The Hotrod Hayride is the year’s ‘must go’ weekend for many UK traditional hot rod guys and gals. Held at a real old-timey venue, just to the west of London, and combining cars and bikes with art shows, circus freak show, Burlesque, airfield drags, the infamous Wall of Death and two nights of rockin’ entertainment, it’s little wonder it has grown in popularity each year, dragging folks in from all over Europe. For the past three years, Stromberg has sponsored the Sunday morning Soapbox Derby, handing out a pair of brand new Stromberg 97 carbs to the winner, with signs, shirts and other collectibles for the runners-up. It’s a simple deal. They set up a ramp at the top of the hill. Folks build great soapboxes in wild and whacky styles and shoot it out to be first to the bottom.

To be honest we’ve never made a huge deal out of our involvement, mainly because we really go just to chill out, meet old friends, neck a few beers and enjoy the scene. Sadly this, (ie. a raging hangover), is also why my pictures of the event were few and far between and include no Soapboxes at all. So I have added a few from 2009 (didn’t remember to take any in 2010) so you can see what the heck I’m going on about. Still, I’m sure you’ll enjoy them just the same. Wanna go next year. Set your Tardis for 27th-29th July 2012. And click here for more info and tickets.