Gaydon Alternative (5-8-7)

[Rich_W]

Following on from Bootys (Bens) comments on the Bimmerflex thread about Gaydon being full of old people. I tend to agree. Went last year and the Track was shit, there were hardly any traders and to be honest. Line after line of identi-cars isnt all that interesting to me.

So, I thought Id let you know that its the Goodwood Circuit's "Breakfast Club" the same day. Its the 'Deutsch Marques!" day so expect BMW/Porsche/Mercedes/Audi etc

Never been before but Im told theres a cool selection of cars. Italian day has Enzo's and Murcielagos for example.


Figured it might interest some on here.

http://www.goodwood.co.uk/breakfastclub/

(no personal connection to Goodwood. Well I went to the FOS in 04 )

[B7]

Following on from Bootys (Bens) comments on the Bimmerflex thread about Gaydon being full of old people.

I'm offended.

[Simon13]

people do write some utter sh!t on here. Most folks on here go to gaydon for the crack meet up with the northern lot and have a good mince about and chin wag

Goodwood is a very good track spoiled a little by the chicane just before the start line, it's quite a fast track and the Lord who owns it is an utter petrol head, being in the middle of nowhere means they don't have the noise restrictions like brands or castlecoombe and others

[gaszman]

its close to me so i might fancy this

[ivqii]

Erm guys - you're likely to be a bit outclassed at Goodwood

[Simon13]

wanna bet? there are some very talented drivers on here

[ivqii]

Sorry Simon I didn't make myself clear perhaps

There is no driving round the track involved - this is essentially an upmarket show n shine

What I meant was that these Goodwood Breakfasts are mostly attended by very rich people with the corresponding vehicles - you'd probly just about be acceptable with a 1956 190 SL - 300SL's are of course welcome

[89pgy]

Give me the breakfast club over Gaydon anyday.Would rather look a truly rare cars than just cars poeple think are rare

[maxfield]

I liked gaydon last year was cool, no it's not full of old people.

[Kos]

gaydons the best show of the year, santa pods got potantial to be better though

trade stands can be hit and miss at any show, as for track action, go to a track day

i hear a lot of zoners bitching because they cant have theirs cars on show, all i can say is, its a car club event so join the car club if you want to have your car on display

over the last few years there have been some very tasty modified bmw's there and a fair few have been e30's. ultimatly you will be bored after a few hours at any show.

what we need is for an event to be organised at a track, have a show n' shine, track time, trade stands, car clubs and forums display areas, drifing displays, ex dtm ad WTC demo laps etc but the bmw scene is not big enough yet and some one has to spend a lot of time and effort to organise it.

and it need to be in summer, july would be good and a track like rockingham, it has very good facilities and space for everything

brands hatch it too far south for the northeners , donny is old and dated ( but its got a long straight to 1/4 times and racing can be done there )

as for silverston, thats very expensive venue apparently

[ivqii]

Give me the breakfast club over Gaydon anyday.Would rather look a truly rare cars than just cars poeple think are rare

Well I suggest that you join the Facel Vega or Bugatti zone

[Rich_W]

gaydons the best show of the year, santa pods got potantial to be better though

trade stands can be hit and miss at any show, as for track action, go to a track day

i hear a lot of zoners bitching because they cant have theirs cars on show, all i can say is, its a car club event so join the car club if you want to have your car on display

over the last few years there have been some very tasty modified bmw's there and a fair few have been e30's. ultimatly you will be bored after a few hours at any show.

what we need is for an event to be organised at a track, have a show n' shine, track time, trade stands, car clubs and forums display areas, drifing displays, ex dtm ad WTC demo laps etc but the bmw scene is not big enough yet and some one has to spend a lot of time and effort to organise it.

and it need to be in summer, july would be good and a track like rockingham, it has very good facilities and space for everything

brands hatch it too far south for the northeners , donny is old and dated ( but its got a long straight to 1/4 times and racing can be done there )

as for silverston, thats very expensive venue apparently

I agreee with many of your points. TBH The Ford guys have almost that exact thing. Ford Fair is Trade stands/Concourts and Tracktime at Silverstone. RSOC is the same but at Donny.

The only real sanctioned BMW organised Trackday event is the M Power CSL day at Donington (Silverstone last year sounded better as it had various passenger rides availible in DTM cars.) But Im told that had virtually no Trade stands.

Theres a real gap in the market for the event you describe but no-one seems to want to organise it. Personally I would avoid Donny due to security concerns.

Santa Pod is IMHO more a "Local" event type place. What was the BMW show there last year? Wasnt massively attended. Maybe Drag just isnt for BMW owners generally.

I want implying that Goodwood BC was the same as Gaydon. (Clearly its not) But for the people that didnt fancy driving up from the South to Gaydon there was another BMW type event on.

Personally after seeing my 30th E30 M3 with BBS wheels and my 20th E46 CSL with aftermarket Carbon Diffuser peices they tend to all look the same. (Not that those are bad mods) And the lack of photography allowed on the crappy Aston test track (which I thought was badly organised and an accident waiting to happen!) meant that static displays were all you really saw. And thats not a recipe for holding peoples long term interest.

