Blackthorn Classic Car Show.

This week's blog review is all about the first ever Blackthorn Classic car rally, held in the village of Blackthorn in deepest rural Buckinghamshire. My good friends Matthew and Caroline invited me to join them at this inaugural event. The location was only about a mile from Matthew and Caroline's home, and only about 10 miles from me, so it would have been rude not to attend. I had arranged to meet Matthew at Matthew's home and then we could drive the very short distance in convoy to the show. I arrived in good time and after a very pleasant welcome from both Matthew and Caroline, Caroline asked if we had time for a bacon sandwich... Really? there is always time for a bacon sandwich, right?. It was great to catch up with them both over breakfast as we don't seem to meet up much anymore due to both our own work and family commitments etc. After a wonderful breakfast cooked by Caroline, Matthew and I hit the road for the 1 mile drive to the show. 

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Once in the show we pakred up side by side.
Both buses are 1969 early bays, and both were
imported from California at the same time by
the House of Dub. As they were registered at
the same time they have sequential registration
numbers with only 1 digit different. It's always
good to watch the public walk by and see their
faces when they suddenly notice the 
registration numbers.

Matthew's white over blue bay, and my green
bay parked up in the show and shine. We
must have parked on the only slope in the field
which is why the buses are leaning towards
each other.

This gorgeous yellow and sliver spilt screen
was parked up just along from Matthew and I.
 The two tone colour choice suited this bus
perfectly, as did the matching trailer.

A gorgeous Austin Healey sprite, commonly
know as the 'frogeye' sprite. This one is circa
1960 and was totally immaculate. These little
sprite's had a top speed of about 83mph which
back in the 1960's was quite fast.

I think this beautiful grey Morgan was the 4/4
model. All the Morgan cars are built in the UK
by hand and the factory based in Worcester-
shire produces about 800 cars a year and
there is a very long waiting list.

This stunning bright yellow convertible Mk3
Jenson Interceptor was one of Matthew's
favourite cars at the show, and it's easy to
see why. The Jenson Interceptor was made
from 1966-1976 and this 1974 model sure did
look good in the sunshine.

This immaculate white Lotus Esprit had some
decals on the rear quarter stating '4.2 V8'
I'm not sure if it did have a V8 or not, but if
it did you can bet this car was fast!

This 1967 Morris quarter ton pick up looked
fantastic in it's immaculate dark green paint
with the matching green pick up cover. These
quarter ton van and pick ups were produced
from 1953 - 1973.

This Mk1 Ford Escort had a 1700cc X-flow
engine, with a 38 Webber carburetor and a
4 into 1 exhaust. The body is a standard MK1
body with the fibreglass wheel arches.

The show was full of beautiful classic cars,
and also some weird and wonderful creations
like this, err, I'm not sure what it is. It had a
very distinctive look as the body was covered
in artificial grass.!

A close up of the artificial grass that covered
the entire body and wheels.

Another weird and wonderful creation that was
made from an old school buddies of mine,
John and Geoff. It is based on a Deawoo
Matiz and is an exact full size replica of the
'Little Tikes' children's pedal car. This amazing
creation only took 5 months to build.

This is a photo of the 'Little Tikes' pedal car
from the Little Tikes website. You can see
the similarity to John and Geoff's creation.

This 2000 model PT Cruiser was somewhat
deceiving. It looked as though the weather
had got the better of the bodywork, but in
fact the rust effect all over this car is created
with aerosol paint cans. The plastic front
bumper and door mirrors looked like they 
are rusted metal items.



This gorgeous 1969 beetle belongs to a guy
who lives about 5 miles from my hometown of
Aylesbury. I often see this lovely bug at various
classic car shows around the county.

This really is a nice looking bug. The all red
U.S style rear light lenses, and the deck lid
mounted rack add to this car great looks.

This stunning Lancia Stratos Stradale looked
great in it's bright yellow paint. I don't know if
this an original or not, but I suspect not due
to the registration prefix letter. But that didn't
matter it was still a stunning vehicle.

The build quality, and authenticity was truly
amazing. This had to be one of my favourite
cars at the show, mainly because they are
so rare, whether it's an original or not.

I did like this Ford Consul MK2 convertible in
bright red. The Consul had a 1700cc engine
and Ford designed the body along the lines
of the Ford Thunderbird and the Fairlane which
were very popular in the states at the time.

Another stunning convertible was this lovely
Mercedes 230SL automatic. The 230 model
was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in
1963 and production continued until 1971.

The simple clean lines of the body are a test
of the design as the car still looks as good
today as it always has. The 4 speed automatic
box is the best option as it enables you to
cruise the classic beauty effortlessly.

The colour matched interior of the 230SL is
looking a bit dated compared to the body, but
I bet it's still a very pleasant place to sit as the
miles roll by.

