Retro Rides (South Yorkshire) - 1st July - NEW VENUE, M1 J35

[Paul296]

Well, me and Mark went - it was pretty good and definitely worth supporting. I didn't take my camera I'm afraid so here's a shot of my BX and Mark's spaceship in Morrison's car park in Newark (we really know how to have a good time!) . . .



Given that the vast majority of cars were post-2000 the term 'retro' might have been a bit of misnomer, but there were enough things of interest to make it worth the trip up the A1. A little Simca 1000 Rallye2 was a particularly rare sight and the owner was only too happy to regale us with tales of Simca ownership (for a bit longer than we might have liked actually!). There was a good deal of 'MaxPower' knobbery in evidence however. One young man in particular seemed hell bent on melting his tyres and generally trashing the engine of his BMW doing (I think they're called) 'burnouts'. I'm not a violent person, but if I were and had found my self in possession of a firearm, I might have performed one of those summary executions so beloved of the film director Quentin Tarantino. I didn't though, but he got a very stiff talking to from 'Vulgalour' (which he ignored).

Amongst the chief pleasures however was getting to meet the aforementioned 'Vulgalour' (Angel) and see first hand the sterling work he's put in on ol' stripy - it really is quite transformed. Rd27 (Ryan) also bought along his very nice TXD - the one with the pepperpots and the hulahula thingy hanging in the window - aloha! - nice car

Many thanks to Ryan for helping me find my way back to the M1; seeing as I tend to struggle finding my way out of a paper bag I'd probably still be driving round Sheffield at this very moment without his help!

Anyway, all in all a pretty good meet. What it really needed was a few more older cars (that hadn't been 'modded' to death) and a balmy summer evening to make it very pleasant indeed. Good stuff.

[mds141]

[Paul296]

I forgot to mention about going to pick Mark's new alloys up in Wisbech. We got quite a reception . . .



So, if you're in the market for some cheap tyres ( or a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a few cases of 'moonshine' Vodka or indeed an intercontinental ballistic missile) Wisbech is where the action is (take a Polish phrasebook though). Very nice .

[mds141]

"You buy my wife?"!!

[mds141]

I forgot to mention about going to pick Mark's new alloys up in Wisbech. We got quite a reception . . .



So, if you're in the market for some cheap tyres ( or a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a few cases of 'moonshine' Vodka or indeed an intercontinental ballistic missile) Wisbech is where the action is (take a Polish phrasebook though). Very nice .

"Is nice"!!

[Mickey taker]

I feckin hate Wisbech

[vulgalour]

I'll be getting some snapshots up in just a tick, but I need to put my oar in about the meet, especially since I'm the supposed organiser of it. The BMW guy, well... normally there's one nobhead at the meet and he was it this time. That amount of dicking about is not usual, the local Police are informed, we'll see how that goes.

Retro content increases as the weather warms up, so while there was a good number of moderns, quite a few of the cars there were, surprisingly, pre-2000. The meet attracts other clubs with different persuasions but the emphasis is more on diversity than any strict pre-2000 rule. If it were (my) private land, I could control the content of the event much better, and the behaviour, but it's a public space so I can only do so much. In the past, not a great deal had been done to dissuade the more boisterous element from showboating, I'm hoping to change that and likely get myself run over in the process.

PLEASE don't let that put you off, however. Strength in numbers is a force to be reckoned with and I'm doing what I can to encourage more older cars to attend and discourage the newer stuff within the limitations imposed upon me. Regardless of what's on show, people do find the properly retro cars interesting, I see Paul forgot to mention the young lads that were interested in his spaceship

But thank you for those BX chaps that did make it, that's the most BXs I've ever seen together in one place outside of a photograph ever. Previous record was 2 back at the turn of the century.

[Paul296]

I see Paul forgot to mention the young lads that were interested in his spaceship

Ooo an opportunity to talk about my car! A group of very enthusiastic (and very baggy) young lads came and asked me if my car had 'that air ride'? I gave them the low-down on hydropneumatic suspension (technically aided and abetted by Mark). We also told them that at 40 miles an hour the car will hover above the ground, and that if they want a one way ticket to 'the future' they need to get themselves a bit of BX action!

that's the most BXs I've ever seen together in one place outside of a photograph ever. Previous record was 2 back at the turn of the century.

You ain't seen nuthin' yet; X-rally April 7th!*



*It is the 7th isn't it?

[mds141]

Paul don't forget when I opened the bonnet of the XM and showed the yoofs the 'sub nucleonic pulse plasma drive system'!! I think they were impressed.

[Caffiend]

I hope you also told them to pull their trousers up. Bring back National Service, etc.

Sounds like a good event, Andrew (TizzyD), you're not a million miles away, maybe we should plot? - sharing car, costs & driving might make the trip more feasible?

[vulgalour]

Have some pictures, if Photobucket is playing ball this time. I decided to just copy-paste from the Retro Rides thread so you get an idea of what does turn up rather than just focusing on the BXs.

Full album can be viewed here

Unfortunately, my camera decided to eat about half my photographs so there were plenty of interesting cars that I just don't have photographs of. If you don't see your car here, that's probably why because I did photograph just about everything, particularly stuff I've not seen before.

Jeep Wrangler, I genuinely cannot remember when I last saw one of these outside of an 80s film.


This was superb, as were the others parked with it. Sadly, these were some of the photographs that got eaten.


Adorable! It really stood out at the meet in a very good way, we'd welcome more of this sort of thing.




Tidy whitey.






The glorious Fiat X1-9 at the front of this shot left before I got chance to get a decent snap of it. I hope it turns up again.


Content at these meets can be really diverse, covering all bases.


Amusing installation. Regardless of opinion about rat rides, this one does tick all of the required boxes and is as unhinged as a container of amphibians.




I missed getting a shot of this very nice Escort at a previous meet, glad that some of my shots of it turned out this time around, particularly the interior which has to be one of my favourites.






Sam's Montego was looking better than ever, and he's still got plans to improve it further.


The only shot I have of this one that came out anything like and it still doesn't show off the finish on the wheels, they were really good in person.


Very rare Simca Rally, an original and not a replica.




I don't know what this is, but it looked very smart.




Something different.




Yep, still like these.




The wheels are great on this Polo.


More diversity, good stuff!


Some chaps from the BX Club managed to make it, which I was delighted about. You may notice that one of these things is not like the others, but seeing an XM that tidy is no bad thing.












If the pictures aren't showing, click here for the gallery.

[Paul296]

Paul don't forget when I opened the bonnet of the XM and showed the yoofs the 'sub nucleonic pulse plasma drive system'!! I think they were impressed.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that - and the reverse-phase warp inductor module for inter-dimensional time travel.

Bring back National Service, etc.

On this occasion I let that one go, but looking round the car park is was obvious that none of them knew how to iron.

[Mickey taker]

Just remember these are the retro car drivers ( and for that matter)
The BX drivers of the future

[mds141]

Just remember these are the retro car drivers ( and for that matter)
The BX drivers of the future

Scary eh!

The yoofs were good lads really. Enthusiastic and well mannered. Yorkshire dialect took some working out though, could have done with services of an interpreter.

[MULLEY]

The car that you're not sure of is a Nissan 200SX