2024 Pendine Sands Beach Race

Collected & loaded 





Followed by a journey best described as 'Purgatory' - should have been approx 4 hours duration - However - 7 hours later 


 
Accommodation for the next 2 days adjacent 



Once off loaded we were off to scrutineering & drivers briefing 



By now its properly throwing it down with rain 



Much more to come yet 

We joined the queue of rods leading up to the beach access at the informed time 07:30 just as the tide was turning - made a few conversations with other owners and waited 



But also wondering off and taking pics of other cars in the queue 



Some with purposeful patina 



Whilst some others were a little more shiny 





Eventually the tide had receded enough and we were allowed access 
 




Into a temporary holding area whilst the pits fencing was completed 






Provides the opportunity to have a wonder & chat but we were newbies & didn't know most of the attendees / owners 







 





There's a wide range of classes for the rods according to build / body / age & engine sizes 







Before too long we were directed / funnelled into the pits area which is fenced off from the general public

 



Just randomly parking up 



And as soon as the sand has drained the racing begins - Much more to come 

Only a single vehicle at a time races - You cover the first 1/2 mile down the marked strip after which there is a marked 1/16th of a mile in which the vehicle is timed - a run down area after this - braking isn't really required then you turn on a large loop to head back to the pits at a much slower pace 



Some concentration is required to not bog the car down into the sand on the start or to stall - much better to raise the engine revs and allow a little clutch slip 



Cars race in number order although there are a number of classes that take in engine configuration & age but not capacity, superchargers, body styles & vehicle ages 



Everyone was quite welcoming, fairly organised & helpful 



Spectators come from far & wide - the pits are closed to the public - car parking on the beach is organised by the local council which charge £5 per car but the spectating is free 



And the weather held out for the Saturday 



There's a huge range of machines - some self built, others professionally built whilst some cars change hands through owners 



Some are historic specials - this one looks like it has a huge engine hidden under the bonnet - sadly its just a 4 pot and sounds nothing like as good as it looks 



A reasonable number of early cars based on Ford Model T chassis were present too in fact only a few of the 120 machines present weren't Ford based - lots more to come yet 

Meanwhile in the pits 









And in the beach classic car park 









Laminated wood plank bodyshell 3 wheeler with a Citroen 2 CV drive train 
 






Many people come to spectate and the beach car park fills with countless cars 

It was then my turn for a run down the beach - its all gone in a blur 





I think Andy has some pics & video that he will link into the thread once he gets chance and the day job is out of the way 




Somehow there's a V8 crammed into this belly tank special 





The WC facilities are a good hike down the beach and the classics in the car park were a ever changing line up 















Frontal shot of the wooden planked 2 CV Citroen 3 wheeler thing 



Nice two tone Ford Zodiac - this along with the Zephyr was the UK's first convertible with a power hood 
 


Very nice Merc coupe with a factory steel sunroof - righthand drive too 

Thanks Chris for the story so far, indeed I do have a couple of video clips.

They will be a little out of sequence with the story, but I won't add spoilers.

Firstly a run down the sand by grumpynorthener on Saturday



Secondly the cars shuffling into the pits on Sunday




I'm off to Sweden on Tuesday for the Big Power Meet - which is one of the largest car shows in the world.
So I'll be pretty quiet for a while again.

Back to you Chris.

Very nice Edsel Villager Estate 







At the pub most favoured by the Hot Rod teams we found the printed timing sheets for the day 



794 - Andy's timed run resulted in 64.76 MPH and mine at 64.30 MPH so just a fraction in it for our first runs but there's tomorrow to come yet !

I wondered off for breakfast whilst clocking the spectators cars parked up on the beach 







Just random pics taken as I moved about still waiting for the sea mist to lift 

That's quite a well executed custom roof chop to convert a saloon to a coupe