Players Classic 2014

Words & Photos by Henry Phull

 

This past weekend marked a very special anniversary for Slam Sanctuary, one whole year has gone by! Players Classic was the first car show we attended in 2013, along with Deutsch Connection the following day. These two shows were the deciding factors for setting up the blog, photographing cars we love and sharing them with the world. If you have been following us from the start, or only just recently heard about us.. thank you all. All your input and support means a lot. So here we are, a year later back at Goodwood for Player’s second show at the historic motor circuit just outside of Chichester on the South coast.

 

 

Keeping a close eye on the #playersprep hashtag on Instagram, everyone was ready for the show, cars immaculate, when disaster struck… It was raining. Fine, a bit of rain never hurt anyone right? Well, the amount of rain that fell once everyone parked up in the paddock was absolutely devastating. We were even graced with some thunder and lightning.

 

 

Picture the scene, everyone huddling under the paddock roofing muttering “WTF..” and regretting the silly miles some people had travelled to be here. It was pretty disheartening.

 

 

However after about thirty minutes the rain surprisingly eased off, leaving the cars covered in raindrops. This was actually kind of nice to see, although it meant everyone had to clean/dry off their cars, again! Annoying if you didn’t get an undercover spot.

 

 

 

 

So we decided to go ahead and start photographing in the wet, it’s not often you get photos of these cars in this situation, so it’s a bit different.

 

 

We came down in our E24, please note this car is unfinished! Its definitely not a show car as of yet, but one day in the near future we hope for it to break some necks. We are currently looking for suspension solutions, get in touch if you can help.

 

 

The E21 game in the UK is certainly on fire at the moment, never have we seen so many in two days, and all looking brilliant.

 

 

It was cool to see Adam’s Lexus, full VIP spec. You should see the interior in this too – pure luxury.

 

 

 

 

We’ve seen the Player’s widebody E36’s all over the internet recently, so it was about time we saw one in person. It may only be a 323i underneath, but the package they’ve created is so different to the usual E36’s we come across, so they’ve done well at distinguishing themselves. We were unsure when we first saw the bare kit, but the BMW Art Car wrap brings it together so well along with the airlift suspension setup and Rotiform wheel choice.

 

 

It must have been a blast driving this around Wörthersee!

 

 

Let’s not forget the Players Datsun, which we saw back at the start of season during our trip to Ultimate Dubs. Balls’d have been back at work on it and it’s looking finished now!

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve got a lot of time for Robert’s Hillman Imp that we first saw back at Retro Rides Gathering last year, making an appearance here on the Wheel Whores stand.

 

 

…along with Jamie’s tasteful Mk1 Scirocco.

 

 

 

Clearly air ride was on the agenda at Players Classic. It’s becoming more and more desirable, everyone seems to want it including those that just a year ago would be completely against it. So we’re seeing it on different cars, like this E30. Not sure we’ve personally seen a bagged touring until now? Very cool.

 

 

We always make time to gaze at Kristof‘s 964, which made the trip over from Belgium yet again.

 

 

 

We can’t forget Studio Incar‘s E92 M3 along with Nick’s controversial E30 M3, rocking an S54 lump and bagged of course!

 

 

 

 

Slowly but surely, more E28’s are hitting the scene. Check out this gorgeous example sitting on the stepped up BBS RF’s.

 

 

Last time we saw these they were on an E46!

 

 

There’s not much more you’d need in life other than a bagged Mercedes-Benz W108. Just look at it… no words are needed.

 

 

 

 

 

Becky’s E21 has been making the rounds this show season, everyone knows the car, and for good reason… when it comes to a shark nose BMW it doesn’t get better than this. Always a pleasure to see.

 

 

 

Shaun’s Mk1 Astra shows how cool old school can be.

 

 

We love the bagged HavAir Boxster, which overtook us on the motorway and sounded awesome!

 

 

Kevin’s E30 tourer had an ideal spot under some trees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We love Porsches.. I mean, who doesn’t. Unfortunately at most shows we don’t see many. Last year at Players Classic they were everywhere, and this year is no exception. Many 911’s graced the paddock, including the Milestone 71 964.

 

 

 

 

 

We can’t help but photograph these guys at every show. FourSeasons are killing it this year.

 

 

Josh has lowered the E36 even more! AND wants it lower.

 

 

Steven’s S4 is now kitted out with some race seats.

 

 

 

 

Steve’s Mk6 Golf was looking mean as ever with a new set of rims.

 

 

 

Without doubt, our car of the show was this incredible Mercedes 190E Cosworth, which we actually saw last year at The German Show.

 

 

This year it is rocking a new set of splits that work really nicely.

 

 

Look at that bay, perfection.

 

 

Z3’s appear to be a popular choice this year with several great examples on show including this one, looking menacing in the shadows.

 

 

 

 

The Design4Automotive Benz has had a new wrap and some funky wheel colours.

 

 

Finally we were able to see RollHard’s latest creation, ‘Bricky’ the bagged Volvo.

 

 

The RF’s work surprisingly well with the shape of the car, which looks amazing on the floor.

 

 

Welcome back to Ben’s E21 which we haven’t seen for a while. He’s made a great on the new respray, 100% improvement over the previous matte red wrap.

 

 

In addition to the main show, we wandered over to the ‘Showcase’ section to see what we could find…

 

 

 

 

Rotiform are proving themselves to be a great all-round wheel company. We’re starting to see a bigger variation of styles that are suiting more and more cars. A few years ago you wouldn’t have dreamt of putting a set on an E46 M3, but check this out.. what a stunning combination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We love E34s. We don’t see enough of them at shows. This one was sitting really well on some M-Parallels.

 

 

 

To conclude, a slow start to the day with the horrible weather situation but thankfully it quickly turned and the sun was out for the rest of the day, it was a scorcher. We were slightly disappointed with the lack of track events for spectators.. last year there was drifting to watch which helped break up the day. Hopefully they’ll come up with something again for 2015 as it would make the show so much better. However with the picturesque venue, Players Classic still remains one of the show calendar’s highlights and is not to be missed.