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Contents

is W 24 su int e N eo r’ ov n 23 em sa be le r

Find us on Facebook at mCarMagazine www.facebook.com/Custo

Regulars 2

News & reviews

54 AutoFocus The tale of the legendary Stones team

58 Events Next year’s dates are starting to pop up

60 From the archive Engine building 101 from 50 years ago

Out and About

22 Historic Vehicle Gathering Regional show on a national scale

24 Hotrod Hayride Back at Bisley… was this the best yet?

36 Kernow Rally Not many Yanks, but they were good ‘uns

37 VanJam3 Chilled out antics in US vans old and new

38 Hindenberg Dirt Track Races Wild action on the oval and in the bar

Features

The 40-year itch Merv Barnett’s Deuce brought back to life

16 Next stop 1000bhp Eeek! It’s a pick-up truck from the 90s!

26 Three is the magic number Kim Leonard’s hat-trick of CC feature cars

40 Euro Finals A sombre weekend, but epic racing

Subscribe! 34 Custom Car subs offer The best value way to get your monthly fix

IN PROGRESS CC Contents Nov.indd 1

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ney

get rrect

ages h

with

News & reviews Help bring Ozzy Outlaw to Santa Pod ROB NIXON HAS SET UP a Go Fund Me page, with his sights on raising £10,000 to go towards bringing Australian Outlaw Anglia racer John Willard, and his car, over to these shores next year. John has piloted Aussie Outlaw to a record ET of 6.672 seconds and a record terminal speed of 208.33mph. The question is, what numbers can he run at Santa Pod Raceway? If all goes to plan, that question will be answered at Doorslammers, Main Event, Summer Nationals and Dragstalgia in 2023. The £10k target will only go part of the way to funding it all, but Santa Pod has already committed to contribute financially and also to provide workshop facilities. There is also the possibility of Paul Stephens making the trip over with his Altered, which would help split the shipping costs. At the time of going to press, the pot stood at just shy of £9000. If you can contribute, no matter how small an amount, please do so and let’s make this happen. www.gofundme.com/f/ozzy-outlaw-to-santapod

NEAT STUFF in this issue

That’s not a wheelie. THIS is a wheelie

A plaque with tales to tell

Win £1000 for charity with Surrey Street Rodders THE SURREY STREET RODDERS’ Wheelsday has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds over the years, giving money to local and national charities. Now here’s your chance to get a piece of the action! The Grand Quiz is just that – a thousand pounds to give to the registered charity of your choice All you have to do is get a team of up to four people to Elstead Cricket Pavilion in Elstead, Godalming on 25 November and answer the most correct questions in the SSR’s pub-style quiz. Your quizmaster for the evening will be John Price, with the quiz starting at 7.30. The bar will be open and hot beverages and nibbles will also be provided. Cheating will be allowed, but you must bring the details of your registered charity with you to declare if you win. This needs to be authentic and capable of being veriﬁed via the oﬃcial charity register. Entrance is £20 per team to cover the club’s costs. Numbers in the venue are limited, so please email whiffsmith@hotmail.co.uk with your team name and chosen charity as soon as possible.

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EDITORIAL Group Editor: Alan Kidd alan.kidd@assignment-media.co.uk Art Editor: Sam D’Souza Contributors Dave Biggadyke, Mike Pye, Keith Lee, Keith Harman, James Webber,

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01268 972307 farm-fresh.co.uk Honestly, you wait all this time for one feature car to come along and then two of them turn up at once. I blame the government. Talking of whic h, halfway through our photoshoot with John Willia ms’ Ford Pop, a very well known former cabinet minis ter wanders over and starts enthusing about it. So they are human after all. Said politico then head s off to the karzi, before jumping in his motor and disappearing in a cloud of dust, very nearly spanking it into the front end of Andy Murrell’s Consul which is on its way here for a photoshoot of its own. Both will be appearing in the near future, but at present it’s looki ng less likely that matey in the posh suit actually has one…

Over to you, Boss You’re talking, we’re listening THE ARTICLE WE RAN LAST MONTH inviting all of you to write in and have your say about the future of Custom Car was kind of like sewing a great big ‘kick me’ patch on to the arse of my own jeans. That’s what I thought, at least – but to be honest, the responses I’ve been getting have been overwhelmingly intelligent and constructive. That’s what you get when you move the converstion away from social media. The contrast between the rantings we get on Facebook and the reasoned comments and criticism we’ve had by email is more stark than the nakedness of a typical Custom Car cover girl in the late 70s. So, thank you to all those who have taken their time (their considerable time, in many cases) to make their thoughts known.

What are those thoughts? Going through everything will take my considerable time too, but for now some early results are in. You like cars. You like a variety of cars. You like innovative builds but you also like the good old days and the good old boys you’ve been cruising with, spannering with and laughing with for decades. In particular, you really love the idea of us starting to cover modern cars, stanced hatches and new vehicles. Ha ha ha, my little joke. We’ll come back to all this later. But for now, let me say that whatever changes we make, they won’t be radical. Custom Car was already about right: my job is just to make it more so. Alan Kidd, Group Editor alan.kidd@assignmentmedia.co.uk

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News & reviews

John Baldacchino ONE OF THE TRUE PIONEERS OF BRITISH HOT RODDING, John ‘Baldy’ Baldacchino, passed away on 24 September. For over 5 decades, John proved inspirational for many others, not just for the cars he has built but also for his friendliness and approachability. Having joined the NSRA committee in 1974, John subsequently served as the Association’s chairman from ’76 through to ’78. It was during this time that one of his most iconic hot rod builds, the hot’n’bothered Fordson van, burst on to the scene amid great accolades. Having debuted at the ﬁrst National Custom Car Show in December 1975, where it scooped up no less than 10 awards, hot’n’bothered emblazoned the cover of the March ’76 issue of Custom Car. The van was an instant trendsetter and set a very high bar for those that followed in its tyre tracks. The next of John’s builds debuted at the Ally Pally Custom Car Show in 1978. This time around, though, he had been commissioned to build it by someone else. Owned by Matt Matheou, the Austin Ruby known as Small Fry stole the show, bagging six awards including Visitors’ Choice. It will come as no surprise that the car also made it on to the cover of this magazine (May

’78 issue) and its build was extensively featured over four consecutive issues. Short Cut came next, quite a diverse build to the previous two. On the face of it, a chopped and Rover V8-powered HA Van was somewhat mundane by John’s standards, but there was far more to it than that. Flared arches and straight black paint enhanced with intricate pinstriping earned John a couple more jugs at the 1980 Custom Car Show, with the van then being featured in the August issue that year. John’s hot rodding credentials were set in stone by that time, his name having become synonymous with top-quality, forward-thinking builds. He remained true to his roots though and was always happy to help others with advice based on his considerable experience. John’s contribution to UK hot rodding was recognised by his peers in 2021 when he was inducted into the NSRA Hall of Fame. The citation supporting that induction was concise but sums up the man perfectly: ‘For building iconic cars and introducing so many to our rodding way of life – with a big involvement in the 1970s with cars such as hot’n’bothered and Small Fry.’ Despite suffering ill health, John attended this year’s Hot Rod Supernationals to be

presented with his HoF plaque and certificate, the smile on his face showing just how much it meant to him. Our thoughts go out to John’s family and friends. RIP Baldy. You may have left us, but your legacy lives on.

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n 1977, having been inspired by what he’d seen in American rodding magazines, a young Merv ‘Magoo’ Barnett started building a ’32 Ford roadster. Back then using a steel body for such a build was virtually unheard of on

Forty years ago, this Deuce roadster Its journey since then

wa ha

Words: Dave Biggadyke

Pics:

these shores, so Merv opted for Jeff Jago fibreglass and the build began. The body was mounted on a Jago chassis, with the rolling stock comprising of a drop-tube front axle and Jaguar IRS and power coming from a 2.5-litre Daimler

hemi mated to an automatic transmission. Assisted by a few fellow Bristol Hotrods members, the roadster appeared at the 1978 NASC Street Rod Nationals, finished in primer and sporting multi-coloured suspension parts. Merv then spent the next

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ter en

was featured in these very pages. has been a long one

dyke

Pics: Harry Hamm

few years driving the car to as many events as he could. Eighteen years ago, the name on the V5 changed to that of the current owner, one Michael G Tebbs. Many other had appeared on the logbook prior to this and as he has

researched that history we’ll let Mick, as he’s better known, recount it in his own words.

Cover up

‘The roadster was getting well known for clocking up a high mileage with Merv behind

the wheel and that caught the attention of another well-known hot rodder, Chris Boyle. A deal was done and Chris carried on clocking up the miles. That was until Simon Pickford took a shine to it, painted it red and got it featured in these very pages.’

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It was never going to be a total stripdown and rebuild, more a case of trying to put together what was literally a hot rod jigsaw from the boxes of parts supplied 8 CUSTOM CAR DECEMBER 2022

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The spec of the 4-bolt mains 450bhp Blueprint 383 stroker motor includes big valve billet heads, TRW pistons and a 10.5:1 compression ratio. The carb is a 650cfm Edelbrock with vacuum secondaries and an electric choke, whilst the ali radiator is by Walker. Mick picked up the engine dress-up goodies on a trip to the Tampa Nationals a few years back, the tubular headers feeding a 2.5-inch stainless exhaust with electric cut outs fabricated by Millers Speed Shop. For neatness and improved ground clearance the exhausts run between the Jago chassis rails and the ‘glass swage lines, while the level of polish on the firewall is such that what you’re looking at here is not actually Mick but his reflection

It wasn’t just featured, though: the roadster graced the cover of the January 1982 issue, in one of the most evocative images to appear in Custom Car. History got a bit muddled in our feature, though, as it mentions that Chris Boyle bought the car from some nameless chappie in Yorkshire and not the late Merv arnett but else here suggests that hris tried to get Merv to take a Beetle in part exchange. But hell, you know, it was the early 80s and back then the Custom Car editorial office was not a place to go looking if you wanted to find sober people. Anyway, here we are 40 years later and we can clear it up, sort of, because when he saw the Deuce on last issue’s Next Month page Chris dropped us a line (not the kind

of line referred to in the previous paragraph) to say how nice it was to see it still going strong. So we asked him. ‘I must admit that I don’t remember offering Merv a swap with a VW,’ he told us. ‘But it certainly sounds possible, as I would have been well into them then. ‘When I bought the car from Merv, it came with red painted steel wheels with hubcaps and just the bonnet top. I changed the wheels to mags which I had in stock for the track T I was building at the time and made the black Carson top with drop-in side windows. I put in a Rover under-seat heater, which made it really driveable all year round! ‘The Daimler V8 was a bit smoky, so I had it rebuilt by drag racer Russ Carpenter and it ran beautifully after that. Ironically, I bought

the mag wheels back from the next owner a while after I sold the car and they ended up on my track T after all!’ Along with the red paint, Simon was responsible for getting the front axle chromed. The feature also mentions that Chris fabricated the ali bonnet and steel side panels, something which he confirmed to us as well. The originally smooth steel sides were louvred at the time of the feature but quite when they were pressed, or even if they are the same panels, we’re less sure about. And Chris gave us a bit of a caveat, too: ‘All recollections are to the best my memory can muster – it was a long time ago now!’ The feature mentioned that Simon was a mate of Peter Stevens, which is an apt

Above right: The slot mags up front are 31/2 x 15 Fentons wearing 135 R15 Firestone F-560 tyres. The Shelby mags on the back weigh in at 11 x 15 and are wrapped in N50-15 white lettered Super Charger rubber Above left: Mick has detailed the rebuilt IRS to the max with a mix of chrome, ali, stainless and powder coating. The adjustable coilovers are by Protech, with everything held in place by chromed pike nuts. Mick fabricated the mild steel plate to tidy up the underside of the car’s floor, then had it chrome powder coated

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Above: Rolling on red steels and with multi-coloured running gear, Merv’s roadster won the trophy for best unfinished at the treet od ationals. he grille void was later filled with an insert fitted by hris oyle. he original build spec featured a ago chassis, drop tube a le with early over spindles, van steering bo mated to a Pontiac tilt column, aguar Mk , . litre aimler hemi and org arner automatic transmission Pics: Jim Stewart ight ou couldn’t get away with a front cover like this these days. here is a hint that ustom ar is actually a car magazine though…

bove left hile the year is unknown, the location is definitely illing uadrome. ote the glass dummy swage lines grafted on to the sides of the ago chassis to make it more resemble ’ rails. hat dates this pic after our maga ine feature Pic: Jim Stewart bove right his shot, taken at the same event, shows the bobbed rear fenders were easily removed for show field cruising and that the roadster was once again rolling on red steel rims Pic: Jim Stewart ight y the time the roadster travelled to e Mans in Pic: Anon

eft

, it appears the one piece top had been changed to a conventional fold down soft top

he ad that started off Mick’s ourney with the roadster appeared in our ovember ’

issue

bove Mick displayed the roadster at the Multi tory ar how in ull, once again rolling on slot mags. ote the engine had been swapped to a small block hevy with sprint car style headers. hree years later, the red paintwork had been adorned with flames as shown here at the orthern ot od lub ot od oliday in leethorpes. Mick replaced the stainless firewall fitted by Merv with a fresh one to better suit the hevy engine and trans Pics: Dave Biggadyke

