This weeks blog entry is the second instalment about the annual Chiltern Hills Vintage Vehicle Rally which is a one day show for classic and vintage vehicles (including old Volkswagen camper vans) and is organised by the Game Club to help raise money for local charitable causes. The rally is a well established event which allows owners of classic and vintage vehicles to gather together in the glorious Buckinghamshire countryside. This event was actually their 23rd anniversary, and took place on 21st May. The new venue is at Weedon Park, Weedon Hill near Aylesbury HP22 4NN and is a fantastic location for this great one day show which attracts well over 1000 vehicles of all descriptions and the Game Club had also organised: Children's rides / slides, a fun dog show, trade stands, an auto jumble, a beer tent, speciality teas, a pig roast, burgers and ice cream stands. I have attended this event for the last 4 / 5 years and it's one show that I really enjoy due to the huge diversity of the vehicles. Find out more about the Chlitern Hills Rally from their website here: http://www.chilternhillsrally.org.uk/
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.
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| To start this weeks review we have this gorgeous Porsche 356 Speedster finished in a perfect coat of brilliant white paint. I'm not sure if this speedster is an original or not, as the registration denotes it's year as a 1969 and Porsche creased making the speedster in 1965. |
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| If this was a replica it was a very well built and convincing replica. The standard and finish were both impeccable. The 356 speedster has to be one of the worlds most beautiful cars ever made. |
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| How nice is this 1937 Ford model 78. Ford only made the model 78 in two years, 1937 / 1938. This stunning car was imported from a dealer in Seattle, U.S.A. and the owner uses it as much as possible, including for use as a wedding car. |
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| The '78 has a flat head V8 side valve engine with a 3 speed gearbox. This combination gives the car a top speed of 85 MPH and returns around 15 - 20 MPG. This car will happily cruise along at 50 - 60 MPH all day. |
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| This stunning all black Ford F100 was perfectly straight and the paint was so good that this old pick up truck gave off almost perfect reflections. The 'F' series pick up truck was first produced in 1948 and is still in production today. |
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| This 1956 beauty had been dropped in the weeds at the front giving a nose down stance, that reminded me of hot rods back in the 1970's. |
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| This tough looking 1966 Oldsmobile 442 looked menacing with it's lowered stance. The name 442 actually refers to the 4 barrel carburetors, the 4 speed manual transmission and the 2 (twin) exhausts that this muscle car had. |
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| This really was nice and looked so straight. This car could achieve 0 - 60 MPH in 6.3 seconds, which back in the sixties was impressive and run the 1/4 mile in 14.8 seconds. |
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| I did like this slammed 1961 Ford Galaxie that had the 390 cubic inch, 6.4 litre V8 engine. The gorgeous satin paint suited this car and gave it a really tough look. |
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| You can see just how low this car is in this photo. The 1961 Galaxie had some body changes to the earlier models, the tail fins were almost gone, and had the round (pie-plate) tail lights. |
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| This immaculate interior of the Galaxie, how nice must it be to cruise around sitting in this. The all red vinyl interior is typical of both U.S and British classic cars of the time. |
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| Another Ford Galaxie, this time a 1963 500 model. You can see slight body modifications from the earlier Galaxie above. The 500 had the 223 cubic inch, 3.7 litre engine or the 292 cubic inch V8 on the 500XL model. |
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| This really was a gorgeous car that looked stunning in it's gloss black paint. |
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| This 1963 Chevrolet 10 pick up truck was another gorgeous looking vehicle. This boy was a dramatic new style that was lower and longer than previous models. This model also had an integrated cab and bed, although this design proved unpopular. |
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| It may have been an unpopular design but I think these are really cool looking pick up trucks. This one had been slammed and just looked even better, and the all black paint work added a nice aggressive look to this old pick up. |
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| This lovely pastel yellow and white 1959 Ford Fairlane caught my eye with it's gorgeous two tone colour scheme and those cool chrome wheels with white wall tyres. The name Fairlane actually comes from Henry Ford's estate, 'Fair Lane' in Michigan. |
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| This car is huge and must be quite challenging driving it on the small British roads. The styling is typical of 1950's / 1960's American cars. |
