I’ve been putting this off but as I’ve nowt else to do today (apart from stuffing some chicken breasts for my Little Bottle Openers' tea tonight) where do we start?
Reader’s Other Modifications: Just the range of stuff people get up to never ceases to amaze, we’ve got old karts, garages, pinstriping, soapboxes, tractors and biltong amongst others, what’s not to like?
Got to be either,
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/189981/honda-madtrax-madmax-inspired-build or
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/189480/caravanningBoth keep me entertained and enthralled, although some would say that’s not difficult.
And don’t forget the ever gentle
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/186910/firefighting-farming-life . I always enjoy updates to this.
Car of the Year: Oh God, a difficult one this…We’ve got Jaguars in various states of decay and rescue,
grenade with his veritable fleet of Internationals and now a Power Wagon as well. Even if you are slightly odd and don’t like old American trucks with V8 engines, his enthusiasm is just so infections. I could nominate virtually all of my Bookmarks but as there’s now five pages of ‘em, I won’t, so let’s try and whittle things down a bit.
Updates to the
bjornagn devil’s lovechild,
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/179752/1973-volvo-p1800es-chassis-conversion are always a treat and it’s looking like we’re about to be heading to the finishing straight with it, so there’s that to keep an eye on.
I’m liking this
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/187876/1951-mercedes-benz-170s and look forward to seeing where it goes. One thing that does confuse me though,
Azryael is looking for more space to work on it. He lives in Texas fer Christ’s sake. How much space do you need?
I could nominate this,
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/178941/mazda-complete-japanese-tinworm-infestation but as I don’t think any motor vehicle has received a mention of note this year, I can’t!
Would also love to be able to nominate any of the
Dez fleet, but as he says, paying work keeps getting in the way. Can someone please win the lottery, give the cash to Dez and let him get on with his builds in peace, please?
The Time Attack Noble
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/177085/noble-m12 always pleases, but seems to be doing fine without any nominations from me.
Then there’s this
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/186907/attempting-build-worlds-quickest-legal which fascinates. I just wish
nalesutol could teach the Tondo Fat Ladies Dance Ensemble a thing or two about weight loss, we’d have ‘em all earning money down LA Café within a week. On second thoughts, it’ll take more than a bit of carbon fibre and a few strategically drilled holes for that!
The
camerashy Datsun
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/86608/1978-datsun-280z looks to be heading the right way as well, both in appearance and progress and is (I'm)patiently awaited for 2017.
I also love this
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/119126/1968-beetle-left-tubes-350bhp but
phillipm keeps mucking about with inconsequential things like spoilers and stuff!
Another for 2017? Here's hoping.
There’re just so many more, this for example,
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/109581/1971-capri-trackcar-mag-featureIt’s been like watching a teenager grow into adulthood, from scruffy, petulant git to a complete person. Hopefully the journey will continue with more event reports and engines and stuff!
And, of course, good ol’
Sweetpea and his Amazing Oxidising MR2,
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/149693/1986-toyota-mr2-new-brakesI know, I know, it’s not being highly modified, it’s not gone from a pile of rust to show queen, but there’s something I just love about the whole thread. There’s one shame though. Sweetpea comes across as one of life’s Gentlemen and I always feel he should be restoring something more appropriate to that calling; maybe a Jensen Interceptor or an Aston of some sort perhaps, not an MR2. But no matter, it’s a small point!
But for me, and the award for quality of workmanship, along with sheer grit and determination not to be beaten by the system, goes to
blackpopracing and this,
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/36896/1953-anglia-iva-rebuild-onI’ll be raising a cold one when it passes!
God we’re going on a bit here, aren’t we?
Forum User of the Year: Why didn’t I do the really hard ones first?
Again, I could name half the authors in my Bookmarks but let’s just look at a few:
grizz for his ever entertaining trip reports and his unflinching desire to give others a hand. May the nomance continue to bloom.
pistonpopper for the bewildering array of vehicles he seems to get through and, more to the point, the brilliant reports of it. How the hell he remembers enough to write about each one is a complete mystery to me.
Again,
grenade for his seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm.
varelse for his love of all things alcoholic, unreliable Toyotas and general car pics from Down Under. Of course to me, he’s not really Down Under, more Just Below, but you get the idea.
luckyseven if only for his show reports, which have sadly been sparse of late. I love the sense of humour in all his posts. Hopefully 2017 will see a return to form?
Frankenhealey for the AH, the Goddess, the 2CV, the SpridJET, the Malta reports, the list goes on.
yoeddynz for all things Vauxhall and general New Zealand life. I will get there one day.
adam73bgt ChasR rich darrenh and all the others who unstintingly provide technical advice to those struggling.
dbizzle EmDee and their ilk, who either take or find fabulous pictures of great cars, you know who you are!
At the end though @johnnybravo gets it for me. His non-car thread is endlessly fascinating, but purely that he takes the time to explain and clarify the unfathomable to a pleb like me is endlessly educating and enlightening. Thanks.
And finally… Favourite Thread of the Year: Again, there’s potentially hundreds but I’m not going into detail (thank God for that, do I hear?). This may seem a bit strange to you guys, and the damn thing has disappeared, so I can’t link it, but it’s all the threads contained in the annual RR Gathering section. I can’t be there, and guess I never will, but it’s just such a buzz to see all those vehicles you’ve read about all year turning up, blasting up the hill or just sitting in the show field. So yeah, that one and I guess I need to mention
HoTWire and
bstardchild for keeping everything ticking over nicely.
And why can't I tag HoTWire, is he immune? I know I've missed a load,
Blown_Imp who's had a bit of a roller-coaster 2016 but keeps pushing on with
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/123485/96-toyota-celica-st205-update for example (oh look I remembered it!), but all other errors and omissions are down to my own stupidity. Oh, and memory loss. Don’t forget the memory loss.
And there we go, although it reads more like an Oscar acceptance speech than a bunch of nominations so, “And finally, I’d like to thank my Mum and Dad who, for obvious reasons, can’t be here today, and dedicate this post of utter drivel to them. I know they’d be proud. Maybe?”
) but the project appears to be coming together to some sort of finale and the standard of work on it is excellent.
