SHOW REPORT: OhSoRetro!

Words: OhSoRetro   Photography: Nick Simmo, and Chilli Customs Auto Photography

The OhSoRetroShow took place on Sunday 25th September 2016 in Margate, Kent.

The event has gained massive momentum in a short time with this being only our 3rd event and having over 1,000 classic & retro cars in attendance (we prebooked over 800 cars!!). 

Car owners and enthusiasts travelled the entire country and some of Europe for our one day show. Anything pre-1990 (ish) is the rule and it sure shows up an awesome variety of vehicles and owners.

Over 40 clubs were in attendance with large showings from The Medway Monkeys, Thanet Classics, Scorted, LSMOC, Harris Performance Engines, BPC Retro, Kent Capri and Ford Club, Dutch House Strip and Street amongst many others.

The event also saw an array of classic motorbikes and scooters as well as club Sinclair C5 Alive bringing a display of C5’s along.

The event has always had the intention of being grass roots, the organisers and marshals are all classic car owners with most of us running retro cars as daily drivers.

We keep our entry prices low £7.50 per display car including all occupants and just £5 an adult under 16s go free on the gate! A lot lower than a lot of other events of this scale.

We have live music and entertainment all day complete with real Margate deck chairs for you to enjoy the bands!  This year we added a retro gaming tent (thanks to Level Up Games, Canterbury) and a remote control drift track (Slide Dynamics RC) which were both free to play.

We also have a massive array of trade and autojumble stands with loads of bargains being had throughout the day.

Normally we run a top 10 award system but this year due to high number of cars and outstanding quality we decided to up it to a top 20. Our Handmade rubix cube trophies went down a storm too.

Our top 20 awards are not a concourse affair, as that’s not what we are about. It’s always been about “what turns the judges on”. This year’s winners ranged from a diesel turbo powered rat rod Model A Pickup, to a green goddess, to an old skool custom Morris Minor to a gorgeous Karman Ghia. All cars we would very much like to have taken home!

Our final award which is always hotly contended is best club stand. This year our winner had to be Andrew Eve and his collection of Datsun’s. Andrew single headedly bought 10 cars to the event. Littering them around Margate in side streets and on recovery trucks, for the bike ride around in the morning to pick them up. A few he forgot where they were left!! I am hoping he has found them all by now?!

Every year we hold a raffle for charity this year’s prize donations were absolutely amazing with too many donators to list (you can view the full list on our Facebook page!). With everything from new tools to metal flaked and pinstriped toilet seats to custom made barrel seats to meal vouchers and more. The raffle raised an AMAZING £1100 for the 1st Margate Boys’ and Girls’ Brigade an organisation event organiser Lee Collier has been involved with since he was 4.5 years old. (Now 24 and a half ha). I am really grateful to all the donators. They all went above and beyond to donate.

Next year’s show is already pencilled in for the 24th September 2017 back down in sunny Margate, Kent. Why not come down and make a weekend of it?

If you would like to keep up to date with the event and anything else we get up to please check out our social media or our website www.OhSoRetro.co.uk
 
Facebook.com/OhSoRetroEvents

Instagram: @OhSoRetroEvents

Twitter: @OhSoRetroEvents

Snapchat: OhSoRetroEvents

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