Chearsley Classic Car Show 2016 (part 2 of 2)

This weeks blog is part 2 of 2 about the Chearsley Village Classic and Vintage Fun Day, which is held around the cricket pitch in the picturesque Buckinghamshire village of Chearsley, which is nestled between Thame in Oxfordshire and Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. This fantastic show is only about 5 miles from my hometown and one which I attend every year. The proceeds from this show go towards the development of the village club to benefit all the villagers, from the young to the old. There is always plenty to do and see at this show including: classic cars and vehicles, live music, entertainment for the younger children, arts and crafts stalls, refreshments and a bar, and even a fly by from a WW2 spitfire. If you read last weeks blog you'll know that I attended the Blackthorn show with Matthew in his lovely 1969 early bay Campmobile, well this week I again met up with Matthew and Caroline to attend this show. This was their first time at this show, and I think they enjoyed themselves. The blog review continues as I wander around the show looking at all the amazing vehicles.
To see all my other blog entries, go to ‘My Blog Archive’ to the left of this 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.

After we had all parked up and had a quick
wander around the show, Caroline, Matthew and
I, got the camping chairs from our buses and
relaxed in the sunshine. This is the view looking
from the rear of my microbus at just some of the 
VW campers that attended the show.

The Chearsley Classic Car Show is held at the
village cricket ground and the vehicles are
arranged around the cricket pitch which provides
a good display with good access for the public.

This gorgeous series 2 E-Type Jaguar 2 door
roadster had been stored in a dry barn for 25
years before the present owner purchased the
car in 2000. Even tough it had been in dry
storage, 25 years had taken it's toll, and this 
car required a full nut and bolt  restoration 
which took over 4 years.

The car has been lovingly restored to as close
to original as possible and it looked fantastic.
There is no point spending 4 years restoring a 
classic car if your not going to use it, so since 
getting this car on the road the owner has driven 
down to Italy and Spain in this gorgeous car.

During the restoration the mechanical parts,
bodywork and interior have all been restored
 to as close to original as possible, and doesn't
it look lovely.

A quick look across the show from standing in
front of my bus. This great show attracts classic
vehicles of all makes and all years which makes
 a great variety and a fantastic show.

There were plenty of classic motorcycles at the
show from old British classics to more rarer
European bikes.

As we all relaxed behind our buses, I heard
what can only be described as a loud swarm
of bees. I thought I recognise that noise, it's the
noise of lots of two stroke motorcycles entering
the show, so I just had to go and have a look.
This Garelli MK2 tiger cross (I think) was stunning.
The Garelli was a 2 stroke 49cc moped and a
bike that I grew up around which brought back
many happy memories.

This bike had a top speed of 53 MPH, which
when your 16 and this is your first bike, was
almost supersonic. I can still remember quite
clearly about 4 or 5 of us riding around the town 
on bikes very similar to this... good times.

This scooter looked like something from the cult
film 'Quadrophenia'. This old scooter looked
awesome with all it's custom accessories and 
custom one off paint job.

I did start to count how many mirrors this scooter
had but gave up, but suffice to say there were lots, 
the same goes for lights. This scooter certainly 
drew plenty of well deserved attention from both
exhibitors and the public.

This is a car I don't think I've seen  before, I think 
it's an Austin A40 sports, which were made
 from 1950 - 1953.  The car is basically aluminium 
bodied version of the A40 saloon.  Although the 
name 'A40 sports', the car was more a touring 
car rather than a sports car.

The car has a 1.2 litre engine with a 4 speed
manual gearbox. The car had a top speed of
75 mph and a 0-60 time of about 25 seconds.

Pure British 1950's interior. Grey vinyl and red
carpet with matching dashboard, it actually looks
really nice.

One of the good things about attending these
classic car shows is the sheer diversity of vehicles
you get to see up close. Here a new brand
AMG Mercedes is parked up next to a 1950's
Morris van. The design and technology (or lack
of!) is amazing.

This stunning Morris MCV 10 cwt van ( I think)
looked fantastic, these van were made from 
1950 - 1956 but I bet they never looked this good.

This fully restored van was just like new, and the
attention to detail was incredible. The body was
so straight and the beige paint complimented
the perfect body panels.

Inside the 10cwt van, you got a huge120 cubic 
feet storage capacity, providing you took the 
passenger seat out!

The small 1500cc engine (i think) looked some-
what lost in the engine bay.

Another E-Type Jaguar, this time a 2 door coupé
Although this car was designed back in the 1960's
it is still a very beautiful car, with gorgeous flowing
body lines. Even the great Enzo Ferrari once said
it was the most beautiful car he had ever seen.

These E-Types came with either a 3.8 litre or
4.2 litre engine which both gave 265 BHP and
both engines produced the same top speed of
150 MPH, but the 4.2 litre engine created much
more torque.

Automotive styling really doesn't get any better
than the E-Type Jaguar. Prices for these Jag's
range from £40,000 - £200,000 ($49,000 -
245,000) but it's easy to see why they are so
pricey.

The interior of a restored E-Type Jaguar. What
a lovely place to sit, looking down that long
bonnet as you cruise around.

