FOTU 2023

[dozeydustman]

Dad and brother enjoyed the day out, as did I. Recognised a few forum cars along with some wonderful others.

Our mode of transport was probably shunned, being a Discovery 5.

Waiting for dad and brother to forward me more photos. The Y-reg Samba cabrio may be one as once belonging to a guy I played rugby with as his was an HKL 5–Y

[catsinthewelder]

We're in the big yellow taxi

 

Still a cracking day out

[dozeydustman]

8 minutes ago, catsinthewelder said:

We're in the big yellow taxi

 

Still a cracking day out

We saw you arriving today. Was that your daughter driving the Dacia in?

[dozeydustman]

How to make a Fiat 500 look even tinier

We were tempted to see if the owner would let us attempt to get in, but we didn’t want to break the poor little thing!

[wuvvum]

6 minutes ago, dozeydustman said:

We saw you arriving today. Was that your daughter driving the Dacia in?

That was his Mrs.  She does look a fair bit younger than him to be fair...

[trigger]

Another fantastic day and got to meet many forum members again miss aload of you too... 🙄

I was escorted up this was beige delight belonging to @Brodders, here he is washing bird shit off it at Brampton Hut services

Loads of people are moaning about the queues in but we got there at 9.15 and was driving in at 9.30 but it was super busy

I had a few grumps about the show, mostly the large number of cars that i personally found either too exceptional or just damn right completely out of place at the show in my opinion, Is a Ferrari 348, a DeLorean,  Porsche Boxsters and a new McLaren really unexceptional?

i managed to dodge a bullet being the winner of 2019's show that i wasn't asked to go up on stage and speak to the public about my experiences like some of the others previous winners, i left that to the 'social media influencers' to enjoy 

But other than that and all the bastard wasps it was a great day and the Orion was faultless!

I've added all my photos onto facebook, hopefully the link works?.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=dockertrigger&set=a.10159839807632087

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Soundwave said:

have a soft spot for Avenger estates, I was bought home from hospital in one of these, albeit an orange one. Explains a lot really.

Was that the one that went through Matthewsons?

2 hours ago, Soundwave said:

Genuinely didn't even know there was a 504 estate until today!

IIRC, was the Familiale, could be had with a (smoll) 3rd seat in the rear area. Also some commercial versions, with raised roofs from B pillars back, hearses & ambulances etc.

Edit: great pics, btw - thanks

[Soundwave]

1 minute ago, High Jetter said:

Was that the one that went through Matthewsons?

No, my dad's old one was driven to the knacker's yard in 1990 after a... less than stellar MOT.

Apparently the yard owner took one look at it and said he could probably just fold it into a cube by hand instead of crushing it...

[High Jetter]

6 minutes ago, Soundwave said:

No, my dad's old one was driven to the knacker's yard in 1990 after a... less than stellar MOT.

Apparently the yard owner took one look at it and said he could probably just fold it into a cube by hand instead of crushing it...

That was your Dad's on the programme? A friend of my Dad had a saloon, showed us how bendy the door panels were.

[Soundwave]

4 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

That was your Dad's on the programme? A friend of my Dad had a saloon, showed us how bendy the door panels were.

No, wasn't my dad's on TV. As I say, it was scrapped in 1990 with terminal chassis rot, it started flexing in places it wasn't supposed to flex!

[High Jetter]

Just now, Soundwave said:

No, wasn't my dad's. As I say, it was scrapped in 1990 with terminal chassis rot, it started flexing in places it wasn't supposed to flex!

Sorry to hear that, but I meant the Grasshopper one at FOTU!

[Soundwave]

Sorry, crossed wires. Thought you were asking if my dad's one was on TV despite being scrapped over 30 years ago. My excuse is that I'm extremely tired after all that walking today.

As for the green one, not sure as I don't really watch Bangers and Cash.

[Kiltox]

1 hour ago, trigger said:

Another fantastic day and got to meet many forum members again miss aload of you too... 🙄

I was escorted up this was beige delight belonging to @Brodders, here he is washing bird shit off it at Brampton Hut services

Loads of people are moaning about the queues in but we got there at 9.15 and was driving in at 9.30 but it was super busy

I had a few grumps about the show, mostly the large number of cars that i personally found either too exceptional or just damn right completely out of place at the show in my opinion, Is a Ferrari 348, a DeLorean,  Porsche Boxsters and a new McLaren really unexceptional?

i managed to dodge a bullet being the winner of 2019's show that i wasn't asked to go up on stage and speak to the public about my experiences like some of the others previous winners, i left that to the 'social media influencers' to enjoy 

But other than that and all the bastard wasps it was a great day and the Orion was faultless!

I've added all my photos onto facebook, hopefully the link works?.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=dockertrigger&set=a.10159839807632087

Was that the same fucking McLaren as last year? 🤦‍♀️ 

Didnt make it this year but tbh I think I’m done with it. 

[RoverFolkUs]

I've been telling myself that I should at least venture up to FOTU one year.. would anyone say it's worth a 6 hour round trip? Being roughly 3 hours away I've struggled to justify it on the face of it. 

