My year of shows

[Madmarky]

Seeing as I had struggled hard to get my car finished last year I decided to go to as many shows as possible in 2010. I thought I would keep a journal of all the shows I attended and rate the shows on various categories to decide what ones I might attend next year. I'm not very articulate with words unfortunately and most of it is probably riddled with grammatical errors but I hope someone finds it useful.

 

April 11th - ISTS Silverstone

 

So the first show of the year came pretty quickly and I was really looking forward to it. Luckily Silverstone is only about an hour drive. We met up in the overspill car park, which is the norm so that the plus ones can get their tickets and we can all go in at the same time. This slightly didn't go to plan as we got split up due to the amount of cars leaving the overspill at the same time. Finally after taking a slight detour I realised the show had been moved to a new location and eventually met up with the rest of the gang. We were all mortified by our location, it was a small patch of grass, away from all the action and next to the porta loo's. A few of us decided to go see if we could relocate and we became increasingly annoyed as the closer to the action we got the lower the standard of cars were getting. No joy came from this as we made a decision to move closer to the action as there wasn't anything parked next to us. So the cars were moved and quickly detailed and then off for a walk around. The show was quite a small one to start off the year but it was nice to see a few new cars as well as the usual old ones. They had the usual traders there, a show and shine indoor area (where we bumped into muddy), the RC drift cars were really cool and there was a staged show put on with the usual scantily clad girls performing. At about mid day we were really lucky and got to move again. I'm not sure whether a car club had not turned up or whether it was small in numbers but we got right into the centre of the show, this was great as I had contemplated going home. The weather was great, the sun was shining all day but as usual it was rather windy at Silverstone. In the end this turned out to be a good show, and I thoroughly enjoyed the day.

 

Club Members Cars - 9

Trade stand quality (out of 10) - 6

Show Quality (out of 10) - 7

Miles covered (to and from show) - 72

 

 

 

24th April - Modified Live Oulton Park

 

This show was about the limit I was prepared to travel. I said to myself I would set a 3 hour drive as the maximum. I had not been Oulton park before so it was nice to go somewhere new. This was a extremely early start for me as it was nearly a 3 hour drive away and we were due to meet at 8 at a garden centre close by. Finally arrived and it was nice to see a few new faces. Weather was brilliant again, sun was shining but as normal it was I little bit windy. Our stand spot was perfect but was a long dusty drive to get there. We sorted ourselves out and quick detailed the car and set off to have a look around. The show was quite large and was plenty to see. These modified live events are great with the time attack and drift action on the track. Trade stands were rather lacking but getting to look around the track cars in the pits is always good. The funniest thing that happened at this show was being asked to move from a seating area as apparently "These benches aren't in use today". The poor young girl that had obviously been instructed to come out and evict us, none of had the heart to say anything back to her but Chesterfield's rant after the incident was brilliant. After the early start I was getting really tired at midday and with a 3 hour drive home I decided to slip off early afternoon. It was a great show though and if I go again will try stay somewhere close the night before.

 

Club Members Cars - 11

Trade stand quality (out of 10) - 5

Show Quality (out of 10) - 8

Miles covered (to and from show) - 302

 

 

 

7/8/9th May - Z010 - Billing Aquadrome

 

This was set to be a great weekend although the weather forecast predicted rain all weekend. I booked the Friday off work and made the decision to tent for the weekend as I needed to try my tent out before Zedfest in August. Billing is nice and close to me so if anything went wrong I could always nip home and come back. Got up early on the Friday and gave the car a quick wash, packed the car and was really surprised how much you can actually fit in the Zed. Got to Billing early afternoon and set up the tent, the weather was lovely but unfortunately this was not to last. Pretty much from Friday night onwards it rained on and off all weekend. We still had a great weekend though. Only Chesterfield and Martinmac attended from our club but we had plenty of company from the Z Club and the other affiliated clubs. Friday night was quite a chilled night spent socialising outside while it was dry, then in a event tent when it got late and cold. More cars turned up on the Saturday but sadly no more from this club. It was a lovely relaxing day broken up by 10 car cruise to the local butcher who we had a deal with to get cheap meat and fantastic value breakfast packs. Seeing as we were low on numbers and it was pissing it down I spent Saturday evening in a static caravan with Chris , Martin and their other halves. Chris played chef, martin surfed the forums and we drank and had a great evening. Sunday was a bit dryer so I got out my tent early and made a start giving the car a quick clean. Ajay Panchal, the designer of the 350z was expected around midday and would be judging the best car of each model. It was a great day, the sun was out for most of it and it was great to meet and chat to Ajay.