‘The run home was a blur. I remember the rain lashing down… Did I say the car had no hood? In all the excitement, I completely forgot about that. We arrived home safely – but it was one hell of a journey!’ 10 CUSTOM CAR DECEMBER 2022

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Left: The girl on the 1982 font cover wasn’t taking our calls any more, so this is as close as we could get to recreating that iconic shot. The eagle-eyed among you will have spotted the grille shell now sports a spoon badge and Mick can see what’s behind him thanks to screen post-mounted swan neck mirrors Right: The bottom edges of the sides of the four-piece Rootlieb bonnet have been lengthened and reprofiled to match the contours of the Jago chassis. Mick has reshaped the rear fenders that came with the car to better match those formed by Chris Boyle many years previously The chromed drop tube front axle hangs from a transverse leaf spring and is located by 4-bars. Mick changed the existing top shock mounts that for a pair of polished aftermarket F1 mounts

cue to return to Mick’s history lesson. ‘It was after the CC feature that someone else stepped in to add yet another aspect to the roadster’s past. That was Peter Stevens, the man responsible for designing the Jaguar XJR-15 and the McLaren F1, among other notable cars. ‘It was when under Peter’s ownership that I came across the roadster for sale in an advert in the back pages of this very magazine – remember those days? I immediately rang the number and was informed that Peter was away on business. Having explained just how much I wanted to buy the car, it was agreed that it would be taken off the market, despite it being

another two weeks before I could speak to Peter direct to do the deal.’

It’s a steal

Mick rang long-time friend Carl Powles and arranged for them to travel together to Peter’s house to view the car. ‘I paid the agreed £2500 and the little red roadster was mine. The question now was, how were we going to get it home? We’d kind of overlooked that, thinking we were just going to look at it then arrange collection later.’ The answer lay with Mick’s wingman for the day. If you know Carl, you’ll know that he doesn’t just build hot rods, he drives them. Drives them a lot. ‘Drive it. Drive it like

we stole it,’ Carl quipped as he jumped in and fired it up (at that price, you did steal it Mick – DB). Goodbye pleasantries were exchanged and the pair headed north. ‘To be honest, the run home was somewhat of a blur,’ Mick recalls. ‘I remember the rain lashing down, the weather causing me to lose track of Carl during the journey. Did I say the car had no hood? In all the excitement I completely forgot about that and it had to be posted on later. We arrived home safely – but it was one hell of a journey, wasn’t it Carl?’ Mick decided a thorough service was in order and it was then he found out that Daimler hemi parts don’t come cheap.

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Above left: Three-stage Mipa pearl – red, orange, green – was sprayed over the red basecoat on the dash, which was then coated in House of Kolor Rainbow Flake for good measure. The white-faced electronic Dolphin gauges are housed in a polished ali waterfall art deco insert. The tilt steering column is by Billet Specialities, Mick picked up the ali spoked banjo wheel at the Tampa Nationals, and the 24-inch swan shifter is by Gennie Top right: Ray Boyland in Bristol scratch built the bench seat before trimming it in cherry red tuck and roll vinyl, along with the door cards and side and kick panels. The new folding hood was stitched up by VC Classics in Rossington, near Doncaster. Above right: The interior trimming extends into the boot, where the vintage suitcase doubles up as a storage locker and battery cover.

Another pal, Eddie Brown, mentioned he had a 305ci Chevy V8 going spare, only he wasn’t sure what condition it was in. It was soon slotted between the roadster’s chassis rails, along with a TH350 transmission, and fired up. Initially, there was some concern as whenever the engine was struck up, a creeping mist of smoke appeared from under the car. However it disappeared once the engine warmed up, so much so that in the end it ran just fine with no more smoke for a good many miles. So with that concern taken care of, Mick regularly made trips to a great number of events before eventually deciding it was time for a rebuild. That, however, is when it all went wrong. ‘I had met a so-called builder at the Peterborough hot rod show,’ Mick explained. ‘He convinced me he was the man to rebuild the car, a price was agreed and the car delivered to his workshop. You know how it is, if something seems to be too good to be true it probably is, and that was certainly the case. ‘It was at a time when family bereavement was taking over my life and I really needed that helping hand with the roadster. Instead, the car got lost in a sea of disappointment, failed promises and time I could never get back. It dragged on for years until I turned up one day and pulled my car out of there, yet still the saga continued. After what seemed an eternity, an out-of-court

settlement was agreed and the whole nasty business brought to an end.’

Welsh re-assembly

Assisted by his mate Tony Williamson, Mick set about sorting out the roadster himself. Progress was being made until an enforced house move threw a spanner in the works. ‘I was relocating to the house I grew up in,’ Mick explained. ‘Problem was it needed work and having been down the road of trusting a pro builder in the past, I was reluctant to let another loose on the car, but needs must. Having done some digging which didn’t throw up any dirt, I called a young chap I’d been keeping an eye on, Ifan Miller at Miller’s Speed Shop in Bridgend, Wales. We had a long chat and I took the decision to let Ifan work on the car while I moved house and got settled in. Thanks must go to a good friend, Paul Perozzi, who organised transportation for me.’ It was never going to be a total stripdown and rebuild, more a case of Ifan trying to put together what was literally a hot rod jigsaw from the boxes of parts supplied. That, and put right the bad workmanship that came to light as work progressed. Mick regularly visited Millers Speed Shop to check out progress and all was going well until the engine went bang. Up stepped Wayne Allman who, aware of the grief Mick had already encountered with the car, mentioned a Chevy V8 he knew was up

for grabs. ‘It was a real nice motor,’ Mick enthused. ‘Thanks to Wayne for putting Ifan and myself in touch with the seller, but how was I going to afford it? Us hot rodders are a resourceful bunch though and a deal was struck. Thank you Helen for the wonderful engine you bought me for my birthday! ‘I regret not getting the car back on the road for Merv to see, but I hope it meets with his family’s approval. I’ve incorporated parts of the roadster from everybody who’s owned it, including myself, as that both preserves and adds to the history of the car. If ‘Magoo’ had owned it for all these years, I’d like to think this latest rebuild is what he would have had in mind. There are a couple of minor niggles that need sorting, but once they’re done the roadster should be good for another 40 years. ‘Most of the people you meet in this hobby, lifestyle, call it what you will, are genuine and become friends for many years to come. That is the case with Ifan Miller who went above and beyond to make me happy. As I trusted him, he had a degree of free range on certain matters and I’m proud to say he has now become a good friend. ‘There have been many times over the years when I’ve wondered if it’s all worth it. Quite frequently the car was doing more miles on a trailer than on tarmac and it’s caused more heartache and cost more money than I ever thought. ‘So, is it all worth it? You bet it is!’

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Thanks “Merv Barnett for building the car in the ﬁrst place, Jon Golding at Home Grown Hot Rod for parts and help, Geordie Paul at Duksville Speed Shop for more parts, the friends who have helped me along the way and, of course, Ifan at Millers Speed Shop without whose help the car still wouldn’t be ﬁnished. Special thanks to my partner, Helen, for her endless support and understanding, and that special birthday present”

Having completed this journey, Mick is planning another. He’s after a sister car for the roadster, a Jago-bodied 5-window coupe. If you have an unfinished project you’re looking to move on, let us know and we’ll pass your details on

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MAX OUTPUT 10.3kW 14.6kW 24.9kW 36.6kW 49.8kW 117.2kW

exc.VAT £94.99 £116.99 £159.98 £189.98 £269.00 £479.00

inc.VAT £113.99 £140.39 £191.98 £227.98 £322.80 £574.80

DOUBLE EXC.VAT FOOTER £52.79 inc.VAT ELECTRIC MODEL VOLTAGE HEAT OUTPUT exc.VAT inc.VAT £43.99 £52.79 DEVIL 2850 230V 2.8kW £76.99 £92.39 DEVIL 7003 230V 3kW £98.99 £118.79 DEVIL 7005 400V 5kW £152.99 £183.59 DEVIL 7009 400V 9kW £229.98 £275.98 DEVIL 7015 400V 15kW

GARAGES/WORKSHOPS Ideal for use as a garage/workshop Extra tough triple layer cover Heavy duty powder coated steel tubing Ratchet tight tensioning

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size (LxWxH) 3.6 x 3.6 x 2.5m 4.5 x 3 x 2.4m 4.9 x 3.7 x 2.5m 6.1 x 3 x 2.4m 6.1 x 3.7 x 2.5m 7.3 x 3.7 x 2.5m 9.7x4.3x3.65m 12x4.9x4.3m

IDEAL FOR RAIN & SUN PROTECTION ‡ WAS £1390.80 inc.VAT # WAS £3900.00 inc.VAT exc.VAT inc.VAT BRIGHT £289.00 £346.80 WHITE £309.00 £370.80 INTERIOR £359.00 £430.80 £389.00 £466.80 £429.00 £514.80 LENGTH £539.00 £646.80 UP TO 40' £1099.00 £1318.80 £2998.00 £3597.60

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All prices correct at time of going to press. We reserve the right to change products and prices at any time. E&OE.

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A vehicle in Custom Car that’s barely over a quarter of a century old, or the fact that much as you want to hate it, it ticks every other box and try as you might, you have to admit that yeah, actually, it’s pretty cool? Hard to know which is naughtier, really… Words and pics: Dan Fenn

our typical Custom Car feature vehicle is old and modified. Old and modified, probably faster and lower and almost always prettier. One of the most common things we hear from people is along the lines of ‘I’m not much into the newer stuff’ – though when they say it, as often or not they’re talking about anything made since WWII. So this here Chevy S10 SS pick-up breaks one of the big rules. But it also answers most of the big questions with a big yes. A big hell, yeah, actually. It’s definitely post-war (the first Gulf War, let alone WWII) but it’s also more than a quarter of a century old, even if not by very much. It’s definitely lower and very definitely faster, it’s been given a new look and it’s ruder than Cherie Deville doing overtime on the night shift. Mainly, it’s a confirmed crowd-pleaser on the strip. But it’s also its owner’s preferred way of picking up his kids from school, which makes it a crowd-pleaser everywhere else too. ‘I’ve had people say to me that they don’t like new cars, but they like this,’ he tells us, which kind of goes to show what we’re on about. ‘He’ is James Dean. That got your attention, didn’t it? James Dean Evans, in actual fact, but it’s not a coincidence. He was indeed named after the James Dean – so perhaps it was inevitable that he was going to grow up with cool cars in his blood. Actually, as it turns out, he could have been called Slowy McSlowface and he’d still have grown up with cool cars in his blood. ‘My parents, uncle, aunty and family friends used to run the original Bomber County Cruises in Manby back in the 1990s and early 2000s,’ he says, ‘holding large events with cars massed on the airfield and meet-ups at the White Horse in Marsh Chapel. From that point onwards, it was pretty much set that cars was the life I was going to take.’ It was already running in the family even before that, actually. James’ grandad, Alan Evans, was the founder of Bamby Cars – a Hull-based company which, for a spell in the mid-1980s, manufactured single-seat city cars under its own brand name. A very different sort of vehicle to the Granada V6-engined Cadbury’s purple and bright green T-bucket his stepdad used to tool around in, but you get the idea.

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It’s not chromed and it is an LS2, but mainly it’s purposeful as all hell. The highly upgraded 6.0-litre V8 bungs a click over 600bhp through a built 4L80E and into a narrowed 9-inch Ford axle with an upgraded 3.30:1 LSD. Plans for the winter are to pull it apart and rebuild it with twin turbos: it’ll be in the 1000bhp range after that, but no it still won’t be chromed

’As far back as I can remember,’ he continues, warming to what’s clearly a subject he loves, ‘cars were the main priority in our lives. I know, ruined from such a young age! But hey, it was the way of life – and not a bad one at that.

