Morning session is all booked up now so we can resolve some of the issues that caused us to lose time last year.
Afternoon session will be sold in one hit between 10am and 11am (no earlier or later)
It'll run pretty much like it did last year but a little smoother and on time.
Guest Cars
Honda Prelude
Built for Thundersaloons stalwart Rod Birley in the early 90's this is no ordinary Honda Prelude, the Honda lump having been removed in favour of an RS500 Cosworth Turbo lump, not just any ordinary Cosworth Turbo lump either, but the one that used to occupy the engine bay of Andy Rouse's BTCC Sierra. In its first two seasons it won the outright Thundersaloons series, before heading into Formula Saloons and then through changes of ownership it competed in Euro Saloons and the CSCC Special Saloon series.
David Beatty who currently owns and runs it is no slouch behind the wheel so we're expecting exciting things up the hill. The car is prepared by Specialist Vehicle Preperations (http://www.specialistvehiclepreparations.com/) who always have some interesting cars for sale.
Next Group C Spice SE90C
Group C is without a doubt one of the most awesome racing series ever to grace the race tracks of the world. Full bodied, full aero cars with near F1 spec engines running in endurance races, with cars reaching up to 250mph on the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans.
Our second guest car announcement is a Spice SE90 Group C car from 1990. The car runs the final iteration of the Cosworth DFV, the DFR, capably of up to 620bhp. Prepped and run by John Danby Racing : www.johndanbyracing.com/ we saw the car and knew we had to have it at The Gathering, who can't fall in love with a bright pink Group C car that makes a monstrous noise.
Lancia Delta S4
Group B, what is there to say? The cars were too fast, the technology insane, the drivers unbelievable, its legacy and reputation never diminished.
One of the most iconic Group B rally cars will be coming to the Retro Rides Gathering in the shape of this Lanica Delta S4. It is a light weight shell, a mid mounted 500 bhp turbo and super charged, four wheel drive, monster of the stages, instantly recognisable in both sight and sound. It is without a doubt a sight to behold.
On Sunday 23rd of August it'll be heading up the hallowed hill of Shelsley Walsh, Group B madness meets the oldest motorsport venue in the country. Make sure you are there to enjoy the visceral thrill of Group B up close.
Thanks to : www.rallyinghistory.com/
TR7-V8 Modified Production Hillclimb Car
Over 450 bhp twin turbo charged V8 in a 1970's British sports car shell, we'll take a piece of that thank you very much.
Nigel Elliott has been campaigning this TR7 since the early 2000's. It came into his possession as a rally car before Nigel and his friend Nic set to tuning the V8 and chassis for better hillclimb performance. It currently competes in the Modified Production class and in the very capable hands of Nigel we expect it to be doing great things on the hill. How great? Well currently his best time for Shelsley is 30.96 seconds, with an approach speed at the bottom of esses of 99mph, those people that got to do the hill last year will appreciate just how fast that is.
The car spec list is almost as impressive as seeing it run, 4.6 litre, being force fed by twin Garret T3 turbos, RS500 intercooler, Motex M4 management running Bosch injectors, pushing power through a TVR Tuscan T5 gearbox through to a Mk2 Jag rear axle and out on to those 10 inch rears wrapped in Avon hillclimb slicks to catapult it from the start line.
This is a great example of the sort of beastly cars you can find prowling British hillclimb venues, full of little innovations and some wild out the box thinking.
Lancia Rally 037
What is better than a Group B rally car? - two of them - Debuting in 1982 following on from the Stratos the 300bhp Lancia Rally 037 is another iconic rally cars from the Group B era, a perfect partner to the later Lancia Delta S4 we already have coming. The last RWD rally car took the 1983 championship in the hands of Walter Röhrl and Markku Alen.
Based on the Lancia Montecarlo the mid engine 2 litre, 4 cylinder, supercharged legendary Fiat twin-cam, there will be no lag and that should make for a well engaged hillclimb experience. Its aggressive looks and fantastic soundtrack will look great heading up the track.
Thanks again to : www.rallyinghistory.com/
1938 GN Special "Spider 2"
It is difficult to describe how thrilled we are to have one of the magnificent Davenport Specials at our event this year.
