Park, Hayling Island Facebook: Victory Wheelers

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

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

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

12 Straightliners Race Meet Elvington. www.straightliners.events

19 Straightliners Santa Pod Raceway. straightliners.events

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

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

25 Flame and Thunder Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

26 NSRA Northern Swapmeet Magna Science Centre, Rotherham. www.nsra.org.uk

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

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

NOVEMBER

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

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

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

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

DECEMBER 2025

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

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

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

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

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