Trax 2003

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rax is one of the biggest modified car shows in the annual show calendar, and for this reason we usually get a good turnout. For 2003, it was also the Ka Klub’s third birthday, but if there was a chocolate cake, I missed out on it!

Our day started at just past half one at home, because somebody had decided to let off fireworks. As you do, I suppose. After this, I couldn’t sleep, so was up before the alarm went off at three thirty.

We were rolling by four o’clock and en route to the Moto Services where the M180 splits off from the M18, to meet up with another Ka Klub owner.

The atmospherics were obviously rather strange, because when we were parked up, I noticed that it was possible to see where the airbox and induction trunking was from the condensation forming on Kermit’s bonnet!

We had agreed to meet up in our usual spot, a Travelodge car park just a couple of miles from Silverstone.

Naturally, I was on the prowl for orange, as demonstrated on this Nissan Sunny type thing.

Now for the die hard Klubbers, getting to the show early means you’ve the opportunity to “talk amongst yourselves,” take pictures of your Ka looking pretty in the morning sun, and of course, give it another scrub, just in case it wasn’t quite perfect when you arrived!

Some of the more noteworthy “I’m cleaning my Ka, go away” shots include Phosters, who seems to be getting a little too friendly with his van Aaken Developments turbocharged Ka.

And, below, Vicky’s trying hard not to smile, but if you look at her reflection, yeah she’s smiling!

There’s usually the opportunity to shamelessly nick ideas from other peoples’ Kas, and dribble over the shiney bits, too.

Once the Klub stand was up and running, I sneaked off for a few minutes to see the rest of the show!

This particular Daihatsu Charade caught my eye. Now most Daihatsus are rather, well, dull, but the company did manufacture a few GTi models. This particular variant is the GTti, so named because it has a turbocharged three cylinder, one litre engine, which produces 99 PS and 131 Nm, enough to get the Charade up to 60 mph in 7·7 seconds.

Furthermore, because they have a little engine up front, they’re also lightweight - the GTti weighing in at under 800 kg – and this also helps their handling. This and a combined cycle fuel consumption approaching 42 mpg!

I’ve not seen a GTti for some time, and it was good to see one in good condition again.

This pair of baby Fiats caught my eye, although to be honest they’re not quite my cup of tea when they’re this modified.

The Siecento on the left was up for sale, the Cinquecento on the right looked like it had had a serious amount of cash spent on it. At least both were the Sporting variants... with the 1·1 litre engine of course!

The driver of this orange and green coloured Mazda MX-5 passed me three or four times before eventually asking for help, but I figure he just wanted to appear in my website thanks to that colour scheme!

For some reasons, the pictures of the young ladies wearing tight silver cat suits didn’t work, but it’s probably a good job too, because they were clearly there for exploitation purposes.

In summary, yeah it was Trax so it’s hard not to enjoy yourself, especially given that the weather was fine (it had been threatening rain!)

Pride Of Ownership

During the day, we organised a “Best Presented PacKAge” competition with some of the Sierra Club people as judges. Now I wouldn’t like to say that the judges were open to bribery, but Kermit won first, second and third prize, plus a special mention, too. Okay, okay, only kidding.

Andy Turner’s Trinity came third place, thanks to a combination of everything working well, looking home made and well thought out.

Vicky’s silver and blue Ka came in at second place, with the judges commenting on the excellent finish, the “in-your-face” styling (drawing some very positive comments) and just generally liking it.

First place was to Leona, one of the newest members on the day, with her Viper-striped Ka.