[89pgy]

a few year ago now bmw car club had its concours at the same time as a track day at Sliverstone and this was a great meet with something for everybody. For me the problem with Gaydon is its become sterile after being there for a year or two to many and demands something better such as we had at Rockingham 2 years ago with track time /race car displays, aswell as club section stands and a concours.
This said i hope anybody going to Gaydon has a great day, but i,ll be at Goodwood.

[Splondike]

Give me the breakfast club over Gaydon anyday.Would rather look a truly rare cars than just cars poeple think are rare

Well I suggest that you join the Facel Vega or Bugatti zone

Facelvegazone.co.uk

It is usually a good crack, I agree with Simon and Kos, if you want to display your car, just join the club. If you don't park in the car park and meet up with zoners from all over the place that you don't very often get the chance to meet up with.

The Heritage motor museum is pretty good too. Avoid the piccy twats at the concourse and enjoy a whole load of nice BMWs in one place.

[B7]

Problem with Gaydon last year was the weather. It was (as it has been this year) shite on the run up to the event. Some traders didn't show due to this which spoiled the event a little. I (for one) was disappointed in the trade stands as the year before was much better (a heatwave as well). The problem we have at the moment is that the BMW movement is in a stat of flux. it's got a huge modified following and a large classic following. However it's the traders with the modified stuff that earn the most money and therefore will make more of an effort to be there. Hence we get stalls and stalls of slear / smoked indicators and carbon fibre. The last thing I want to look at is lines and lines of e46's, e39's and e60's. I can go to Tescos and see those. Definately not my scene but I still go to meet like minded e30 (and 34) owners for a chat and a burger (Come over and introduce yourself if you see my white cab with the B7 plate). It's just nice to put faces (albeit ugly ones ) to names. I also go for the 2002's, the e3 coupes and saloons, the e24's, in fact any of the older ones. So you could argue that there is something for everybody at Gaydon.

I just hope the weather clears in time to boost peoples confidence a bit to turn up.

[Kedge]

I tend to agree with a lot of the above comments about Gaydon but it's still a good laugh getting to meet up with everyone again. To be honest i've been twice and never really looked around the displays mush at all as it does get boring.

For a location for a show that could offer track time I think Bruntingthorpe could offer something, i've not actually been but the VW guys use it to good succes, plenty of ground plus an air strip for 1/4 miles and a track for a bit of fun.

[Patm3]

Well I am not sure about GoodWood being an alternative as it is totally in the opposite direction so its not like you can go to Gaydon and if it is full of old geezers like myself and then divert down to Goodwood as its about 140miles away from Gaydon so for me its one or the other, judging by how good Bimmerflex looked today and i reached at the ending when all the E30s had left most of the BMW guys still hanging about at Bimmerflex with some tasty motors all said they were going to Gaydon so that will be my choice, and also i have never been so it will be an experience.

Oh and before some smarty pants knocks me by saying if i have not been to GoodWood then it is also good and will be just as good an experience, i have been to the porshce show i think, well that was what it was meant to be a couple weeks back, and there was loads of oldies there to, in some posh motors, £199 or £99 for VIP tickets which i got hold of free so i can not really see the difference. Loads of planes, expensive food and hay the day was not to bad, but if i had to pay i would have been here are some pics from Goodwood.

PS: the date on the camera is wrong could not be bothered to set it









Oh and a couple BMs








Cheers

[B7]

is that? I know it's an xjs but how much more ugly would you want to make one?

The e30, e21 and the e3 coupes are lovely though are they not?

[AndyG]

there is also a big problem with traders at many events now as they can't see the financial reasons to get a few employees together to pack a van with parts, to come down on a sunday to an event where they may not get a return on their money, they can make a profit via the net 7 days a week these days so its hard for them to justify this expense.

[bootyman]

judging by how good Bimmerflex looked today and i reached at the ending when all the E30s had left

You had your black man watch on again P You will really have to swap it for a white man watch soon

As for Gaydon, my comments about the old people was just light hearted. I'm no spring chicken myself even though i've lied so much about my age, sometimes i actually believe i'm still as young as i pretend to be. It's just that Gaydon is just like a meet. You go there, park your car and you walk around. There is not much in the way of entertainment. I think it could also be better organized with the cars split into sections, I.E modified, Show, standard etc. That way if your thing is modded, you can stay in that section etc. I spent nearlt £1k getting my car there last year for the 1st time even though it wasnt finished, but only because i'd heard so much about the show and i wish i hadnt bothered cause i was very dissapointed. I dont know quiet what i was expecting, but whatever it was wanst what i got. When you think about it, every Country has several big BMW events through out the summer month, but we dont have anything that makes me want to shout. This is showing itself in the fact that my car hasnt still been finished a year after it went to Gaydon because i've lost the motivation needed to finish it. I have 3 BMWs at the moment and i wont be taking any of them to Gaydon. If i go i'd be going with my mate in his car and for a big show off like myself, that is a serious Illness

[DaveD]

you're getting old Ben

[bootyman]

you're getting old Ben

IS THAT WHAT IT IS? I though you were only as old as the woman you're feeling, which makes me 21 still

[DaveD]

enjoy while you can...