To see all my other blog entries, go to ‘My Blog Archive’ to the left of the page. Simply click on an arrow for a particular year, then click on an arrow for a particular month, this will then give you a drop down menu for all the blog entries for that month.
 |
| Just for a change I thought I'd start with a photo of my 1969 microbus parked up at the Chiltern Hills Classic Car Rally. |
 |
| A gorgeous 1957 Thunderbird finished in a stunning coat of brilliant white. The matching white wall tyres compliment the body colour. |
 |
| This 1958 Ford Ranch Wagon, or Del Rio as it was known is quite rare as Ford only made these for 2 years 1957 and1958. These were produced to compete with the Chevrolet Nomad's and over the 2 years of production, outsold the Chevrolet. The selling points were a 2 piece tail gate, a two tone paint scheme (optional) and a higher class vinyl interior. |
 |
| A 1967 Cadilllac De-Ville convertible painted in the brightest red available. This massive car had the 429 cubic inch V8 (7 litre) engine, with the 3 speed hydra-matic transmission. |
 |
| This mint green 1960 Plymouth Belvedere, had a 225 cubic inch straight six engine with a 2 speed automatic transmission. The 1960's American styling looked fantastic with those huge tail fins and all the chrome work. |
 |
| A lovely 1955 Pontiac Star Chief custom Catalina. This car was big in so many way's, firstly it had the big 287 cubic inch V8 (4.7 litre) engine with a 4 speed dual range hydra-matic transmission. |
 |
| Secondly it's overall size is big, it is 17ft 6in long x 6ft 4in wide and weighing 4400lbs (2000kg) Now that is a BIG car. The cost for all this car back in the fifties was a mere $3500. |
 |
| A lovely metallic grey 1987 T25. This bus was simply gorgeous, it was so clean and straight and looked fantastic in the sunshine. |
 |
| The first of two 1960's split screen kombi's at the Chiltern Hills Rally. The first is this lovey 1965 model. The owner actually lived less than 1/2 mile away from the venue and he was saying that although he's not really into the VW scene as such, he said it would have been rude not to attend as it was so close to his home. |
 |
| Regular readers of my blog will recognise the 2nd split screen kombi. It is Claude's 1960 model. Claude is a member of the Outcast VW Club based in Aylesbury, Bucks. |
 |
| Now this 1957 Chevrolet step side pick up was really nice. It had been lowered and had some 5 spoke American Racing wheels. It had some lovely old sign writing on the doors, which I thought I had taken a photo of...Doh! |
 |
| This step side truck had some lovely patina on the paintwork of the wheel arches and around the cab which always looks good, especially on such a lovely truck as this one. |
 |
| Colin and his family also attended the rally in his 1970 early bay. This bus really does get used as it's Colin's daily driver as well as his leisure vehicle at weekends. Colin is also a member of the Outcast VW Club. |
 |
| A stunning bright red Ford Consul Capri 2 door coupe. Ford only produced this model from 1961 - 1964. The body shape was designed on the Ford Galaxie Starliner. The Consul Capri had exciting new features such as variable speed wipers and dimming dash board lights. |
 |
| This is a true British classic car, a MK1 Ford Cortina Lotus. These were produced in close collaboration with Lotus cars, and were only produced from 1963 - 1966 and they had a 1557cc twin ohc straight four engine. 99.9% of all Lotus Cortina's were painted in white with the (Lotus) green stripe. |
 |
| A 1963 series one Jaguar E - type 2 seater coupe in British racing green. Enzo Ferrari once called this car "The most beautiful car he had ever seen" which was quite a bold statement from the man who designed the early Ferrari cars. |
 |
| A pair of Volkswagen buses in the show field. A white 1990 T25 with a pop top and a light blue 1970 tin top early bay, both buses looked great parked alongside all the classic cars. |
 |
| A lovely Reliant Scimitar finished in a cherry red colour. These were produced from 1964 - 1986 and the most famous owner was Princess Anne who has owned over 8 of these cars. |
 |
| How nice is the plum colour on this 1955 GMC pick up. The colour, along with all the chrome on the front made this truck stand out. The chrome American racing wheels also provided some extra sparkle. |
 |
| I do like the early American pick ups and this one was no exception. That huge chrome rear bumper looked as though it would stop almost anything and provides some rear end bling. |
 |
| Another 1963 series one Jaguar E - Type but this one is a gorgeous bright red convertible. A really good example of this car can fetch a price of in excess of £300,000 ($500000) |
 |
| A 1970 Mk2 Ford Cortina 1600E, finished in metallic gold with a black vinyl roof. I had a 1970 model in the same colour scheme, but mine never looked this nice. You can tell at a glance that it's a 1600E by the twin spot lights in the front grille, the normal 1600cc Mk2 Cortina's never had the spot lights. |
 |
