Petrolheadonism Underground is an annual car show held across two covered coach/car parks at Wembley Stadium.
It’s a pretty big show with a massive variety of cars, trade and food stalls, live stages with guests and music covering each section of the show.
I had the opportunity to go in 2023 (which you can read about here: Petrolheadonism Underground 2023) I had a great time, but one criticism I had of that show was that there were a lot of people touching the show cars, and I even saw a couple of “gentlemen” get into someone else’s McLaren which was being displayed with the doors up.
I’m really, really pleased to say that I saw none of that this time! Everybody seemed to be respectful of the cars around them which was lovely to see.
I know it’s not a tangible metric, but the whole atmosphere of the event seemed so much more laid back than I remember it being in 2023. I believe 2023 was the first show and so a lot of the local general public came to have a look, whereas now the shows settled in a bit I think that it’s more ‘car people’ that go, and they tend to have a bit more respect for the amount of organisation that goes in to these events and the thousands of hours (and pounds) that have been invested into these cars. For me it’s taken the event from a “hmm yeah maybe I’ll go again” to a “This is definitely going to be something I go to every year!” and I’m genuinely looking forward to the next show in 2026!
I think it’s only right that we start off today’s article with the founder of Petrolheadonism’s C8 Corvette. I was so pleased when Chevrolet announced they were going to be doing the C8 in right hand drive. I’ve only seen a few in the U.K so far though.
There were a few older Corvettes too. The lowered, black C5 looked really nice!
There were a handful of Camaros too:
Along with a plethora of Mustangs.
I’m so pleased that we got the S550 and new S650 as right hand drive, U.K market cars. They seem to be fairly successful sales wise as well, so hopefully Ford keep them coming!
Check out this 5.0 bonnet/hood prop too! How cool!
With European SUVs getting bigger and bigger, the F150 doesn’t look quite so insane in the U.K now. This is the Raptor which is the high performance variant.
Dodge Ram SRT-10. a RAM 1500 pickup with the V10 from a Viper. A factory built sleeper!
Cobras:
I’ve always loved the Daytona body for the Cobra.
The original AC roadster body was aerodynamically very inefficient compared to the coupe body on Ferrari’s 250GTO, so Shelby hired Pete Brock (who also designed the C2 Corvette) to create a coupe body for the Cobra.
With the Daytona body the Cobra could reach 190mph and qualified in pole position at the 1964 Daytona Continental.
Crossing the Pacific now to Japan. There were plenty of Skylines!
My favorite was the Mine’s GTR. I had one of these in Forza 4 way back in the day. It was cool to see one in person.
It’s a silly little detail, but how neat is this cover for the jump starting terminal!
There were a wide range of Nissan Zs ranging from the S30 to the Z34.
I only saw a couple of S-Chassis’. Both S15s.
Lots of Mk4 Toyota Supras!
This Celica Supra/Mk2 Supra was absolutely stunning! Really well presented and original. One of my favourite cars at the show for sure!
My personal car is a GT86, so I was keeping an eye out for those! There were only a couple. This one is by Team Impulse. That body kit is super aggressive but really suits the car!
There was a little collection of Hondas:
Including a couple of NSXs. The wide bodied one was wild! The shape reminded me a lot of the Takata race car.
Some rotary Mazdas:
There were a couple of MX5s. The N/A is obviously super cute but the NBs are growing on me as they are getting older. Especially with the style of bodykit as modelled by the gold car. I’ve seen a couple of with body kits like that and it really compliments the car!
The MX5s weren’t the cutest car though! There were a pair of Autozam AZ-1s. These adorable little gullwinged super cars have a 657cc turbocharged 3 cylinder and they are amazing! That is non-negotiable. I’ll have none of this “They’re underpowered” or “they’re not very well finished” in the comments. They are amazing and that’s all there is to it.
Sticking to the theme of small Japanese things – There was an RC drift track. I used to be really into this when I was younger, I still find it really relaxing to watch the cars run round together. I could see myself getting back into it. Not for competitions or anything like that, but just to run the cars and have a bit of a social.
From the realm of full sized drifting, Steve ‘Baggsy’ Biagioni had a merch stand and a couple of cars on display.
Firstly his Liberty Walk kitted, LSX powered GTR:
And the Navara-R which is a Nissan Navara truck with a GTR running gear.
Other race cars included these replica GT40 and Porsche 917 sports cars.
Backfire Media’s stock car.
An Alpine Formula 1 car:
There was a massive array of supercars on display. Apollo Capital hosted a stunning display of cars:
YouTuber Shmee150 was displaying his Zenvo TSRS.
Along with his Roma. The Roma is one of those cars that pictures don’t do justice. Whenever I see them online I always find them a bit ‘meh’, but in person they’re an absolutely lovely car!
There was also another red Roma in the show, and this felt like the perfect opportunity to pop it’s picture in.
A McLaren P1, also on the Shmee stand.
There were a few McLarens dotted about.
Lots of Lamborghinis!
The blue on this Huracan was absolutely stunning!
I love watching R8s and Huracans at events like TX2K. There are some cars making massive power through those V10s!
Mercedes SLS AMG with the gull wing doors:
Which was succeeded by the AMG GT. This one was a touch aggressive!
Chris Brailey’s stunning GT. Always lovely to see this car.
Sparkly! At night, under the lights of central London I bet this looks really good!
There were quite a few older Benz’s too. I know I’ve moved onto a GT86, but I still really love these Bruno Sacco era Mercedes.
BMW E30, 36 and 46 3-Series will always have a special place in my heart. These were the entry level drift cars everyone had as I was growing up so I have a lot of fond memories of them.
E30s:
E36:
A couple of E46s.
I loved this Audi Quattro. I’m not the biggest Audi guy, but these are really special.
One aspect of automotive culture that I really don’t cover enough here is the hatchback.
Front driven hatchbacks have never really been my thing to be honest, but they are massively important to car culture in the U.K.
Small SUVs are becoming more and more prevalent on the roads of the U.K now, but back in the day everyone had a hatchback of some description from people buying their first cars, to small families to pensioners and everyone inbetween. They were everywhere, and because they were so readily available, loads of people modified them or turned them into track cars.
I was a bit too young to have properly experienced the Max Power era, so it’s interesting to get a proper look at some of the cars of that time.
This twin engined Corsa is wild! It’s a similar idea to the twin engined 350Z I saw at SEMA in 2023, but in a much smaller package! https://motorsportformentalhealth.com/2024/01/19/my-top-builds-of-sema-2023/
The legacy lived in though, and loads of people are still out there modifying more modern hatchbacks:
I think this is the first Astra, ever, that I actually like. The colours really pop and I love the aero front wheels!
Andy’s Man Club, a talking group for men, brought along this 1 Series. I can’t find anything about this car online, but hopefully it’s got some lads talking and working towards something positive as it gets built. As you can probably tell by this website’s title, I fully support that kind of project and it was great to see this at the show.
Finally its’ time to pick my car of the show. You actually get two cars today. I couldn’t pick between them because they are so different.
Firstly is this Mini.
I love the colour matched 4-spoke Revolution wheels (period correct), all the carbon detailing, the super simple and cleanly done interior and the obvious 2 litre Vauxhall motor sort of sitting under/through the bonnet.
I bet this thing is a hoot to drive!
The other was this Ferrari 348TB. It was really tastefully done and wore its modifications nicely.
Thanks for reading! This was a long one! I really enjoyed this one. I enjoyed the 2023 show, but this one really felt like an improvement. I’m looking forward to next year already!
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By Richard Francis
