I WAS WRONG!

Last year I wrote here that the Cornish car/music festival Run to the Sun had been canceled (original story here: https://jimoncars.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/run-to-the-sun-is-over) however I am happy to announce that for the first time in my 20 year life I was wrong! Trevelgue Holiday Park and Smugglers Haven  the shows venue have recently announced that the Fantastic show will return for May 2014.

The event is being dubbed ‘The New Dawn’ will run from the 23^rd to the 26^th of May and will feature the usual range of music and cars. The event has been dominated in recent years by the VAG scene and the classic VW’s but is open to all.

For those of you who don’t want to shell out the £75 (£65 for early birds) for tickets for four days of madness, music and cars (Why not) simply go to the surrounding roads around the park and watch the parade of Classic and modern (but all awesome) cars enter the park some say that’s cheating but just think of it as a moving motor show.

Check out the RTTS Facebook for more information and tickets.

https://www.facebook.com/TheofficialRuntotheSunSite

No More Camper

The Volkswagen camper is no more. I know what your think it was no more a long time ago, but your wrong the iconic bus is still in production in Brazil. VW say they cannot change the production to fit in with new laws, which say that all cars must have ABS and airbags. The Bus has been carrying hippies and surfers alike for over 60 years but sadly no more.

 

The Germans stopped production in Europe in 1979 due to it not meeting safety standards. Although the VW camper may be dead it still lives on in classic car meets where the bus along with the Beetle are absolute legends. Even a barn found car can reach up to £10,000 and for a really good one your looking 30 grand and up.

 

People loved the early VW’s for their simplicity and lovable character, few cars have reached the legend status of these cars. The VW Camper was always the more practical choice and is my personal favourite because it’s a bulky simple lovable slow old bus. Its like the dog that’s getting on a bit it may not work as well as it used to but you still love it.

Classic Cars

There’s nothing quite like a classic car is there. Flying down the road in style with the wind in your hair, nothing can match it. What makes it even better though is when you’ve spent months even years restoring your car to bring it back to its former glory. Many people do this partly just to keep a classic going, but others do it because they love it. I can completely understand that.

 

It means you know every single little nut and bolt, every individual part, you also know how much effort went into building and re-building the car, this is similar to those of you who modify your cars, because you’ve spent so much time on your car you take care of it and drive it carefully which in turn means driving it safer. If you smash it, it genuinely hurts because it’s your time and money gone.

 

Many people want a classic car so they can fix it and drive something you don’t see everyday. Many people start out with a good old VW Bug, this is because they are simple and easy to fix, get one in good nick and you’re on to a winner. I recommend you start out with a Beetle then move on to a bigger project like a good ol’ American muscle car or an E-type.

Run To The Sun is Over

Run to the Sun the well-known Cornish car and music festival has finished with the last festival closing yesterday.

Run to the Sun has decided to finish after their 27^th year. The Newquay festival famous for its music and Volkswagen show took place at the Trevelgue Holiday Park.

The festival has always been big for the VW fans: “I just love to bring my bus down and soak up the atmosphere.” Said Jack Shory 25, from Birmingham, “the journey takes a while but the festival is awesome.”

The festival has often caused upset among the local residents because of the conjestion of the roads and the noise late at night. However the Run To the Sun festival has never been there to please the locals it’s there because of the amazing music and cars on offer.

The show and shine is always a highlight of the festival for the car fans and this year was no different with hundreds of Golf’s Beetle’s and Campers coming from miles around just for the festival.

Local resident Steve Plyde said: I wont miss the festival at all, I mean yes the young people have lost their festival but us residents have regained our quiet beautiful scenery.”

Crime has halved this year thanks to a strong police presence at the site and surrounding area, with 34 offences recorded between Friday and Monday compared to 64 last year.

Many will sadly miss the festival as it’s always been one of the first modding festivals of the season but sadly the VW scene will have to find somewhere else to start their festival season.

Top 5 great cars of 2012

There have been a lot of great cars this year so here’s a run through of what I think are the best

5. Volkswagen Beetle – Yes the bug is back and now with a rather handsome more masculine body. The old beetle was to be honest terrible, it was only built to sell the name to girls, it even came as standard with a vase in the dashboard. The new one however looks much better with a great retro looking dash, and beefed up body.

4. Ferrari F12 Berlinetta – The most powerful Ferrari ever with 730BHP coming from a 6.3 litre V12. The body may not be as good looking as the 458 Italia but it is certainly one good-looking machine. I do find it a bit upsetting to see that the most powerful Ferrari ever is front engine but we can’t have everything.

3. Pagani Huayra – The car that nobody can pronounce. Which is why most people including me have followed BBC Top Gear by making a noise of someone throwing up which sounds closest to it. With its 6-litre bi-turbo Mercedes V12 pushing it to a top speed in excess of 230 MPH it certainly is incredible.

2. Toyota GT86 (Suburu BRZ, Scion FR-S) – Overall I have to say the GT86 is brilliant it may sound underpowered with only 197BHP from a 2-litre engine but it handles its power really well, and the brilliant handling makes it one of the most exciting cars this year.

1. McLaren MP4-12C Spider – the new spider is brilliant and frankly I think it wipes the floor with the 458 Italia convertible by being just as good as the hard-top but with a little more head room approximately 6 million miles more. The car doesn’t have the weight problems of other convertibles thanks to the F1 style carbon-fibre tub, which meant the car didn’t need the huge strengthening girders other convertibles need.