 

Club Members Cars - 3

Trade stand quality (out of 10) - N/A

Show Quality (out of 10) - 7

Miles covered (to and from show) - 40

 

 

May 15th - Japfest Castle Combe

 

This show was a highly anticipated one as Japfest is always a good show but never been to Castle Combe so was wondering what it would be like. After speaking with Chesterfield at billing we decided to find a hotel nearby to save the 2 1/2 hour drive. The hotel we stayed in was very nice, had a nice meal and some good conversation with Chris before turning in for a early-ish night. Up early and off to the meeting place before convoying into the event. Unfortunately following Mr. Mac we went in the wrong entrance and had to be redirected out of the event and queue for a second time at a different gate. Once in though it looked like we had a great pitch, as this was a joint stand between us and the Z-club affiliates the turnout was good, just a shame that the spot I had parked in got obscured by a 3rd row as more people turned up. The show was huge, probably the biggest show I have ever been too. There were literally hundreds of cars on display from all different clubs. Lots of trade stands selling a good variety of stuff and if that was not enough there was some amateur track action to sit and enjoy. After cleaning the car and enjoying a well deserve breakfast Bap a few of us went for a walk around. We seemed to walk forever and still I don't think I saw everything that was on display. The weather was really good also making the day absolutely brilliant. I was even able to move my car somewhere it would get noticed once a few people had left which topped of this show for me. All in all one of the best shows I have ever been too and will definitely be one of the ones I attend next year.

 

Club Members Cars - 16

Trade stand quality (out of 10) - 9

Show Quality (out of 10) - 10

Miles covered (to and from show) - 275

 

 

 

May 21/22/23 - Wales

 

The highlight of the 350z-uk calendar and it doesn't ever disappoint. Left home late morning and met up with Darren before the convoy to Wales. Arrived at the hotel early afternoon, the rooms weren't ready so we grabbed some lunch. Food at the hotel was very nice and reasonably priced. The car was quickly detailed and people started arriving, the evening was lovely and chilled and the good conversation and banter went on late into the early hours. Up early on the Saturday looking forward to the drive out, quickly cleaned the dust of the car and awaited our instructions for the drive. The drive was great, with a few spirited sections, it was a well planned out route and the lunch time stop at the pub was a nice break. Got back to the hotel and once again cleaned the car, CLB valeting were set up at the pub and they were brilliant at offering advice on various detailing products. We had a sit down meal on sat night which was at the hotel and again the food was great and they catered for us very well. Unfortunately Anubis had some clutch issues from the Saturday drive, he decided to join me on the Sunday drive and I was glad of the company. The Sunday drive out was also great, the stop at Bala and the carvery, then the pub in the afternoon make it a really great day. As the time began to get on a bit and with the three hour drive ahead we went back to the hotel and I dropped Anubis off and set off home. This weekend is such a brilliant weekend, and anyone who has not attended yet make sure you get your name down for next year as you won't be disappointed.