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| This dark green Ford Model 'A' caught my eye as it had not had a roof chop, unlike most Model 'A''s you see. I think this was a reproduction, albeit a very nice one. The Ford Model 'A' was produced from 1927-31. This car has the Model 'B' grille shell which is a popular modification. |
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| The small yet powerful 21 stud flat head V8 engine is a hot rodders favourite engine. |
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| The Model 'A' pick up is such a cool vehicle that most British hot rodders would like to own. I did like the cream coloured wire wheels that give the truck an old vintage look. |
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| This 1959 Ford panel van looked great in it's dark purple paint. These panel vans are such cool looking vans, that look so tough. I did like the chrome wheels with the thin white wall tyres. |
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| The 'F' series of trucks and vans were produced from 1956 - 1960 (in the U.S.) and in '59 Ford introduced a 4 wheel version, the first of the big three U.S. manufacturers to offer this option. I'm not sure if this was 4 wheel drive or not but it didn't really matter as it looked so cool. |
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| This massive 1959 ( I think) Ford Galaxie 500 skyliner convertible. The first thing you notice about this car is the retractable hard top that folds down into the trunk. |
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| A closer look at the retractable hard top. This feature was expensive and complicated and left very little room in the trunk. This design has since been used by Mercedes and Lexus but on smaller 2 seater sports cars which means the smaller roof doesn't take up so much room in the trunk. |
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| The lovely and classic interior of the Galaxie 500 with the new padded dash board and deep dish steering wheel. |
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| The original two tone paint was an optional extra and with all the chrome and stainless steel this really was an ostentatious vehicle that was very typical of 1950's American cars. |
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| This lovely RAT looking 1953 Chevrolet really was a nice looking truck. I did like the patina over the light turquoise paint and those red painted steel wheels with white wall tyres give the truck a hot rod theme. |
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| There was more patina over the rear fenders, which looked great.This really was one cool looking pick up truck. |
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| I've seen this lovely 1934 Ford Tudor Sedan at a few local shows and it always looks so nice. This cool street rod was built in 2005 and has a 350 cubic inch motor and matching transmission. |
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| This really is a nice looking car, I do like those 5 spoke American racing mag wheels that set the car off nicely. |
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| This RAT look Chevrolet step side pick up looked cool with it's paint that looked like real patina (rust). This lovely truck had been lowered and looked as though it had a narrow front beam as those front wheels were tucked nicely under the wings. |
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| Bonnet (hood) mascots are quite unusual and this old truck had a very unusual dog mascot. |
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| This really was a lovely looking pick up. You can see just how low this is by how far the rear fenders cover the rear wheels. |
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| A great selection of old British, American and European classic vehicles from the early 1900's to modern day. This really is a fantastic day out. |
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| A great selection of old British, American and European classic vehicles from the early 1900's to modern day. This really is a fantastic day out. |
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| A great selection of old British, American and European classic vehicles from the early 1900's to modern day. This really is a fantastic day out. |
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| This gorgeous 1966 Volvo P1800 was just like new and looked fantastic in it's off white colour. This car became famous in the 1960's as the car that Sir Roger Moore drove in the hit T.V. series 'The Saint'. The P1800 was produced from 1961 to 1973. |
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| This lovey coupé has such a timeless body shape that will still look good in 100 years time. The P1800 had an 1800cc engine (as the name suggests) with a 4 speed manual gearbox. There was also a gearbox available with overdrive. |
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| The classic interior of the P1800. In 1998 an P1800S (the 'S' stands for Sweden') was certified as the highest mileage private vehicle driven by the original owner in a non commercial service, having driven over 3 million miles (4.8 million km). So that was part 2 of 4 reviews all about the great one day show. Next week you can see plenty more British classics, along with a gorgeous French classic. There are yet more American cars and not forgetting more Volkswagens! You can see all this next Saturday so don't forget to come back next week. |