The Chearsley Classic Car show is a very relaxed
event and it was Caroline and Matthews first time
at the show, I think they enjoyed themselves so
hopefully they'll join me again next year. The
same applies to CJ, who I'm sure enjoyed the
experience. Here CJ, Caroline and Matthew are
just relaxing behind the buses enjoying the sun
and the atmosphere of the whole event.

Chearsley show had once again arranged a fly
past by a WW2 Spitfire. Even though we were
given prior notice of the arrival of the plane, trying
to photograph this iconic plane with my digital
camera was so difficult. I took numerous photos
and these are my best two!.

Even though I managed to get the plane in the
frame, it's still blurred. The Spitfire is still so
nimble and agile it was difficult for me to get
a decent picture.

This lovely 1973 late bay Dormobile arrived a
bit later in the day. It was owned by a lovely
couple that have big plans for their bus.

Even though their bus wasn't finished or to their
liking they were more than happy to just get out
and about and use it as much as possible. 

Another Dormobile at the show was this 1970
model. This one belonged to a fellow Outcast
VW member who popped over to the show, 
later in the day.

And like the other Dormobile this one isn't quite
finished either, and again like the previous
Dormobile it is often seen driving around the vale
of Aylesbury. At least both the Dormy's are being
used and not just parked in the garage.

So that was my very brief 2 part review of this
great little show. I have attended this show for
3 or 4 years now and it's always a great day out.
There is plenty of things to keep all the family
entertained and occupied and of course a vast
array of classic vehicles. This is a show that I
strongly recommend that you try to attend if you
get the chance as you will not be disappointed.
A huge thank you to Caroline, Matthew and CJ
who all helped to make this a great day out.

Chearsley Classic Car Show 2016 (part 1 of 2)

This weeks blog is all about the Chearsley Village Classic and Vintage Fun Day, which is held around the cricket pitch in the picturesque Buckinghamshire village of Chearsley, which is nestled between Thame in Oxfordshire and Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. This fantastic show is only about 5 miles from my hometown and one which I attend every year. The proceeds from this show go towards the development of the village club to benefit all the villagers, from the young to the old. There is always plenty to do and see at this show including: classic cars and vehicles, live music, entertainment for the younger children, arts and crafts stalls, refreshments and a bar, and even a fly by from a WW2 spitfire. If you read last weeks blog you'll know that I attended the Blackthorn show with Matthew in his lovely 1969 early bay Campmobile, well this week I again met up with Matthew and Caroline to attend this show. This was their first time at this show, and I think they enjoyed themselves. 
To see all my other blog entries, go to ‘My Blog Archive’ to the left of this 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.

This year the organisers had all the VW buses
parked up together, which was nice as normally
we are all scattered around the cricket pitch.
Here CJ's red late bay, my bus and Matthew's
Westy are all parked together in the sunshine.
(photo courtesy of CJ)

It was an excellent turn out of Volkswagen's
at this years show with about 7 buses and
a few beetles.That is much more than previous 
years, so let's hope we can get even more at 
next years show.

My 1969 Microbus and Matthew's blue SO67
Campmobile enjoying the sunshine. As we have
sequential number plates this is how we should
park, with me always on the left... a bit like Ant
& Dec so our number plates are numerical.

A better look at Matt's cool looking Westy. I
do like the colour combination on this bus, but
Matthew has big plans for his bus including a
full respray over the winter. It's still going to
be blue and white just a slightly different shade
of blue which should look gorgeous.

Matthew's bus is still quite straight considering
it's age. I do like those Radar (I think) wheels
that really add some bling to his bus. 

This is Matthew's latest purchase for his bus,
a swamp cooler, which is basically an air
conditioning unit. These are quite rare and
quite expensive but sometimes you just have to
have that something special regardless.

This lovely yellow and white high top T25 started
like as a transporter that was used as a bread van.
In 1995 the old bread van was converted in a
camper and the high top roof was added. The old
1600cc diesel engine was also changed for an
1800cc motor from a Scirocco.

The present owners purchased the bus in 1997
and has been in constant use as a second car
and of course holiday accommodation. This really
was a nice clean bus.

My 1969 VW Microbus parked up at the
Chearsley classic car show. This is an event
I have attended for the past few years and it
seems to get better and better every year.

This stunning let black Standard 10 looked great.
This car really was like new. This one, circa 1959
was super straight as the reflection along the body
shows.

The Standard 10 had a 948cc engine that gave
a top speed of around 69 MPH and a 0 - 60 time
of around 40 seconds.!

This 1938 Morris 8 2 seater pre series looked
fantastic in its red and black coach work. This
is true British craftsman's ship at its best. 

This 2 seater sports car had a 4 cylinder 918cc
side valve engine that produced a whopping 8
horsepower, and also featured a 3 speed box.
A top speed of 58 MPH is the best you could
expect from the little car and a 0 - 60 time of, 
well I think its measured in minutes rather than 
seconds. The disappointing performance doesn't
in any way detract from this cars desirability. 

A good friend of mine, Kevin drove his MK2
Golf to the show to enter it into the 'For Sale'
section. Kevin's Golf is the GTI 8V model and
is totally immaculate. 