Now the Jaguar XK150 roadster is a true
British classic, and they don't come nicer than
this bright red example. This really was in an
'as new' condition. The super straight body,
the flawless paint and the immaculate chrome
trim along with the traditional chrome wire
wheels helped to make the Jag stand out.

Another true British classic is the E-Type
Jaguar. This series one model looked stunning
in it's light blue metallic paint. You can easily
identify the series one by the glass headlight
covers. The series two didn't have the glass
covers.

It's almost compulsory to have a few American
muscle cars at a classic car show, and the
Blackthorn show came up trumps with this
1965, 289ci white Ford Mustang. I did like the
American 5 spoke wheels which suit the
Mustang perfectly.

Another American muscle car at the show
was this 1960 Chevrolet Corvette. The 'Vette'
was produced from 1953 - 1962 and the later
models (from 1958-1962) had the twin head-
lights and prominent grille.

This bright green Ford Escort RS2000 looked
fantastic. These Escorts were around when I
was a teenager and a few of my friends had
them, so I have a soft spot for them.

Back to the classic British Jaguar's and we
have a 1969 MK10, 420G finished in dark
blue. This Jag had the 4235cc engine rather
than the smaller 3800cc power plant.

So many Jaguar's, so little time.! This MK1
Jaguar had the larger 3.4 litre engine rather
than the smaller 2.4 litre engine. The 3.4 model
had a larger grille than the 2.4 for better cooling.

The 1957 Chevrolet is probably one of the
most recognisable American cars of all time.
This gorgeous aqua blue and white estate
version is know as a 'Nomad' is a true classic.
This Nomad had the 283ci V8 engine (4.6
litre)

These really are a classics in the true sense.
The body styling with those huge rear tail fins
make the '57 Chevy instantly recognisable.

The interior of the '57 is pure nostalgia. The
colour coded dashboard, huge white steering
wheel and period instruments scream 1950's.

Remember the 1960 Chevrolet Corvette from
earlier in the blog review, well here is an earlier
model. They both have very similar paint
schemes but this early model has the single
headlight and a different grille.

I like going to classic car shows because every
so often you something that is very rare, like
this 1927 Oldsmobile model 30, series E.
This Oldsmobile had the 2770cc engine.

This stunning white Mercedes 250SL really
was immaculate. The 250SL was produced
from 1966 - 1968 with the 2496cc engine.
You could choose between a manual or auto-
matic gearbox and an optional limited slip 
differential and rear disc brakes.

Classic Mercedes styling that didn't change
much over the years, but when your this
close to perfection, why change?

One of the attractions at the show was this
fantastic old organ. This organ had been
totally restored and it not only looked great
it also sounded great.

This gorgeous baby blue 1972 beetle was
parked up with some late comers to the show.
It looked fantastic in that shade of blue in the
glorious sunshine.

This bug looks as though it has been lowered
as those lovely chrome wheels fill the rear
wheel arches perfectly.

This lovely beige 1934 Ford Sedan Hot Rod was
parked up at the show. This fully fendered '34
looked great in it's single colour paint scheme.

These '34 Sedans looks so good with the full
length wings and running boards. I did like those
5 spoke alloy wheels which suited the overall
look of this cool hot rod.

This is a stunning example of a Ford Escort
MK 1 'Mexico'. Finished in an brilliant white
with the traditional Mexico strips in black.

This very bright and very unusual car is a
MEV Rocket. It is a kit car with a tube space
frame chassis and can be built using parts
from a donor vehicle.

By building a kit car from your own choice of
donor vehicle, makes each MEV Rocket totally
unique.

I think this lovely dark blue AC Cobra was a
kit car, although I could be wrong. It was built
to a very high standard so it was difficult to tell.
It did have the '427 Cobra' badge above the
side wing vents, a badge which many copies
do not have.

Looking around this lovely Cobra, everything
seemed to be correct, so now I'm not sure if
it is a replica or not..?



Just a small selection of the numerous classic
motorcycles that attended this fantastic show.



This weird bicycle was built by Brevetti Moto
Garelli in Italy and features a 2 stroke 38cc
engine.

Looking across the show field, the field was dry,
the grass was short and the sun shone.. nothing
else is needed for a classic car meet, apart from
hundreds upon hundreds of cool classics.

So that was a brief review of the first ever
Blackthorn Classic Car show. Many thanks
to my good friends Matthew and Caroline
for inviting me along to the cracking little show,
and hopefully it won't be too long before we meet
up again. This has to become an annual show 
due to the fantastic turn out of classic vehicles.
The site was perfect, the vast array of vehicles 
was amazing and to top it all the weather was
glorious. A special thanks to Caroline for
the lovely bacon sandwhich and for making
feel so welcome in their home. There will not
be a blog review next Saturday as I shall be
in hospital for my long awaited operation. So I
will post the next blog review on the first 
Saturday once I get home.