JAPANESE PERFORMANCE CAR SHOW, SANDOWN PARK, ESHER, SURREY - SATURDAY and SUNDAY 24th and 25th SEPTEMBER 2005

This show was organised and hosted by the ‘Japanese Performance Car’ magazine and was held over two days for the first time at Sandown Park race course (horses, not cars) Exhibition Centre in Esher, Surrey, located just off junction 10 of the M25. Obviously the main theme of the show was the exhibition of Japanese performance cars but all Japanese car clubs had been invited to take part as well.

The venue and facilities at Sandown Park were superb with well kept grounds outside and two large indoor exhibition halls situated under the main grandstand containing the most modified and desirable cars together with trade stands and an ongoing commentary from the magazine’s host holding competitions, interviews and announcements throughout the day.

All the canteen and restaurant facilities were open so you had a choice of buying just a cup of coffee or a full three course meal. Even the toilet facilities were nice, something we are not normally accustomed to at shows.

The car clubs were located just outside the exhibition halls. Each club was limited to three cars but thankfully different cars were allowed on each day enabling six of us to take part over the weekend.

SATURDAY:

On Saturday, the cars displayed were Karl Thomas’s red coupe, David Proctor with Debbie’s white t bar and Alan Cayzer’s red t bar, three fine examples each immaculately prepared for the show.

The club had their stand sited right outside the exhibition halls in a prominent position and once again they proved very popular with the visitors stopping to look and admire, something they didn’t seem to do with a lot of the other clubs. Perhaps that was because all the other clubs tended to have similar types of cars, modern Impezza’s Evo’s, Skyline’s, you know what I mean. Once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. We were something different. In fact we got a mention in the show’s website report “ It was the quality of the cars in attendance that made this show special. Everything from concours standard Mk1 MR2s right up to monster Skyline quarter-mile champions were there”. For more details see http://www.chpltd.com/japanese_performance/jpcs.html In fact, David’s white t bar caught the attention of the magazine’s representatives at the show and they asked him whether they could do a feature on his car. Something David was very proud to do so we will all look forward to seeing it featured in the magazine in the near future. Well done David!

SUNDAY:

On Sunday, the cars displayed were Kevin Crane’s Silver 1A coupe, Robert Hexter’s red coupe and Pete Kyte’s Mica blue t bar. Once again all brilliantly presented.

On the Sunday morning as we left home the weather was cloudy. My Dad and I had arranged to meet Robert Hexter at the Clackett Lane services on the M25 at 8am. When it got to 8:20 we started to worry (by now it was late and raining) but we shortly had a call from Rob asking where were we? "We are here at Clackett" I said. "So am I" replied Rob. Oh my god! The penny dropped realizing we were both at the services but Rob was over the opposite side of the motorway!!!!!!!!!!!! He quickly jumped in the car and got to us quick smart then we were off.

A rather quick blast up the M25 and we arrived at Sandown Park by 9am. We made our way to the club pitch and set up the display. Kevin Crane was already there in his gorgeous Mk1a. Other club regulars Jinxy, Nigel, Pete and Kel also joined us later.

The weather was glorious at Sandown and where the club stand was sited was a real suntrap. Rob, Kevin and myself decided to polish the cars so whilst we were busy we sent Jinxy and my Dad off to get the coffees.

The show was very interesting with many highly modified cars on display. It is always nice to get an invite to a show like this when most of our cars are pretty standard. It just goes to show the MR2 Mk1 will always stand the test of time no matter what the jap market throws at us!

The cars got plenty of attention and many questions were fired at us during the day. Luckily two of our top technical guys were on hand to answer any awkward ones. Cheers Kev and Jinxy.

By the end of the weekend we felt we had taken part and contributed in a great show. Being the first show at this venue and in the south it was perhaps not as big as we had anticipated but nevertheless we are sure it will grow bigger and better next year and become a major event for Japanese cars in the south east. Let hope so.

A very big thanks to Karl, David, Kevin and Robert for bringing their cars in such an immaculate condition. It really made a difference and your efforts are greatly appreciated.

A small article of the show can also be found in issue 58 November 2005 of Japanese Performance magazine.

Reports by Pete Kyte and Alan Cayzer

SATURDAY 24th

SUNDAY 25th