Manky Monkey Motors

National Street Rod Assocaition Nostalgia Nationals

From the SCR website: http://www.shakespearecountyraceway.com/eventdetails.asp?event=97

More than 200 show quality Street Rods and American Muscle Machines are expected to to this special NSRA co-ordinated event for three action packed days of 'street legal drag racing’ for pre ’73 high dollar hot rods and big block custom cars that were special before the land went decimal.

"Nos Nats" time again & finally, this year, I was ready. The hotrod pick-up I've been building, with much help from Loony & many other fellow forumers, for the last 5 years, is finally registered & on the road. Maybe not completely finished, but definitely driveable.
So I've been looking forward to the chance to get out & put some miles on it & yeah, show it off a little too.
In typically British fashion though, this Summer's been wet n miserable so far & this weekend was no exception. Friday was apparently warm & sunny, Saturday was a little damper, then it poured down on Sunday -guess which day we went.
A bare metal truck, with no glass in the windows, in the rain. Who's idea was this?
Actually the drive up from Hampshire to Warwickshire was dry & quite pleasant. It wasn't till we'd paid our 18 quid entry fees & rolled into the campsite that it started to cloud over. We arrived at about 11.0.clock, all set for a full day's race spectating, but by 1.30 it was all over. The skies had opened & the grandstands emptied as race cars were hurriedly covered over. Shakespeare County Raceway doesn't have track driers & even if they did, it would've taken several hours to bring the track back up to useable condition & racing has to finish at 5.0.clock to comply with local council bylaws.
Ahh well. At least we were there. Nice to see my big brother Brock & his good lady Lesley, as well as Tony, (Cunning Plan), & Scottie the hotrod haulier with his family. Good to catch up with some of the other regulars in the Wild Bunch nostalgia drag club too. By 2.0.clock we'd called it a day & were heading home again -&, of course, the weather immediately brightened up for a dry & pleasant cruise back. Never mind, we were there, in a hotrod we'd built ourselves & we had a good time. We'll be back.  8)

Gorgeous Plymouth.
Super clean 70s survivor Morris Marina van. Love it.

I'm assuming the other race slick was in the trunk?

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Classic 70s fad T, (based on 1920s model T ford tourers), was a new one on me.
Clear Perspex mudguards have been done before, but are still quite unusual.

Studebaker with 50s accessory air con unit, (a tube attached to the partly rolled down window, lined with straw & filled with ice. The airflow as the car's driven draws air over the ice & directs it into the car. Simple but effective).

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Another new one on me. 1940s Buick bodyshell stretched over a 1990s Buick rolling chassis made for a striking creation.

It had real presence & looked great on the move, prowling through the pits.

Coolest car of the day for us was this gorgeous tub. Rolls Royce motor or just RR rocker covers? No idea. Don't know what model the body is either, but the vintage lorry wheels work a treat on it. Looked like they came from the same twin wheel rear axle, with the rears facing the right way & the fronts reversed. Commercial vehicle or tractor grille is the current must-have for Stateside custom pick-ups.
Like it lots. A great cross over between hotrod & classic.

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The legendary "Honky Tonkin'" was joined at this meet by it's sibling, "Honky Tonkin' II".

Why are so many pushed to the start line? These cars are built to run for less than 10 seconds down the strip. They don't have cooling systems & often have fuel tanks of just a couple of pints. They're also so highly tuned they just won't run slow enough to trundle through the pits & down to the fire up lane. Photos just can't convey the ground shaking noise of these things.
Green Morris van was part of the "Gasser Circus" crew. The sky-high nose is intended to transfer the vehicle's weight to the rear wheels under acceleration for better traction.

Another gasser. This one's a 40s Willys, (same company who made the American WWII jeeps).

Green Pop was another newbie to me & another of my favourites of the meet. Very cool.
Although the weather seriously depleted the cars on & off the track, Pops in various guises seemed to be very ...popular.

Bog standard Ford Pop tow car -pulling another Pop, "The Flying Fifer".

American Graffiti inspired "little yella coupe".

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"Suzy Q" Plymouth Baracuda was fabulous & had travelled over from the Netherlands.
Behind it was the race transporter for a German 2 car team. They ran side by side down the track on Saturday. One sprayed engine oil over the track & the other crashed, causing a 3 hour delay while the safety team cleaned up. Amazingly, no-one was seriously hurt.
The crashed car was appropriately named Master of Disaster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImsIrCO44v4

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Yes, he's got blue hair.

Line up of classic stock car racers, including a Pop, (number 86).

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Lots of 100e Ford Populars too, (the 60s successor to the classic "sit up & beg" 40s/50s Pops).

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Ford Anglia was running a Zetec engine conversion.

It was part of a stall selling bike carb set-ups for car engines.

My big brother Steve, (Brock), & his workshop buddy Scottie, have been building this Rover V8 engined Nash Metropolitan gasser for some time. Up for sale if you fancy something crazy, different.
Steve & his wife Lesley, (Black Pig), have just set up in business, building drag cars, race transporters etc.

http://www.fieldcraftfabrication.co.uk/

Scottie runs a one man vehicle transportation business

http://www.movinghotrods.co.uk/

More Pops. A veritable Pop festival in fact.

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Drag racing Land Rover was cool, though we didn't see it run.

Hillman Avenger "funny car" & Triumph Herald were both unusual body choices.

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"Clunk's" Rover P2. Similar to Loony's rod project.

A couped Ford Pop. Never sure if these work for me, but there were 2 at the meet. As a Pop builder myself, I know how much work's gone into that body. One piece fibreglass flip front & reversed "suicide" doors.

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Odgie, (writer for Back Street Heroes, Awol etc),'s collection of specials. More classic/hotrod cross overs.

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A serious race car.

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Gina puffs on a ciggie as hubby Scottie pushes her to the start line in the Tiki Munki.

MMMotors sticker down by the rear wheel helps "Chemical Reaction" go faster -honest.

Trabbant?

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Pops a go-go. They're takin' over the World I tell ya!

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Bikes as well. These were wheeled down to the startline -just before the rain stopped play. Would've loved to see them run.

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On the prowl.

Maybe not so cool when it's rainin' in yer face, but I'd still happily take it home.

love that tub andy, great pics.

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So that was our day. 150 mile round trip for 2 hour's racing, but I got to cruise around the pits in my hotrod, so I'm happy.   8)

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