 

Club Members Cars - 60 ish

Trade stand quality (out of 10) - 10

Show Quality (out of 10) - 10

Miles covered (to and from show) - 300 (another 350 covered with the drives out)

 

 

 

June 27th - Modified Live 3 Brands Hatch

 

This show was a real let down as its normally one i look forward too. Not sure if it was the bad weather leading up to the event or the fact that the England were playing football but the turn out was really poor by virtually all the clubs. As always though we had a great pitch for stand and the event shelters were greatly used. Our spot was high up on a bank over looking one of the corners used for the drifting and a good view of the Time Attack racing. The weather was really great all day and we all made the best of the quiet day and spent most of the day as a club group having a laugh and watching the track action. My clutch pedal gave me some real problems trying to park so ill make sure I get it looked at as soon as possible.

 

Club Members Cars - 17

Trade stand quality (out of 10) - 2

Show Quality (out of 10) - 5

Miles covered (to and from show) - 180

 

 

 

June 10th - BBQ at the Chillies

 

Not a official club show but well worth a mention as a fantastic day is always to be had with Sarah and Tony's hospitality. Had my car in for a full service in the week and had all the fluids changed in the hope that it would sort my clutch out and boy was it worth it. Car felt like new and the clutch problem is finally sorted, now just to sort the Clutch switch out so it starts all the time. The day at the chillies was great as always, Sarah put on a real good spread of food and it was good to catch up with a few members who don't tend to attend many show. As usual met a few new people too and it was good to look around everyone's cars and have a great laugh. Had to leave fairly early which was a shame but I had a long drive up to Nottingham as I was staying at Arkwright's that night ready for the Thoresby Park show on the Sunday.

 

Club Members Cars - 15 ish

Trade stand quality (out of 10) - N/A

Show Quality (out of 10) - 10

Miles covered (to and from show) - 150

 

11th June - Thoresby Park

 

This was a total new show for me but was informed it was quite a good show. After doing all these shows so far I am getting a bit tired of all the early starts and long drives so I decided I would start trying to arrange accommodation near to the events if possible. Fortunately Arkwright lives really close to this show and very kindly offered to put me up for the night. It was quite a long hike up the A1 from the chillies BBQ to Arkwrights house but I think it was definitely better than getting up at 5 again to spend a few hours in the car. The show was definately a different show to the normal format. Thoresby park is a huge venue and the day is essentially 2 car shows in 1. 1 show being a Japanese car show and the other side of the park housed a Ford owners show. Once again the event shelters were put to good use and we set them right up in the centre of all our cars. The quality of cars there was pretty good and LincolnBaggie did a great job organising even with the grief I gave him over where to park the cars. There was certainly plenty to see and spending some time going around the Ford cars was a nice change as I got to see some rare classics which you just don't see at shows no more including a dreamy concourse RS200. They had some trophies which they were awarding to the best cars in certain categories which I thought was a great idea. The only downside to this judges quite clearly were not even interested in the cars and may as well just pulled a name out of a hat. Congratulations to Mitch tho who did win a award it was well deserved. Me and BladesGrant invented a fantastic invention to stop his bonnet blowing in the wind, it's a fully patented bit of string, which Roo added the finishing touches too lol. All in all it was a great day and one i would probably try to attend next year. A huge thankyou to Arkwright for making me feel welcome and giving me a bed to put my head down for the night and also thankyou to Hugh and his wife for the great strawberries and cream.

 

Club Members Cars - 24 ish

Trade stand quality (out of 10) - 8

Show Quality (out of 10) - 8

Miles covered (to and from show) - 240

 

 

 

1st August - Modified Live 4 Cadwell Park

 

Another new venue for me but most of these Modified Live events are well run. I decided to try and source some accommodation the night before rather than drive on the day and I was treated to a nite at the LincolnBaggie house in the middle of nowhere. Neil's house is really nice and he made me feel really welcome, even looked after my car by letting me park in his purposely built carpeted garage, the car has never been tucked away in such luxury before. Had a great night, we found out that we both have a similar taste in music. The beers started flowing and Neil started getting out his old rock vinyl and the time just disappeared, was a shame we had to cut the evening short but early start in the morning as I wanted to give the car a quick once over at Neil's house seeing as he was close to the show. This show had a real low attendance on the forums and I was wondering if people knew something I didn't! We turned up and the show was really tiny, we organised the cars as best as we could given the strange size pitch we were allocated. There were only a few clubs in attendance and the trade stands were very few and far between. After attending so many shows this year so far i was really disappointed as I felt that I had seen everything on offer and there wasn't anything different about this show. Looking back now I wish I hadn't bothered with this one as the highlight was definitely trip down memory lane with the music and beer the night before. Still was nice to spend time with the same old faces again and we made the best of the day.