Kevin's gorgeous MK2 has 10 months M.O.T.
and has many new parts including, NSR brake
calliper, brake master cylinder, plugs, leads,
rotor arm, and exhaust to name but a few. The
paintwork is almost perfect.

Inside the MK2 the interior is pretty much
standard. Secretly Kevin doesn't want to sell
this much loved family member, but if you a spare
£3750 I'm sure Kevin could be persuaded to
part with his classic Volkswagen. 

This bright yellow Lancia Stratos certainly drew
some attention. Judging by the registration
number I'm guessing this is a kit car, but that
doesn't matter one bit, as this really is a cool car. 

Lancia produced the Stratos from 1973 - 1978
as a replacement for the ageing Fulvia for use in
rally sports. In fact the Stratos won the world
rally championship in 1974 / 75 and 1976. 

This car did look original, even down to the '70's
interior.

This gorgeous sky blue and white 1972 bay
looked amazingly clean. This bus looked to
be virtually original and as it left the factory.
The only aftermarket addition I could see was
the chrome headlight peaks. This really was
a lovely clean example of the Volkswagen bus.

You can see just how clean this bus is from
this photo. I do like to see buses that are stock
looking as I think it's hard to improve on the
original design, yes lowered buses with after
market wheels look nice, but you can't really
beat a stock looking bus...

... having said that, this 1976 late bay belongs
to mate of mine, CJ, and it's anything but stock
and looks absolutely stunning. This is what I
would call a show winning bus, everything is
immaculate. 

CJ's bay is so clean and straight as this photo
clearly shows. The polished Empi 5 spoke 
wheels suit the buses overall look as do the
 small touches such as the chrome petrol cap.

The interior of this bus is just as clean and tidy
as the outside. The dash had been painted,
it has an aftermarket wood rimmed steering
wheel and lush door cards / seats.

Inside the engine bay the motor is as clean
as the bodywork. I do like the fire suppression
system CJ has, and it's something I keep
thinking about installing in my microbus just
to be on the safe side.

Another Volkswagen at the Chearsley show was
this gorgeous beige 1970 beetle. This was
another vehicle that looked like new. The finish
on the old bug was amazing.

You can see just how clean this car was from
this photo. The body work was arrow straight
and the paint was flawless. I did like the choice
of wheels on the car, they suit the overall look. 

 This 1964 MK1 Ford Lotus Cortina is another
 true British classic car. These were built from
1963 - 1966 by Ford in collaboration with Lotus.
The engine was a 1557cc straight 4 with twin
OHC. 

All the factory built cars were painted in the
same colour scheme, white with a green stripe,
However Ford did produce a few for racing with
a red stripe. The Lotus badge on the rear wing
can clearly be seen. 

The unmistakable rear light clusters of the MK1
Cortina that were loosely based on the American
cars of the time, the same applies to the flattened
tail fins. 

Open the bonnet of this old Ford and you are
greeted by the Lotus 1557cc twin overhead
cam engine. The engine bay was as clean
as the rest of this gorgeous car.

A fantastic display of classic cars from all years
is always guaranteed at the Chearsley classic
car show.

The owner of this stunning MK3 Triumph
Spitfire had the one piece front on his car open
and I'm glad he did as it gave me a chance to
have a good at the 1296cc engine and the
independent suspension. This car even under
the bonnet was immaculate. The amount of time
it must take to get an old classic looking this 
good must be incredible.

A better look at the MK3 Spitfire. These 2
seater sports cars have a lovely shape and with
those gorgeous chrome wire wheels this car
looks stunning.

This lovely bright red Sunbeam Alpine looked
great parked up. The Alpine was produced 
by the Rootes group from 1958 - 1968 and it
had the 1592cc engine that gave this car a top
speed of 98 MPH and a 0 - 60 time of a mere
13 seconds, which isn't bad even for today!

I believe this car had twin fuel tanks in the rear
fins to make the boot bigger for the storage of
the roof. The Sunbeam Alpine was the car that
Sean Connery drove in the James Bond film
 'Doctor No' around the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. 

The timeless design of the Sunbeam interior,
with its dashboard full of gauges and that big
spoked steering wheel. This beautiful car would
have cost around £1000 ($1200) when new.

This gorgeous British racing green Triumph 
TR2 looked amazing. The TR2 was produced
by the Standard Motor Company from 1953 -
1955. The TR2 had a 1991cc engine with a
3 speed gearbox.

This 2 seater sports car could reach a top speed
of around 105 MPH and an impressive 0 - 60
time of 11.5 seconds. According to the DVLA
there are less than 400 TR2's licensed in the
U.K at the moment.

What a lovely place to sit as you drive around
the British countryside in this true British classic.

That was the first part of a 2 part review on this
great show. Next week will be the second and
final instalment, where you will be able to see,
plenty more great British classic cars, a few
more Volkswagen campers, plenty of scooters
and two stroke motorcycles and my attempt of
photographing the WW2 Spitfire that did a few fly
pasts to open the show. So be sure to come back
next Saturday.