Event 4 - Von Dirk

Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018

15th July 2018

Celebration seemed to be the unofficial theme of this year’s Festival of Speed. The event itself was marking its 25th year, the centre lawn sculpture was celebrating Porsche 70th birthday and there was also the parade of Land Rovers celebrating their 70th birthday too. And for me, I was celebrating turning up in my ‘supercar’. Two years ago I left the 2016 Festival of Speed saying to myself ‘when I return next year it will be in my own 911’. A year later I had the 911 but didn’t take it to Goodwood as I was driven there by a friend. So this year I had to drive my 911. To make it even more special, I booked supercar parking for the Thursday. We all have things that make us feel good, those little personal fist pump moments, this was one of mine. Driving onto the Goodwood estate in my 911, with the ‘supercar parking’ pass felt great — small pleasures.

Deutsche Fest 2018: A Celebration of German Engineering and Motorsport

17th June 2018

Returning for the second year, Deutsche Fest aimed to celebrate all German manufactured vehicles. This year though, they had teamed up with Heritage Parts Centre to bring us a whole weekend of activities. Saturday featured the Heritage takeover – a full track day for German cars only, plus displays and evening entertainment. With Sunday came a full race line-up, club displays, and Deutsche Fest Awards. All the ingredients were there for a perfect weekend – cars, clubs, racing and an amazing venue, but something seemed to be lacking this year. I know first hand that it takes a lot to put on a car show, and it’s even more effort if you include racing of any kind, I take my hat off to the Deutsche Fest team for putting in so much effort. There wasn’t anything wrong, I really don’t have a bad word to say, I just wasn’t feeling it this year and it probably shows in my photos. I’m sure next year will be awesome, if you like German cars then make sure you visit and support the Deutsche Fest team.

American Speedfest VI

10th June 2018

The title of this event is pretty explanatory, as it exists to

Bike Shed London 2018

24th May 2018

Time for a little two-wheel fun at Bike Shed London 2018, held in the wonderful Tobacco Dock. It’s been a while since I last visited this event, so when the chance of snagging a VIP/Press preview ticket came up I jumped at the chance. Turning up early Friday evening I wasn’t expecting such an eager queue of excited people. Pennington Street was awash with low-slung jeans, Redwings and checked shirts. As I waited for the doors to open I chatted with others in the queue. While a selection of riders cruised by on a variety of bikes, giving a taste of what was to welcome us inside.

Ford Econoline pannel van parked at Long Beach

Long Beach Hi-Po Swap Meet – Automotive Treasures for Every Car Enthusiast

13th May 2018

The Sunday of our little LA trip was another early start to get to the Long Beach Hi-Po Swap Meet for its’ 06:00 opening. This swap meet has been running for over 30 years, although we’ve not been going for anything like that long. It takes place at the Veterans Memorial Stadium. While it’s not on the scale of the Pomona swap meet, it’s become world-renowned for its content of antique, vintage, classic and high-performance cars and parts for sale, usually at lower prices than Pomona too. It’s a must-visit for any hot rod, muscle car, street rod, classic car enthusiasts. This months event happened to fall on mothers day, which explained the smaller than usual crowds and vendors. With the lower visitor numbers, there were a fair few bargains to be had.

1964 Chevy Impala lowrider at Donut Derelicts breakfast meet

Donut Derelicts Meet – Huntington Beach’s Classic Car Spectacle

12th May 2018

On my recent trip to LA, I managed to visit the famous Donut Derelicts breakfast meet in Huntington Beach. While this has been a breakfast I’d wanted to visit for a long time, I’d never managed to get there on previous trips. This time I was determined to not miss it, even though it meant a very early alarm. This event has been running every Saturday morning since February ’85 in the parking lot of Adams Ave Donuts. Enthusiasts from all over gather to enjoy a doughnut, a cup of coffee and the spectacle of street rods, hot rods, classic and speciality creations.

911UK Mayday Breakfast Run

7th May 2018

Bank Holiday Monday and another 911UK drive down to Rye for breakfast. We knew the roads wouldn’t be quiet as the early May bank holiday is synonymous with the Mayday Run which sees 1,000’s of biker make the run down the A21 to Hastings. The sheer number of bikes is always an impressive sight, but we decided to meet up earlier than usual to get a head start on our journey down to the south coast.