 

Club Members Cars - 15 ish

Trade stand quality (out of 10) - 1

Show Quality (out of 10) - 3

Miles covered (to and from show) - 206

 

 

 

August 15th - Japfest 2 Rockingham

 

What more could I ask for Japfest the highlight of the show season for me so far and from a venue which is so close it is surely too good to be true! Well I wasn't wrong after the first Japfest this was a huge let down. Club stands were assembled outside the stand in a car park which was covered in huge stones, everything just felt really strange. We had a small plot over the back somewhere and I was in charge of the stand parking which would of been great except for the big muddy puddle. Compared to Japfest 1 it was a poor show, quality of cars was poor unless you're a Suburu fan, they really put all the other clubs to shame with their turnout and i think the even had them parked by colour lol. A few lucky members as like the other Japfest got to park in a exclusive area where they showed of a full range of different marques which i think is a nice touch at these shows. The stand was amazing to watch the track action though which was definitely the highlight for me. From the stand you could see the entire track and it was great to see the little Starlet Turbos destroying all the bigger more powerful cars on both straights and corners. It was a ok day but as i said a real let down after the other Japfest. I'm still wondering how Cavey's son managed to eat the breakfast baguette he ordered as it was nearly as big as he was lol.

 

Club Members Cars - 12

Trade stand quality (out of 10) - 5

Show Quality (out of 10) - 5

Miles covered (to and from show) - 70

 

 

 

August 20-22 - Zed Fest

 

For those not familiar with this event its a social event organised by the Zed club. It's held at a scout camp in Nottingham and is a brilliant relaxed weekend for all Zed owners. I drove up on the Friday and got there around midday where I picked my spot and pitched my tent. It was then onto cleaning the car and then sticking up my feet for the rest of the evening. Unfortunately the rain set in but the vent shelters kept us mostly dry, the DJ was spinning some tunes and we had a lot of fun. The Saturday was pretty much the same weather wise unfortunately and I lost count of the times I dried the car in between showers and I think it was catching as a few others members were doing the same. Nissan bought a couple of their 370z's down on the Saturday and it was great for people thinking of buying to have the opportunity to ask any questions. It was great to see Tim from Envy Valeting there with a wide range of goodies and he helped me spend some money as always. Chesterfield even bought his Fezza down and I must say it was lovely. After all the shows I've attended being pretty much the same this weekend was just what I needed. For those thinking of going next year just do it, it's great to see all the different Zeds and the relaxed atmosphere is great and everyone makes you feel welcome, a must for the zed calendar next year.

 

Club Members Cars - 50 odd over the course of the weekend

Trade stand quality (out of 10) - just Tim and the burger van guy but ill give them a 10

Show Quality (out of 10) - 9

Miles covered (to and from show) - 180

 

 

 

August 29th - Hull motor show

 

I was due to be on the Totally Modified magazine stand for this show and was going to stay with Greekman the night before which I think would of been... erm... interesting lol. Unfortunately a week before hand the magazine decided to pull out from the show so without another club pass i was forced to pull out too. I could probably do with a weekend off anyway, i know the wallet definitely can!