A true Shelsley legend Basil Davenport built two famous specials to compete in pre-war and post-war hillclimbs. His first car 'Spider', held the hill record in 1926, 1927 and 1928. The original Spider is well known for having beaten Raymond Mays in the mighty Auto Union, a true underdog story. After the war Basil re-emerged with an updated "Spider 2", this update included a 2 litre V-Twin engine and continued to improve his hill times.
This is engineering at its rawest and a driving experience from a different age, the 'Spider' moniker apparently comes from how it makes its way up the hill sideways for the majority of the time.
The history of this car is as long as your arm, a phenomenal survivor from an era of great ingenuity and genuine home built cars taking on and beating the top Grand Prix monsters.
Here is a 1957 interview with Basil Davenport from the brilliant Motorsport Magazine archives : www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/december-1957/31/interview-basil-davenport
Or check out a video of it in action :
Our thanks to Martin Spencer for bringing the car out to our event
BMW E21 4.0 Quad cam V8
If you ventured down to the paddock last year you would have seen this in not quite complete form lurking in one of the garages. We're very pleased to have it now as an official guest car in full working form and ready to tackle the hill.
John Miskimmin is a long time support of Retro Rides Gathering. How long? Well he won the Hard Slam award at the first ever Retro Rides Gathering in 2008, with an E21 BMW. Now he has progressed from the super low to the super crazy with this Group 2 inspired V8 powered monster.
Rocking a meaty M60b40 4.0 litre quad cam V8, and more custom body work than you can shake a stick at, this BMW is a proper hooligan of a car. Getting power down through 9" wide Yokohama rubber. The car was fully acid dipped and resprayed during the course of the build, this was no simple bolting up of wheels and suspension. The addition of custom aero gives the whole package a great aggressive looked, beautifully offset by the period style Wurth graphics.
We can't wait to see and hear this tear up the hill. A project born of dedication. We're so pleased to see one of our long time supports graduate to guest slot.
Charity Rides in aid of West Midlands Air Ambulance
Afternoon session will be sold in one hit between 10am and 11am (no earlier or later)
It'll run pretty much like it did last year but a little smoother and on time.
Guest Cars
Honda Prelude
Built for Thundersaloons stalwart Rod Birley in the early 90's this is no ordinary Honda Prelude, the Honda lump having been removed in favour of an RS500 Cosworth Turbo lump, not just any ordinary Cosworth Turbo lump either, but the one that used to occupy the engine bay of Andy Rouse's BTCC Sierra. In its first two seasons it won the outright Thundersaloons series, before heading into Formula Saloons and then through changes of ownership it competed in Euro Saloons and the CSCC Special Saloon series.
David Beatty who currently owns and runs it is no slouch behind the wheel so we're expecting exciting things up the hill. The car is prepared by Specialist Vehicle Preperations (http://www.specialistvehiclepreparations.com/) who always have some interesting cars for sale.
Next Group C Spice SE90C
Group C is without a doubt one of the most awesome racing series ever to grace the race tracks of the world. Full bodied, full aero cars with near F1 spec engines running in endurance races, with cars reaching up to 250mph on the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans.
Our second guest car announcement is a Spice SE90 Group C car from 1990. The car runs the final iteration of the Cosworth DFV, the DFR, capably of up to 620bhp. Prepped and run by John Danby Racing : www.johndanbyracing.com/ we saw the car and knew we had to have it at The Gathering, who can't fall in love with a bright pink Group C car that makes a monstrous noise.
Lancia Delta S4
Group B, what is there to say? The cars were too fast, the technology insane, the drivers unbelievable, its legacy and reputation never diminished.
One of the most iconic Group B rally cars will be coming to the Retro Rides Gathering in the shape of this Lanica Delta S4. It is a light weight shell, a mid mounted 500 bhp turbo and super charged, four wheel drive, monster of the stages, instantly recognisable in both sight and sound. It is without a doubt a sight to behold.
On Sunday 23rd of August it'll be heading up the hallowed hill of Shelsley Walsh, Group B madness meets the oldest motorsport venue in the country. Make sure you are there to enjoy the visceral thrill of Group B up close.