‘For me, that T-bucket was the coolest thing I’d laid my eyes on. Going for drives and days out was the best thing I could ask for in my early years, and it’s memories that I will forever hold with me. Simple drives out were the best thing to happen – the

excitement and feeling of hearing it start up and rattle my ears.’ There were various other rods and customs in the family too, as well as things like ex-military troop carriers. And so the die was cast. As James got older, he

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‘As far as I can remember, cars were the main priority in our lives. I know, ruined from such a young age!’ became a regular at car shows, searching out ‘the most obscure things I could find – the loudest, the most radically painted, everything ranging from your bog stock Morris Minor to your top-spec Lambo.’

The road to ruin

But then one day, he clapped his eyes on a ’69 Camaro SS in burnt orange. And a light bulb went on in his head. ‘From that point on, I was adamant that I would own one someday. I realised that American cars was what was going to ruin my life and bank…’ We can’t comment on the latter. But he’s keeping up with the family tradition of passing the passion on to his own kids, so far from ruining his life American cars are enriching it. ‘I finally managed to buy a purple and blue 1970 Camaro SS housing a mild-built 454 big-block Chevy and a TH700R trans.

The joy I felt purchasing it was utterly amazing – finally, I’d made it to where I wanted to be. The way the car shouted and drove was an experience I’ll never forget – moments and memories I could finally make with my own children. ‘My son Jackson, who’s currently 5, and daughter Luna, 6, spent countless hours with me in the garage, doing oil changes, servicing, polishing and enjoying the car, while my fiancée Sammy supported us,

slowly trying to pass my love of cars on to my own family and the next generation.’ You’d have to say that selling the Camaro doesn’t sound like the best way of doing this. But there was a plan, and it’s one that led James to where he is today. Yes, the 1970 Camaro made way for a vehicle 25 years its junior. Cue tutting and wringing of hands, though if this is enough to make you stop reading you probably weren’t reading in the first place.

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ong tube headers from tainless orks flow into twin e hausts. e t to these, as war wounds go the has a pretty cool one on the trailing edge of its offside rear wing. he truck might only’ be running high s right now, but ames is no stranger to winning burnout competitions so emphatically that his bodywork melts. e’s got a feel for the vibes, this guy. he truck’s interior is like the engine bay in that it’s all about function, not form but he’s had enough traditional customs in his life not to need to answer to anyone

A vehicle from 1995, in Custom Car? As someone may already have said, hell yeah. And it may be more modern than you’re used to, but this here Chevy is every inch a custom car. It’s also every inch a rarity. The S10 was built in the sort of volumes that make your head spin, but the high-performance SS model shifted less than 12,000 units in its four-year production run from 1994 to 1998. So if you think modern classics are vulgar, take comfort in the fact that this is one which has had the sort of stuff done to it that would make modern classic purists grind their teeth the same way the

tweed-jacket brigade come over all sniffy when they see a rodded Pop. High-performance, did we say? Yes, the S10 SS was the fast one. So fast it had a 4.3-litre V6 putting out about 180bhp. Er, yes. They did lower the suspension a bit and put a limited-slip diff in the back, but you need to have quite a liberal interpretation of the phrase ‘high-performance’ not to find that all a bit comical. There’s nothing comical about this one now, though. Hilarious, perhaps, in a whoawah-lairy kind of a way, but laugh in its face and you’ll soon discover that he who laughs last laughs longest. ‘I have driven some fast

and scary cars in my life,’ says James. ‘But the S10 is in a league of its own.’ It replaced the Camaro in his life after its builder and owner, a chap from up in Newcastle, reached out to offer him a deal. ‘Of course I was curious,’ he says, and he was clearly right to be because here we are savouring the aroma of hot rubber after our photo session has come to an end and he’s set off for home with a flourishing burnout.

proper engine

The 4.3 has long since been fetched out for a proper engine. Several proper engines, in fact. Just one at a time, don’t worry, but they’ve culminated in a 6.0-litre LS2 chucking about 600bhp through a built 4L80E into a narrowed 9-inch Ford rear with 3.30:1 gears. This sounds a bit like the story of a man who bought a truck, but it’s not. James has nothing but praise for the guy who sold it to him (‘the build was everything I wanted in a car,’ he says) but he’s done loads to improve ho among us hasn’t done something to alter the way their car looks bviously, fetching the bonnet off it one way of doing this, but the looks newer than it really is. t’s all relative, but this is a model with a front end. ne of the only things about it that could ever be accused of being subtle, that

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‘We were all that kid at one point, staring and the loud cars and jumping when they revved that V8… so why not carry the passion on to the next generation?’ it himself since becoming its owner – and he has big plans for the coming winter, too. More of that shortly. For now, James has improved what was already an extremely strong engine by upgrading to DSS Racing FX forged pistons and rods and fitting a BTR Stage 3 racing cam. A session on the rollers followed, which showed that it was running a little rich, so he adjusted the map on the Canems ECU and now it’s bang on the money. Already a strong engine? You could say. The ECU had been installed by the guy who first built the S10 (which he did from scratch on a rust-free California truck), and that wasn’t all. The fuel system runs a custom tank, braided lines and twin aero-spec Bosch 44 pumps, and the big LS breathes through a smoothed inlet manifold and 1 7/8” Stainless Works long-tube headers, the latter going into twin 3” stainless exhausts. Spal fans pull air through an oversize custom radiator, and to help keep it cool (in every sense of the word) James tends to view a bonnet as an item that belongs on other people’s cars.

Matey also fitted the 4L80E, again with uprated cooling and with a performance TCI to get it shifting as fast as it was going to need to. The narrowed Ford axle contains Moser shafts and an uprated LSD, and very wisely it’s been converted to disc brakes. Caltrac links and single split leaves hold it in place, the latter also keeping the vehicle up with the aid of adjustable shocks. Result? It goes, it stops and it goes again. Repeat. But mainly, it goes. ‘Some may call it a sleeper, as it looks like a stock S10 minus the 3-inch exhaust exists and the 275 radials in the back. But it was what I wanted – a truck that I can use regularly to pick the kids up from school but then run serious times down the strip.’ Which it does – high 11s and low 12s so far, but that was ‘still with some setting up needed’ and by the time next season comes around James’ plan is to have given it a lot more than just that. ‘Hopefully through the winter we are aiming to have a strip down and rebuild,’ he says, ‘as well as heading over to forced induction. I’m hoping to run a large twinturbo set up.’ The price of the supercharging

options has a lot to do with that; anyway, his aim is simple: ‘the magic 1000bhp mark.’ That ought to get him down the strip a good bit faster, all the while without making the truck any less of a tool for kid-shifting and general daily duties. Which is, after all, the kind of custom car we all respect, even if we’re more used to knocking about with older stuff. After all, to quote that muchloved phrase, no man with a good car needs to be justified. And that’s exactly what this S10 is to James: his car. ‘What more could you need?’ he asks. ‘The truck turns heads everywhere it goes. Kids smile at it, blokes take pictures and love it. You can’t drive anywhere in it and not be noticed. ‘But hey, that’s why we have these things. We were all that kid at one point, staring at the loud cars and jumping when they revved that V8… so why not carry the passion on to the next generation?’ You may or may not think his ride is old enough to be in Custom Car – but if you’re reading this magazine, the guy behind the wheel is very much a kindred spirit.

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Out & About

Devon on Earth

Words and pics: James Webber The Crash Box and Classic Car Club’s annual show, titled The Historic Vehicle Gathering, was a new show for me – and one I shall be returning to in the future. It was held in the grounds of the lavish Powderham Castle Estate near Exeter and was blessed with glorious weather. Now, we all know that when the sun shines, it brings out people and their motors. But this was on such a scale it almost matched a national show. Well over 1000 individual cars attended, in addition to around 70 club stands plus a few stragglers in the public car park. Multiple food and drink caterers did roaring business throughout the day and a huge trade area

‘When the sun shines, it brings out people and motors – but this was on such a scale, it matched a national show’ had everything from local companies and produce to auto jumble. Alongside trhe cars were motorbikes, traction engines, lorries, buses and just about anything else with wheels.

Cars were lined up in rows of two, grouped by their years – which gave visitors plenty of space to look around them. Clubs were further down and, depending on their size (I think the smallest had 25 cars on display), they took Above: How’s this for a cool over the back end stage? The Liberty Sisters were very much at home in of the venue. the back of their GMC truck Expert Below, right: Recently built marshalling was Chevy 3100 pick-up turned up sporting a blown 5.7 litre in place courtesy V8 motor of the Exeter Sea cadets, who deserve a hats off for volunteering to do so in the sort of temperatures that really take it out of you. And best of all, tickets only cost £15 – which, with everything rising the way it is, was damn good value for money. With this being the first Historic Vehicle Facebook or pay a visit to historic-vehicleGathering since 2019, the club can be gathering.info to keep tabs on that – you forgiven for taking a deep breath before won’t regret it! CC announcing the date for next year’s. Check it out on

Left: Stock and bagged trucks. See if you can work out which is which, children Above: Cadillac announced a few months ago that it’s going to build a new pick-up based on the Escalade. Will it be as cool as this one? Don’t be silly…

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Ray’s Classics

San Carlos CA since 1980

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Concoures quality rottisserie restoration, excellent condition throughout right down to the very last nut and bolt, runs and drives like a dream, the last year for the cameo and the hardest one to find especially with the more desirable hydro gearbox and this colour combo, the attention to detail everywhere you look is stunning, none nicer.

1962 CHEVY BELAIR BUBBLETOP - $POA

409/4spd, P/S, rottiserrie restored with very particular attention to detail, flawless condition throughout with very few miles since restoration, you will not find a nicer example anywhere, runs & drives as good as they come, the Belair was the only model in the 62 line-up with the bubbletop carried over from the 61 impala, very few were built and all were powered by the 409 seen mainly on the dragstrip super stock class, blue chip investment grade car.

1969 CHEVY CAMARO GENUINE Z28 - $POA

Concoures quality restoration using only factory gm and nos parts, rotisserie. Restored to perfection body is laser straight, 33 miles since restoration completed, rare factory colour, investment grade collector car.

1959 CHEVY EL CAMINO 348 TRIPOWER /AUTOMATIC - $POA

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1958 CHEVY AMEO V8/4SPD HYDRO AUTOMATIC - $POA

P/S, P/B excellent restored condition throughout and those iconic fins what’s not to like.

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11/10/2022 11:27

Out & About

Hayride Reunion

Words and pics: Keith Harman It was quite a surprise to many when it was announced last year that the Hot Rod Hayride would not only be on for 2022, but that it would be returning to its spiritual home of Bisley Shooting Ground in Surrey. As you’ll know if you’ve ever been there, Bisley is by far the coolest venue that ever hosted a rod run in the UK, and the previous Hayrides held there from 2007 to 2016 provided many with awesome memories that will last a lifetime. However, it’s fair to say that many folk wondered whether it would be the same without the use of the old pavilion building, the atmospheric focal point that hosted much of the evening entertainment, which

‘The Hayride Reunion, as it was billed, was a resounding success, with some even saying it was the best yet’ had reputedly been sacrilegiously turned into a conference centre and offices by the new owners. Fortunately, although the pavilion was indeed off-limits, the show field remained as before. And the organisers had done an excellent job of utilising the grass

area opposite, creating a wide festival-type stage and a large open-sided bar. Apart from the new layout, not much else seemed different, apart from a little less room for the vintage traders. The various lodges and clubs around the site were open and welcoming, telling customers they were glad to see the (thirsty!) Hayriders back at Bisley. The Hayride was the event that re-wrote the book on UK rod runs, of course, with a discerning entry policy aimed strictly at traditional style rods and customs, coupled with quality live music from some first class rockin’ bands and artists. The whole traditional scene has grown immensely over the last 15 years or so since then, and didn’t it show at this year’s Hayride! From Friday onwards, the site was packed with probably the finest collection of traditional cars ever seen in one place

in the UK, with a particularly impressive showing of cool taildraggin’ kustoms along with the rods, trucks and bikes present. The weather was hot, the beer was cold and the music was cool, and as a result the Hayride Reunion (as it was billed this year) was a resounding success, with some even saying it was the best yet. Will there be another next year? Organiser Jerry Chatabox and the Detonators CC replied to the question with only a tight lipped ‘watch this space’…. CC

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Mark Fox’s ’49 Mercury is spot on with all the right moves, nosed, decked, chopped top, rounded hood corners, frenched headlamps and Caddy caps

Neil Payne’s ’51 GMC Suburban retains the period accessorised Lowrider flavour it was built with, but swapped the hydraulics out in favour of air bags for that slammed stance

Fresh out this year, David Brock wowed the troops with his super subtle, but so right, ’36 3-Window Coupe

