The Big Barleylands Classic Car Show is an annual event at Barleylands Farm in Billericay.
It’s a huge event with a big variety of cars, live entertainment, various vendors and a big autojumble.
It’s only a five minute drive from where I live, so I try to pop down each year just to have a nose around.
This will be a bit of a whistlestop tour I’m afraid. I’ve been super busy with other projects and really just want to get something published. Hopefully you enjoy it though!
Fords are hugely popular in Essex. Dunton Proving Grounds is a ten minute drive away and the assembly plant at Dagenham is about half an hour away.
Dagenham produced vehicles until 2002, and at its peak in the 1950s it employed around 40,000 people. The Dagenham site was massive for the post war economy of this area, and a lot of the cars seen here more than likely came from the plant.
Some of Ford’s U.S market cars were also in attendance.
A wide range of other American imports. The American car scene has always been really strong here in the U.K.
The Japanese car scene is also really strong in the U.K.
I’ve been really getting into old French cars of late. There were only a handful at this show including a number of Renault 5s.
Pre-war cars will always be a staple of this blog. I’d absolutely love to own one, one day.
There were some lovely examples at this show.
Classic Mercedes have always also been a big part of this blog. I have a lot of tutorials for working on pre-2000 Mercedes which you can read here: https://motorsportformentalhealth.com/category/mercedes-restoration/
MG Midgets and MGBs (there is a straight six powered MGC in here too) were the working man’s sports car of the 1960s and 1970s. They are hugely popular at car shows throughout the U.K.
The RV8 was the pinnacle of the MGB platform.
MGFs and TFs are becoming much more popular.
We’ll end on a couple of oddities.
Here we have a genuine Kubelwagen from 1943. I don’t cover many military vehicle shows… Should I start?
A Trabant! The greatest vehicle of all time!
A huge Scammell Explorer recovery truck.
My favourite car of the show was actually this Auto Union 1000.
This is a little post war German, front wheel drive, economy car powered by a 981cc two stroke three cylinder engine.
I’ve never seen one before, and it’s absolutely lovely!
Sorry again that it was a quicker post today. The Barleylands Classic Car Show is a great day out even if you’re coming from further afield. There’s a nice variety of cars that attend.
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By Richard Francis
That red Auto-Union you saw there was quite popular in South America, back in the early 1960s. It was produced in Brazil under the brand DKW, which was one of the four companies that formed Auto-Union.
Its 1 liter, 2 stroke engine is a very sturdy little machine that can produce around 100hp if prepared by someone who knows how to do it.