Retro Rides is a multifaceted event. While most automotive shows have fun a selected side of automobile culture or a certain marque, Retro Rides is slightly more straightforward. The one rule here is that in case your automobile was made before the yr 2000, you’ll be able to park near the front. That’s it.
Every thing made after that goes into a distinct general automobile park across the back, but you might probably tell this from the name of the event alone. In any case, a Nissan Juke doesn’t really fit the ‘retro’ bill. The excellent news is though, that plenty of individuals come along to the event bringing their pride and joys that very much meet Retro Rides’ core criteria.
Including me. That’s right, my plucky brown BMW E38 was out in full force again, this time conquering the northern greenery at Mallory Park Racing Circuit, the venue for Retro Rides 2023.
Fortunately for me, our very own Mark Riccioni has already set the tone of the event in his preview gallery. Giving us a look into the show ground, he cheekily identified that Retro Rides isn’t any Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach. No, things are slightly more sophisticated around here than that, thanks very much.
What Retro Rides is, is a community deeply rooted in automobile forum culture. Yes, the now often forgotten goldmines of automotive knowledge and conversation which brought us a lot joy before the age of the Instagram remains to be the platform of alternative for many who live and breathe the Retro Rides lifestyle.
Which means lazy individuals akin to myself who shifted from forum use to Instagram through the mid-2010s are simply not following the activities of these good individuals who use forums as their fundamental stomping ground.
What I’m getting at here is, that I rocked as much as Retro Rides excited knowing that fifty% of the cars I’d see, I probably never would’ve seen on Instagram before. And I used to be right.
Being a fan of obscure (but good) motoring, there were many cars for me to have a gander around. Straight off the bat I gravitated towards an early Seat Toledo sat on top of the hill. An uncluttered aesthetic mixed with tri-spoke wheels and period-correct touches akin to the dealer plates and unpainted bumpers go an extended approach to support the entire ‘less is more’ approach to automobile constructing.
My friends and I spent loads of our youth tinkering with the Toledo’s miniature cousin, the Arosa, so there’s a family tie here that attracts me towards these little cars.
Sticking with the theme of red cars, let’s jump to… err, the alternative end of the spectrum. If Mark’s photography wasn’t the good thing about him, then perhaps his Ferrari 360 Modena Challenge does the trick. It’s a automobile that’s no stranger to the pages of Speedhunters, but one I couldn’t keep away from for my very own show report.
The Ferrari does allow me to transition to my favourite area of the event, though. The Late Brake Show, hosted by Jonny Smith, is a web-based automobile programme and was also one in all Retro Rides’ fundamental sponsors this yr. Jonny’s videos are a few of the perfect on YouTube, and he invited along among the friends and characters he’s met along the approach to display their cars in a special area.
The cars were exciting and varied. A Dodge Charger parked next to a Mk2 Ford Fiesta and a Porsche 993, alongside a Honda City Turbo and… a fairly revealing Mk1 Ford Cortina.
Further down the hill, more crazy automobile mixtures awaited me. Try this Citroën Saxo. While I couldn’t catch the main points of the engine bay (of which I’m sure there’s plenty,) I did get sucked into the Advan Racing RG2 wheels wearing Toyo Proxes R888 semi-slicks.
Parked alongside the Saxo was a rear-engined engineering marvel of a K20-swapped Mini, draped in a sleek wide body and fitted with some very wide back wheels.
The great thing about Retro Rides, is that loads of these cars were taken on the right track too, firming up the notion that many weren’t built to simply be parked up – they exist to be driven as well.
At Retro Rides, you’ll be able to really find all styles of fun automobile combos parked next to one another that you simply simply don’t get anywhere else. I’ll leave you with this amazing Suzuki Cappuccino parked up next to something totally unexpected.
Actually, I’ll save the main points for my next Retro Rides post, where we’ll dive deeper – much, much deeper – into the world of simply bizarre motoring. We’ve not even scratched the surface here yet.
Michał Fidowicz
Instagram: candyshowroom
This Article First Appeared At www.speedhunters.com