Also new out this year, Pete Dempsey’s heavily chopped ’34 was keeping it traditional, Bonneville style

This cool ’37 Ford Cabriolet was over from Belgium complete with chopped convertible top, skirts, and a custom grille we recognise but can’t place! Answers on a postcard please

Not 100% traditional maybe, but, this slick mid-Fifties F100 is shinier than a shiny thing and features some neat custom body mods such as the Buick hood vents and the custom grille treatment Also running a set of ARE’s and small block power, and also in the Vultures Car Club, is Scratch’s sweet Model A Roadster. So we detect a theme running here? Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, Paul Barrow revisited his already cool A Claire Irwin’s Chevy-powered ’34 sports the Sedan body Johnny Best removed to build his ’34 roadster, Sedan and kicked it into the Sixties with some inspired changes which will be appearing in next month’s issue

Chris Smith’s blown Deuce 3-Window has come a long way since he acquired it as an imported, but running stocker, some years ago

Pendine, drags, hillclimbs, Kelvin Helsdown has done it all in his bare bones, McCulloch-blower fed Flathead T-Bucket

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hile residing in the UK, Kim Leonard has completed a hat trick of hot rod builds worthy of these pages. The ’29 Ford Model A Sport coupe you’re faced with here is the third to appear in these pages – and that qualifies him for membership of a pretty elite club in our book. The first of those features came in the September ’81 issue, with the opening paragraph concentrating on the traditional English village Kim lived in. Ironically, Clive Prew went on to infer that the closest the residents of said village would ever get to street rodding was the local Young Farmers club. Why ironically? Well, these days, for one weekend a year, that village becomes the hotbed of rodding in the UK. It’s called Old Warden… Enough about geography. The real focus of the feature was a Ford V4-powered Morris 1000 van that went by the name of Snowblind. Kim then set his heart on a ’32 roadster but that became a non-starter when he came across an unstarted Model B sedan delivery project. Running a Rover V8, the Jago-bodied Deuce appeared in the November ‘86 issue. Next on the cards was a steel coupe, a ’33 5-window to be precise. Tony Jarvis helped out by chopping the body and fabricating the rolling chassis. Kim trailered the coupe to Bruntingthorpe on one occasion and subsequently finished off the build. By then though he had relocated to Orange County, California, having taken the then unfinished project with him.

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Sometimes, only when you really get to talk to people do you discover what a hot rod journey their life has been Words: Dave Biggadyke Pics: Vic Peel

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Above and below: The 4-inch dropped front axle is located by hairpins and hangs from a Russ Pepper supplied spring. Russ also supplied the front shocks, whilst the Ford F100 front brakes came from a guy in London. Steering is taken care of by a Vega box mated to a homemade column Below right: Front wheels are original 6 x 15 chrome reverse rims, whilst the rears are 7 x 15 chrome smoothies. Tyres are 165 Silvertown Radials and 215 Cooper Weather Masters respectively

‘The Sport coupe was first rodded in America in 1963 by Larry Goodson. It ran once at El Mirage in 1968, then the following year it was blown apart in readiness for a rebuild’ Divorce then bit and Kim was forced to sell the car. That was circa 1994 and, even back then, someone walked away with a bargain at $11,500. Once Kim was back on his feet, a Pop was next to come up. He was still living in the States though, so he felt obliged to rebadge it as an Anglia. The sit-up-and-beg was small-block Chevy-powered and had first been rodded in the late ’70s / early ’80s. Sourced here in the UK, Kim had it shipped to California and had virtually

finished the rebuild… when his life took another dramatic turn with him deciding to return to Blighty. That was circa 2005. The Anglia was sold to help fund his passage home, bringing with him the pretty much unstarted Fordson project he also just happened to have on the go at the time. By this time, Kim had remarried and, having settled into their new life in Lincolnshire, he and Morgan were heavily into renovating the former chapel they had

bought to live in. Money was tight, as it always seems to be when you’re doing a building project, and Kim felt it only right to sell the van to help fund the build of the family home. In a strange twist of fate, that very same van went on to be featured in these very same pages. That was in the April 2013 issue, by which time the Fordson had evolved into a machine far removed from Kim’s vision of how it would be built. All I need to do is drop in the name of the new

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Above right: To keep running costs to an acceptable level, Kim opted for a 1600cc Ford Pinto mated to a Type 9 Ford 5-speed manual gearbox to provide the power for the coupe. ith the engine being low mileage, im left it well alone save for fitting a brand new eber carb, which he admits hit his wallet hard. A custom-built propshaft was made up by CF Parkinson in Boston, Lincs, whilst a Mk2 Jaguar radiator keeps things cool. Kim fabricated the exhaust system himself, utilising a NOS Austin 1100 silencer he came across at a local exhaust centre Above right: Russ Pepper of R&R Hot Rod Imports once again came up with the goods when Kim was in need of a grille shell Below left: The seats came via an ad on the Rods ‘n’ Sods forum and had been freshly retrimmed. Kim then hit on the idea of stripping an old leather sofa. That produced enough hide for Evans Upholstery and Trimming in Whittlesey, Peterborough to recover the seats, and a neighbour to trim the door cards. he headlining is brushed wool and the floor is covered courtesy of arpetright in palding, while the steering wheel is a genuine wood rimmed 1960s Superior 500 Below right: The 1960s Chris Craft speedboat chrome cluster houses a rev counter that pleases itself, a non-connected amps gauge and a fully functional Stewart Warner oil pressure gauge. Mounted directly in front of Kim are a Stewart Warner speedo and Green Line temperature gauge, along with a rare Sun fuel gauge. The 8-track player is a neat touch, albeit purely for show

owner and you will know the score, a certain Mr Phil ‘Ginner’ Middleton.

Body shop

Problem is, you can’t take the hot rodder out of the man and in 2012 Kim had made another purchase. The catalyst was eBay and the booty was the steel Model A Sport coupe pictured here. Only it wasn’t. What Kim bought was a body, and there wasn’t much of that as it happened. Geordie Paul had imported the body, essentially to fill a

void in a container he was having shipped over. While many would have passed it by, Kim could see the potential – and besides, it came with some degree of pedigree. ‘The Sport coupe was first rodded in America in 1963 by Larry Goodson,’ explained Kim. ‘The car ran once at El Mirage in 1968, then the following year it was blown apart in readiness for a rebuild. ‘That never happened though, and after Larry died his widow asked his brother to sell the coupe as an unfinished project.

There were no takers, however, so it was sold on as parts. After buying the body, I actually met up with Larry’s brother – who gave me the dash and Monarchs club plaque that was fitted to the car all those years ago.’ Kim and Morgan didn’t have a reserve of money to fund the build, so they set aside a strict monthly budget. Once that was spent, Kim patiently waited until the following month to purchase whatever part he needed next. While that protracted the

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Sporting Life

The Sport coupe body as Kim bought it…

…heavily chopped, but with no roof

he glass roof was designed for a ’ roadster with Kim describing it as not even a close fit for the Model

Not much of anything really, but what was there was pretty solid

fter being e tensively cut and shut the roof fitted and im lined the inside of it in plywood in readiness for interior trimming

Kim picked up the bonnet at the Swap Meet. Note half the roof is already now in place

he rolling chassis ready for final welding and tidying up

With the chassis painted, reassembly could begin

The job that Kim most detested, the wiring

he fibreglass style chassis rail covers. How common they are this month

Kim pushed it out into the sunshine and his jaw dropped. ‘The body looked crap mounted on top of the chassis. ‘It would have looked better channelled but as it was already chopped that wasn’t an option’

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Left: Rear lights are repro ’41-’48 Chevy, while the Monarchs club plaque is a survivor from the coupe’s original build Below: The Cortina rear axle is located by a triangular 4-bar arrangement, with a pair of GAZ coilovers completing the installation. The body was already chopped 6-inches and painted when Kim bought it. Some of the paint buffed up okay but he had to touch maybe 75% of it with rattle cans. He also covered the cut and shut ‘glass roof in waterproof canvas and formed the ali door gutters. The rear window came from Steve Henshaw’s Model A. Despite the obvious differences in running gear, Kim tells us that outwardly the Sport coupe looks pretty much as it did when it was first rodded nigh on years ago

build process somewhat, it did keep a firm grip on expenditure. In need of something to which to bolt the body, Kim bagged a stock Model A chassis via the NSRA forum. The front axle came from the same source, and when it came to the Mk4 Cortina rear axle Kim had his sights firmly set on one from an estate car. The choice of gearbox ratios and rear tyre size computed to 4.11 as being the ideal rear axle ratio and that’s exactly what was fitted to a Cortina estate.

A better look

Kim tack welded everything needed to form the rolling chassis but didn’t feel confident enough to complete the final welding to a

satisfactory standard. A couple of fellow hot rodders chipped in to help him out though, Paul Murphy with the bracketry and Jon Gurney with the chassis boxing. With the car rolling, Kim pushed it out into the sunshine and his jaw instantly dropped. “The body looked crap mounted on top of the chassis,” he clarified. ‘It would have looked better

That’s two feature cars in this issue that boast aesthetically improved chassis rails in this manner. Who would credit it? Finishing touches included mounting the Morris 1000 fuel tank he had in stock inside the boot, having found it to be a perfect fit. Keeping it company is a rear passenger heater from a Rover P5, with the warm air

channelled but as it was already chopped that wasn’t an option.’ His brain kicked in and he recalled in the distant past that dummy ’32 chassis-style fibreglass panels were available. Kim’s subsequent research turned up a kit car body manufacturer that had the moulds, and with that the somewhat mundane-looking Model A chassis was transformed.

it generates being ducted into the cab by hoses exiting under the seats. Kim did the wiring using a kit from Speedway, a task he vows he will never do again, and the coupe was first on the road two years ago. There were no events to take it to back then though, and its first major outing was to the Supernats last year. That journey evoked yet more irony as the coupe broke

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Left: With the build based around a Jago body and chassis, Kim’s ’32 sedan delivery featured a Rover V8, BW trans’, Mk3 Cortina front suspension and a Jag IRS. Anyone think the backdrop for the Happy Home Bakery photoshoot looks familiar? Above: Snowblind featured a 1700cc Ford V4, 2000GT gearbox and a chromed S type Jag IRS. Paint was a Vauxhall Polar White base enhanced with blue lip lop and Mirraflake, before being liberally coated in lac uer

down and didn’t make it to the village where it all began for Kim. With those teething issues now resolved, I asked Kim the inevitable question: how does it drive? ‘Pretty much as you expect a hot rod to drive,’ he quipped. ‘It will do seventy on the A1 but it doesn’t like potholes at all. Unfortunate that I now live in Lincolnshire, then. ‘It is 90-year-old technology after all, and that has to be taken into account. There are a couple of issues I want to address, the first being to reroute the exhaust tailpipe so it runs over the rear axle rather than under it. I also want to lower the seats as forward vision isn’t that great thanks to the severe chop. I’m developing a John Milner hunch and I don’t like that. I just want to make the car more pleasant to drive, I guess.’ Kim hinted that he may be interested in letting the coupe go to help fund another plan on the horizon, the ’32 coupe he’s already well on with building. That project is based around an all-steel 5-window body and original chassis he sourced from Maryland, with the rolling stock now upgraded to I-beam front and Ford 9-inch rear axles and a small block Chevy. Maybe that will become another notch on his belt when it comes to having vehicles featured in this here magazine.

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Someone bagged a real bargain when Kim had to sell his chopped ’33 coupe (above left). One that got away was the Fordson van (left) that went on to become an 8-second Outlaw Anglia race car with Ginner at the wheel. Kim’s latest project, a ’32 5-window coupe (above), is coming on nicely

Thanks “Paul Murphy and Jon Gurney for their welding prowess, and my ever-supportive wife, Morgan”

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Out & About

Along Came a Cider

Words and pics: James Webber

The Kernow Old Vehicle Club staged its annual rally on a plot of land opposite the world-famous Rattler Cider Farm on a scorching weekend in July. Amazingly, this was the 47th staging of the event (they missed out on couple of years because of you know what) and yet the first time I had heard about it.

