
FittedUK 2019
Published August 1st, 2019
Words and Photography: Michal Fidowicz
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As some of you already know, FittedUK is the UK’s largest indoor automotive event. Taking place up in Manchester, the FittedUK crew have returned to the EventCity Limited venue for their 5th year in a row. As venues go, it’s a pretty bloody impressive one spanning 28,000 square meters. Now of course no-one reading this (or writing this) knows what that means, but trust me when I say that it’s huge. You could definitely fit a few jumbo jets in it, like it wouldn’t be an issue at all. This is all very handy as FittedUK was probably one of the busiest shows I ever attended, with crowds of individuals I’ve never really seen before gathering round the main attractions of the day.
Usually it’s fairly easy to pick faults in shows. Organising these things takes years, and requires monk-like patience and trust in your team. Understandably things can slip through the cracks. It’s always the annoying niggly bits, like the toilet facilities or the morning queues. I can comfortably report however that there was none of that. I guess I’ll just have to be all positive for you in this article then. Being an indoor venue we were also sheltered from the disgusting weather outside. I’ve never driven in rainfall like it, in fact the journey back wasn’t a drive, it was a sail. My 5 series turned into the boat it truly is.
It’s weekends like this that remind us of the endless benefits of an indoor venue.
So, let’s get right into the cars. My car of show? Well, I don’t think I can pick just one however Vish’s E36 Touring is one of the first that comes to mind. I’ve seen the progress of this car from the start, and the amount of work that has gone into it is insane. My friends and I were standing around it and found ourselves reflecting on how fucking weird it would be to have a car that literally has nothing wrong with it. Like, nothing at all. Nothing wrong, nada.
Vish, it was really good to finally meet you and hopefully we can link up for some proper photos and lunch! Congratulations on picking up best interior too. Highly, highly deserved. On the topic of awards, I have to say the FittedUK team has the best organised award ceremony of any show I’ve been to. Every single car that won appeared on a massive screen, the AV set up was crystal clear and the photos were really sharp and professional. Puts into perspective how far some old fashioned effort gets you. Other show organisers should take notes on this
Staying with-in the VIP hall another one of my favourites was Dan’s 996. This was one of my cars of show at Edition38 last year, however this time year Dan returns with a much more aggressive wheel set up, smoothed front end and more lows. If I could take any of the cars from the show home, it would be this one. It’s sort of become the fashionable thing these days to really like Porsches, however 996s rarely get hit with the lowering stick. Having grown up in the 2000s I’ve got a soft spot for anything in that era, and the 996 is definitely up there. A personal bucket list car for me, and one that I can hopefully tick off in the future. Also, did I mention it’s static?…
Once again, it was great to meet you Dan. Hopefully we can find some time before the end of show season for me to get some proper photos of this, and a roller or two of course.
While I’m on the topic of cars I need to shoot on the move, Alex’s freshly finished E36 is the creme de la creme here. Everything about this is spot on, S50, yellow, carbon all over the place, one piece Japanese sports wheels and a serious static stance. It makes me so happy to see static cars taking centre stage at these shows, and Alex’s E36 is right in all the right places. Check out that carbon air duct replacing the headlight! Incredible work, and a very, very fun car to shoot. In fact I’m pretty sure this is my first ever 10 photo set from a car show…
FittedUK can pride themselves for embracing a wide variety of cars. I thoroughly enjoy seeing new cars that I’ve not seen before, so this 850R was a real treat…
Absolutely gorgeous colour spec on this Z3. Man, that thing must be a pleasure to cruise about in on the hot summer days. Right, less talking and more cars…
Ricky’s race car is so epic!!
Lewis’ remote control car is ok.
Check this out, 6n Valver, in black with an Open Air. Where are all my true dubbers at? Dublife! …dub
Dino did the classic thing where he said he wasn’t going to come to the show and just turned up indoors with one of his cars anyway. Nice work.
Seaman flaked out on building his static 9n so decided to put lipstick on his MX5 instead.
Another example of a well built static e36, happy to finally see it out and about after months of teaser photos!
Josh once again slamming some shiny wheels on a rusty shitter. Nice recipe – it was good fun watching him and Jxrgey* building their cars together for the show and sneaking into Manchester at night to avoid a Worthersee repeat. Static all the motors! Slammers!
Immaculate E30, well deserving of placing in the top 10.
*Jxrgey’s Civic pictured here.
I’ll wrap it up here with this fantastic ‘57 Oval.
So, that’s 167 photos from FittedUK and a load of cool cars. I had a great time up in Manchester, and it was great seeing everyone together. I met a load of great individuals and made some fun memories I won’t forget. While the cars are cool, this was yet another event which reminds me of that people are cooler. Next up, Rollhard Bicester!
See you soon!
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