Manky Monkey Motors

Ellie & Jimmy will be hosting their annual chilli night again on Saturday the 23rd of March, from 6pm onwards.
Held at their shop premises in Andover, Hants, it'll feature live rockabilly music from the legendary Jack Rabbit Slim band, burlesque dancers Slinky Sparkles & Missy Malone, a bar & of course, free chilli all night.
A good excuse to check out their latest customer builds, their new upholsterery department, buy a part for your hotrod or just catch up with the mates you haven't seen since last season.
Any donations made will go to the British Heart Foundation.

Valley Gas Speed Shop
Unit 21D
Towergate Industrial Park
Colebrook Way
Andover
Hampshire
SP10 3BB

Tel: 01264 353646

www.valleygasspeedshop.com

It was a good night. No JRS, but two good bands who kept us all happy and with a few couples even having a dance.

They assured us the chilli was all one strength this year, after most people last year had to dunk their tongue in the closest liquid after mistakenly having the super hot bowl. Still fairly hot but very nice.  :o

Valley Gas have done a lot of work on their premises since the last chilli night and the place looks really great.  Loads of projects inside which made an ever better backdrop to the event.

A good turnout considering the bad weather in the surrounding areas and quite a few turned up in their custom rides. I am sure one of the other Mankies there will post some pics.

Nice to see lots of familiar faces and catch up with what's going on.

Quite a few Mankies there but only a few Victory Wheelers which surprised me.

Thanks Valley Gas for your hospitality and I hope a few pounds were raised for the British Heart Foundation.

JJ   :)

 :( :( sounds like I missed a good one.. maybe next time  :'(

Had a great time last night, enjoyed catching up with friends. I hear Manky's pop is on the road - TA DA !  This I must see.  As Lunatic reminded me last night, I was there for the first cut, first weld, and first suicidal test drive!!!

Yup, Jimmy & co do know how to put on a good party.
The last Chilli Night I attended was at their old workshop in Newbury, Berkshire. A big ol' red brick factory building with bags of character. Their new place in Andover, Hampshire is a modern unit on an industrial estate, so I wondered if they'd achieve the same level of cool. Certainly seemed to. The new shop is actually 2 units knocked into one, so far bigger, with an inhouse upholsterer, hotrod merchandise shop etc. Nicely done. Leadfoot had a stall selling pinstriped goods too.
I'd guess at maybe 300 party goers over the course of the evening. The minus temperatures outside & snow in some areas during the day meant most chose to arrive in their daily drivers, (including us), but there were a couple of dozen customs lurking in the darkness outside the shop. Lots of past & current projects inside too. Just as I finally launch mine, Ford Pops seemed to be everywhere! Half a dozen in the workshop & another 4 in the carpark -common as muck!
As JJ said, Jack Rabbit Slim weren't there, but there was plenty of Rockabilly/skiffle music from 2 local bands, neither of who's names I can remember. Between the tunes Missy Malone & Slinky Sparkles did their thing above the crowd on one of the car lifts, a-twirlin' & a-tasslin', (funny how I can remember their names but not the bands), though bizarrely, the young Valley Gas lad who collected up the discarded feathers & corsets afterwards got more wolf whistles & applause all night than the girls!
A donation thrown into the Heart Foundation collection bucket got you as many bowls of Chilli, hot enough to make your mouth sweat, as you could handle, with bottled beer & tubs of mystery fruit punch, (purportedly Vodka based), to quench the taste buds afterwards. Lots of friendly faces, old & new. I've started realising I'm getting old, when I begin bumping into guys I haven't seen for 10 or 15 years.
The Basingstoke Monkeys included Loony, Loony Senior, Chris, Postie Dave & my workmate Bob, who recently bought my trike project from me. The Guzzlers car club also made it over from Hampshire, as well as members of the Surrey Street Rodders, Victory Wheelers, Beaters etc. Had a long chat with Chunky & his family, who used to run the local motorcycle shop in Newbury, Berkshire when I was a teenager. Haven't seen 'em for years. He now collects tractors. Miles, the guy I bought the V8 engine that's in my Pop from, was there. He was chuffed to bits to hear it's gone to a good home & is out on the road again in my truck. My big brother Brock & lovely Leslie, (Mrs Brock), were there, as well as Scottie the hotrod haulier & his lady Gina, celebrating her birthday. Oje brought along his chopped Volvo Amazon, winning a trophy, presented by his old employer Jimmy, for his efforts.
Lots of period correct rodders & gorgeous ladies in full 50s pin-up make-up & clothes. So much more stylish than today's baggy jogging trousers & trainers.
As the only non drinker in our group, I was the designated responsible adult so drove the less sober ones, (or "slober" as Chris put it), home at the end of the night. Great company, cool cars, music, dancers, free food -a great evening. Many thanks to Jimmy, Ellie & the gang for putting it all together.
Digital cameras are cr*p in low light conditions, so apologies for the blurriness, but here's a few snaps from the evening.     

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Chevy Rick, sporting his new Cap'n Birdseye beard & Postie Dave in the green cap.

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Pops a go go.

Oje's Amazon. Sections of bare metal , no side glass -yeah, we're not the only ones.

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Scottie's Chevy sedan, running a diesel taxi engine.

The beautiful Ellie on the right, Mrs Jimmy, new Mum & co owner of the business. Looking slightly fuzzier than she usually does.
Loony in the background.

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Love that Triumph.

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Ken, far left, owner/pilot of the legendary "Roarin' Rat" '57 Chevy gasser.

Brock, Scottie & .... :P

Battle of the bands, taking it in turns to play a toon each.

Chevy Rick & Janie, ("Colboys Chick"). Rick's on the left.

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Jimmy presents the trophies.

Oje picked one up for his Amazon lowrider. He still works part time for Jimmy, but now runs his own rod business from part of Valley Gas's old premises.

Bob, (Reliant trike), Loony, (Rover P2 rod), Dave, (model A coupe).

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Father & son.
Loonys, Junior & Senior, (Rover P2 rod & VW trike), practising their 1970s catalogue poses.

Thanks guys. Next time I'll bring my own Pop along to add to the collection.

great pics there andy, nice one.
what was ians pop back for? (blue one under cream pick up)

The cream pick-up was a Hudson. No idea. Looked complete to me. Maybe just on display as a past customer?

could of been. has been at a few shows late last year.

Some lovely workmanship on show. Valley Gas aren't cheap, but you definitely get a good job.

Your photos captured the evening quite well Andy. I especially like your last photo. If you could have just captured the Hudson in its entirety I think it would have been a good one for VG to use in their advertising plus a good one for a mag article.

Nice to see you there. Looking forward to seeing the POP on Friday. I am coming along with Cap'n Birdseye!   ;D

JJ  :)

Sorry JJ, I did my best! My Nikon really struggles in low light. People piccies are almost impossible unless they stand still long enough. I deleted an awful lot of fuzzy pics, including the ones of the pick-up.
Keith Harman was there, occasional visitor here & photographer/writer for Custom Car, Ol Skool Rodz etc, so I'm sure there'll be a feature in CC soon.
Sorry I didn't get any photos of you JJ -you must've moved too fast for me.

Chris, its in for some work mate, not sure what but he was gong to be my ride down to the Chilli night so he could collect but it wasn't ready...

Thank goodness, though I did spot myself in one of them. No, I hate having my photo taken at the best of times and its definitely not one of those at the moment.

JJ  :)