THE NEWARK WINTER CLASSIC SHOW
By Roy and Chris
This is a brand new Restoration Classic Bike Show, and it was held at the Newark Showground. It must be one of the first shows in the New Year, being held on the 7th & 8th of January.
When I arrived there was a large queue of people trying to buy tickets; next time I will buy my ticket in advance. Wandering into the showground there was a large autojumble area and lots of trade stands. Many of these were under cover, but some were open to the weather.
Amongst the auto jumble stalls there were quite a few motorcycles for sale. There was a nice-condition 1949 Triumph sprung-hub for sale at £3650, and this machine attracted a lot of attention. On the other side of the path there was a Honda Goldwing and a Squire QM sidecar stuffed on a trailer; the note said that the bike ran and it was priced at £1000; the sidecar was not in the best of condition, and this was priced at £500. I noticed that the bike handlebars had started to push one of the sidecar windows out. Walking around towards the show halls I spotted a couple of very nice Yamaha Diversions.
Luckily for January 95% of the show is under cover in five heated halls. The heating consisted of space heaters by the entrances to each hall, so you walked in past the heater and felt really cosy there; however the rest of the hall was chilly.
The Real Classic team of Frank Westworth and Rowena Hoseason had a stand in one of the halls. When I found them they were talking to Joss Bourne, the chap who organises the motorcycle section of the Swaton Show, near Sleaford in Lincolnshire. He told me that the show this year will be held on Sunday 24th June. You can look this up on www.swatonvintageday.com
There were lots of clubs displaying bikes. The New Imperial stand had an interesting outfit on display. This was a 1923 model which was built specifically for sidecars; the frame was very flimsy and when ridden solo the frame would visibly flex. The manufacturers made their own sidecars (three models) and when fitted to the bike these would stiffen up the bike frame. Not all the club stands were particularly classic - ie Honda CBX had some nice bikes on display. Another display contained some Velocettes; one of these was a Velo- engined trike. The bodywork looked hand-made in aluminium and had been very well done. The front wheels looked like they came from a late 1940s Ford Prefect car.
Later I spotted Jim D’arcy walking along; he had a few bikes on display in one of the halls. He told me that he is enjoying his retirement, but that he is still doing a little bit with sidecars. He has just changed the sidecar on his own classic outfit.
I spotted several racing outfits on display - one off-road and a couple of road outfits.
This was a nice show with plenty to see, and a fairly large auto jumble, with lots of bargains on the trade stands. Food was a bit of problem, with long queues. I spoke to a couple of guys who had stood in line for ten minutes and had not moved in that time. A couple more burger vans or that sort of thing would have helped the situation .
Steve Plater, the racer, was doing a talk about his racing career and answering questions, as was Alan Carter, a well known Grand Prix racer.
The Newark Show is well worth a visit and I would like to go again next year.