Last Friday saw the Surrey Street Rodder's Event 'Wheels Day' back for it's 40th Anniversary. Moved from it's usual location at Rushmoor Arena, the event was held this time at the famous Dunsfold Airfield, or the Top Gear Test Track to many.
The event was blessed with a dry and sunny day; though the wind was speedy and bitterly cold it could have been worse. Thousands of stunning vehicles turned up (with their owners) to enjoy the day.
I went along in my mum's stunning lilac Plymouth Barracuda and we took our friend in this showstopping red Ford '32 Roadster. The fields were packed with beautiful vehicles and there was a lot to get around, some great stalls, including Hot Rod Tiki and Brilliant; Coffee and Food vendors a plenty, and some standard market-type stalls thrown in for extra cash.
Sadly, due to the okay weather and great reputation of Wheels Day, more than 18,000 vehicles turned up to enjoy the show. This is more than 4 times the record amount at past shows. This unprecedented amount of people meant that some entered without paying the charitable entry fee and some didn't get in at all. Tailbacks into Guildford were all over the radio traffic updates and complaints were made. This has led to an official announcement from the Rodders' that there will be no more Wheels Day...
I'll confess the show wasn't quite what I wanted it to be either. I last went to Rushmoor in 2012 and it was a fantastic day but I understand the need to upsize. After 40 years of successful events, this was, effectively, a first attempt for the Rodders' and complaints shouldn't have been quite so unforgiving as we all need some trial and error in these things. Judging by the mistakes of this year, you would hope that the kinks would be ironed out by next time if they had just been given the benefit of the doubt. Instead, the first Car Show of the UK Summer is no more.
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