Sunday and the sun was a shining, the show field was filling and the air was alive with the Thunder of roaring V8's. I could lay in bed no longer, the car was a mess and the show field beckoned. *groan* I started the torturous task of cleaning and polishing the 34. 5 cups of coffee later and I had the new wonder wax I had bought from Wilko's the week before applied and now started the wheel polishing fun while Dave Crees from the uk-hotrods e-mail group came and stood by and watched me *huh* He could see I was in pain from to much tea the night before and lack of sleep but did he pick up a cloth and help??? did he Fug ! :>)
As the Wonder wax dried, I finished the wheels and started to polish up to a high luster with a clean, dry, lint free cloth Terrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr what a load of crap it gave the worst shine I have ever seen and also left white wax residue everywhere Man was I pissed off. Still nowt I could do, so after a couple of more cups of coffee (no ciggys now I have given up) and a few bacon sarnie's, flavored with polish, I was off to the show field Dave never helped me a hand to polish the car so the Tw*t could walk eh :>)
I drove my Car to the show site which was by now a mass of colour, shimmering in the glorious Sunday sunshine. I got a real shiver down my spine as I looked at the sea of Rods before me, they looked magnificent. I was ushered to the newly caged area, don't know why but Drayton have fenced one field off. The Misses had given me my orders, park your car and come back and get us straight away, then we can walk round together :>)
Barclay Hollands 49 Chevy Truck still is just so Classy wouldn't ya just love
to tool round the Rod runs in this. Barclay says he still goes
out into the garage and looks at it every night, as he just cant believe he owns
it.
Here is the guy who was responsible for the Cool looking Truck above, but
look what he replaced it with. Man what Class Gaz has, he has thee Eye don't he.
This ex Chico, Moon Truck was pretty dudey when he bought it, but Gaz being Gaz he
has put his stamp on it and made it better. The deep yes deep Matt Black is pure
excellence. The top chop is now finished and the engine is just Sex take a
proper look when you see it. I could spend a weekend just looking at it. I do so
enjoy talking to Gaz but it didn't happen this show, he always seemed to have a crowd
round and I was always in a bloody Rush!
Billy Gabbs exquisite, polished to within an inch of its life, mind blowing,
Best of show, Blown SBC 34.
This Grey A was rumbling round all weekend, the guy just did not stop. I
would say out of ten times looking up to see what was making the Gorgeous V8
Crackle it would be this grey one 6 times out of ten... Oh yeah remember the
sideways rolling burn out (I mentioned on page 2) as the cruise left the
field well this black Low boy T was the culprit.. Groovy!
Reg drove down in his 30's Single seater Racer all the way from Huddersfield
*respect* I really liked this real neat A Truck with red steels.
I was feeling a bit jaded today in the sun and wandered round in a daze really, as I took a few photos. My daughter was pestering for a T-Shirt and finally got one after an hr from Rob Hands Hotrod Teez (e-mail group member). I managed a bit of a crack with Kerry from Originals Hot Rods Supply company who I had bought my 55 F100 from a few months ago, he seems a real nice guy. There were quite a few more traders there this year which can only good for the scene. We were in such a rush though, as my daughter and Rosie had exams Monday which meant we couldn't stay to long,. So really I didn't get to look round the Cars as much as we normally do. We just seemed to be rushing from car to car not really getting a proper look, same as the trade stands no real time to look.
Alan Spittle's revamped Centre door sedan. Alan imported this T way back in
the 70s and it still looks the part and stands out from the crowd.
Wild CF Bedford I overheard the owner saying the motor was a cut out and he
just stuffed the blower on and has had no problems with it. What a wild, wild,
ride this must be, hope he doesn't forget and reach back to get his sarnie box
or he may get sucked through the blower!
I talked with a few people I have got to know through this web site and Preston Cruise as I made my way back to my Car, I had arranged to meet everyone from the uk-hotrods e-mail group that could be there at 2pm and it was now 5mins to.
This was one 34 that really stood out to me, because of the attention to detail.
The build quality and subtle little tricks are superb.. The recessed head lights
dropped into the front wings is a cool trick, the way the side panels fit down
into the front A posts, the hood fit the edging on the fenders and running boards
etc is just fantastic, the sweep of the grill and centre of the front fenders it
just went on and on. Someone has spent a sh*g load of time and thought with this
34 it's workmanship is mind boggling *reeespect* Dude who ever you are!
When I finally got back to my 34 there were a few people there from the uk-hotrods e-mail group. One guy from the group expressed his disappointed that there were not many rods on show???? He also said there was not many début cars *huh?* I thought there were loads and it was the biggest and best show I have ever seen at Drayton...... was it me suffering from the lack of sleep or was it him who needed his other glasses on........ Thing is to be fair I had only had a very quick and uncompleted look round both fields and never got to do my slow reverse look as I usually do, but for me it was the biggest and best Drayton Manor line up ever with some fantastic new Rods........ funny how two people can be at the same venue and have so opposite opinions of it!
Two more vehicles I would pick for my top ten, Mart's cool 39 Chevy complete
with rug for you to lay on so you can look underneath without getting mucky
*nice touch* and how thoughtful eh! Phil Middleton's simply Beautiful 53 Chevy
Truck.
This is just a small selection of the uk-hotrods e-mail group there are 222
members so you can see how many are missing but the one's here are: Crouched
left to right Dave Crees, Mark Pointing (Toad and son), Matt Smith, standing left to
right standing
are Seth Kennedy, Shane Knighton, Me (Holmsey), Dally and Matts Dad.. Aint we a
handsome bunch eh!
There was no sooner a few of us uk-hotrods members there talking and whoosh they had all gone .......... Then I met some more over at Toads Green Morris, had a great crack with these guys aswell....... but alas it was time to say goodbye as camp had to be dismantled yet and the 34 had to be loaded up for the journey home....
Time to go home
The trip back was uneventful but relaxing as the 34 performed perfectly and we only saw one other rod all the way back to Cumbria, it was a Red 34 which made up for it.............
Once Home on reflection, it was definitely one of the better Rod Runs I have been to, I met some cool people had a seriously great time But..... there always is a but....... But I just felt I never got to do all I wanted to.. why? I don't know?. I never got to talk to some people I really wanted to, a bit out of shyness a bit out of lack of time. Yeah the weekend just seemed to happen and be over in the blink of an eye.... I feel I am not doing or enjoying the scene as much as I should or could...... I gotta make more time to look at the cars properly, I gotta look slower not rush as much, I must get to talk to a few of the owners of the Rods I admire and not just stand back and say nowt....... I must take time to speak more to the people I have got to know aswell not just a few words then bolt off somewhere else as I do........ Yep I think I gotta slow down and enjoy it all more.. Oh and more sleep and less Tea! Well more sleep anyway :>)
Well that's all folks!! Seeya at
a Rod Run near you S.W.A.L.K .
Holmsey!