Auto Grüppe organised an event back in 2014… the congregation of some incredible cars at Beaconsfield services on the M40, followed by a leisurely drive to the rendezvous point at Southsea seafront in Hampshire, for a chilled evening with friends and cars. To this day, it remains one of the coolest gatherings that I’ve attended in the UK. I’ve been patiently waiting for the guys to plan the next one – This year they finally got their act together and set a date for the second event. The idea was exactly the same as before (why change something that worked so well, right?), another cruise from Beaconsfield down to Southsea. I decided to skip the convoy and meet up with everyone in Southsea along with a few other Southerners, seeing as we live around the area, anyway. When I arrived, there were already plenty of modified cars trying to take over the Avenue where the meet was being held – unfortunately it was a bank holiday Monday after a big music festival held at the same location, so there were a few vans and tractors moving about and clearing up the rubbish from the weekend, but we made the most of it and it didn’t seem to spoil the vibe. To top it off, the weather was glorious.
Steve Howson’s Mercedes-Benz 190E Cosworth on OZ Futura’s
Ash Squires’ 1987 Mk2 Toyota Soarer on Tein coilovers & SSR Mk1′s
Matthew Dear’s BMW E91 on Fifteen52 Tarmac’s
Georgia Barker-Wright’s static VW Lupo on WORK Meister CR01′s
Carl Shakespeare’s supercharged Mk3 Golf VR6 on OZ Ultraleggera’s
Billy Callow’s BMW E21
Carlos Gomez’s static BMW E36 on BBS Style19′s
Ryan Bosh’s Nissan SR13 on Extreme Offset Wheels
Sam Eaton’s Volkswagen Polo 6R on Air Lift suspension & Fifteen52 Tarmac’s
Mark Allen’s Mk4 Golf estate on Air Lift suspension & Eta Beta’s
Adam Burton’s Mercedes-Benz W123 on hydraulic suspension
Steve Fraser’s Audi S3 saloon on Air Lift suspension & Rotiform KPS’s
Curtis Hughes’ bagged Volkswagen Polo 6R
Zak Starr’s Nissan Skyline GTR R32 on Cosmis Racing XT-005R’s
Jamie Salmon’s static wide-arch turbo’d Mercedes-Benz C250 on banded steels
Ryan Powell’s bagged Mk3 Golf VR6 on BBS LM’s
(click here to check out our feature on Ryan’s Mk3)
Steven Doe’s BMW E21 on Air Lift / AccuAir suspension & CCW D110′s
(click here to check out our feature on Steven’s E21)
Bobby Valentino’s wide-body Honda Integra DC5 Type R on AccuAir suspension & BBS RS’s
Ethan Sexton’s BMW E30 318is on Air Lift suspension & Schmidt TH-Line’s
Mark Webb’s Nissan 200SX
Jack Hill’s Seat Leon Cupra
This was the sort of evening that sticks with you.. even more so than the typical car show, and don’t worry, not your average car park meet. It was definitely refreshing to see a turnout of quality vehicles take over a picturesque Avenue – particularly when you get such a beautiful sunset in the background. I think the photos speak for themselves, so props to Auto Grüppe for hosting yet another successful ‘Summer Run’. So this has got me thinking, we already have ‘Homegrown’ in West London and ‘Dub Club’ in the Midlands… perhaps we need something like this more frequently down on the south coast. What do you guys think? Leave your thoughts in the comments.