Words & Photos by Henry Phull
It’s getting closer and closer to Christmas whilst 2014’s show season is becoming a distant memory. Fear not, we’re back to bring you our next round up of Ultimate Stance, the season’s big finale. Previously in our first part, we took you through the first hall which was filled with some quite outstanding show cars, plus a few gems from of the outside area of the venue. So here’s the long awaited Part 2 of our coverage, where we’ll be finishing off with some more stunning vehicles from outside in addition to the second indoor hall at the Telford International Centre. There was certainly plenty to see, so sit down, grab a cuppa and enjoy…
It was tough luck for our friend Pete Dew, who unfortunately destroyed his sump just as he arrived at the venue… such a shame, as his E28 was looking incredible on a set of Rondell 0067 splits. Notice that big puddle around the car? Yeah, that’s definitely not water…
As you’ll be able to work out from the photographs, the weather was typically British and didn’t want to make it’s mind up, but we did receive a fair few rays on sunshine so we could capture Bruce Gowans’ spectacular bagged BMW M135i on WatercooledIND wheels.
It was nice (and different) to see someone modifying a 4-door E30, most prefer the coupe’s but it’s good to see the saloon’s getting some love too, Josh Cope’s example here sitting perfectly on 3-piece ACT rims.
There was an impressive lineup of Mini’s with Richard Davies’ Cooper S R56 being a highlight for us…
Not forgetting Marcus Creek’s notable example, completely static on a set of KW Turbos.
Sometimes the modern Volkswagen’s can be a little on the dreary side, but Dan Bentley has built his Polo GTI 6R so right. Sitting on bags, the fitment is spot on – a perfect marriage with those 17″ OZ Futuras.
It’s always a pleasure to catch up with our man Jamie Hitchcock and his silly low BMW Z4. There aren’t too many lowered examples about so this is awesome to see.
Two very cool silver static E36’s, Dom Cook’s coupe on OZ Fittipaldi with 10j rears, and Sam George’s saloon on a set of Autecs. Looking awe-inspiring parked up together like this.
So with the outside taken care of, let’s move back indoors into hall number two.
These two were a nice contrast to the hideous orange carpets, Haps’ incredible bagged Golf R32 on stepped-up BBS RFs, and Amar’s Polo rocking some 15″ polished Speedline Mistrals.
Let’s not forget Faz Ahmed’s super clean BMW E30 vert, complete with a gorgeous set of 17″ 7.5j & 8.5j Image splits.
Since adding the Hartge split rims, Prakash Thanky’s E21 has become one of our favourite car’s of 2014, a stunning overall example of one of BMW’s best shapes.
Another thing we love about Ultimate Dubs, and now Ultimate Stance, is the amount of trade stands in attendance. Auto Finesse were there in full force, with their project Caddy looking fantastic as per usual. Additionally, they had a live detailing session going on with a Mk2 Golf, which was awesome to see… and what a result!
They also had a sneaky addition from RollHard, Liam’s beautiful bagged Audi TT RS on Rotiform OZT splits.
Heading over to our friends at SlammedUK, they had a fantastic lineup of motors including Beau’s wrapped Audi A1 on Ispiri wheels.
Alongside, Dan Guirey’s Mk1 Golf with Wrigley’s livery, not very slammed – but an incredible car nonetheless!
One of our highlights back from Players show was Elmar Den Exter’s bagged BMW E28, so it was an absolute delight to see he had made the trip from the Netherlands again to show off his beautiful car, on AccuAir suspension and ACS splits. BMW perfection.
With E36’s ever so popular, it’s good to see more E46’s are now being put on air, the results are becoming quite spectacular.
Meet the breathtaking bagged Mercedes equivalent to Elmar’s BMW…
Moving across the hall to an incredible lineup on the RollHard stand, starting off with Aron Norris’ mean Mk2 Golf GTI.
The super high standard of cars continued with Joey’s E36 vert on hydraulics. Again he was rocking one side of the car with BBS RS, and the other with BBS RF as shown below, our personal favourite.
Jack Smith’s Mazda 3 sports some next-level fitment on a beautiful set of 18″ WatercooledIND CC10 wheels. We love the rear camber, insane!
Tom Shaw’s bagged MX5 was getting a lot of attention, with that crazy aero wing and RH Toplines with reverse mounted rear faces, oh and to top things off it’s on air.
Another bagged E46, this time a facelift example owned by Alex Hurd, we were loving the front splitter and amber corners.
Who doesn’t love a bit of Rotary action? Here in the form of Mike Clarke’s Mazda RX8!
We can’t forget the face of RollHard, Daniel’s Volvo 240 (aka Bricky), simply transformed with air ride and BBS RF wheels – which seem to work on absolutely anything! We love this wagon.
Are neons coming back into fashion? Michael Evans’ VIP Lexus LS430 was oozing class on 20″ Club Linea Sport 3piece wheels.
Andy King’s Honda Integra DC2 is a car we never tire of seeing, bagged on a set of gorgeous Gottis. It’s great to see Jap cars entering the stance scene, it goes to show that they can often work extremely well.
Continuing on with the Gotti theme is Jordan Fielding’s Audi 100L. This car blew us away, firstly being such a rare vehicle in the first place, on top of a fresh respray, insane fitment and immaculate interior, it has to be one of our favourite cars of Ultimate Stance.
With the other FourSeasons’ guys in between new projects, we found Thom on the RollHard stand holding down the fort with his bagged E46 – remember seeing this first at Ultimate Dubs at the beginning of the year back when it was static?
And if you thought the RollHard stand couldn’t get any better.. let us introduce you to Ben Anson’s breathtaking BMW E21, on air and Schmidt TH-Lines.
A majority of the time, simplicity is key. This is definitely the case with Adam King’s Audi A6. Bagged and on a set of 20″ Rotiform TMBs, the result is a seriously cool luxury car. Gotta love the hidden hardware on those TMBs, too. What more could you possibly want in something like this?
I think its safe to say most of us don’t often look twice at Corsa’s, well here’s our exception. Harry Wheatley has managed to make one look beautiful. Those custom 3piece Image Billet 61 splits totally compliment the car, which is bagged of course. Top marks!
Over at the Only Charged Dubs stand we were yet again blown away by Danny Mellor’s air assisted Audi A4 B8, on the new 3SDM 0.08 wheels which suit the car perfectly.
We especially liked Ultimate Stance because it was welcoming to all sorts of car enthusiasts and traders (more of which we’ll be seeing in Part 3) ie. people of different tastes, including the air-cooled scene, so it was awesome to see that our friends over at Hayburner magazine were in attendance.
That brings us to the end of part 2 of our coverage, with only two more halls remaining – which we’ll be looking at in our third and final chapter, online very soon. In the meantime keep your eyes peeled on the blog for more features and shop visits over the winter months, where we’re dedicated to supplying you with your automotive fix. Thanks for reading!