‘Everyone had a good time, surrounded by interesting cars and the sort of people we all enjoy hanging out with’ The glorious sunny weather attracted lots of vehicles ,from classic cars to

traction engines, buses and lorries. Some people came for just the one day, while others brought their tents and made a weekend of it; what they all had in common was that they had a good time, surrounded by interesting vehicles and the sort of people we all enjoy hanging out with. Throughout each day, various vehicles were brought into an arena and owners could talk a bit about their pride and joy before parading it around. All makes and models of cars were welcome and there was a good selection and variety of each; American stuff was a bit thin on the ground, though there were many other events going on around the country at the same time for owners to choose from. With a handful of local traders, autojumble pitches and inflatables for kids to play on, there was more than enough to keep visitors happy. The event was well organised and marshalled, too – certainly, I’d highly recommend anyone local,

or down this way on their staycations, to put the dates in their diary for next year – it’s great as a full day out or just a way to kill a morning or afternoon in between doing things. To find out more, track down the Kernow Old Vehicle Club on Facebook – you’ll need to join the page, but doing so will allow you to see this and previous years’ pics as well as details of next year’s dates CC

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My old man said… Words and pics: Jo Robbins Chilling in a field, surrounded by beautiful countryside and beautiful vans. Sounds alright, right? That was VanJam3, held by Vanditos at Fir Tree Farm Campsite in Warmington, near Banbury. Every visitor got a goody bag containing a VanJam 3 sticker and the all-important bank of Vanditos drink credit to exchange for your choice of eight ales, lagers and ciders in the main marquee. If these weren’t your drink of choice, there was also a bar serving both alcoholic and nonalcoholic cocktails. Being that the venue was a camp site, it won’t shock you to hear that most visitors stayed for the weekend. There were a few day trippers too, but mainly there was a

‘I will never forget the bits I can remember…’ brilliant variety of vans. Naturally, their owners were happy to offer advice on how they had created their interiors or fitted their exhausts, sending many away full of new ideas for their own project. Fire pits sprung up round the site to take the evening chill off and toast marshmallows prior to the evening fun, with a selection of movies and a Hawaiian themed party on the Saturday night. Plenty of outfits on show here, from hula skirts to what looked like a lobster. Come trophy presentation time on the Sunday, as always with Vanditos it didn’t

follow normal categories. A couple of the most unusual were for ‘tidiest rear end’ and ‘great wing,’ as well of course as best paint and judges’ favourite among others. The aim of the event was simply to get everyone together so they could admire the vans and eat, drink and be merry. And judging by the feedback we got, I’m pretty sure we pulled it off: ‘Thanks for an awesome weekend. I will never forget the bits I can remember.’ ‘What a great chilled-out weekend. One of the best get-togethers I’ve been to in a long time. Will definitely be back next year. Thank you for making me feel welcome.’ ‘What a cracking weekend had by all. Thank you very much to Clive, Angela and

all the Vanditos. It was a proper ol’skool weekend and we’re already talking about next year.’ ‘Thanks for a great time at the VanJam. Pleasure to meet such a friendly bunch. The lobster suit was a highlight for me.’ Aha! So it WAS a lobster… VanJam4 dates will happen on 2-4 June 2023, with tickets going on sale early in the new year. Vanditos are on Facebook at VanditosUK, or visit them at www.vanditos. co.uk CC

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Out & About

Dirty Weekend

Words and pics: Nick Prophet Hindenberg pre-’59 Dirt Track Races. It has a kind of ring to it. You know that you belong here. And after a two-year delay, or was it three (you know why), I was off. South of Berlin, close to the Polish border, lies the town of Lubbenau. The journey for me started in north-west France, and 1100 miles east lay my destination. Driving an old Ford truck, it was going to take a while… The first day’s drive got me to the town of Cambrai in eastern France. Into the town centre for a few beers and a bite to eat, but can’t be too stupid with another long drive in the morning. This time on to Frankfurt, or just to the south of the city at Gernshime on the Rhine, where I met my good friend Jimmy. A few more beers. After a hearty breakfast, we were soon on our way and not much later lost. But by the wonder of these electric things, with maps and all sorts of other stuff, we were heading east again. About half an hour from our destination, the heavens opened. To the point that we couldn’t see the road, so we pulled in to a service station. Much like everyone else. An hour later, we were on our way again and soon we reached Hindenberg. I think the numbers were down on the last time I was there. Maybe a combination of the weather, rumours of another cancellation, the Venice Beach Race and the price of fuel all added up. But we were there, so it was time for the well rehearsed routine. Open beer, take tent out of bag, open beer, set up tent. It would be impolite not to have a little libation. Chuck doss bags in tent. Head towards the sound of the music and naturally the bar. In the morning, we were awoken by the sound of engines. Followed by coffee and steak sarnies. The day is our lobster. The racing is divided into various groups. But frame or body must be pre-’59. Bikes are single or twins. Speedsters are 4 or 8-bangers, but valve in block. The

40s’ coupes are nearly all Flatheads, whereas the 50s’ cars are whatever fits under the hood. The weather held and the racing was intense, with where you finished putting you up or down the podium placements. Ahhh, lunch on the continent? The

‘Open beer, take tent out of bag, open beer, set up tent. Chuck doss bags in tent. Head towards the sound of music and naturally the bar’ stupidity of the British. Several pints of wine later, we didn’t need lunch. And then the afternoon session started, continuing on until about 5 or 6 o’clock.

After prizegiving? No surprises. Back to the bar – via the car show and trade stands, but mainly back to the bar. And so began another stonking evening and morning. The next day started bleary eyed. Much coffee later and now the afternoon, the dreaded drive west began. First stop somewhere near Frankfurt, then drop Jimmy at the airport and I headed for the Rhine for what I think is one of the best drives in the world, and I’ve done a few. This time I took a ferry over to the other side and into the mountains, roughly heading to Luxembourg and France. I camped near Amiens and was home the next day. Six days of driving and another 2229 miles added to the odometer. A great weekend, with great people. Would I do it again? Well this was my 4th year! So probably yes. YES, actually. Would I recommend it? YES, again. And if you want to do it in a reliable old Ford truck, it’s for sale. Drop me an email via the magazine and let’s talk. Stay sane all, and see you next year! CC

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like a car show, with no As always at these events, the camp site is all around Europe. Even end of rods and customs in attendance from of sorts. The camp the speedway’s own recovery truck is a classic shortest possible time. At least site is, however, largely a place to stay for the it starts to serve a useful purpose except when the bar is closed, at which point

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fia euro finals

et me start this report by saying if you haven’t been to the Euro Finals before, or even if you’ve just had a break from it for a few years, go next year. It is an outstanding race meet that stretches over a full four days and entices a truly international entry, along with a huge crowd of spectators to the Pod. Book an early bird ticket and it’s good value too, if you think about what you’re getting for your money, which includes all manner of off-track two and four-wheeled entertainment, frequent jet car demonstrations and all the usual Pod entertainment. Sure, there was a bit of rain in places this year, and consequently the meet was called earlier than planned on the Saturday, which threw the schedule a little, but the track crew did their usual sterling job of clearing and drying the track after the downpours and, for the first time in three years (due to the pandemic etc.), we had an FIA / FIM European Finals and were treated to three-second Top Fuellers, a World Record motorcycle run, side-by-side five

■ Words: Mike Pye Pics: Julian Hunt

second Top Methanol cars, Nitro and Nostalgia Funny Cars, one of the biggest field of Pro Mods we’ve seen and some of the best drag racing you’ll see outside America. There was a whole bunch of two-wheeled action too, including Top Fuel, Supertwin, Pro Stock and Super Street, but space constraints dictate we stick with just the four-wheeled coverage here. With one notable exception.

An outstanding race meet that stretches over a full four days and entices a truly international entry Sadly, the weekend was bittersweet for the tight knit bunch of Super Gas racers, a number of whom witnessed the untimely death of long-time bike and car racer, Jon Morton, who suffered a heart attack in the pits whilst in his car after a qualifying run on Thursday. Our thoughts are with all his family and friends, though we’re pleased to report his name will live long as, for 2023, the class is to be renamed Jon Morton Super Gas. A very fitting tribute CC To mark the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, racing was halted at 7.10pm on the Thursday evening and the National Anthem played, while a two-minute silence was held at 11.35 on the Friday, and again at 1.35 on Saturday, with all the track crew gathering at the start line to pay their respects

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Goodnight, Rocket Man Frenchman, Eric Teboul, has been pushing the limits of the human body for 22 years on his self-built rocket motorcycle, and the Euro Finals was to be his final performance as he’s finally decided to hang up his race suit and retire, at the ripe old age of 77. So, there we all were, a jam-packed bank (and a not quite so packed stand, due to the additional £11 per day seat cost), joining in the traditional countdown for his last ever pass. And in return, Eric only went and achieved his lifetime goal of being the first ever – and we do mean ever, anywhere in the world – person to run a four-second quarter on two wheels. An astonishing 4.976 at 290.51mph. If you were there, you witnessed history, the likes of which we’re unlikely to see again in our lifetimes. The perfect finish indeed.

FIA Top Fuel

Antti Horto vs Susanne Callin

There may only be a field of three runners in this Scandinavian-dominated, top-of-the-tree class but boy, do they put on a show. Albeit only running over 1000ft, if you’ve not witnessed side-by-side threes, you haven’t lived. It’s a visceral experience that shakes you to the core. This time out, it was Sweden’s Susanne Callin who came out on top, beating Finland’s Antti Horto in the Sunday final, a PB 3.885 / 309 vs 4.144 / 277, though Horto was celebrating too, having clinched his first FIA championship earlier on that day after running 3.821 / 305 on the Saturday. Callin is the championship runner-up. Ida Zetterstrom, on the other hand, didn’t have such a successful weekend, seemingly unable to put down the prodigious power of her machine, lighting the tyres on every run.

FIA Pro Stock Pro Stock is arguably the most competitive drag racing class in the USA today, with huge fields often separated by less than half a second, but in Europe it’s a very small entry, again entirely dominated by Swedes. Things got off to a tyre shaky start for Jimmy Alund in qualifying one, though Stefan Ernryd and Michael Malmgren both showed the crowd what these cars are capable of, 6.723 / 206 and 6.606 / 203 respectively, albeit not side by side. Ernryd dropped the laundry on the line next time out, leaving Malmgren to go into top spot on a storming 6.582 / 209 pass. Next time out, Alund clinched his 12th FIA Pro Stock championship, clocking 6.635 / 208 against a slowing Ernryd (8.022 / 124), but Malmgren wasn’t going quietly, posting another blistering 6.602 / 208 on a bye. He continued his charge in a butt clencher of a final, defeating Alund by 0.0287 seconds, 6.615 / Michael Malmgren vs Jimmy Alund 206 to 6.618 / 208. Fantastic racing.

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FIA Pro Modified Jan Ericsson once Jan Ericsson again proved he is the man to beat, carding a magnificent 5.816 / 247 in qualifying one, while Swedish countryman Roger Johansson, now running a converter in place of his clutch, clicked off a 5.949 / 232. Bobby Wallace was the quickest of the sixes behind. A new car on us was Walter Strobel Marck Harteveld from Germany with a very tough looking, blown ’69 Camaro, doing licensing passes on the Friday and straight into the 7.10s on Saturday afternoon. Ever the crowd favourite, though, it was Freddy Fagerstrom that had the hill on its feet every time he pulled his old pick-up into stage – and never more so than when he ran a Santa Pod PB of 6.033 / 232 in qualifying two against Andy Robinson (6.562 / 171), pushing him up to the number four spot. Then there was the time his crew bump started the car on Sunday after it lost fire. Another first at Santa Pod by all accounts. Germany. David Vegter’s Camaro had been through Andy Robinson’s shop after a mishap at Hockenheim and came out strong, a 5.896 / 242 in a magnificent qualifying two race alongside Estonia’s Andres Arnover, 6.000 / 244 (improved to a PB 5.847 / 252 in a late time trial). Michel Tooren and Bobby Wallace were also in the fives, Wallace’s 5.910 / 242 being his quickest pass to date to give him third spot. Come Sunday eliminations, it was anyone’s race. Wallace upped his PB to a 5.896 / 245, Bruno Bader was in the fives, a disqualified Jean Dulamon had a big nitrous explosion half track and Arnover broke, leaving Andy Robinson to go through. Meanwhile, Johansson took out Tebenham, Webster was having transmission woes and there was a lot of tyre shake in the rest of the field. Second round of eliminations saw another fantastic race, side-by-side 5.80s from Ericsson and Bruno Bader (5.832 / 245 vs 5.879 / 241), then a brace of 6.0s from Slyfield and Fagerstrom, followed by side-by-side 5.90s from Brits Wallace and Robinson (5.918 / 241 vs 5.972 / 243). Pro Mod racing doesn’t get any better than that. Come the final, though, Ericsson had taken out Kev Slyfield and Fagerstrom lost fire, meaning it was blown Ericsson alongside nitrous Wallace, and the whole facility held its breath. Wallace away first but a move to the wall and tyre shake let Ericsson roar through for the win, 5.818 / 245 to a game 6.369 / 232. Bobby Wallace

