Outcast VW Club visit Chearsley Classic Car Show + Hell Fire Hotrods.

Chearsley is a picturesque, off the beaten track Buckinghamshire village, of the TV drama series Midsomer Murders fame, which is only about 6 miles from my hometown of Aylesbury and just across the river from the nearby Oxfordshire market town of Thame. I believe this is only the second year the classic car show has been organised and as fellow Outcast member, James works on classic cars all day and also lives in Thame, he asked if any other Outcast members would like to attend. Steve, his wife Pauline and I also like classic cars so we said we would love to meet up with James and Helen and cruise the very short distance to the show, just to ensure there was some classic VW's in attendance!. The weather forecast was promising so Steve, Pauline and I arranged to meet James and Helen at Thame service station at 10.30am.
 

Steve / Pauline and I met James and Helen
at the services. Steve's white beetle, James
baby blue beetle and my bay window.

James led our small convoy through the
country lanes to the village of Chearsley.

Outcast VW Club parked up at the show.
Nice blue sky and sunshine when we arrived
but the sun didn't stay long.

This Cooper T3 ( I think) F1 racing car circa
the late 1950's.

It must have been frightning driving this around
at breakneck speeds with those skinny tyres
and I shouldn't think that roll over bar would
help much should the car roll over.

A bit different from the F1 cars of today, note
the 4 speed manual gearbox changer down
on the drivers right hand side.

A nice looking 1972 crossover bay window.

A lovely looking Zeus ZR163 Formula Ford
racing car. This has the Ford Kent 1600cc
cross flow engine.

Another Zues ZR163, this one was produced
but never assembled by the manufacturer.

This 1957 Berkeley B65 Sports in light blue is
believed to be one of less than 100 that still
survive. Berkeley produced 2500 of these
fiberglass bodied micro sports cars from 1957
to 1959. They had the 328cc 2 cylinder engine
and had a top speed of 60mph.

It's probably just as well it only had a 2 cylinder
engine with a 60mph top speed because 
considering how the wheels are connected
to the hubs I'm not sure it could survive much
more power.

A late T25 with high top and bright paintwork.

This 1980 T25 looked as though it had been
freshly painted, nice colour though.

Interior was clean and functional with full
camping interior.

This lovely 1967 Type 34 Karmann Ghia
painted in a light bronze really caught my eye.

Such a lovely classic shape that will never go
out of fashion or style. This car has been all
over Europe including, France, Germany,
Switzerland and Hungary now that is a lot of
miles...

But I reckon sitting in the drivers seat in this
Type 34 the miles of driving would be so
enjoyable they would just fly by.

This enormous Pontiac looks like a 1950
Silver Streak eight convertible to me and
finished in a spotless light blue colour.

I do like all the chrome work the 50's American
cars had, I don't think there is enough chrome
around on today's cars.

That bench seat must have been 6' wide,
and with column change you could easily
fit 3/4 people in there. That dashboard is
a work of art with the styling and even more
chrome.

These two MK3 Ford Cortina's brought back
some happy memories as I had a 2 door MK3
in Carnival red with a full length sunroof.

This 1600cc GT finished in deep gloss black
and didn't look this nice when it left the Ford
production line back in 1973.

Another car from my era was this MK1 Ford
Escort. This race / rally style themed car
looked tough.

A 1967 Ford Mustang fastback finished in
a deep red. This car used to be called the
'Enforcer' and had airbrushed pictures of
Clint Eastwood back in the day.

A stunning Jaguar XK150 FHC ( fixed head
coupe) finished in Old English White, with red
leather interior. This had the 3.4 litre engine
with twin SU carbs. This car back in 1958
would have cost you the grand sum of £2,110.

That was the Chearsley Classic Car Show,
not a bad one day show with quite a good
turnout of classic cars.

James and Helen had to venture over to
High Wycombe to visit the 'Hell Fire Hot rod
Club' who were holding their small show.
James attended last year and won best of
show, and had to pick up his prize, and as
I'm partial to hot rods I tagged along.

This Austin Eight was running a 2 litre pinto
motor with Vauxhall Viva HC front suspension
and Ford Capri rear axle.
 

It has model 'B' rear fenders and running on
Wolfrace slot mags. A pair of good looking
VW's in the background.

This mid 1950's Ford Popular was finished in
blue with dark blue flames and again running
on slot mags.

Classic 1980's styling from the rear of this
'Pop', teardrop rear tail-lights and wide rear
wings

A lovely 1958 Chevrolet Apache 31 series
pick up truck finished in a lovely emerald
green with super bright chrome work.

Such a lovely looking truck in excellent
condition that just looks so cool.

A lovely baby blue Dodge Challenger circa
1970.

These Challengers are massive but they had
the big block V8 to power them along.

A 1954 Chevrolet step side truck in matt black
with white bumpers, pure hot rod. This truck
was imported from California 2 years ago.

White painted steel wheels with whitewall
tyres, and lowered all round,again pure hot rod.


So that was how Steve / Pauline, James /
Helen and I spent our Sunday. Two shows
in one day, albeit both very small shows and
quite close together. A good day out with
some good friends.