Once upon a time the Retro scene didn't exist. Okay this is a lie, I shall rephrase it. Once upon a time the Retro scene didn't have a name. It was kind of there though, living in the corners of classic car shows, or turning up at Run What Ya Brung days or track days, finding a spot at custom and hot rods shows, just living on the fringes of everything. Then in 2003 we gained an identity, Retro Cars magazine was born and our scene had a name, that name was Retro.
The original Retro Cars magazine bought with it another unifying device, the Retro Cars Show. First held at Santa Pod on the 4th July 2004, it was a show dedicated to those of us that have been living on the fringes of other shows. In the February before the show I'd started a
modest forum for these kinds of cars, inspired by the magazine, seeing the show had club space available we decided to attend as a club. We managed to get together seven cars for the show, at the time I was without a retro car and banished my Mk3 Golf to the car park because no one wants to see your modern daily at a retro show. The whole show was like a breathe of fresh air, at one point
rmad wondered aloud "Where did all these people go to before?". That day remains one of my favourite memories of this hobby. There are still remnants of it around on the internet, the
Retro Rides Gallery, the
Beardmore photos,
RetroMotorings photos.
Fast forward a couple of years and the Retro Cars show is at its peak, the Retro Rides stand numbers over 90 cars, just about every kind of retro car conceivable is in attendance. It was sadly a last hurrah, within the year Retro Cars magazine had shut its doors and the original Retro Cars Show was no more. For the following few years Santa Pod took over the running of the newly renamed Retro Show and gradually built from the ground up again. This year saw the show move back to a Sunday spot, having languished squeezed between other shows on a Saturday for a couple of years. Whilst it is doubtful it will ever regain the air of excitement and freshness that the first Retro Cars Show had, we hope it continues to have its place in the show calendar. You can see our friend Fergus' collection of images and videos
from the 2009 event here.
So there you are the first show that got me really excited about the Retro scene, what was yours?
Posted on: July 13, 2009 06:23