Freddy Fagerstrom

Roger Johansson

Walter Strobel

Andres Arnover vs Andy Robison

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Nic Williams

Track Worx Competition Eliminator If, like us, you’re more a fan of heads-up racing then Comp Eliminator is where it’s at. An equally varied field includes everything from turbocharged rails through Nostalgia Superstock cars to insane front-wheel drive hatches, but there are seven-second runners among them so you’re going to have to bring your A-game if you want to stand Dan Williams any chance of taking the win. Things got off to an exciting start when Lloyd Perkins lost it at the 60ft mark and showed the belly of his Oldsmobile Cutlass to the Thursday crowd, but got out just fine. Paula Atkins then took a six-second trip into the field when the parachute failed to open on her Mustang and Chris Orthodoxou threw a rod on a seven, doing severe damage to his motor in the process. Kev Jenkins, meanwhile, ran a 7.711 / 178 in the screaming four-pot Escort but improved that to an incredible 7.383 / 183 (on a 7.80 dial in) in qualifying three on Friday. Dan Williams, meanwhile, was looking solid in the number one spot (9.836 / 130 on a 10.49 dial in), though Switzerland’s Rene Ehrismann was in the sevens and hard on his heels (7.367 / 192 on an 8.02 dial), with Robin Orthodoxou number three. PBs in round four, notably from the FWD contingent, and Nic Williams up to the four spot. Come eliminations on the Sunday, Kev Jenkins upped his PB again to 7.293 / 188, putting Ehrismann on the trailer in the process. Both Williams brothers Kev Jenkins through, as well as Spencer Tramm and Andy Nicholls with his first ever eight (8.956 / 163) in the screaming Civic. Rene Ehrismann Jenkins spared the Escort’s motor on his bye into the semis, while Dan Williams dispensed with Andy Nicholls off the line and Tramm saw red in his efforts to overcome Nic Williams. One of the three was going to get a bye into the final and it was Nic Williams, while a brutal charge from Jenkins (7.294 / 188 on a 7.80) wasn’t quite brutal enough to reel in Dan Williams (9.811 / 127 on a 10.49) meaning it was going to be an all Williams final. It was to be Nic’s day this time, his 10.854 / 117 on an 11.40 dial in enough to defeat Dan’s 9.781 / 131 on a 10.32. We suspect a few beers may have been sunk chez Williams Robin Orthodoxou Lloyd Perkins that evening.

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Lee Huxley

Modurstang Pro ET It was the 8.50 – 11.99 second Pro ET class that kicked off the racing when the track was dry on Thursday morning, with Brett Featherstone leading the championship. But, with a massive entry of 49 cars, it wasn’t going to be an easy ride for anyone. Laura Baynton was back out in competition and Alfie Wratten was on fire, bagging Marc Huxley a Tig Napier Perfect Light Award on the Thursday for lighting all the zeros. At the end of qualifying one, the top three were John Dalrymple (9.315 / 152 on a 9.28 dial in), Germany’s Andrew Nahler in the VW Beetle (10.156 / 128 on a 10.12, later improving to a PB 10.09) and Lee Huxley (9.477 / 140 on a 9.44). Next time out, Andy Garnett nailed a 0.005 reaction time on the tree, bagging top spot and Andy Hadfield’s Perfect ET award (11.050 / 115 on an 11.05 dial). Gary Carr, Mason Griffiths, Simon Gough and Bob Molden all made big gains. In qualifying three, Garnett held position while Mason Griffiths moved up to second (9.251 / 140 on a 9.25), and Allan Schofield into third (9.043 / 150 on a 9.04). Tom Watkins Round four and it was Stuart Doignie’s turn to jump up the ladder to the number three spot with an 11.862 / 114 on a 11.86 dial in, along with Tig Napier and David Rudd, but Will Clark’s 9.800 / 135 on a 9.80 dial was the best of the lot, clinching the top spot. At the end of the final qualifying session on Saturday, a number of breakages and break outs reduced the field, but still there were 32 cars in competition, separated by a biggest margin of just 0.0446 seconds from their dial ins. That’s how close this fiercely competitive class is. The high point, literally, of the first round of eliminations on Sunday was Tom Watkins’ Alfie Wratten monster wheelie, thanks to a new 604ci Keith Black / Stage V Hemi on board his Charger, but the racing remained fast and furious. When the dust settled at the end of round three, the field was down to just four: Stuart Doignie, Mike Lacey and the Huxley brothers, Lee and Marc. Out were AC Bell, Tom Kaye, Brett Featherstone and Allan Schofield. When Lee Huxley took out Doignie and Marc Huxley saw off Lacey, the stage was set for an all-Huxley final. At the stripe, it was Lee in the Mustang (9.492 / 140 on a 9.48), just a gnat’s ahead of Marc in the Toyota Corolla (10.268 / 128 on a 10.18). Another happy household that evening, we’re sure. Brett Featherstone

Tig Napier

Chloe Wilkins

Laura Baynton

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Peter Nee Super Pro ET With a 6.00 – 8.99 Brian Pateman index, Super Pro ET is the quicker cousin to Pro ET, and draws a huge range of cars into competition, from Outlaw Anglias to slingshot dragsters, floppers, rails and just about everything in between. This meet saw the first full pass from Andy Thetford’s sinister The Black Pearl twin turbo Camaro, which Billy Gane is definitely one to watch. Not so good was seeing Swiss racer, Thomas Haas, hurt the motor in his tough-looking Plymouth Valiant on the Thursday, ending his weekend far earlier than he’d have liked. After the first round of qualifying was interrupted by rain, the top three on the tree were Tom Atkinson, Harrison Brown and Mark Bailey, with 26 further runners behind them. Come Friday morning, Alan Didwell’s 7.73 on a 7.73 dial at 173mph leapfrogged him into the number one spot, with Colin Morrice coming straight in at second and Tom Atkinson pushed into third, though very happy with a PB 8.436 / 159 on an 8.45 dial in. Brian Pateman, Daniel Giles and Pete Walters (championship leader going into this event) all made significant gains. The top three positions remained the same at the end of play Friday, though Scott Hauser shot up from the 30 spot to number four after posting a 7.375 / 179 on a 7.36 dial in. In qualifying four, Daniel Giles’ very measured staging process paid off when he bagged a perfect ET (7.370 / 179 on a 7.37) and the number one spot, but Didwell, Morrice, Hauser and Atkinson all held tight behind. Come eliminations on the Sunday, Billy Gane moved into top spot in the championship after defeating Pete Walters (8.615 / 151 on an 8.56 vs 7.696 / 166 on a 7.64), while Morrice, Atkinson, Hauser and Giles all continued their winning ways, along with Callum Swinchatt, Brian Pateman, Lee Darby, Colin Millar, Joe Kellett, Mark Turner, Ron Bartlett, David Russell and Mick Howling. By 7.15pm, the class had reached its quarter finals, where Ron Bartlett nailed a perfect ET (8.290 / 163 on an 8.29) after Swinchatt lit a cherry alongside. Darby and Bailey then followed the red suit, leaving the way clear for Pateman and Gane, while a breakout from Atkinson saw Giles into the semis. Unfortunately, there it was Giles’ turn to do similar, running .036 under his dial in to let Gane into the final against old hand, Brian Pateman. It was dark, and a lot of people had Lee Darby Jack Brewster gone home, by the time Pateman’s 8.362 / 157 on an 8.34 dial in defeated Gane’s 8.580 / 162 on an 8.58 but it was a fitting end to a very close-run battle. John Tebenham

Thomas Haas

Andy Thetford

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46 CUSTOM CAR DECEMBER 2022

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13/10/2022 15:21

Tony Bryntesson

Sandro Bellio

Daniel Jedborn

Linn Floysvik

Top Methanol

Daniel Jedborn

When there are nitro classes on the bill, the Top Methanol runners naturally take somewhat of a back seat. But their performance, and the sheer noise they generate, has to be seen to be believed. And, in fairness to the competitors, they’re not much slower than the Fuel cars and, arguably, are more consistent, making it a great class to watch, and hear! Round one qualifying had its problems, but five out of the six entries made it down track, just over one second separating Sweden’s Daniel Jedborn (5.301 / 272) from Belgium’s Sandro Bellio (6.317 / 159). Things really hotted up in qualifying two, ear-splitting side-by-side fives from Tony Bryntesson alongside Jonny Lagg (5.569 / 255 vs 5.432 / 268) raising a huge cheer from the crowd. Likewise, Bellio’s 5.487 / 262 in the orange flopper, which jumped him to the top. In eliminations on Sunday, Jedborn took out Bryntesson in another fantastic race (5.380 / 262 vs 5.811 / 256), while another great pairing was cut short when Linn Floysvik’s car dropped its ’chute mid-track on a hard charge against Lagg. With Bellio then defeating Silvio Strauch, the championship was still wide open. Round two eliminations were less exciting, though Bellio put in a fine 5.50 bye for the crowd at 262mph, while Lagg convincingly saw off Jedborn, meaning it would be Sweden vs Belgium in the final. Once again, they didn’t disappoint, a roaring 5.514 / 262 from Bellio just defeating Lagg’s 5.678 / 253 at the stripe. A superb end to a fine showing from this small but very potent category.

Funny Car Cup Fuel Funny Cars are a rare breed outside of the USA, but the Euro Finals attracted four of the unpredictable beasts to the Pod, running against one another in the Funny Car Cup. The first round occurred at midday on the Friday and saw Sweden’s Patrik Pers bag a solo PB, 4.561 / 208 after Jason Phelps was shut down. Steve Ashdown and Kevin Kent then came round, blasting through on 4.475 / 244 and 5.778 / 126 respectively. Refuelled, Phelps put in a 7.085 / 94 to close the round with Ashdown on pole. Session two was a bit of a damp squib, so we’ll move on. Late sleeping campers were awoken at 9.30 on the Saturday morning by Kevin Kent blasting through on a 4.738 / 191 to make up time, following that up with a magnificent 4.241 / 264 in session three that ended in the field when his chutes failed to deploy. In session three, it was Kent’s turn to visit the field at the end of a 4.241 / 264 pass, moving him into top spot while the other contenders struggled. By round one of eliminations, however, the championship had been decided. Phelps and Kent put in side-byside fives (5.343 / 149 vs 5.785 / 124) and Kent’s loss handed the laurels to Ashdown. Not one to disappoint the crowd, though, Steve Ashdown Ashdown put in a spectacular 4.499 / 218 with a ball of fire pass, while Pers, equally spectacularly, pulled a 100mph wheelie at half track and lifted. The result was that only Phelps made it to the start line for the final, clocking an offform 9.344 / 78 due to tyre shake.

Jason Phelps

Patrik Pers

Kevin Kent

DECEMBER 2022 CUSTOM CAR 47

10pp Euro Finals.indd 47

13/10/2022 15:22

Tony Betts

Andy Raw vs Tim Garlick

Paul Harris

Nostalgia Funny Car

Wendy Baker

Six entries listed, but only five made it to the track for this event, the Dirty Deeds Camaro of Rob Elsom conspicuously missing. Once again run to the Cannonball format of aggregate times with the quickest two going through to the final, the teams laid out their stalls in round one. Tim Garlick and Andy Raw were first up, Andy running a spec outside of class regs as, in his words, “I just want to go as quick as I can.” 6.229 / 221 for Garlick, 6.540 / 180 for Raw. Great match race. Tony Betts pedalled his bye to a 7.586 / 166, while Wendy Baker was pushed back after the burnout in the Time Warp Mustang. A series on incidents in round two saw only Raw put in a full pass, 8.833 / 98, and he held his top spot through round three too, after carding a 10.844 / 75 with a lift. Garlick ran quickest in that round, 6.300 / 194, alongside Paul Harris’ first pass of the weekend in the Hustler (8.375 / 96) and Betts strapped on a 7.540 / 207 on his second attempt, leaving Raw, Betts and Garlick in the top three positions, in that order, going into Sunday. All five entries put in passes on Sunday afternoon, but Garlick’s consistency (6.379 / 221) moved him up to the number two spot, meaning he would face Raw in the final. And they certainly didn’t disappoint those that stayed until 7pm to see it, a spanking 6.45 from Garlick edging it over the 6.69 from Raw. Fabulous stuff.