| The Daimler SP250 (Dart). Around 3000 Darts were produced between 1959 - 1964 and this particular car was one of many supplied to the Metropolitan Police Force. These Darts had the 2.5ltr V8 engine and the body was fibreglass which made them much faster than the Jaguar, which was the preferred choice of get-a-way car that the criminals were using at the time. |
 |
| A 1961 Ford Galaxie Sunliner currently in grey primer which made this 1960's classic look tough. These Sunliner's had a massive 390 cubic inch engine. |
 |
| A race inspired 1966 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442. This muscle cars name derived from the original car's specification of a (4) four barrel carburetor, a (4) four speed manual transmission and (2) dual exhaust system. |
 |
| A 1970 Volkswagen 181. The more common version here in the U.K. is the 182 also known as the 'Trekker' which is the right hand drive version. This camouflage vehicle was up for sale for offers around £6500 and the price included the original wheels. |
 |
| Mark is a regular entrant at the classic car rally with his lovely purple 1972 beetle. Mark is a member of the Wolfsburg Weed Huggers VW Club based in Penn, Bucks. I always seem to 'bump' into Mark at this show and it's always good to catch up with him and have a chat. |
 |
| A lovely 1966 Chevrolet van with a faded flame paint job. These lovely looking vans were based on the Corvair, and used the air cooled flat 6 opposed rear engine. |
 |
| These vans looked as though they have been shortened, but this is how they were, a very quirky design which still looks good today. |
 |
| A stunning example of a Ford Econline. The first E series came off the production line in 1961 and was sized roughly to compete with the Chevrolet Corvair 95. This was immaculate and finished in a stunning coat of black paint. |
 |
| A lovely looking 1972 Volkswagen camper in black over red. This early bay looked as though it had been in the family for many years and was still going strong. |
 |
| Back in the late 1960's / early 1970's when I was a kid this was my favourite car. It's a Citroen DS. These cars were produced from 1955 - 1975 and in 1999 the DS came third in a poll recognising the worlds most influential auto designs and was named as the most beautiful car of all time by Classic and Sports Car magazine. |
 |
| The futuristic and aerodynamic styling was years ahead of it's time. In 1967 the front end had some design changes which included directional head lights which meant the headlights followed the direction of the wheels which allowed the driver to see 'around' corners, how cool was that! |
 |
| A lovely 1956 Chevrolet 2 door sedan. Everyone knows the 1957 Chevy with the big tail fins, and a lot people know the 1955, which was used in many films including: 'American Graffitt'i, and 'Two Lane Blacktop' but not many people will recognise the 1956 model which is a bit of a hybrid, but still a beautiful car |
 |
| Another of the classic vehicles I had was this Ford 103E Popular. This was the cheapest car produced by Ford in its day. The 103E is basically a E494A Anglia stripped to the bare essentials and fitted with the 10hp engine out of the E394A Prefect. |
 |
| A pure hot rod themed Ford Thames 400E van with it's flame paint scheme with orange and yellow scallops and running on old skool slot mag wheels, pure nostalgia. |
 |
| This 1957 (I think) Chevrolet pick up truck looked great in it's rust covered body. There wasn't any paint on this truck what-so-ever and it didn't need any. It had been lowered and looks as though it may also have a narrowed front end. |
 |
| This 1962 AEC Routemaster 368 CLT bus looked odd only being a single deck bus. It did start off as a double decker but in 1973 it was a victim of arson and sent for repair, the only economic repair was to convert to a single seater. |
 |
| Classic lorries parked up at the Chiltern Hills Rally. These have both been totally restored and looked fantastic. The cream and brown one was made by Austin, and the green one was made by 'Comma' |
 |
| Every now and again you come across a vehicle that is so rare and so sought after. This 1953 Ford Vedette was designed in Detroit but built in France with a French 2.2 litre flat head V8. |
 |
| Wandering around the huge site that hosts the Vintage Vehicle Rally I came across the Porsche Owners Club. In amongst all the modern bland Porsche's I spotted this all white 356. I think this car is a 1960's 356C model, but it doesn't really matter what model it is, it's simply a gorgeous car. |
 |
| A gorgeous 1951 Pontiac Chieftain finished in a lovely light blue. Some of the more interesting optional extras available for the first generation Chieftain included a radio with seven vacuum tubes (?) a tissue dispenser, under seat heaters, and a Remmington auto-home shaver. (!) So that was part one of my review of the Chiltern Hills Classic Car Rally. The second and final instalment of my blog review will be next Saturday where you can see: Plenty more classic car's including a Model T Ford, Military vehicles, classic motorcycles, American Classics and plenty more Volkswagen beetle's and buses so be sure to come back next week. |
