European Kit Car Show - Detling

Kent County Show Ground April 12th / 13th, 2008

This was the first show of the season for us and the first show we had done on our own. Nostalgia were not in attendance for the first time in many years and we were left to fly the flag. The show promised fun for all not just those interested in kit cars, with a children's fun fare and quad rides.The usual format for these events as far as the clubs are concerned is an outside gathering in marked parking spaces. We were one of 6 clubs allocated space inside Hall 2. Given the changeable weather over the 2 days of the show we were in the best place.
The stand set up was done Friday evening. Keith Wells and OBK179 were already there when we arrived, having braved a typical Friday afternoon M3, M25 & M20. The time spent in preparation, with the components marked to aid assembly of the stand and the display boards of photographs already assembled made life easier. We had been given an easy pitch with a gangway down either side which allowed us to put the display down one end, as a screen, and then position Keith's car in front to the best effect. Keith had taken many photographs during the building of his car and we were able to use these in the display to illustrate the building of a Nostalgia XK120. This was the first outing for the new format stand and the end result looked pretty good

Saturday morning , bright and early, we were in position and ready to go. the Exhibition halls at Detling are consecutive,e with visitors entering Hall 1 and then working their way down to Hall 2 where we were. We were a little concerned at being towards the end of the show but we need not have worried. We ere soon busy with OBK 179 proving to be a star attraction. It was good to see Mike King and Pete Drury at the show. their support was a welcome boost to morale. during the day we met many prospective owners and builders of Nostalgia replicas who had specifically come to see us to talk about our experiences, which after all was the main reason why we were there.

It was quite interesting to note that if we shut the bonnet and had the car looking at its prettiest. Many visitors would walk by take a quick glance and pass on. As soon as we opened the bonnet again we had a crowd of onlookers all eager to take a close look.

These photographs show Keith talking to a couple of our visitors. You meet all sorts of interesting people at these shows. . The chap on the left turned out to be a classic motorcycle restorer who had built a sidecar for his 1937 Douglas motorcycle and had come to the show to source some parts fort he project. In comparison to our neighbouring clubs we kept ourselves busy by engaging the visitors in conversation and welcoming the opportunity to talk about our cars.

Sunday, day 2 of the show, was as busy as the previous day. We started the day with Keith giving the car a polish. It was covered in fine dust from the carpet, thrown up by the previous day's visitors. On Saturday, Keith had made contact with the Autoglym car polish exhibitor. During the usual lull just after opening, on Sunday, he came down to our stand and gave us a demonstration of Autoglym High Definition Wax and AquaWax. The HD wax he applied to the boot lid of Keith's car. The polish created a very impressive base layer shine. HD wax is envisaged to be used all over the car possibly 2 or 3 times per year as a base coat. In the intervening time wipe on / off polishes such as "Autogluym Show Shine" can be used to maintain the high quality finish. The second product demonstrated was , in some ways, even more impressive. We have all had the problem of polishing a car after washing it, only to find it is still wet and the polish smears when applied.. Not so with "Aquawax", applied to a wet surface it goes on easily and is wiped dry without a smear to a deep lustre finish. . Pouring water on the newly polished area, it runs off in tiny beads of water proving surface has been waxed properly.

Our impressive demonstration of polishing over, we were back in to the stream of visitors. We were please to see Chris Calvert a prospective XK120 builder. Chris had been talking to Nostalgia and came to see us to get the customer perspective on building a car. We did our best and hope the advice we gave was useful. Time marched on and a heavy shower in the middle of the afternoon, prompted the organisers to end the show early. as we packed up the stand the sun was shining but black clouds were threatening on the horizon once again. We reflected on the 2 days. It was a good show which we all enjoyed. We made a number of useful prospects for Nostalgia and we look forward to seeing many of them on the Open Day on the 17th May. As for us, we were well on our way home before the rain came.

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