 

September 18-19 - Wales trip

 

A second Wales trip in one year who the hell is gonna turn that down, not me that's for sure. Unfortunately I couldn't do both drives so had to settle for just the Sunday drive but it was still worth it. The drive was very challenging at times due to the constant rain but was a great route that Colin had planned and I really enjoyed it. The stops off were well chosen and the food was really good for the money and I actually preferred it to the one at Bala in May. I think a greet weekend was had by all that attended and I look forward to the next Wales trip

 

Club Members Cars - 16 from the list although it seemed more I'm sure

Trade stand quality (out of 10) - 10

Show Quality (out of 10) - 10

Miles covered (to and from show) - 300 (another 130 covered with the drive out)

 

 

 

October 3rd - Japshow Finale Santa Pod

 

Santa pod is always a good venue for me being just down the road although shows there never seem to have any real order or organisation I still enjoy the relaxed atmosphere. As most of the trips to Santa Pod of late the weather was poor and at time we had to hide in the beer tent to escape the rain. Good to see all the regulars and share some banta at Shires expense. It was also nice to spend some time with the guys from Abbey and have a close up look at their 350z race prepared car, it really is a amazing piece of engineering. I have to also mention that we paid a tribute to Ian Lewkowicz who sadly lost his life a short while before and was originally down to attend this show, Mitch bought a lovely bunch of flowers down and it was laid in the middle of all the cars along with a picture of Ian and his car for people to look at.

 

Club Members Cars - 12

Trade stand quality (out of 10) - 7

Show Quality (out of 10) - 7

Miles covered (to and from show) - 40

 

 

 

October 10th - Modified Live 5 Snetterton

 

After the disappointing attendance of the last few shows, the fact that Modified Live 4 was really poor and the weather forecast I decided not to actually attend this event and by the looks of it I don't think we even went as a club in the end anyway.

 

 

Well that has been my show season, and what a season it's been! I've had a lot of fun, met a load of interesting people. I've lost count of the amount of times I've cleaned my car but 5 times is defiantly a weekend record. Next year I will be more selective in the shows I attend and I hope people can use this as a guide as to which ones to attend. I would personally like to thank all those that attended the various show and made them what they were and thank all the club admin for all their hard work in organising such a great variety of events to keep us all entertained. I look forward to next year and hope we can get some better turnouts at some of the shows.

 

Total Shows attended - 12

Total Miles Covered - 2835

Total Awards won - 0 lol!

Overnight stays - 10

Best show - Japfest Castle Combe

Best Event - Wales without a doubt!

[alessandro]

I've been out only twice last year but your Z has always been an head turner bringing lots of people around the stand

 

Lets hope for a prize this year

[Cragus]

A good write up mate and some lovely pics! Love the garage shot!

 

Must of taken you some time - good effort!

[JetSet]

Great read

 

Thanks,

 

Pete

[BladesGrant]

Good year all in all Mark. I saw you at many of these and no matter the quality of the show, the company of everyone always makes the day. Even if you do have to put up with Shire and his number plate!!

[rothers2901]

Nicely compiled Mark, you must be the clubs No1 supporter, im hoping to attend more events this year as i only managed the Jap fest2 and Z fest.

[Chesterfield]

A fantastic write up Mark, your attendance and dedication to the shows and meets knows no bounds A great insight into the variety of shows attended by the club and the great time had by all

 

Heres to many more shows, meeting many new members and having just as great a time in 2011

[martinmac]

Thats a great post mate, well done for putting the time and effort in to attend all these events and pass on your experiences to others.

 

I managed to do a few last year and seemed to be seeing you every weekend at one point.

 

Its a real shame to see that for a forum with so many active members that we cant generate better numbers at some of these meets but hopefully that will get better over time.

 

I doubt that anyone on here can get close to your numbers for 2010

[Ebized]

What an excellent write up - many thanks for taking the time and touble to this Mark.

 

Your dedication is an inspiration to us all

 

Memo to myself to get my finger out and do something similar and hopefully look forward to some similar threads.

 

Will post a link in our Wales threads to this post seeing as it was ranked your best event

[Beavis]

Excellent write up Mark

[Arkwright]

Great write -up Mark (and a super looking Z) Thanks for the favourable report on Z Fest which is obviously the best event of the year. It's on again this year, hopefully better than ever. Look forward to seeing everyone there.