Victoria Park, Widnes 2009

I had forgotten about this event until I found the pictures on my hard drive earlier. After the retro-car overload that was the huge Hershey swap meet a few weeks later I had completely overlooked a small but interesting meeting of classic cars in my local town, Widnes, back in September.

For the past few years Victoria Park has held host to a vintage steam and traction engine rally. Entry is free and there is a large range of things to hold interest for all ages. The array of huge fairground organs are mesmerising to watch, the stationary engines are fascinating for their function, the trade/market stalls usually turn up plenty of interest and the gathering of classic bikes is always worth a look.

As you may expect though, the most interesting part for me is the collection of classic cars that show up. From Austin Sevens to Peugeot 205s and lots in between, it's always worth a look around. As a side-display to the main theme of the event it's usually a fairly small gathering, but there's always something of interest.

The picture gallery is here, and I'll take you through some of the more interesting cars I saw:



A beautiful Jowett Javelin. They were made in Bradford, had a flat-four engine and an impressive competition history for such a small marque.



This Peugeot 205 CTI was one of the newer cars on display, but is a real rarity nowadays - especially in such good condition.



Children of all ages adored this pink flowery BMW Isetta. Guaranteed to put a smile on any face!



This Sunbeam Alpine was my favourite. A classic British sports convertible just like the MGs and Triumphs also on display but this one had a distinctly modern twist to it:



16valve Ford Zetec power under the bonnet. I bet that's great fun!

Brand New BMW E28 M535i For Sale

Brand New? Well it was in 1985. I took this photo in a local BMW dealer showroom when I was maybe 12 years old, wandering around with a pile of brochures under my arm whilst my Dad chatted to the salesman (he had a 3 series at the time).

The M535i was unveiled at the 1984 Paris motor show and was basically a regular 535i with the M-Technic bodykit, suspension and wheels. 218bhp from the 3.5 litre engine lead to 143mph at the top end and 0-60 of around 7 seconds made for a rapid Porsche-worrying executive express, with only the hand built 286bhp M5 super saloon sitting higher in the 5er model tree.

A boat on the 'bahn: Amphicar

I've been going through some old photos from trips to Europe, putting up onto Flickr the ones I missed first time around. This one is of an Amphicar, the 1960s Triumph-engined German amphibious boat-auto hybrid.

Random fact: Hans Trippel, the designer of the Amphicar, was also responsible for the famous Mercedes Benz Gullwing doors!

It was quite a sight on the German Autobahn!

1972 Bugazzi Two-Door Custom Coupe by George Barris

I spotted this in the car park at the Hershey Lodge during the swap meet in the Pennsylvania chocolate town last October. The Bugazzi was originally the idea of a talented car show promoter and designed by an ex-GM stylist, however manufacture was soon taken over by legendary custom-car creator George Barris, the intention being to sell up to 25 a year of what was termed "an American Rolls-Royce".









The car on which the Bugazzi was based, the Lincoln MkIV, was quite striking as it was but the Bugazzi is of another league entirely. The pinstriping is hand-applied gold leaf, the headlamps sit in brass surrounds and the wheel covers feature more gold - 24 carat. Thirty coats of pearl lacquer lay over the base white, and the interior is decorated with Italian marble. Only in 70s America could such wondrously kitsch vulgarity exist.

Twelve were made in total, selling for nearly three and a half times the cost of the base Lincoln and $10,000 more than a Rolls-Royce. Three are believed to still exist today. This one sold for $19,800 on the day I saw it and was recently back up for sale at $99,000 - quite an increase! But even at that price, what else could you buy that looks quite like it?