Jump to content

General in Ireland


HossC

Recommended Posts

I spent the day at the All American Car, Truck & Bike Show in Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath. American cars are pretty rare here (there's a '65 Mustang I've seen around a couple of times, and there's a guy about 10 miles away with a Dodge Ram pickup), so to see so many in one place was great. There was a good turnout of Mustangs, and I'm sure MaryAnne would have liked the dozen or so '70s and '80s Trans-Ams.

Obviously the highlight of the day was finding a General there. I spent about half an hour talking Dukes with the car's owner, Gary. He told me that he knows of one other General in Ireland, but that might be it. I know several HNet members have their own Generals, so this may sound like no big deal, but getting to sit inside was definitely a treat for me - Thanks Gary.

The show was hosted by the Midland American Automobile Club.

Gary belongs to the American & Custom Car Club Northern Ireland. Take a look at their website for more pictures of his General, plus pictures from his trips to Dukesfest.

GL3.jpg

GL4.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...

About three years ago, the All American Car, Truck & Bike Show moved from September to April, and I missed it! Then it seemed to clash with other events, so this is the first time I've been back since 2010. I saw pictures of one of the shows I missed in a magazine, and there was a Hazzard patrol car there. Sadly, it wasn't there this year. The General Lee was also absent, but one of the late arrivals was this yellow Road Runner just like Daisy drove in the early episodes.

NB. I don't know any of the people in the pictures - it was virtually impossible getting shots without someone in the way!

Kilbeggan1.jpg

There was also a very clean 1973 Ford F-100 that would have suited Uncle Jesse if it had been white instead of blue, and a white Cadillac convertible that turned out to be a 1965 model (the interior was similar to Boss' even though it was red). Luckily, there were plenty of other cars I hadn't seen before, including this pair of Starsky and Hutch Gran Torinos complete with lights and sirens.

Kilbeggan2.jpg

One of my other favorites was this Vanishing Point Challenger.

Kilbeggan3.jpg

As well as the burnouts, they also used a pair of big rigs (it was a Mack and Ford for anyone who's interested) to rip a couple of compact cars apart.

Kilbeggan4.jpg

I nearly forgot - after seeing people eat them in movies and TV shows for years, I had my first corn dog today. We might have imported McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks etc., but it's the first time I've seen corn dogs for sale over here (the guy selling them was from Minnesota, and he wasn't aware of any other sellers). Now I've got to get me a chili dog and some grits :).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not sure but doesn't the vanishing Point challenger have different rims? I've only seen it once a couple years ago.

Yes, it does. I nearly pointed it out in my original post. Here's how the car looked in the movie.

VPChallenger.jpg

Although I didn't get to see a Hazzard patrol car, there were a couple of police cars this year. This one had a sign on the rear fender saying "To Protect and Cruise" ...

Kilbeggan5.jpg

... while this one said "To Punish and Enslave" :).

Kilbeggan6.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know any of the people in the pictures - it was virtually impossible getting shots without someone in the way!

I know what you mean :mad: Local exotic car show I went too a few weeks ago I got shoved out of the way by an impatient jerk who couldn't wait the millisecond for my camera's shutter to work.

Some nice pics you got. My grandpa had a red Gran Torino without the white Starsky & Hutch stripe, that thing was a beast when it ran but unfortunately it wasn't all that reliable :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Another Summer weekend, another car show. This one was billed as a 'Festival of Speed', no doubt because of the well-established and popular 'Goodwood Festival of Speed' which took place in England a couple of weeks ago (I'll have to go to that one year).

The first thing I looked at was a display of old and new rally cars. The one below is a Metro 6R4, one of the banned Group B rally cars from the mid-80s. Most of the rally cars took to the track to do a few circuits.

Gowran1.jpg

As I was photographing the rally cars, a line of Ferraris turned up. They included a 355, a Testarossa, a Dino and a Mondial. There were also two 308 GTSs, so I briefly got to play Magnum P.I. when one of the owners let me sit in the driver's seat.

Gowran2.jpg

I think that this was the only American car at the show. I originally saw this Ford Galaxie back in April at the show I posted about above, which is when I took this picture.

Gowran3.jpg

It has now acquired a new sticker on the hood. Gun ownership is generally illegal here, so it's quite safe to display the Confederate flag!

Gowran4.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This Rolls Royce was for sale, although I didn't see a price.

Gowran5.jpg

I think there were four of these Goldwing trikes. This one came complete with a trailer. The red and white tape was just to stop people sitting on it.

Gowran6.jpg

I was surprised to see this McLaren Formula 1 car displayed under a Red Bull tent. It's one of Lewis Hamilton's cars from a few years ago. The Minis in the background were doing a handling display of reversing, handbrake turns and donuts.

Gowran7.jpg

I'll finish with another Formula 1 car. This is a race-winning Hesketh from the mid-70s. It's driven here by Freddie Hunt, son of the late Formula 1 World Champion James Hunt who originally drove it. Anyone who's seen Ron Howard's 2013 movie 'Rush' will know the James Hunt/Niki Lauda story.

Gowran8.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good question, Roth. There was no information about the car at the event, and no one to ask. I haven't seen many modern F1 cars close-up, and the supplying company's website is still under construction. If I remember, I'll check their site again in the future to see whether it's genuine or a replica. The Hesketh is definitely the real thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 7 years later...

Ireland's American car show missed a couple of years due to a certain virus, and wasn't at full strength last year, so yesterday was my first time attending for several years. There was a good turnout, and probably the most Mustangs I've ever seen together, from very early models up to one about a year old. Sadly, there was no General Lee, although I'm sure I saw the owner of the car that I sat in all those years ago. The Road Runner seen above was back again, and this year the Starsky and Hutch collection had grown to three cars, with the owner of one surprising people with its siren.

Considering that I've been to a few of these events, and that Ireland is a relatively small place, I was pleased to see a lot of vehicles that I haven't seen before, including an A-Team van. Even a brief shower of rain couldn't spoil the enjoyment of my corn dog!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.