Saturday 29 October 2016

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 a
luminium 
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.

No comments:

Post a Comment