BeFastR Super Comp It was Leah Kellett who led the charge in this 8.90-second class after the first round of qualifying (9.000 / 162), improving further to 8.924 / 163 in round two. Germany’s Arndt Putzmann, driving his somewhat incongruous looking Volkswagen entry, was still some having troubles, while Richard Tunstall and Steve Hudson were both running right on the class dial-in with times of 8.987 / 154 and 8.993 / 143 respectively. With multiple break outs in qualifying Richard Tunstall three, Steve Hudson leapfrogged into the top spot with a perfect 8.900 at 144mph. Paul Hudson then made a charge, but Kellett kept her cool, posting a perfect 8.900 / 164 on the board. A long wait for the first round of eliminations on the Sunday saw both Hudsons, Kellett and Tunstall all go through, but then Paul Hudson take out Steve Hudson in the semis (8.944 / 166 vs Steve Hudson 8.928 / 134) and Tunstall dispense with Kellett (8.964 / 145 vs a break out 8.868 / 165) on the other side of the ladder. Come the final, it proved to be Tunstall’s day, his time of 8.953 / 145 seeing off Hudson’s 9.034 / 159.

Paul Hudson

Leah Kellett

Arndt Putzmann

48 CUSTOM CAR DECEMBER 2022

10pp Euro Finals.indd 48

13/10/2022 15:22

Lucas Oil Junior Dragster

Luke Mugridge

A huge field of 30 signed on for the 8-17-year old Junior class where reaction times are everything and, by the end of the second qualifying session on Friday morning, the top three on the tree were Ted Sullivan, Ellie May Brown and Tom Peters. After qualifying three, though, it was all change – Luke Mugridge, Ted Sullivan and Harry Peters respectively, with Ada Cassisi, Jessica Bishop and Chevy Checkett all Lara Bartlett making huge leaps. It stayed that way until after the thick Harry Peters fog had cleared on Sunday morning and the class opened the racing just after 11am. Sullivan then went out to Liam McDonald, while Mugridge went Ellie Brown vs Jessica Bishop through on a bye. Special mention should go to Grace Smith Chevy Checkett and Ada Cassisi who had a fantastic race, both bang on their dial ins (9.291 on a 9.29 and 9.959 on a 9.95 respectively). In round two of eliminations, the winners were Daniel Weir, Lara Bartlett, Grace Smith, Damion Redshaw, Finley Fagg, Jessica Bishop, Luke Mugridge and Liam McDonald on a bye. Bartlett, Bishop, Fagg and Mugridge then made up the semi-finalists, which reduced to Bishop and Mugridge for the final, the latter lifting the crown with an 8.175 / 76 on an 8.14 dial in vs 8.115 / 78 on an 8.10 dial.

Jon Morton

Pete Cresswell

Ronald Huis

Tony Morris Carburetors Super Gas Fifteen cars were signed on for the 9.90-second class, which consistently produces ultra-tight racing. Pete Cresswell was in the top spot after the first round of qualifying, 9.954 / 152, while Dutchman, Ronald Huis, was obviously excited to be back, charging through to a too quick 9.139 at 148mph. Come round two on Friday, there was a sombre moment when Dan Page staged for the sadly departed Jon Morton against Mark White, who then took the win for his old friend. Meanwhile, Andy Dibley drove Jon’s old No Hair Camaro into the no.1 spot (9.903 / 145), with Simon Fulton (9.926 / 144) and Colin Morrice (9.941 / 145) right behind him. Just to confuse the crowd, in qualifying three Jazmine Tunstall pulled round in the T roadster her dad was racing in Super Comp, going on to clock a solid 9.993 / 143 pass. Old hand, Dave Cherrett, moved up to second place behind Dibley, Cresswell in third. Next time out, it was Dutchman Stevan Reffeltrath (9.953 / 147) jumping the ladder, from 10 to four, but the top three remained the same. That was to change in the first round of eliminations on Sunday, as Simon Fulton’s no show left the way clear for White. Jon Turner and Reffeltrath also both failed to reach the start, letting Huis and Molden through, along with Cresswell, Morrice, Dave Fulton, Dibley and Andy Harrison on a bye. Round two saw Dave Fulton despatch Molden, White see off Harrison, Dibley wave goodbye to Morrice and Cresswell through on a solo. A pair of fouls in the semis ensured Cresswell and Fulton face off in the final, where Cresswell’s 9.917 / 148 overcame his opponent’s 9.895 / 130.

Mark White

Stevan Reffeltrath

DECEMBER 2022 CUSTOM CAR 49

10pp Euro Finals.indd 49

13/10/2022 15:22

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Some new entries Andy Bond this weekend in the street car class that continues to inspire, though it’s a daunting prospect to enter these days with the number of cars capable of running into the sixes and sevens. Both Rob Turner and Graham Smith had their new / rebuilt ’57 Chevys out to play, 10.55 and 11.97 respectively, Tony Higgs with more to come, while Mark Sheridan has recently completed a total rebuild of his ’71 ’Cuda and has the potential to run with the quickest in the class. Kirstie Tramm, meanwhile, made her debut in a Gen 3 Camaro, a 12.27 at 112mph being well within the 13.5-second cut off for the class. In qualifying two there were PBs for Tony Higgs in the outrageously quick Capri (7.734 / 179) and Smith (9.356 / 144), but the turbo terrors, Andy Bond and Mark Todd, held the two top spots going into Saturday. More PBs. a 10.655 / 128 for James Murray in the innocuous looking Cortina estate and an elated first seven for Sheridan (7.928 / 171), while Al McSweeney’s consistent sevens in the Volvo (7.708 / 179) moved him up to third. That’s five cars running in the sevens. Sometimes, even that’s not enough though, as in qualifying four Bond once again dipped into the sixes (6.990 / 207) to cement his lead, while Elliot Day was on a hard charge in the Willys coupe (9.115 / 153) and Slater touched his first nine (9.976 / 138). After that, the competitors had to wait until 6.30 on the Sunday for their first elimination round, which saw Smith, Higgs, Murray, Day, McSweeney, Bond and Antony Wilkins all go through and Todd step down with gearbox trouble. Day, Bond, Higgs and McSweeney carried on through round two, but then Bond despatched McSweeney in a squeaker of a semi (7.676 / 193 vs 7.625 / 180), while Higgs left Day for dust on the other side of the ladder (7.958 / 175 vs 9.083 / 153), meaning he would face Bond in the final. Graham Smith vs Rob Slater It was a close-run thing, but in the end Bond’s additional speed carried him over the line, 7.512 / 195 vs Higgs’ 7.953 / 174. Great racing. James Murray

Elliot Day

Kirstie Tramm

Mark Sheridan

50 CUSTOM CAR DECEMBER 2022

10pp Euro Finals.indd 50

13/10/2022 15:22

WORKBENCH WITH PEGBOARD

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MM1 Custom Car 275x200 pg1.indd Mart_3pgs.indd 1 Custom Car_2022_12_Dec_Machine 1

03/10/2022 13:15 16:43 04/10/2022

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MM2 Custom Car 275x200 pg2.indd Mart_3pgs.indd 1 Custom Car_2022_12_Dec_Machine 2

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03/10/2022 13:17 16:45 04/10/2022

Auto focus ■ Words and Pics: Keith Lee

This month, Keith looks at the exploits of the Stones team – newly indicted to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame

his year’s British Drag Racing Hall of Fame gala will be taking place just a few days after this issue of Custom Car is sent out. The event will be overshadowed by the sad loss of Jon Morton, who was just so joyous at being selected for induction into the HoF but tragically succumbed to a heart attack at the Euro Finals. Now, Jon would be the last person to want those present to be downbeat, as his prescription would be to raise a glass or two – and enjoy the food, with gusto! There will no doubt be many stories about Mort shared during the evening. Also being honoured are the National Street Rod Association, Mark Flavell, the Stones team and overseas inductee, the late Dutch bike racer Henk Vink. It is the Stones team who I wanted to look back at, as they were such a prominent part of UK and European drag racing – especially in the hectic days of the seventies. Dave Stone was out on track in a

Lotus Cortina back in 1969, and by 1970 he and his father Dennis were racing together as a two car team. Dennis had bought a Chevy-powered Opus from Cliff Jones, which was running in the Competition Altered division. This wild little car might have been handled by Dennis originally, but his lanky son was soon to be found having a run in the aptly named Opus One. A distinctive Crower injection system and other goodies were fitted to provide more performance, as the little blue car became a crowd pleaser. Not standing still, a more substantial T-bodied car was procured from the team of Benbow and Fullerton for 1972 – with the injected Chevy motor replacing the car’s original Pontiac power unit. This car would become well known in drag racing circles as Tee Rat, as it would become THE most memorable altered of the era – both for its performance and the manner it achieved it! A Pro Stock class was introduced in 1973, which was the domain of Chevrolet power,

with Camaro being the car of choice. The Stones came from the Ford stronghold of Dagenham, but Chevy was their preference for power also. However the body for their entry was the humble Ford Escort, with a 302 motor shoe horned into the engine bay. Gerry Andrews was the main driver of this little pocket rocket, which they named Tender Trap. By 1974, the Stones were competing with no less than three entries. A real master stroke was the inclusion of the Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis as part of the team. DLT loved his cars and proved to be an excellent advocate for the sport – and no mean driver. He was now driving the team’s Escort when he was available over a couple of seasons, before the car was initially retired. The other big news for the team was the inclusion of a dragster for Gerry Andrews to drive. This Allan Herridge built car was fitted with the injected motor from Tee Rat, which itself was now sporting a blown lump, for even quicker times. A notable success came at Silverstone, where DLT won his class in the Escort and Gerry clinched the Top Dragster victory. That left Dave Stone, who became the first 7-second altered runner, as he defeated Mike Hall with a best of 7.96 / 198 to make it a clean sweep for the team! A new Roland Pratt built chassis formed the basis for a revised Tee Rat, which ended up taking on the funny cars of the day – and winning – as it propelled Dave to 7.5s times in what was a very short life he hevy powered scort first appeared in ’ . ender rap resurfaced in the late s, resplendent in tardust inspired livery

54 CUSTOM CAR DECEMBER 2022

2pp Auto Focus.indd 54

13/10/2022 15:23

Left: Some of the Stones team behind Don Garlits in 1976. From left: Gerry Andrews, Dave Stone, David Davies, with Dennis Stone on the right. n the firesuit is live kilton

ot one of my finest shots but it is well over 50 years old! It shows Opus One charging away from the line. Looks like Dennis driving

eadle funny car came to a fiery bove he e end, when Dave Stone was lucky to escape from the inferno

for that particular ride. Hemi Hunter was sporting a blower in ’75, and it turned in even quicker times during that year. It would prove to be a very tough car to beat in the newly introduced Pro Comp class. While Gerry Andrews was enjoying the extra power, Dave would find himself in 1976 sat in the funny car that had set the strip and fans alight in 1973. The ex Don Schumacher Stardust Cuda was purchased from Santa Pod, to start another new direction for this dynamic team, as they geared up by putting their Chevy motor into the well loved car. The yellow and blue car did taste victory during that first season, against more favoured rivals, as they settled into the class. Dave competed in the machine for another couple of seasons before moving

which Dave Stone in the always spectacular Tee Rat, a is shown at lackbushe after being fitted with blower. First UK altered in the sevens

up another notch. The team took on another ex-American race car in the shape of the Mustang II in which Raymond Beadle had wowed fans on his visits to the UK. When unable to race in the funny car, Dave amused himself by dusting off Tender Trap for some outings. After an initial outing for the new funny at the end of 1979, in an unexpected colour, it emerged in 1980 in similar paint scheme to Stardust, which is not so surprising, as this car would continue the naming into the new decade. The year 1983 would be a bad year for this great bunch of racers. At the May Big Go event, Dave suffered a major fireball at the top end at Santa Pod. He was lucky to escape with just a number of burns, as

it needed opponent Owen Hayward and a marshal to free him – while the Mustang was totally destroyed in the fierce fire! This would prove to be the last race for Dave Stone. If that wasn’t bad enough for the team, Gerry Andrews rolled Hemi Hunter in a big way at the September event. He quickly emerged unscathed from the wreckage, to the relief of everyone. Although the Stones would successfully continue with Gerry, and later on by Dick Kruse in a new Pro Comp entry, as always under the guidance of ‘Daddy’ Dennis Stone, those events of 1983 drew a close to an eventful chapter for these well loved stars of the strip.