I know it's difficult to judge because different people will see different levels of enjoyment from it, but what's the unanimous opinion? How "commercial" does it feel? Personally I'm not a fan of events where it feels more like you're at a trade show with all the sponsors, and all the cars are up for sale at about 50% higher than their market value and being continuously polished throughout the day.. but that's just me

[Kiltox]

1 minute ago, RoverFolkUs said:

I've been telling myself that I should at least venture up to FOTU one year.. would anyone say it's worth a 6 hour round trip? Being roughly 3 hours away I've struggled to justify it on the face of it. 

I know it's difficult to judge because different people will see different levels of enjoyment from it, but what's the unanimous opinion? How "commercial" does it feel? Personally I'm not a fan of events where it feels more like you're at a trade show with all the sponsors, and all the cars are up for sale at about 50% higher than their market value and being continuously polished throughout the day.. but that's just me

Some would tell you that FOTU is the anti-this but it’s getting more and more like that every year. 

[wesacosa]

one thing I didn't quite get. The concourse is oversubscribed every year, yet last year there were 2 Fiat Tempras and this year two metros and four fiesta, 2x Mk3 and 2x Mk2s which were even the same colour.  I would have thought in such a small pool they would try and not have multiples in a single year 

[trigger]

50 minutes ago, Kiltox said:

Was that the same fucking McLaren as last year? 🤦‍♀️ 

Didnt make it this year but tbh I think I’m done with it. 

Yes I'm pretty sure it was same car that was parked by the toilets one year... it had press car written on the plate and it was parked with the judges personal cars and by the Hagerty merchandise stand, make of that as you will

[catsinthewelder]

3 hours ago, dozeydustman said:

We saw you arriving today. Was that your daughter driving the Dacia in?

My girlfriend says you are lovely

Properly good day out, so nice to he folk we saw and a shame we missed the rest of you.

 

 

  Big shout to DW and his press mates who helped us try to fix the Dacia, lent me a phone with signal to call recovery and gave us a lift in the beautiful 2nd prize Fiat Marea.

1st AA guy turned up at 7.30 and diagnosed a dead coil (along with the battery and regulator).  Called a flatbed and when he saw the ETA asked if I needed anything.  A tow into town for dinner was ruled out by a lack of towing eye so he gave me a lift to Dominos and back.

While we were enjoying our picnic by the gate (car pushed to here) the lass who organises events at the castle stopped on her way out for a chat.  Really lovely lass who cleared us with security to lurk on site as late as we needed.  She loved the show and said a lot of people had mentioned the queues, there are 4 entrances to site and she'll have a word about a separate entrance for moderns to cut the queue down next year.

The show organisers stopped to check we were ok too and left us with drinks and a phone number to call them if we got stuck.

2nd AA guy is sound too and has the loading skills.

I'm getting a bit tired now, made it to Kidderminster 30 mins from home so might be in bed by 3 🤞

[dollywobbler]

Bloody amazing day. Good to catch up with those I managed to. Sorry the Dacia couldn't be coaxed back into life.

Catering was a massive balls up. Just not enough of it. Didn't stop us absolutely loving it. I don't think the McLaren was a judge as they were in and working very early on. I think Danny Hopkins was having a go as the stage was right next to it. Some people are just dicks I guess.

We borrowed a relative's latest purchase and found a German friend.

Winning car was a Swedish Daihatsu Applause.

Also chatted to a chap who drove his E39 from Portugal and plenty of my Dutch friends.

Commercial? Nah. Given Hagerty run the show, they still don't really promote themselves that much and there were only a couple of trade stands. Roll on 2024 and the 10th anniversary.

[wuvvum]

7 hours ago, Kiltox said:

Didnt make it this year but tbh I've replaced all my shite cars with milkfloats so had nothing to bring.

FTFY 

[Schaefft]

Shame it didn't work for me timing wise, I would have loved to bring something new again. Seemed to be a great turnout again as well. Fortunately Athens seems to have a Fotu going on in the streets every day!

[wesacosa]

the arrival of the bASe made it on the official Hagerty into vid , @BorniteIdentity

https://twitter.com/HagertyUK/status/1685274946224713728?t=LY2bHRWCnjKDbSk_ExCPYw&s=09

[grogee]

4 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

Bloody amazing day. 

Catering was a massive balls up

These two things can't simultaneously be true

[BorniteIdentity]

Thing is with catering - the vans won't come if they're competing with 50 other trailers etc, so it's a balancing act.  We queued, at lunchtime, 10 minutes for chips. I've waited longer on a Friday night in the pissing rain at a generic chippy.  No complaints there.

It's not that it's become over commercialised, I think it's just become very big. If I were Hagerty, I'd be handing it over to a proper event company to run now with

1. proper marshalling to stop 14 plate Vauxhall Zafira's parking with the chod. 
2. modern parking through another entrance to completely prevent cross polination.
3. a hard and fast cut off to chod. I think it has to 25 years minimum which reflects changing tastes and encourages the next generation through.
4. a proper stage schedule.

