Players 8.0 – Part 2: Hunting For Gems
Words & Photos by Henry Phull
Following on from Part 1 of this years Players show at North Weald in which we looked at the main show cars, I’m now going to take you through the rest of the event, highlighting the cars that were tucked away amongst the masses, that stood out to me. Now, this year’s show was enormous… When I arrived I didn’t even know where to start due to the sheer amount of cars in attendance, therefore it was definitely a challenge to get through everything, so I’m sure there’s regrettably a few cars that were missed.
Securing a good position at a show is pretty important if you want people to actually see your car right? Every time I see Jas Bains he always manages to sneak into some cool spots, I’m pretty sure I saw his car in several places throughout the day. Fair play because his static E38 on Oz Futura’s is stunning. This is a relatively new car to Jas, an upgrade to his previous silver example that you may have seen in our Bimmer Boys coverage.
It was incredible to come across the following two legendary cars, firstly this M635CSI which was in pristine condition, one of the great M cars.
Alongside it was this extremely rare E34 Alpina B10 BiTurbo, a car based on the 535i, that includes the M30 motor which Alpina completely rebuilt using forged Mahle pistons, two turbochargers, Bosch variable boost control and several other modifications which make this such a desirable car to the enthusiasts that are in the know.
There were a few Japanese vehicles that caught my eye, including this S14. It’s not often you see Oz Futuras on one of these, a nice marriage.
The Custom Cars stand always has a stunning selection of Bavaria’s finest, like Bhups’ immaculate E30 shown below.
The OEM+ look always works with BMWs, but it’s going that extra mile to make your car stand out that really does it, like Dips’ E36 Touring with gold Style32 rims. That’s one way to bring some attention to what he specialises in, custom paintwork.
This E46 couple sat amazingly well on a set of 2-piece OZ Mito Type 3s, a pretty rare sight.
Centra’s are a difficult wheel to pull off, but they looked super cool and period correct on this Opel.
There’s something just so perfect about dropping big modern saloon’s on air, like this Jetta. The retro style decals are a nice touch too.
Craig Mahoney’s Lupo looked amazing as always on a set of steels by Extreme Offset Wheels.
The amount of E24’s on display was surprising, and still more to come, it’s a shame I didn’t take mine!
Lovely to see this E30 M3 on ACS rims that we last saw back at Retro Rides Gathering, such a tidy example of a motorsport legend.
The guys at Studio Incar unveiled a new look for their Liberty Walk E92 M3, from a previous white wrap to something a little more subtle, preferred by the main man Shakey. it certainly looks a lot more menacing now, awesome work.
So thats a static example, now take a look at Joshua Hay’s E92, recently bagged by Studio Incar and what a fantastic result… this thing is seriously low.
When I saw this E28 I wasn’t expecting it to be hiding something special under the bonnet, until owner Jim Mountain came by and let us have a look..
Yeah, that’s an S38 from an E34 M5, casual. An amazing car and such a rare colour option, too – the gold-centred Style5 alloys work well with it.
Yet another BM bagged by the Shakey and the guys at Studio Incar, this E24 was looking mean on a set of Kerscher RX splits.
3SDM have stepped up the game with their latest 0.08 wheel release, shown off here on Danny Mellor’s bagged B8 A4. Such a good look.
I absolutely loved the craziness of Jack Smith’s Mazda 3, with the ridiculous rear camber setup, perfected with the WatercooledIND wheels.
Ben Walker’s E28 looked brilliant with the aid of a front splitter not often seen on E28’s, a nice touch along with the 16″ OZ Futuras, pulled off with a respectable static ride height.
Good to see Jack Ellis has picked himself up a new project, a cool B3 Passat estate, static of course!
Continuing the overwhelming presence of E24’s.. even these two OEM style cars were in attendance, pure beauty.
This is one of those cars that most would normally overlook, or pretend not to like, but when do you see a stanced Rover 75? I thought this was really tastefully modified, and loved the awesome set of Work Seeker DX.
Jack Waller’s stunning example of an R32 Golf, that also packs a supercharger in addition to a fresh wrap and Image split rims, I couldn’t resist this shot just as the sun was going down.
That concludes our Players 8.0 coverage, you’ll have to wait until Goodwood next year for your next slice of Players madness, the shows that are getting bigger and bigger every year. It’s getting difficult to keep up with all the cars, but hopefully the extensive coverage has given you an insight into what goes down here in the UK. We love to see people thinking outside the box, and the recent devotion to classic cars, especially from the younger generation. Keep it up guys and see you next year.