Above left: Gerry Andrews popping the chute in Hemi Hunter at Snetterton. The name, and some of the original car, still lives on today Above: The original Stardust lauching against Owen Hayward in Houndog, as the Stones made progress in the flopper division Right: The replacement rear-engined Hemi Hunter entry. Gerry Andrews taking on the Le Patron dragster of Jim Read. These two teams would be a dominant force in Pro Comp over many years Left: Parked in front of the old barn at anta Pod is the final drive for Dave Stone

DECEMBER 2022 CUSTOM CAR 55

2pp Auto Focus.indd 55

13/10/2022 15:24

EMAIL: amglass100@gmail.com

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56 CUSTOM CAR DECEMBER 2022

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JUNE

29 Flame & Thunder. Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

11 ‘Normous Newark Autojumble. Newark Showground NG24 2NY. www.newarkautojumble.co.uk

2-4 VanJam Fir Tree Farm, Warmington. www.vanditos.co.uk

18 Christmas Toy Run. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

7-9 Dragstalgia Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

29 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com 30 RWYB. Santa Pod Raceway. www.rwyb.com

NOVEMBER 11-13 Classic Motor Show. NEC, Birmingham. www.necclassicmotorshow.com 19 Mustang O.C. Meet. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com 20 ‘Normous Newark Autojumble. Newark Showground NG24 2NY. www.newarkautojumble.co.uk 26 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

26 Cold Turkey Meet. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com 31 All American Cruise In / Frozen Fins. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

APRIL 7-9 Festival of Power Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

MAY

19-21 Doorslammers Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk 26-29 The Main Event Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

JULY

AUGUST

4-6 Ultimate Street Car Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

SEPTEMBER

7-10 European Finals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk 8-9 Hindenberg Dirt Track Races www.hindenberg-dirt-track.com 15-17 Isle of Man Festival of Motoring www.iomfm.com 01732 879153

OCTOBER

28 Flame & Thunder Show Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

58 CUSTOM CAR DECEMBER 2022

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ONE HOT LUMP, PLEASE

From the archive 50 years ago: Custom Car, December 1972

Half a dozen pages ago, you’ll find Keith Lee’s story about the exploits of the much loved Stones racing team. By a strange coincidence, exactly 50 years ago Custom Car featured its first ever front cover engine pic – and was one of their engines. The 427 Chevy which helped the team’s legendary Tee Rat to become the UK’s first altered to run in the 7s, it was brought to our studio by Dave Stone and ended up being photographed for the best part of a day. The reason? Custom Car’s staff had been getting down and dirty with the whole subject of engine building – and this here article was the result. It may have dated badly, and the prices quoted in it will make you hoot, but like every item in our Archive series it’s a piece of history that helps make sense of the present – and even today, it’s an informative read by anyone’s standards

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Note: This article quotes a number of prices, all of them based on the market as it was in late 1972. Inflation over the course of the intervening half-century means that £1000 then is equivalent to approximately £10,500 now A drag motor sitting pulsating on its mountings looks externally very much like its close friend that never gets further than the engine bay of a family sedan. Just what is it that makes an American V8 hurl a dragster up the strip so fast? To find out, we spent a couple of days pumping Dave Riswick at John Woolfe Racing for all the info. Spent a fair time in the parts shelves too, digging all the Stateside goodies out of their cartons. We knew we’d never get the complete story down here in a meagre couple of pages – that’d take about three books – but what we did find out was the general way that the planning for a competitive drag engine should be formulated. The factors involved are the monetary budget and the decision whether to run the motor as a fueler (running nitro or a similar fuel) or a gasser (running on regular pump petrol) or maybe even with the capability of changing from gas to fuel somewhere along the line. Budgeting for the engine will dictate just what can be built up: £500 will build a conventionally aspirated engine with either a single or a multiple carburettor set-up and all the good things that live in the block to make it go and prevent it from blowing itself up too often; up to £1500 and not less than £1000 is going to build you a fuel injection engine of the same standard. Finally, the big jump to a supercharged and injected lump. Well, if you get it done right it’s going to bust you at least four grand and probably more. With a blown set-up, the power will shred any standard drivetrain. So what Dave terms a ‘super bulletproof’ transmission, clutch and axle must be added to the cost on top of the engine. Note that it’s not necessary to make a tough gearbox, however, as most top dragsters are driven direct. Many different engines are used for drag racing but the best known ones are the small and big block Chevys and the big Chryslers, and these will do just fine as examples for this article. For performance gained per pound, the small-block Chevy shows up as the engine to go for, at least up to our limit for stack-type fuel injection. After that, when you’re up in the supercharger bracket, the added strength of the big Chrysler makes it desirable property. No reason why anyone should avoid blowing a Chev lump though, because plenty of people have done it successfully. Chevrolet’s famous series of small-block V8s started with the 265ci version way back in 1955. Over the years, this basic engine has been increased in size right up to 400ci. The popular sizes that have appeared in the intervening years have been the 283, 302, 307, 327 and 350ci versions which have enjoyed great popularity with both the Hot Rod and the Trans Am set. Adhering to the budget, you’d probably search for a used motor or block assembly to cut the cost of the build-up. From 1955, the internals of all the engines were basically the same and most parts were interchangeable until around 1967, when the crank journal sizes of the 302 and 350 were changed. Around that time, four-bolt main bearing caps were introduced, too. Used engine prices rather depend on whether the guy selling it knows just what potential his oily great lump of American iron really has. You could be lucky and pick up a very useable engine anywhere from £25 through to £150. The later the engine the better, and

Chevy small-block, left cylinder bank

Holley plus Edelbrock – set-up for a big power increase

Underside of unmounted Holley 800 double pumper and Edelbrock Tarantula manifold

Chevy small block showing special Milodon main bearing caps for early 265, 283 and 327 engines

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identification of the valve cover bolts will help here. The line of bolts was staggered on the 265 engine, but went over to a straight pattern in mid-1959 on the 283, and all the 327 and later engines featured the same style. ou can also help yourself to place an engine by learning to identify heads. arly ones had very small ports and bare cast ends, but the next series had larger ports and featured a triangular bump on the ends of the heads. The third series had two bumps, and are the best. The 327 high-performance engine first appeared in the Corvette in 1962, and the heads on it were rather special. They had 2.02in inlet valves and 1.625in exhaust valves, and some of them sported the latest type Rochester fuel injection. The ones that did were known as ‘fuely heads’ and at the time they were the very last thing in production performance modifications. f you find a set, you’re on to a very good thing. ngine mounting points also help to date an engine. f there is no mounting between the core plugs on the side of the engine, then it’s an older one, and not as desirable as the later models which have triangular fixing points. Okay. Having found an engine, let’s say a 350ci of ’68 vintage, we need to know the basic re uirements for making it get up and go. f it’s what M called a ’High Output’ unit, it’ll have a good alloy inlet manifold as standard and probably a big Holley carb too. f it doesn’t have a Holley, it needs one the right one, please. f it’s just a standard engine, though, featuring a cast iron manifold, the first task is to give the iron the big heave and substitute either the factory alloy one or one of delbrock’s -choke aluminium Tarantulas, which will give around a 53bhp increase over the production iron effort. Costs around £55 over here. f you really feel you need that cast iron manifold, though, you could retain it and add the latest trick Holley a spread-bore carb with four chokes, specially made to fit that good ole cast iron. Assuming for the moment that we’re using the alloy factory manifold, a single four-barrel double-pumper carb is a pretty good idea. A double-pumper operates in very much the same fashion as a progressive choke carburettor, except that it has four choke bores and a mechanically operated second opening, which injects neat fuel through four nozzles when you bury your foot in it.

Standard 2-bolt main block

Top view of 6/71 supercharger

Standard 2-bolt main block

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This gives instant throttle response without ‘bogging’ and is in effect very much like fuel injection. Adoption of this type of carburettor will give smooth, progressive power right up the range. The popular Holley carburettors ow between 700 and 800cfm cubic feet per minute while the top of the line Dominator 500 can ow 1150cfm, although it’s only really for the ultimate in competition use. A pair of vacuum 600s on a twin-tunnel ram manifold is about the tops for a gas set-up. Fuel can certainly be run through carburettors, though a needle and jet change would be necessary not only for reasons of size but because they’d need to be made of different material. At this stage, if it’s felt that still more power is needed then the switch to full stack type port injection has to be considered and this is where the big money starts getting spent. For instance, a new front cover to make provision for the fuel pump drive from the cam nose will be about £30. A full injection system is going to cost between £250 and £350 maybe even more. f you’re going to mess about experimenting with adjustments, you’re going to need some more sets of nozzles. They’re around £35 a set, by the way. An engine built for gas operation can also be run on a fuel mix of up to 0 in certain cases, if the injection nozzle sizes are changed. The fuel mix really has to gush into the combustion chambers as it’s not as volatile as petrol. Any increase over 0 in that mixture strength is going to lead to all the weird problems that one meets with a fuel engine. Head modification on an engine to this stage is fairly straightforward. The chambers should be checked to ensure that they’re all the same capacity about 60-70cc is usual. They should be polished and ported, and the sort of standard reached should be about the same as roup 2 circuit racing car engines. Compression ratio is usually pegged at 12.5 1. The spring pads on top of the heads have to be machined down to accommodate larger valve springs and it’s usual to fit Teflon oil seals to the valve stems. On most stock Chevy engines, the rocker arm studs are only press fitted, but kits are available to convert them to screw-in type. The studs go into the water jacket, so plenty of sealer should be used Okay, so we’ve now reached the stage where much more work on a small block Chevy could result in the unreliability of the engine. So on to supercharging but start

Above: Steel crank for small block Chevy

Below: 6/71 blower with Hilborn injection and air ram

thinking in big-block Chrysler terms. The typical supercharger for high performance application is the MC 6 71, usually coupled with one of the many fuel injection systems available. asically the 6 71 is a commercial supercharger used for trucks and earth moving e uipment. As it’s designed only for operation at a puny 3000rpm, many mods have to be incorporated before it can be run as a full house race engine blower. Standard cast gears are replaced by steel components for a start, and the top and the exhaust side of the outer casing are machined out for more air ow. oth the induction rotors and the blower case are relieved and remachined for better tolerances. The rotors are grooved to accept Te on inserts for better sealing and are pinned front and rear to prevent them slipping on their shafts. The rotors and shaft are then repositioned to gain proper tolerances at the top and the bottom of the case. Te on buttons at the end of the rotors prevent end-on contact with the front and back plates of the blower housing, these plates also being re-pinned for accurate location. Rear cover plates are heavily webbed for extra strength and the front bearing plates are beefed up so that they can take the extra load imposed by the larger bearings. With all this extra attention involved in the rebuilding of a supercharger for

competition work, it’s small wonder that the ex- S price is close on £300. Ancillaries for this installation run to the blower manifold, probably about another £80, and the drive kit which has the blower nose casing, belts and pulleys to connect the top unit to the crank. Count £175 for that lot. The crank hub itself is a must, and this is very costly because it’s precision made from very high grade steel. Should cost around £30. Add that to the £250-£300 we already know about for the injection system, and you begin to see where all that £1500 went. There, then, are the three kinds of induction system that govern the budget of an engine build. And that’s before you start looking into the actual operation of the engine itself, and what makes it all hang together when it’s built for pure performance

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  All prices include VAT. Prices subject to change without notice. Correct at 15-3-22. E&OE. Freight extra.

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                       

          

                 

                

                

 HD 3cor US rad64-6 ........ £450.30 Rad hose kits 64-8 ............. £30.88 Heater seals 64-66 ............. £17.63 Htr plenum 64-68 .............. £25.58 Heater cable set 64-6 ......... £20.06 Heater rads 64-73 ........... fr£45.18 Htr core end caps 65-8 ...... £11.09 Therm housin 64-73 ...... fr£19.01 Shroud-fan-steel 64-6 ........ £30.59

             

                                                       

        

            

              

        

                                        Rack & pinion kit, manual, 65-66 ......................................... *£981.00 Power rack&pinion conv kit, 6570 inc pump .............. *fr£1423.42

 V/reg inst panl 64-8 ........ fr£38.95 Park light kt 64-66pr ........ £76.90 Reverse lt kit 64-6 ............. £72.32 Numb plat lit 64-70 ........... £33.71 Indicator switch 65-6 ........ £31.30 Dipswitch 64-73 .................... £7.74                                                           

                                                                

                                                              

                        Latch or lock 65-68 ....... fr£59.23 Door lk knob 64-7pr ......... fr£5.48 Chrm gromet 65-68 .......... pr£4.42 Door card clips 30 ........... fr£14.84       



    

                                                                                     

KEY: An asterisk [*] indicates the Gold Card club price is being quoted.

  

            HOLLEY- USA kindly gave us permission to use the “Blue Mustang” picture

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03/05/2022 15:59

Custom Car Magazine - December 2022

Articles inside

From the archive

AutoFocus

The 40-year itch

Three is the magic number

VanJam3

Kernow Rally

Next stop 1000bhp

Historic Vehicle Gathering

Hindenberg Dirt Track Races

Hotrod Hayride