Manky Monkey Motors

A bit quiet here at the moment, so here's some snaps from the Nostalgia Nationals drag races at Shakespeare County Raceway, (formerly Avon Park, formerly Long Marston airfield), Stratford on Avon, a week ago.
I'm not really interested in motor sport myself, but do 2 drag meets a year -this one in mid June & the Hotrod Drags in September, because they're retro, hotrod themed events & are like big, moving rod shows, (I spend more time wandering around the pits & the campsite than actually watching the racing). My brother runs his Chevy engined slingshot dragster there too, so it's nice to go along & cheer him on. Good weather on the Sunday until about 4pm, when the rain clouds moved in & brought proceedings to a halt, but it was due to end at 5 anyway -very strict local council noise limits mean they can't run over time.
I like "Shakey". It proclaims itself the "Clubman's track" & can't compete with Santa Pod's slick professionalism, but has a far friendlier, more enthusiastic feel.

One for you Bobbi! The only way I'd ever do the camping thing.

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Loved the stance of this Ford Pop. I'd have to re-profile the rear arches though I think.

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One of my favourite Pops. This one sits just right for me. See it a lot around the shows.
Love the attention to detail, like the little front side lights that match the globe lensed headlights. It's got the rarer & therefore more desirable 3 slot radiator grille, though I prefer the more common, later 2 slot ones.

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Pick-up was for sale, but I'd rather buy the van :)

Custom vans were very "in" when I was a school kid, so I've got a bit of a soft spot for retro custom versions.

Fords.
Model A.
Model T.

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Green sedan delivery was a new one to me. Tractor grille shell?

Perfect orange "Fad T".

Ali bodied, gull wing doored panel van was apparently a tech' college project in partnership with the NSRA, (National Street Rod association).

Local legend, part time '60s DJ & mate, Ken Brookes & the equally legendary "Roarin' Rat" '57 Chevy. I remember buying the issue of Custom Car with this on the cover many, many years ago.

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Raising money for Scottie the hotrod haulier's family after his tragic early death from cancer a fortnight ago. He was a big guy with an even bigger personality & was a regular at the tracks.

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My big brother Steve's Chevy engined slingshot, with it's eye catching Mondrian inspired paintwork. He builds these for a living along with all sorts of other metal fabrication. Chassis, bodywork, roll cage, suspension, wheelie bars -the lot. Even does his own paint. His missus, Lesley, builds the engines.
No cooling system & minimal fuel tanks mean most race cars are towed to & from the track. Which means crew & forum member Chris, (Forgotten), gets to pilot it back to the pits.   

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Rover? Hillman? Not sure, but very nicely built.

Gorgeous Pop gasser was a new build & already up for sale. Hmm, green, Pop, Monkey ...no. No more projects!  :D

Another big name race car, Honky Tonkin', suffered major engine breakage over the weekend. It's an expensive game.

British & American variations on a theme. Humber & Chevy.

Another of my favourites, "Frankenstein" was built by a garage with help from students at the local college. They often turn out to support it.

The crew of Bad Apple Racing's "Snow White" had auctioned off passenger places for a couple of their runs for Scottie's fund & raised 500 quid a time. Not bad for 8 second's work.

Big turnout from the Tri Chevy Club, (1955, '56 & '57 models).

Isle of Wight based, Rover V8 engined car features a fibreglass model A Ford body painted by our own Lunatic.

Lovely Hudson sled.

Wilder at Heart is one of a pair of Scandinavian "Funny Cars" that run regularly at British meets.

Diesel powered Pop.

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Fords, Fords & more Fords.

Ford Falcon pick-up was s-o-o loud.

50s Ford "ShoeBox" business coupe.

Possibly my favourite of the weekend. Flathead powered special recently raced at the historic Pendine Sands in Wales. Perfect proportions flowing back from the model B Ford grille shell. I'd love this as a daily driver.

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More tomorrow.  ;)

Great day out Andy. Great piccies, gets the brain ticking and storing tit bits away for my last? build. As for Roaring Rat, I too bought that copy and based my Humber Sceptre on its look. However, It got stolen, then I crashed it and it rusted away before I ever really got it finished, plus I got pulled by the law every time I drove it in town, it was loudish  ;D

 ;D Yeah, I've had a few loudish bikes in my time. Going the other way now & trying to quieten my vehicles down. I was always the kid with the beat up Brit bike running on just the down pipes, that wouldn't start, wouldn't tick over, wouldn't accelerate cleanly -took me a long time to realise the guy with the quiet, well engineered bike was actually having more fun & was a lot cooler. I'm too old now for riding bikes that give me a headache!   

One for Stinkey  :)

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Loved this mid engined Thames, (?), van.

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Love that Thames van

Yeah, looked like a Rover engine slung underneath -you can see the sump between the 2 wheels. Lovely stance & nothing too over the top. Nice.

if i remember correctly there was a build thread on the mid motored, thames on  rods n sods

Really? Nicely put together.

But this bike IS giving you a headache ? :D

Wondered if you'd have a pic of this one - it belongs to a biker friend of mine who's had to give up riding for health reasons, but he's having a whole lot of fun with his car, working through all the disasters and learning the job!

(http://www.mankymonkeymotors.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=15657.0;attach=50433;image)

The paint echoes the paint job on the Harley he built a few years ago.

Yeah, he & his mate did look like bikers rather than hotrodders Bobbi. Sounded good. I think he was running in the Run What Ya Brung category, though I don't follow the racing much. More photos tomorrow.

Yeah, you're right Stinkey -the bike's being a pain, but it's getting there & I'm still looking forward to riding it.  :)

Well my jag axle has cost a bloody fortune and I only needed 8 bloody £1 bolts ? :-[

Looks pretty though.

Good to see that British stuff is still about in numbers, (and Pop's are Popular ::)) Thanks for sharing

Nothing like a pretty rear end :D
It's nice to see such a variety of RODS still out on our roads ? What with all the doom n gloom legislation we seem to hear about nowadays ?

Yep, still plenty of variety & imagination out there. Several Q plated cars on the campsite, which shows people are beginning to build to the BIVA regulations, but finding creative ways of conforming.
Just realised I didn't post the rest of my photos. Sorry -lots more.
How about a powered bicycle.

American, (model A Ford).

British, (Triumph Mayflower?).

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Briggs & Stratton generator motor powered apparently. It's progress was ...leisurely, but he was having fun.  :)

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It's good to see people are still doing the hot rod thing ..but I'm sad to say it no longer holds any appeal for me, part of getting older and not knowing anybody in the scene nowadays I guess ? More power to them though.. 8)

Anything non standard gets a thumbs up from me.
My brother races, but motorsport doesn't do anything for me at all. I'm into the rods & Kustoms, but not so much for the engineering, more for the creativity. This is one of those meets where my brother's racing world & my hotrod/bike one overlap.

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Tony, ("Cunning Plan"), the track scrutineer, with Cathrine Jane Stones of Team Stoned Racing...

...who did a sponsored "streak" down the quarter mile to raise money for Scottie the hotrod haulier's family.

More tomorrow.

I'm not really into the racing but I intend to be at the Hot Rod Drags in September - for the cars and the people and the pictures!

That's exactly why I go Bobbi.