Saturday 13 December 2014

Watford Rods show 2014

Back in May this year a few members of the Outcast VW Club, including Matthew and Caroline, Claude and Jean, and I went to the Stanford Hall VW Show, (check out my review here: http://my1969vwmicrobus.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/stanford-hall-2014-part-1.html ) and on the same day the Watford Hot Rod Club were holding their show and shine day. The Watford Rods hold their annual show and shine day in association with the Beaconsfield Classic Car show and this is a good little show which is quite near to our hometown and normally has a good selection of hot rods & customs. They have several rockabilly bands playing live all day and also have trade stands and an auto jumble. Claude and his partner Jean and I decided to leave the Stanford Hall show slightly earlier than normal and drive the 77 miles from Stanford Hall in Lutterworth to Beaconsfield in Bucks where the show was being held. Unfortunately we left later than expected and by the time we arrived at the Watford Rods venue a lot of the vehicles had either left or were leaving, but luckily there were still a few hot rods for us to look at. To see just how good this show normally is, check out my review from last year here:
Claude's 1960 kombi and my 1969 early bay
parked up at the Watford Rods show. You can
see how empty the show and shine field is
behind us.

The first car we saw was this Vauxhall PA
Cresta, and these were the British rodders
favourite car back in the1970's. The PA Cresta
was Britain's answer to the 1957 Chevrolet
with similar body style and the trademark Chevy
rear tail fins. The PA was produced from 1957
- 1962 when it was proceeded by the PB Cresta. 

This steel bodied Model 'A' roadster has been
at the Watford rods show for the past few years
and I never get tired of looking at it. It is totally
original including the chassis, brakes, steering
and the engine.

This really is one of my favourite rods,and I
just love everything about it.

I spotted this truck and trailer just as this
awesome chopper was being loaded. From the
quick look I got of this chopper, it looked an
stunning bike with an awesome flamed paint
job.

Not all the quality rods had gone as this lovely
1932 hi-boy proves. Finished in stunning red
with a black hood, I did start to count the
louvres in the boot lid, but gave up... suffice
to say, there were lots.

OK, it's not an original '32 dash or steering
wheel but the combination did look good.
Interior was as immaculate as the outside, I
love the black and red tuck and roll vinyl
upholstery and matching door cards.

Such a pretty car with out the hood and minus
the front and rear fenders. A drilled chrome
I beam holds the front up and what looks like
1940's drum brakes help this roadster stop.

The motor looks like a small block Chevy with
quad carbs. I did like the polished accessories
including the coil cover, the alternator and the
front pulley's. The finish on that chassis is
amazing as is the rest of the paintwork.

Another angle of this '32, it does look tough
from this angle. Lovely big and little painted
steel wheels with those large rear tyres make
this car stand out

A lovely 1950 Chevrolet 310 pick up truck, it's
been lowered and had some cool sign writing
done on the cab doors, and with that dark grey
satin finish body with the red steel wheels with
white wall tyres, what else could you possibly
want?.

A mid 1950's Ford Popular in bright red and
with a standard height roof. Lovely chrome
5 spoke wheels contrast the paint nicely.

The classic shape of the Ford 'Popular'. This
one has widened front and rear wings, this is
normally because the new donor suspension
for the front and rear is wider than the original.
The bright red gloss paint looked so nice in
the summer sunshine.

 A 1934 fully fendered Ford, in white with a
yellow / orange decal down the side and running
on chrome 5 spoke wheels. Such a smooth
looking car with flowing contours.

A very unusual colour for this 1932 Ford 5
window coupe. It reminds me of the blackcurrant
chewy sweets you can get and to be honest I
like this colour. It has the classic hot rod red steel
wheels with white wall tyres. Looking at the square
profile of those rear tyres they look like radial tyres
which are period, this really is one nice hot rod.


So that was a quick look at the Watford Rods
Show 2014. It's a shame Claude, Jean and I
got there a bit late because in past years
the show and shine field has been packed
with quality rods, trucks and bikes. It is
frustrating that so many VW and hot rod
shows fall on the same day / weekend as
this limits what shows you can attend, but I
guess that's never change due to the short
summer season we have over there in the U.K.
Here's looking forward to next years Watford
Rods show day.

 If you want to see plenty more reviews on other
 VW shows and events, you can find them all in
'My Blog Archive' to the top left of this page. Simply
click on an arrow next to a particular year, then
click on an arrow for a particular month and this
will give you a drop down menu for all my
blog entries for that month.


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