Event reports

Well the car show season has all but finished, winter will soon be upon us and toys must be put away till spring.
So I thought I would just add a few photos that didn’t make it to the Events Reports pages but none the less reflect some of the Happy, strange, unusual vehicles, pretty bodies (cars and others) and other odd things SYCC have seen and done this year.
South Yorkshire Capri Club has had a busy year again, it’s nice that we have picked up some new members along the way, but lost a few due to the financial recession.
We have been to a great many good shows, helped a number of local charities, not to mention the Club donation going to The Motor Neurone Disease Organisation raised at The Last Blast 2011 and would you believe I’ve already had a club invite and entry forms for a show in September 2012.

Here’s to 2012.

Under normal circumstances a thunderstorm on the Friday night before a Sunday Classic car Show would be a bit daunting for the organisers, but if it rained again on the Saturday night then it could be the kiss of death for the event. Soggy feet on carpets and mud and wet grass under wheel arches do not go down well with expensive metal owners. This was the scenario that happened the two days before The Last Blast Classic car & Bike show last weekend.
However this is where The Stockyard Truckstop 'all tarmac hardstanding' venue came into its own. By 8 am on Sunday morning the rain and dark clouds had gone, the event site had dried up, and doom and gloom were replaced by sunshine and shinny cars. The sky was blue and a gently breeze filled out the flags
The event flyer stated 'Open to everything, big, small, classic, new or strange!' and we had vehicles for all categories. Minis to monster trucks, bicycles to Harleys, Many many Capri's, a very rare Gartrac. a 'pimped' hearse and even 'Brum' was seen with his new bigger brother.
The Last Blast is the only car show I know of that has a category for 'Shed Of Show!', cars for this group can only be entered by the car owner themselves, yet it has developed over the years into a class that people openly compete for 1st place in and some, like the 2008 winner pressent there, were proud to say they had won previously. This years entries included a Capri that had seen many better years than it was enjoying now and a Mini that boosted it chances of wining by having to be push started or 'jumped' and had the jumper leads hanging out of the boot in readiness. Like the class, the trophy for 'The Shed' has, again over the years developed into a piece of art in its own right and this years was no exception. A bus ring gear, welded to a bus CV joint and then via a wheel bearing to a clutch plate, this bearing gave the separate items the chance to revolve around the others. A truly brilliant but very weighty piece of engineering. We were not sure the winning car would be strong enough to carry it home in.
A small Car Boot, charity stalls, pink Flamingos and ice cream helped pass the afternoon, along with the bar and restraunt at the Stockyard providing other distractions from the cars.
All profits from the show, as is customary with SYCC shows will go to local charities, this year the Motor Neurone Support Organisation and The Dogs Trust will receive donations.
Many thanks are due for the support SYCC gets from Trevor and Jo at 'The Stockyard', Our own Hazel & Brian for their hard work organising most things for the show, the club for mucking in and getting it sorted, our judges who are all unbiased and fully experienced and qualified to judge the catagories they do, and all the clubs and loyal supporters of The Blast who attend each year.

Catagory winners:-

BEST NON CAPRI FORD:- GHD 658 H Ford 1600E
F536 PYU Ashmore

BEST NON FORD:- Colin Payne Triumph TR3

BEST AMERICAN:- 194 UXH Chevrolet
SSU 607 Pontiac

BEST COMMERCIAL:- Garry Oxley Thames Van HTL 712
American Ambulance F993 RVL

BEST MODIFIED:- P307 CRC

BEST MK1 CAPRI:- Stuart Turp

BEST MK3 CAPRI:- A898 CPK
D63 DUE (Black Beauty)
C4 PRL

FURTHEST TRAVELLED:- Francis Ellingworth (72 Miles)

BEST CLUB DISPLAY:- MOTORNUTS

BEST BIKE:- Honda GJL 701W

BEST VINTAGE:- BABY RUBY CRB 119

URBAN WARRIOR:- CAPRI D870 UTV (A new award for a classic vehicle that is used every day and kept in as good a condition as the owner can).

BEST ICE:- A776 KFR
B479 KAO

SHED OF SHOW:- MINI M765 TCW

LANDLORD CHOICE:- CHEVROLET Woodie 194 UXH

Elephants Name:- Mrs Dipsy.

Sunday 31st July 2011

This has to be the best Classic show I have been to this year for variety of vehicles, volume of public visitors and number of vehicles attending. The 13th event organised by the Rotary Club of Barnsley in the grounds of the stately country house museum, Cannon Hall, nr Cawthorne, South Yorkshire. The house boasts collections of fine furniture, paintings, ceramics and glassware. It is also home to the Regimental Museum of the 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own) and the Light Dragoons.
But we were not here for the museum, the sheer volume of polished metal on show today was amazing, Reliant to Rolls Royce, (over 40 RR + B in fact, several million pounds worth), Vintage, veteran, Classic, military and modern (up and coming classics?), in green pasture and glorious sunshine, including a ‘1920s?’ Bentley Le Mans Eight (that turned out to be a ‘re-creation’ using a 1950 Mk6 Bentley chassis, certainly the most beautiful ‘kit’ car you have ever seen, I need to win the lottery!). The program listed over 700 ‘Entry by booking’ and who knows how many, like us, just turned up on the day. I gave out 300 flyers for The Last Blast and thought I had taken enough. The public flocked to the event and the entry queue of show cars resulted in several older models overheating on the drive whilst waiting.
Trophies were awarded to nine categories from pre 1940, through, sports, Rolls Royce, to Military and motor cycle. Certainly, not to be missed next year.

Last Sunday an unexpected turn of events lead to an enjoyable Sunday afternoon. Due to work commitments and the inclement weather the club trip to Ackworth Steam Event was cancelled which left many of us with free time. A chance hearing of the advert on the radio by Phil, some emails and texts, took some of use to the Harley Gala 2011 near Sheffield instead.
Street Parades are something of the past due to the H&S rules that now apply, but here we had one lead by the Strata Brass Band with village children in Fancy Dress following.
A 5 km road race called the ‘Harley Hobble’, South Yorkshire Police Dogs Display team, the ‘Sir Thomas Fairfax Regiment’ of the Sealed Knot Society, Rock Bands, Martial arts Display, Children’s Races and the many stalls meant there was plenty to distract from the ocassional gentle rain shower with all proceeds going to Local activity groups.
On the Classic cars side there were some very valuable and beautiful cars, an assortment we don’t normally see when going to Capri shows. Lagondas, Rolls Royce, Alvis, Three wheelers, Austin Healey and an amazing American truck with hand built wooden back. One of the Mercedes was restored at a cost of £23,000 and valued at £180,000.
Cheers Phil a nice find and maybe one to looking to attend next year.