Exclusively Porsche

5th May 2018

Beautiful weather teased out quite a few people for the May edition of Exclusively Porsche, which meant it was going to be a busy meet-up. I arrived a little late and was greeted by a throng of stunning Porsche’s and a few other classics for added interest. From Simon Moore’s beautiful 356 coupé, Toby’s 912 and a few 718’s representing the flat 4’s and various air-cooled 911’s plus a brace of watercoolers representing the flat 6’s – there really was something for everyone. It was also nice to see some other classics joining in the summer sun, such as the wonderful Triumph Herald and Paul Campbell’s 1953 VW ‘Zwitter’.

911UK April Breakfast Meet

22nd April 2018

We were blessed with glorious sun for this months 911UK Kent breakfast meet at the Toby Carvery, Badger Mount. Given that it was the same day as Bister Heritage Sunday Scramble there was still a great turn out. While most were water-cooled later models, two guards red 80’s air-cooled 911’s graced the car park with their presence – one of which was still driven by the original owner. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to chat with him, but I’ll try and catch him at another event. Once again I found this group super friendly, welcoming and I left having made more new friends.

Out East Porsche April

15th April 2018

The third Sunday of the month means it’s time for a little jaunt over to East London’s Fish Island for Porsche Club GB’s R20 ‘Out East Porsche Meet’. This time Max and I hooked up with some Ding Dong Kinky Disciples in Chislehurst for pre-breakfast coffees and to cruise on over to the north side of the river – it’s safer for us south-Londoners to travel together. As the others left our meeting point I was held up at traffic lights, so decided to take a shortcut, hoping to catch them further up the A20. My shortcut must have been a good one as I arrived over at Beachy Road, E3 2NS a good 5 minutes before them.

Porsche Lunch

7th April 2018

Heading back from the Precision Porsche cars and coffee open day the sun was shining and East Sussex did it’s best to provide entertaining roads to play on. Once again it was a solo drive, but I was smiling all the way, happy to be out in my 997. What started off with just four cars in a car park soon turned into quite a large meet-up, with Porsches of all vintages. From Simon Moore’s beautiful 356 to a brand new 991.2 Targa.

Precision Porsche Cars and Coffee

7th April 2018

A solo, picturesque drive this morning delivered me to the first of two Porsche events. East Sussex’s Precision Porsche provided hospitality to ease into Saturday morning, while their team of experts were on hand performing pre-booked health checks and answering questions. Their spotless workshops were open for us all to freely wander around and the body shop had a few non-Porsche beauties in various states of repair.

911UK Bank Holiday breakfast meet

2nd April 2018

Bank holiday Monday and it was another early start to meet up with some of the 911UK crew at Westerham Brewery for a drive down to Rye harbour for breakfast. I think we had 11 911’s leave the brewery with the aim of meeting others down at the Bosun’s Bite. With the M25 shut, it meant the A25 was very busy eastbound and our cruise became two groups quite quickly. The wet weather, potholes and country lanes made for an interesting and spritely drive. We managed to keep our group of six cars together all the way down to Rye where we met up with the others.

London Classic Car Show 2018

17th February 2018

I’d not been to the London Classic Car Show for a couple of years, so I was looking forward to an relaxed day full of great cars and great people. The Excel centre in London is a vast, featureless exhibition hall and I don’t feel it really does the cars justice. The organisers had dressed the central runway, albeit with just tyre walls, but something was lacking.

911UK February Breakfast Meet

4th February 2018

The 911 was woken from its slumber to deliver us to our first breakfast meet of the year. The roads round to Badgers Mount are not the most exciting to drive, mainly the A2 and M25, but this car puts a smile on my face whatever road I’m on. Pulling in to the Toby Carvery we were greeted with an impressive line up of Porsche machinery. This was the first time I’d met up with the 911uk.com crowd and what a friendly bunch they are.

Brands Hatch open track day

3rd February 2018

Another wet and overcast day welcomed us to Brands Hatch for this track day. Although you don’t know who and what might be running on an open track day, there’s usually an interesting mix of people and cars both on track and in the paddock. It’s a great opportunity to hone your photography skills, especially panning shots. Today’s biggest lesson though was that I need to invest in some weather protection for my camera and lens’.

Category: Event