Somerset. The home of Cider. Dotted with beautiful picturesque villages and rolling hilly scenery and home to the world famous Cheddar Gorge, birthplace of Cheddar Cheese. So what were we down in Somerset for? Well as the title suggests, Genevieve and I headed down there for The Late Brake Show on Tour's 4th, er, tour. Previous events have been held in Kent, Leicestershire and Manchester by Jonny Smith who started the Late Brake Show in 2020 along with his wife, Chops and it has grown to be a huge event with an incredibly loyal following. I like Jonny from his days on Fifth Gear and so when The Late Brake Show started doing their Tours, I just had to go to one and Somerset was the place of choice.
There was a little drizzle in the air which is only normal for a weekend in December but it was warm. The venue, a farm located just outside of Langport, nr Yeovil. The event was set to be held on a Saturday only but it turned out to be so popular that a second day was organised for people like me who missed out on tickets for Saturday and boy am I glad that The Late Brake Show team chose to do that because it was a brilliant event.
Let's start with the people. As always with these events, it's the people that make them and this one did not disappoint. Firstly the organisation of the cars was superb, it was a game of car Tetris at times but it all worked out and everyone's cars managed to fit into the small venue. Unlike previous tours with large amounts of people present, only 200 people were allowed to turn up on the day (with a pre booked ticket of course) and I think that made the event a lot more personal. There was time to admire just about everyone's cars and speak with as many people as possible. Everyone I managed to speak to on the day were all incredibly enthusiastic about their pride and joy and more besides, it was just the best.
We were all there for one thing and that was the cars and being car people, it's what connects us.
The cars that show goers brought down were massively varied too! Some turning up in their classics, some in their daily drives and then there were other cars that were arguably a little bit different. The car community never ceases to amaze me! There was even a MAN racing truck there!
There was even a MAN racing truck there!
I took Pogo down for a bit of variety as I thought it unlikely that there'd be any other Panda 100HPs at the event and he got his own corner in the show, it wasn't planned but what a spot! So photogenic.
Opel Manta
Fiat Cinquecento Sporting
Two Electric Hyundai Konas and a Tesla Model 3 in white hiding in the background
I took Pogo down for a bit of variety as I thought it unlikely that there'd be any other Panda 100HPs at the event and he got his own corner in the show, it wasn't planned but what a spot! So photogenic.
Pogo even got a shout out from Jonny Smith in his walkaround of the show, I think it's safe to say that he's a 100HP fan.
If you haven't been to one of these meets then I'd fully recommend going. You can meet up with special guests such as British Touring Car Champion Jason Plato who was at this gathering. Edd China, Colin Furze and Richard Porter (Sniff Petrol) have also been to previous events. There is always good food available and you can have a chat with Jonny and the guest. What's not to like?
The walkaround of the show is available to view now on the Fuel Power YouTube channel.
That's it from me, until the next one, farewell!
Jake
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