HOARDS OF FORDS AND SOME FINE AWARDS…

Over 1,200 cars and over 7,000 fans turn up for one of the UK’s biggest Ford eventsHighlight of the show is Classic Ford’s ‘Great Unveil’Old Skool Ford wins best club stand, with 116 car displayFine weather and an even finer selection of cars made the 2016 Classic Ford Show one of the most successful ever, with interest in the Blue Oval’s most iconic cars showing no sign of waning.

In total, over 1,200 cars were on display at Santa Pod, Beds, the best-known drag strip in the UK. Among them were all sorts of classics, ranging from standard, concours restorations, through to performance-tuned models modified mildly to wildly. From Anglia to Zodiac, via Escort, Focus and Fiesta, every imaginable type of Ford was there.

Now in its 12th year, the Classic Ford Show is one of the best attended and most loved Ford events in the calendar, and this year proved why, with some amazing exhibits.

Among them were a ‘Great Unveil’ of some future Classic Ford feature cars, including an immaculate Crayford Corsair Convertible restored by Steve Pardoe, a wide-arched Mk 1 Escort built by Simon Dolphin and a Mk 2 Lotus Cortina ‘Team Lotus’ belonging to Jonathon Parker.

Another show-stopper, which also made its way onto the Classic Ford stand was a Mk 1 Cortina built from the ground up in just four days by a group of friends, as a challenge to see if it could be completed in time for the show.

Owned by Darren Miles and built under the leadership of well-known Ford restorer Ben Szanto, the story will feature in the next issue of Classic Ford magazine on sale June 17.

Another highlight of the show was the 116-strong Old Skool Ford club stand, which won the Best Club Stand Award sponsored by main show supporters, Admiral, and the Autoperfekt show and shine, which was won by Lazlo Horvath, with his Mk 1 Fiesta. The Wheel Whores Best Wheels award went to Mike Johnson, who also owns a Mk 1 Fiesta.

Overall, the 2016 Classic Ford Show was a huge success, but fans of the brand don’t need to wait until next year for another great Ford-themed event. Next month, on July 16, it’s the Ford Summer festival (www.fordsummerfestival.co.uk) including a run from Ford’s home in Dagenham to Brighton, while Ford Fair in August (www.fordfair.co.uk) and Ford Fest in September (www.fordfestshow.co.uk) give fans of fine Fords plenty to look forward to as the summer goes on.