Drayton Manor Theme Park.
9 - 11th May. 2003.

Okay, so the Springnats was it's usual bouncy self this year and, as per usual, everything went spiffingly BUT, I have simply GOT to say something before we begin.

A few years ago the committee decided, mainly due to camping restrictions, that the only way we could hold a Rod Run with a weekend limit of around 300 camping units was to only accept pre-entries from Rodders that were actually turning up in a Rod. The Hayling Island 'South Coast Internationals' did this with great success in the early nineties.

The problem is now, that Drayton has become so popular that people that have no Rod/Street Machine/Yank/Kustom to attend in just write down their project (or intended project) and turn up in the family hauler! Now I am not being pessimistic here! We had several Rodders proclaim that 'certain Rodders' attending had absolutely no chance of finishing their project when they pre-entered. Others turned up towing 20ft monster caravans far too big for the Rod they had initially intended to attend in! Maybe we are being picky here but the reason the meeting has been so well received is because of the high percentage of Custom machinery attending. It's a damn shame that some would have been turned away because of some people flaunting the rules.
Rant over - on with the show.

Drayton must have been rubbing their hands in delight at the amount of early attendees to the event. Lots of people arrived Thursday and paid for the extra night!

However, Friday came as ever all too soon and a steady influx of Custom material arrived, dashed to the loos ( nothing like the M42 concrete surface on a full bladder!) and set up ready for the onslaught.
Many chose to wander the site and 'Rod watch' rather than visit the fairground as the weather was threatening showers. We spied what was described to us a '36 three window Ford. An excellent spoof it was too, as it was in fact a FORD PILOT! Finished in Strawberry Red, it took a well deserved Reserve Debut Award. Another first timer at the Park was 'Mad Hair' Mel McLaine in her Big Bad Yella Plymouth Duster ( aptly nicknamed 'Prozac' ). It was great to see Mel out on the Cruise.

Friday evening and it's party time! Nats DJ Disco Dave Maltby doing his usual best to cover the sound of 700+ Rodders re-kindling friendships from 2002. Partying went on in the Tower until 12:30am and then into the wee hours on the camp-site. A nice touch from Drayton Manor was a 'Disney World' style people transporter towed behind the Park Land Rover. It had been commissioned into transporting people to and from the new secondary camp-site for the evening disco duties! Alas, the clutch let go mid evening and we were left only with 'Shanks' Pony'.

Saturday morning and everyone was busy polishing, checking Oil/Water/Trans for the Cruise. I must admit, for the first time in Drayton history Liz & myself were taking the Topolino and I am SOOOOO glad it's not a Checker Airport car as I got sick of polishing mighty quickly! Still, high noon and we are off, as ever the Hot Rod Gazette team were directing and parking so there was no problem. The Teme Otter venue seemed a little less crowded than last year probably due to the cloudburst just half a hour before the 'off' and also the experienced HRG team cramming everyone in! Still a huge turnout though!
Oh no! The Topo is kicking out Black smoke! Turns out to be a combination of a blocked idler jet and sticking float, but none the less worrying especially on it's first Rod Run in 10 years! I'll just have to drive the wheels off it to stop it happening again, like I need an excuse!

Plenty to look at on the cruise: a lovely 'lil Hillman Husky 'Shooting Brake' ( there's one for you ol' timers ) complete with Sombrero Moon discs, the most Metalflakeyest Buick Riviera you could ever imagine! Even Lisa Stokes' completely rebuilt model 'A' pick-up made the day, looking super in understated 2-pack and Red steels!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, none cruisers were taking advantage of the dry weather and going around the fairground, riding the 'white knuckle' rides and getting, er, soaked wet through on 'Stormforce 10'. Typical!

As we were getting on into the early evening people were digging their barbecues out of the front of their caravans, opening them for the first time since the Nats, realising the Penicillin culture now threatening to take over the inside of the unit may not be all that good for you immediately before a crate of 'Tangle Foot' ale. So it's off to B&Q for a new one or down to the Fortune Garden Chinese in Fazeley! No such problems with the Nightmares! They had bought with them a cooking contraption marginally smaller than a Scorpion tank and looking every bit as foreboding! And all for cooking communal burgers?

Congratulations here to Dawn Rogers & Steve (105E) Wooldridge who were celebrating their marriage from the previous weekend. Most of the club had arrived at the Park on the Monday prior, to help Dawn and Steve celebrate.

Saturday evening and again we are in the Tower Suite. Disco Dave still spinning only with the assistance of Cumbrian band 'Sour Mash'. For those that did not realise, Bass guitar was ably rendered by none other than 'Hot Rodder of the Year' Steve Enright.

An unusual combination for a Rod Run that went down well. They did a cracking rendition of REM's 'Losing my Religion' and even managed to sneak in 'Stairway to Heaven', albeit a very Irish jig version. I said to Steve later I thought they sounded good and went down well. " Coming from a deaf bloke who booked Tom Jones, I'll still take that as a complement" came the reply. Gee......thanks Steve.......
Sunday morning finally saw unbroken sunshine (the weather was not all that bad for the weekend but it could have been better) and the Rods POURED in!

The addition of a fence running down the side of the road, directly through the show area, vexed a few show 'n shiners but no harm done. Again, and for only the second year, a good display of traders gave us lots to look at with some excellent garments from 'Flaming Fashions'! If you have missed this stand in the past, take a gander, they supply a good range of Flamed garments and accessories along with Tiki, Surf and Hot Rod goods AND at sensible prices!

Duksville Rod Shop now have a stand only surpassed, size wise, by the Nats main marquee. Rumour has it, Geordie Paul will be opening a cafe, creche and kennels within his stand soon to give customers a chance to have a good look around!

With prize-giving looming at 4pm the usual mad scramble to get the winners lined up ensued and, with narration from Glyn Lloyd, it all went off well. Then, amidst the spasmodic chirping of tyres, mixed with full-blown burnouts (hey! Doesn't the barriers put in the way give some of you the idea that maybe we DO NOT WANT YOU TO BURNOUT! With lots of public on site and Drayton Manor management only a few yards away, it really is not such a good idea, geddit?) as I said amidst all this, a Subaru Impreza, followed by a Honda Prelude, came hurtling through the show-field, through the barriers, and passed a long line of traffic like a complete madman!

So before anyone starts screaming we are inviting 'hot hatchers' I can tell you that the car had in fact been stolen from the public car park! Two N.A.S.C. operatives were in knocked aside by the vehicle in it's rush to leave and were commended by Police for their bravery! Needless to say that CCTV produced nothing but a couple of incorrect registration numbers.

So Springnats Eleven is put to bed. Next year with the extra camping finally sorted should produce another event altogether. Just where we will go on the cruise, I don't know, we have visited just about every possible venue within 6-7 miles and there is not much that can cater for more than 150 cars. Still, I am confident it will all come to fruition.

Just to answer a few of the queries arising from the weekend, the reasoning behind the fencing that was erected through the centre of the 'triangles' show-field will become clear next year! Drayton Manor have managed to procure the fields directly behind the campsite (if you stand at the top of the hill looking down at the show-field, it's the vast expanse on the left, over the fence). The two triangles that were in the process of being segregated off by the fence will become a special area for corporate entertainment and maybe even musical events. Whether it will be used as a part of Springnats 12, I do not know, with the extra show-field room we certainly will not need it!

Well done and thanks for making it another great weekend.

click here for the photo gallery

Contributed by Neil Meredith.