It was a good day but, even as a car fan, I'd had enough by 1430. It would definitely work as a weekender, and I'd happily pay £60 for camping and a bit of live music in the evening.  It'd likely need a different venue but, tbh, it's probably time for a change anyway.

Solid 8/10 for me.  Fix the moderns and the Youtubers and it'd be a 10 (!)

[TripleRich]

Really enjoyable day, excellent variety of stuff on show.  Car went down well and got some lovely comments. 

It was a challenge getting in, we queued for over an hour.  The Granada got a bit warm but held on with some help from the heater blower.  Poor P6 behind me was loosing coolant and had the oil light on by the time we reached parking.  

Drive there and back was excellent.  Sat at 70 most of the way, 148 miles covered with no problems.

[davidfowler2000]

1 hour ago, wesacosa said:

the arrival of the bASe made it on the official Hagerty into vid , @BorniteIdentity

https://twitter.com/HagertyUK/status/1685274946224713728?t=LY2bHRWCnjKDbSk_ExCPYw&s=09

@juularis also in there *JUST* at 0:28 with the blue 205

[w00dy]

Very much enjoyed my first FotU. Many thanks to @Ghosty for the ticket. 390 miles in a day is right at the limit of what I want to do in the T25, but it managed it without a fuss. I'll hopefully be back next year, but camping before hand is probably the way to go.

A fantastic variety of cars, some may moan about some less unexceptional stuff being there, but  I think it's nice to see all sorts without row upon row of 911s or MGBs. Great to see all the little displays and info sheets in the cars and friendly owners. 

The queuing was as mentioned ridiculous, Bicester scrambles have more cars, but much better organisation. I think parking cars at the far end and then having everyone contend with people migrating towards the castle against the flow of traffic was a pretty poor decision and perhaps more staff parking cars on both sides at once would have helped.  It feels cheeky to ask the ticket price that they do and then cut an hour+ out of people's day and cause them and their cars stress in the process.

I was surprised by the number of aspiring Youtubers, but can't say it affected my day in any way.

[BorniteIdentity]

9 minutes ago, w00dy said:

I was surprised by the number of aspiring Youtubers, but can't say it affected my day in any way.

I'm just a grumpy arse!

Seriously though, one exchange was a bit uncomfortable.

 

HEY - CAN I MAKE YOUR CAR FAMOUS?

It already is.

YEAH BUT I CAN MAKE YOU FAMOUS TOO!!1!

I already did fame the hard way.

DON'T YOU WANT THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TO SEE YOUR CAR?

It's bad enough that I have to see it, never mind others.

 

The only aspect of the car that I really enjoy is its story, and that has been told many times already.  At some stage it'll be done properly and well by someone I trust to do it justice, but getting people SMASHING THAT LIKE BUTTON with no discernible talent and on the coat tails of others feels wrong.  Want to review a car? Buy one like the rest of us...

 

 

[N19]

46 minutes ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Thing is with catering - the vans won't come if they're competing with 50 other trailers etc, so it's a balancing act.  We queued, at lunchtime, 10 minutes for chips. I've waited longer on a Friday night in the pissing rain at a generic chippy.  No complaints there.

It's not that it's become over commercialised, I think it's just become very big. If I were Hagerty, I'd be handing it over to a proper event company to run now with

1. proper marshalling to stop 14 plate Vauxhall Zafira's parking with the chod. 
2. modern parking through another entrance to completely prevent cross polination.
3. a hard and fast cut off to chod. I think it has to 25 years minimum which reflects changing tastes and encourages the next generation through.
4. a proper stage schedule.

It was a good day but, even as a car fan, I'd had enough by 1430. It would definitely work as a weekender, and I'd happily pay £60 for camping and a bit of live music in the evening.  It'd likely need a different venue but, tbh, it's probably time for a change anyway.

Solid 8/10 for me.  Fix the moderns and the Youtubers and it'd be a 10 (!)

I've organised large events with catering traders and, as you say, the balance is incredibly difficult. Too few, and people complain. Too many, and the traders won't come next year because they made next to no money. Add to this the foibles of the weather, plus a venue with poor phone signal (lots of people expect to pay on a card), the general hard work they have to put in, if your event doesn't pay they'll move on elsewhere...

You can engage lots of event companies who can provide services like the traffic management, allowing the organisers to concentrate on the organising. I say this not knowing the experience or background of those who currently do the organising - but even wearing my hat of having Done This Sort Of Thing Lots Of Times, being able to palm off a segment of the work is infinitely easier.

I didn't go this year as I didn't have a suitable car and was reasonably busy, but hopefully will be there next year.

[RichardK]

14 hours ago, Soundwave said:

I have a soft spot for Avenger estates, I was bought home from hospital in one of these, albeit an orange one. Explains a lot really.

Pretty sure when @Zelandeth brought the van up, we passed that heading south on the M1 and it was very exciting