The eagerly awaited car show year started today. It has been the Surrey Street Rodders annual ‘Wheels Day’ and the Lurker has been exhibited for the first time. How exciting is that? I’m not sure we’ve anticipated anything this much in a very long time.

We always go to this wonderful event, it’s a permanent Good Friday fixture and this year it’s been made easier than least year because Spurs are away today so we didn’t need to get there at the crack of sparrows so I could be delivered onto a train into London. Good job too. The event was bigger and better than ever not only because of the Lurker’s appearance but there were hundreds of cars.

We set off from home excited but a bit nervous and more or less within a few hundred yards of home we came across a little convoy of Beetles all going to the show. David couldn’t resist a drag strip style pull away from the traffic lights …..just to show them what we were made of! Despite being left standing they were all waving and cheering as we flew by.

This year the event has been held even closer to home than normal. It’s moved to Rushmoor Arena, about five miles from here. One of the nice things each year is getting in the queue and watching all the hot rods and classic cars making their way in. Usually we do that in a boring old Vectra but this year we’ve been one of the cars that was being looked at rather than us doing the looking. It was strangely satisfying! The sad thing is that queuing plays havoc with the engines of old cars and there are always a handful on the side of the road with bonnets up. The good thing is that there is such a camaraderie and shared spirit among classic and hot rod owners that no-one sits for long, very quickly a couple of other cars will pull over and help to get the cars back on their way, sometimes even resorting to towing them in if necessary. No-one is left unaided.

We drove in and as you go through the gates, the good cars get filtered off to the show ground and the cars like my Vectra get sent off to a massive car park. It felt so good to be pointed off down to the showground for a change.

Once inside we locked up the car and went away to take photos. It was strange for me to recall that last year I was photographing these wonderful cars with my little Fiji FinePix 1.4 meg camera. How times change.

David was anxiously looking over to make sure the Lurker was OK all the time and he nearly blew a gasket himself when he thought someone had the temerity to lean up against his precious car. Fortunately the person wasn’t actually touching it or I don’t know what might have happened.

This photo was taken on the way home after we’d spent about four hours admiring all sorts of amazing vehicles. I learned that you could probably fit two Beetles into the same amount of space as a single Bel Air (even though I probably knew it already but just hadn’t really thought about it too hard). I also learned that there are so many people cherishing old cars and that’s good because it keeps these lovely things on the road and working rather than being consigned to the scrap heap.

Later I will load a gallery of photos taken at the show…..

A year ago today....