The Car Collective Show of Shows 2015

With summer now in full flow we are now into the busy period of shows and meets taking place these coming months. Some new ones have even appeared on the radar promising to be a great day out for all. This brings us on to the Car Collective Show of Shows taking place at the Penhurst Place and Gardens in Kent. This is a new one to us and had a good amount of coverage on social media to get noticed.

As with new shows you never quite know what to expect with the type of cars that will turn up, will it have a good atmosphere and vibe and importantly the numbers to make it a success. We got directed to our spot upon arrival with plenty of room to set up the Custom Cars stand and get the cars ready for the 10am start.

Starting with the Custom Cars stand we had Nadeem’s stunning E46 M3 on display which not long ago had its photoshoot for a feature in Performance BMW magazine and will be coming out soon.

Saty who had a little flirtation with the Porsche 911 has now come back to the E46 fold with a fairly recently acquired silver grey M3 which is now sporting a set of genuine CSL wheels, storm goodies and a rare Clubsport spoiler.

Steve Smith E46 has gone through quite a change for this year and the first noticeable change is the new wheels he has acquired in the form of a rare set of RH XD 3 piece split wheels measuring 11x18 and 8.5x18 respectivly. He has also got Dips from Custom Cars to custom make a CSL-esque boot which has been fully smoothed and flushed with a shorter recess for the license plate and has redesigned his audio boot build.

Dips from The Custom Cars bagged M3 was looking as stunning as ever and is now rocking a set of squared OEM Style 67 polished up with custom copper inserts which looked amazing in the sunlight. There is a rumour he might be using a classic set of wheels later on down the line this year so watch this space.

The M3 has aquired more carbon fibre parts for the engine bay as well as a few small mods and sits nicely on the recently rebuilt Oz Mito rears measuring 11.25x18.

This MK2 golf is certainly a nice example and there is no hint that this car packs a punch till you see under the bonnet where an R32 engine rests nicely in the compact bay making a formidable sleeper car.

Rash has added some nice changes to his E90 M3 with a new front splitter along with orange accents on the wing vents, rear spoiler and orange calipers. It’s a nice subtle touch and suits the car really well giving a little individuality.

Taking a walk through the venue there was a wide variety of cars on show and it wasn’t just limited to just a few marques, there was a mix of classics, modified, super cars etc. so there was something out there that anyone could relate to and appreciate.

This Astra ticked all the right boxes for looks and performance.

The Mercedes W114 seem to be attracting a cult following with a few at the show. With a classic body and lines you really don’t need to do much to these cars to make them stand out.

You don’t see many classic Ford Escorts on the road and this lovely example was instantly noticeable with its fine yellow paintwork.

It was good to see the E30 Zone on display with some fine examples from coupes to verts and M3’s as well as this widebody monster below!

Performance BMW magazine Editor Elizabeth de Latour E39 540 had her car on display. The boot build housing the compressor and tanks for the air ride is well thought out and finely executed.

Shaun Grazette 335i E92 coupe has gone through some changes since we last saw it and is now on air suspension, a new front end with an M3 powerdome, 1M style bumper and most notably the centres on his Blitz wheels are finished in a special 4 layer light pearl effect and works so much better now.

Not often you see a super car like the Ford GT40.

As well as the classic Dodge Charger.

Tallis Godfrey has bought a new set of shoes for his stunning E36 M3 with a set of fully polished Oz Route wheels.

Matt Cliffords E31 8 series which was recently featured in the May 2015 Performance BMW magazine has changed the look of his with a new set of Rotiform LHR 3 piece wheels. The classic centre mesh design suits the body shape of the car and the gold centres contrast well against the velvet blue exterior.

This Subaru Impreza was one of my favourites from the show sitting pretty on some wide Works wheels.

As the day drew to a close I felt it was worth the trip and enjoyed what was on offer. Being open to all types of cars it had something for everyone which was a great idea by the organiser Jack Williams to open it to all as it had brought in a wide variety of metal on display.

Considering there was the Supercar Siege, another show on the same day not far from venue it had a pretty decent turnout. Had Supercar Siege not been on at the same time I think this could have had even more numbers, no question of it. There were decent food stalls on offer and the location was pretty good too.

The Show of Shows certainly lived up to its expectation and this one will definitely be on my calendar for next year.

Picture coverage from the show can be found on our forum, www.pbmwforum.com and our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/pbmwforum

Also check out our Instagram and follow us @pbmwforum

Words and photos by Richard Ansari.

Bimmers and Burgers Part 2

A year ago the Bimmerboys team organised a meet which for a something new done extremely well with the turnout and various BM’s on display. Because of the success of last year another one was organised which was hosted again at M-Style/Autoenhance’s premises in Essex.

With turnout expected to be high it there was strict instructions to ensure no one had turned up too early before the 1pm kick off. Arriving at 5 minutes past it was already starting to steadily fill up and with good weather on par with last year this was going to be a nice chilled day out.

There was a vast range of BM’s on display from OEM+ cars to modified and a number on air ride which is proving to be quite popular these days.

James Barrett's well known E46 M3 in Lambo Grigio Telesto had some nice new additions since I last saw it. Now its sporting a roll cage and something you don't see often with the flocked dash. 

 Dee's 1 series coupe in Austin yellow is perfectly executed with nice styling cues and wheels.

Ben Young’s E92 coupe looked on form as always slammed on 3SDM wheels.

Not often you see a Dimma kitted E46 M3 in laguna seca blue which pulled in a lot of attention.

Marcel stunning E28 turbo which won best show and shine at the BMW Show Gaydon and best of show at Ultimate BMW at Santa Pod last year was on display and is probably one of the best modified E28's out there in the BM scene now and features one of the best detailed engine bays and is a work of art in itself.

Some will recognise Bruno’s (brunberg) old M5 which is now owned by Phil Robinson who will be putting his own stamp on the car in the future.

Performance BMW magazine editor Elizabeth de Latour was in attendance and owns this E39 and has been given the air ride treatment and sits on a very rare set of three piece Oz superleggra wheels. Not many E39’s are modified in the BM scene so its always refreshing to see cars like this having a bit of treatment to stand out a little from the crowd.

A nice E46 Clubsport rocking a set of quite rare AC Schnitzer type 3 non racing wheels.

This carbon black M3 sporting huge monster brakes, the owner is looking to up the power with forced induction which will make it a savage weapon in the future.

Throughout the day the numbers had kept coming and even though additional space was made to cope with the extra cars it had gotten full. Talking with Stewart the count was over 200 cars a few hours into meet which is a brilliant achievement and with the success of this and potentially getting bigger next year we could very well see this being hosted at a different location.

A big congrats and thanks to the Bimmerboys and the guys at M-Style for hosting a great event and I’m sure you will agree that its one to look forward to for next year’s diary.

Picture coverage from the show can be found on our forum, www.pbmwforum.com and our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/pbmwforum

Also check out our Instagram and follow us @pbmwforum

Words and photos by Richard Ansari.