With help from my mate Mark (Pudzz), we managed to get loaded up on Thursday. So we could get an early start the next morning. This was to be the biggest trip my Rod had ever taken and quite a journey for us two excited Rodders :>). My misses and daughter said they had no desire to go to Knebworth so it was just me and Pudzz with enough supplies to feed and water ( booze) an Army. We borrowed a trailer tent from another mate and we were on our way. The computer had worked out the route for us 266miles it said and £50 worth of fuel (yeah right). The only scare we had was when we were cruising along about 150 miles into our journey. I spied out of the rear screen a huge cloud of blue smoke. I looked at Pudzz and said "whoa mate we have got a big problem!!!" After we had stopped at the services it was soon traced to the build up of oil in the air pan from the rerouted breather pipe *phew*.
After a few bemused foreign truckers had given it the once over we were on our way again. It was funny when the truckers were looking round the Rod though, they were very close looking in the engine bay and round the Car I looked at them and said Alright *nod* and they just looked straight at me ignorant git's I thought, so I just carried on working on the car. Then one of them said in very broken English "ow mudch powa?" I said 250 *smile* he said ooowwwhhhhh told his mate in gibberish and then they both buggered off shaking their head's and then kept looking back like they were wanting to be as far away as possible from the mad Englishmen. Hell imagine if they had looked into the engine bay of Tracey Chantry's Nash or similar Ha Ha then they would of really freaked.
So 5 hrs, 2ltrs of oil and £100 worth of fuel later we arrived
at Knebworth though we
did have almost a full tank of fuel left.
We saw no signs of a Rod run happening all the way down and none even at the
entrance to Knebworth so little in fact we doubted there was one on. Once inside
the grounds we had our doubts quashed as we saw the the NSRA tent and were
greeted by a professional bunch of NSRA Volunteers. We were quickly and efficiently
given the info we needed a commemoratory cup and dash sticker and the all important
prize draw coupons though for these I had to answer a quiz ;>( for a new
member this was a bit daunting. We were surprised at the amount of stockers lined up to go
in and they all had plush caravans in tow not a tent like us
*hum*. A very nice Pop and a blown 32
brightened up the proceedings though.
We were both very excited and looking forward to a great few days amongst the Rods and Rodders, so we wanted to get pitched quickly and start looking around the Rods all ready there. As we approached the SuperNationals camp site we weren't disappointed there were Lowboys, Highboys, Deuces, Coupes, Trucks, T's, Pops etc etc parked all around and plenty Driving round aswell which was just Fantastic. I saw a sign saying quiet campsite left so I said "we don't want to be there" so we went straight ahead so we could be in the noisy area and have some fun. I spied a perfect place where we could pitch the tent, get out the chairs crack open a beer and watch the floor show of Rods as they drive by.
I recognized John Denton's nice Rover pick-up right where we were about to pitch the tent so I knew we had made the right choice. John made us feel very welcome and told us a load of his mates had yet to turn up Fletch in the beauty 40's Chevy and Ian Hassle with the Cool Yellow 47 Ford, and some other famous name in a steel 34/5 Pick up somebody Hardesty I think *wink*. And to our left was Nigel Lockley and is superb Flamed Model A sedan and his mate with a beaut modern Chevy truck and Chrysler Prowler (Factory Rod?!!) So it looked like we would have a mini show of our own. Once sorted the beer was out and we were soon joined by a mad Scots man camped next door he owned a Model A but thought it to big a journey to come down in so he had brought his Stocker???????? Man could this guy swear it must be a Celtic thing, he couldn't even say f*ck without saying f*ck in-between. He did our head's in at first but we soon got the hang of it and were swearing just as good as him in no time ;>) We taught him how to do it proper though in Northern English.
Parked only a few yards away were these two crackers.
The 34 sat low with little room round the rear arches, when I do this to mine
all manner of things bang and clunk must have a word with this guy to see how to
sort it Nice Rod.
The 49 Chevy Truck owned by Gary O'Connor was
a particular favorite of mine and was only finished 3 days before Sheffield where
it took best truck, it
was previously Blue and I thought then it couldn't be made any more perfect. The
prop coming loose made it necessary for a respray
and so was born the best Truck in the Uk in my humble opinion ;>) It now feature's air suspension and chrome steels and whitewalls. I
love the Hi-Tec side of Rodding but this some how crosses the nostalgia style
and Hi Tec side beautifully. Once I get me 34 sorted and sold I will own
one..
I have always felt a little bit of a stranger in the Rodding scene whether it be
at Preston Cruise, a Local show or a Rod Run hence the uk-hotrods e-group which
does help you meet Rodders. I know part of the reason is my
shyness and inability to strike up a conversation with people easy. But here
somehow all seemed very different everyone seemed so much more open and friendly
regardless of their tastes in Rods we had spoken to all around us in no time and
actually felt part of it all which I really was happy about.
The owner and his mate of this lovely sports saloon just drove up to where we were camped and started chatting like we had known each other for years. My faith in Rodding had been rekindled and I knew I had come home. We had a really long chin wag, looking at each others motors and talked Rods. I was very chuffed with the positive comment's he made about my 34 especially when his was so fine. It was now time to find the showers, the Knebworth information center told us there were none on site Ahhhhhh so off to the NSRA guys to see if they had any on site for us. Yes! was the reply "so where are they?" "err not sure" said one guy "but I think there are some in the very far field". Ok I thought "and how do we recognise them from the toilet blocks" I enquired "err when you open the door there's a shower there not a bog" Ah Ha I thought smart Arse (was a daft question though eh!).
Searching for the showers we found a whole new world of Rods and Rod Club's in there
organised camps then it dawned on us we had pitched in the quiet area after all
and on returning to our Tent our suspicions were found to be true Boo Hoo. We
were with the people who wanted a quite time ;>(...... still we
sat back after we had been fed and had a few gallons of beer watched the
Rods drive by, enjoyed the
company and learned whole new ways of swearing with a Scottish accent....
And that was Fri over.