Thanks to : www.rallyinghistory.com/
TR7-V8 Modified Production Hillclimb Car
Over 450 bhp twin turbo charged V8 in a 1970's British sports car shell, we'll take a piece of that thank you very much.
Nigel Elliott has been campaigning this TR7 since the early 2000's. It came into his possession as a rally car before Nigel and his friend Nic set to tuning the V8 and chassis for better hillclimb performance. It currently competes in the Modified Production class and in the very capable hands of Nigel we expect it to be doing great things on the hill. How great? Well currently his best time for Shelsley is 30.96 seconds, with an approach speed at the bottom of esses of 99mph, those people that got to do the hill last year will appreciate just how fast that is.
The car spec list is almost as impressive as seeing it run, 4.6 litre, being force fed by twin Garret T3 turbos, RS500 intercooler, Motex M4 management running Bosch injectors, pushing power through a TVR Tuscan T5 gearbox through to a Mk2 Jag rear axle and out on to those 10 inch rears wrapped in Avon hillclimb slicks to catapult it from the start line.
This is a great example of the sort of beastly cars you can find prowling British hillclimb venues, full of little innovations and some wild out the box thinking.
Lancia Rally 037
What is better than a Group B rally car? - two of them - Debuting in 1982 following on from the Stratos the 300bhp Lancia Rally 037 is another iconic rally cars from the Group B era, a perfect partner to the later Lancia Delta S4 we already have coming. The last RWD rally car took the 1983 championship in the hands of Walter Röhrl and Markku Alen.
Based on the Lancia Montecarlo the mid engine 2 litre, 4 cylinder, supercharged legendary Fiat twin-cam, there will be no lag and that should make for a well engaged hillclimb experience. Its aggressive looks and fantastic soundtrack will look great heading up the track.
Thanks again to : www.rallyinghistory.com/
1938 GN Special "Spider 2"
It is difficult to describe how thrilled we are to have one of the magnificent Davenport Specials at our event this year.
A true Shelsley legend Basil Davenport built two famous specials to compete in pre-war and post-war hillclimbs. His first car 'Spider', held the hill record in 1926, 1927 and 1928. The original Spider is well known for having beaten Raymond Mays in the mighty Auto Union, a true underdog story. After the war Basil re-emerged with an updated "Spider 2", this update included a 2 litre V-Twin engine and continued to improve his hill times.
This is engineering at its rawest and a driving experience from a different age, the 'Spider' moniker apparently comes from how it makes its way up the hill sideways for the majority of the time.
The history of this car is as long as your arm, a phenomenal survivor from an era of great ingenuity and genuine home built cars taking on and beating the top Grand Prix monsters.
Here is a 1957 interview with Basil Davenport from the brilliant Motorsport Magazine archives : www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/december-1957/31/interview-basil-davenport
Or check out a video of it in action :
Our thanks to Martin Spencer for bringing the car out to our event
BMW E21 4.0 Quad cam V8
If you ventured down to the paddock last year you would have seen this in not quite complete form lurking in one of the garages. We're very pleased to have it now as an official guest car in full working form and ready to tackle the hill.
John Miskimmin is a long time support of Retro Rides Gathering. How long? Well he won the Hard Slam award at the first ever Retro Rides Gathering in 2008, with an E21 BMW. Now he has progressed from the super low to the super crazy with this Group 2 inspired V8 powered monster.
Rocking a meaty M60b40 4.0 litre quad cam V8, and more custom body work than you can shake a stick at, this BMW is a proper hooligan of a car. Getting power down through 9" wide Yokohama rubber. The car was fully acid dipped and resprayed during the course of the build, this was no simple bolting up of wheels and suspension. The addition of custom aero gives the whole package a great aggressive looked, beautifully offset by the period style Wurth graphics.
We can't wait to see and hear this tear up the hill. A project born of dedication. We're so pleased to see one of our long time supports graduate to guest slot.
Charity Rides in aid of West Midlands Air Ambulance
positive of that means I can whack the boost right up for more woosh noises at the gathering as this is only a spare turbo 
