Looking for something to do on Sunday?

[Matt]

Well, there's always this:

https://www.nationalkitcarshow.co.uk/

If ever there was a show that went from the sublime to the ridiculous, this is the one. The UK has a long and proud tradition of home brewed cars and this is where you will find them all. From hugely expensive state of the art (and indeed competitive) racing cars so perfectly executed it's hard to imagine that they rolled out of a back garden shed in Norwich to slightly wobbly lumps of greying polycarbonate with a VW engine taped to the back and an odd number of wheels. They are all there. I'll be there too, displaying something comfortably in between the two extremes.

So if you like cars, there will be a something here for you, if you like pointing and staring, there will be something here for you, if you like endless stalls of unidentifiable lumps of either shiny or not shiny lumps of metal or find stainless steel bolts in any way erotic then there is something here for you. If you want any sort of tool they don't make any more or have never made before... I'm sure you get the picture.

I'll be there on Sunday either in my Yellow MK III or my blue MK IV Midas (depending on the weather) so drop by the MOC stand and I'll be the one with the fiberglass watch on. I always have a good day once I get over the minor detail that it's a world of madness and I'm part of it. Either way, it's the one day in the year that I actually polish my car so if you want to talk watches or home made plastic cars over a cup of far too strong tea, come and say hi.

[Der Amf]

Is there a historical connection of the location?

[Matt]

Is there a historical connection of the location?

Not that I'm aware of. I just think it is big and in the middle. Later in the year, Castle Combe has a bit more resonance, but you actually get to race there which makes the day a far more focussed occasion. This is just about chatting admiring and picking up the odd hard to find part or two.

[gnuyork]

Sounds like fun.

[crownpuller]

Kit cars are not my thing; but I know the venue well. I make my annual pilgrimage to Stoneleigh for the Triumph show; have done so for about 20 years, but that's fizzling out as it's not a patch on what it used to be It's gotten so 'thin' that it's now been spliced together with the MG show (which used to be on a seperate weekend). I blame ebay !.... there were once so many autojumble stalls that you'd struggle to cover them all in the day; now everyone sells their 'bits' on ebay and the stalls are sparse at best.
The Beaulieu Autojumble has gone the same way, it used to be vast with several fields full of autojumble stalls, now there's barely enough to fill one.
Yes, it's easier to browse the web for that elusive part and have it delivered to your door; but there's something very theraputic and satisfying (at least for me) about rummaging through boxes & crates of rusty metal components and finding 'it'.

[Jeannie]

I'll expect pictures next week.

Jeannie

[Matt]

Kit cars are not my thing; but I know the venue well. I make my annual pilgrimage to Stoneleigh for the Triumph show; have done so for about 20 years, but that's fizzling out as it's not a patch on what it used to be It's gotten so 'thin' that it's now been spliced together with the MG show (which used to be on a seperate weekend). I blame ebay !.... there were once so many autojumble stalls that you'd struggle to cover them all in the day; now everyone sells their 'bits' on ebay and the stalls are sparse at best.
The Beaulieu Autojumble has gone the same way, it used to be vast with several fields full of autojumble stalls, now there's barely enough to fill one.
Yes, it's easier to browse the web for that elusive part and have it delivered to your door; but there's something very theraputic and satisfying (at least for me) about rummaging through boxes & crates of rusty metal components and finding 'it'.

You might enjoy this then, it's not remotely sparse - I think there's something about the *ahem* randomness of kit car parts that makes it almost impossible to use ebay, you need to get in there with a micrometer and the like. You'd get in free in a Triumph as the monkeys on the gate would just assume it was a kit and you'd find that, as (among the many strengths) Triumphs have a few weaknesses that various lunatics have tried to improve on over the years (I'm mostly thinking rust) there's plenty for a Triumph fan to look at. For example:

http://www.caburn.demon.co.uk/Conten...ing/Hurricane/

http://www.triumphspitfirelemans.com...ocument&part=4

http://www.migliasportscars.co.uk/in...p#.VUN_miFViko

So even if you are uninterested in Triumph kits, there will still be plenty of triumph parts and often at more reasonable prices as the kit car community has less people who throw money rather than skill at a problem.

Hell, I might even use the yellow one which is based on a lightly tuned 1275 A+ engine from the MG Metro.

[crownpuller]

^^^ Thanks, but my wife has already scheduled my weekend; including taking the kids to the seaside & building a custom-fit wardrobe..... Lucky me

... the monkeys on the gate ...

Yes, I've had my fair share of encounters with those guys too. Still, on the plus side - At least 'you' no longer have to park in a muddy field behind the place like we used to.

[tribe125]

Too far, Warwickshire...

[CanadianStraps]

Sunday is sacred. I deal with cars for a living, Sundays are for tee times and good walks spoiled.