Innehållsförteckning för July 2024 från Custom Car

First, a story of hard work and disappointment from the NSRA. Despite working hard behind the scenes to secure a suitable venue the decision has regrettably been taken that the club’s Fun Run will not happen again this year. The committee has explored venues in Peterborough, Bedford, Lincolnshire, Northampton, and Cambridge but none have worked out for a variety of reasons. Disappointing news indeed, but the committee hasn’t given up and will continue with the quest to find a suitable venue. That doesn’t, however, put an end to all the fun on the NSRA event calendar for this year. For those who like their fun with added sand, then Fun on The Beach in Great Yarmouth is just for you. It takes place over the weekend of 13-14 July and…

For almost half a century, Surrey Street Rodders have encountered pretty much everything while staging Wheels Day. There have been highs and there have been lows, all of which SSR has taken in its stride. Glorious sunshine, rain, flooded show fields and even snow have all featured over the years, as have changes of venue and landowner interference. Despite it all, with the understandable exception of the Covid years, the show has always gone on, much to the credit of those behind the scenes. Straight from the outset, changes were once again afoot in 2024. Together with providing a great day out for both participants and exhibitors, Wheels Day is about raising money for deserving charities. Unfortunately, however, following discussions with the land agents, it was apparent that staging the…

Most of you will be familiar with the Chevrolet C10 pick-up. But how about its successor, the C20? Well, there’s not a lot of difference between them, as the C10 was a huge success and, as the saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The C20 was the third generation of the C/K range. It was a 3/4 ton, rear-wheel drive pick-up that came with options of inline six and V8 small and big-block power plants. And this one in particular caught its current owner Nathan Pedersen’s eye almost before he first saw it. Nathan has had a varied history when it comes to cars. It all began with an early Citroën Saxo on 20” rims, then he moved into the air-cooled VW scene with two ’64 Beetles,…

Last time out, we left the Model A with its body having been chopped and freshly blasted in readiness for attention to be directed at the roof – or rather the lack of it. Fabricating a new roof was a major undertaking but one that Buckland Automotive carried off with aplomb, forming a jigsaw of sheet steel panels that came together perfectly. The fresh metal was underpinned with wooden ribs to complete the new top. The wings and running boards were then repaired and modified as necessary before being bolted into place. With the sedan then pushed out into the sunshine, it was time to take a step back to fully appreciate the extent of the transformation. The stance and profile are spot on and the blown Hemi up front…

In the first qualifying round for Motorsport UK Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car on the Friday at the Festival of Power, Tim Garlick clocked the fastest-ever NNFC run in Europe. Tim piloted Apache to a 5.9406 / 239.89, setting ET and speed records and carding a new SPR track record for the class. Later in the day Tony Betts ran his first official run of the event and broke the European record once again, albeit unofficially. Venom clocked 5.5958 / 250.64, the first-ever run over 250mph. The car ended up in the field at the end of the track, but both it and Tony were okay. With the meeting being curtailed due to bad weather, neither run was backed up to set a new MSUK record but a new SPR track…

Whenever I’m in the UK, I try to visit Dan Clare. One of my favourite hot rod builders, he doesn’t do it professionally – but he certainly builds prolifically, and every time I swing by his place he’s got a new brew on the boil. Dan builds traditional-style, open-wheel, Model T-based roadsters that he drives the snot out of. This latest black brew is based, as are all of his builds, on the late ’27 T frame that is a little heavier gauge than the earlier frames, and this one is widened to take a V8. He suicided the front end and, ahead of that, suspended a smiley ’37 tube axle beneath a neatly tapered British transverse leaf spring, with reversed eyes by Jones Springs in Darlaston. Mini tube shocks…

Santa Pod’s ever-popular season-opening event was postponed from its original date this year, thanks to persistent winter rainfall which left the site’s car parks waterlogged into the spring. The Festival of Power Rescheduled finally took place over the last weekend of April, and guess what? It rained. Things did start quite promisingly, with sunny weather providing ideal conditions for racing on the Friday morning as competitors in 15 four-wheeled classes looked forward to the first of two qualifying days. But Saturday morning was all but wiped out by rain – and though the afternoon was a success, it came back with a vengeance overnight and into Sunday. The situation was bad enough for Santa Pod to issue an urgent communication asking day ticket holders not to travel, as the car…

A large cut out allowing the shotgun scoop to poke through “So,” I asked Mike Zschorn as my opening question. “How many modified cars have you owned?” “Just the one,” was his immediate response. “Mind you, I have owned it for nigh on 50 years now.” Few of us can lay claim to owning a vehicle for anything like that long – nor indeed to only having had one modified car in our lifetime. Mike bought the ’67 Anglia 105E as a stocker and used it as his daily driver, leaving it just as it was for a while. After all, it was less than 10 years old when he bought it. He recalls it needing new front wings at some stage, so he dropped by his local Ford dealership,…

If the soggy conditions that laid waste to the Festival of Power (twice) made you nostalgic for summer, this year’s Nostalgia Nationals had the answer. The early May Bank Holiday served up plenty of sunshine – allowing Santa Pod to serve up three full days of action, with five competitive classes mixed in among all the pre-’73 RWYB fun. Bringing back the spirit of the early days was a strong field of Wild Bunch, Nostalgia Superstock, Outlaw Anglia, Supercharged Outlaws and Gasser Circus racers. In addition, the NSRA had its eye on the RWYB entries as it looked for worthy winners of its Quick Six gongs. Numbers seemed to peak over the weekend days, perhaps in response to the sunny weather. Monday was quieter, with a forecast threatening rain –…

I’d always been interested in Pendine Sands,’ says Nic Rossano of his 1931 Model A Ford Roadster. ‘The history, the land speed records and the place itself. I spectated at the Vintage Hot Rod Association (VHRA) event in 2014 with my family and that was it – I said to myself that one day, I was gonna do that!’ Nic had a long-held interest in hot rods, having built his first, a 1948 Vauxhall Velox with a Rover V8, when he was 24 years old. ‘After rebuilding the Velox for the fourth time, my wife Celena and I took it to the 2015 Hot Rod Euronationals in Avoise, north-western France. While we were there, I saw this very nice ’29 Model A Roadster that was traditionally built and that got…