Rollhard Bicester 2021

Published August 3rd, 2021

Words and Photography: Michal Fidowicz

Bringing something new to the year’s show calendar is no easy task. At this point, there’s a million different businesses hosting 10 different events a year. This isn’t a bad thing at all, in-fact it’s quite the opposite. An increase in car shows provides space for traders to grow, people to get inspired and everyone to have a generally fun day out enjoying something they’re passionate about.

The real challenge is figuring out how to make your show stand out from just another grass parking, field event.

Connor Butterfield’s static E36 is one of my favourites in the county, and not just because he’s rocking the Candy plate frame. Saloon body, matching camber, rare AC kit and the contrasting black and silver combo going on is perfect.

I think the way I’d approach organising a car event is by focusing on 3 things. Of course, the first and most obvious one is the location and venue. Simply shoving a bunch of cars in a field isn’t the best way to approach it. Grass can look crap in photos, and can be awkward to work with when the weather takes a turn for the worse. On the flip side, a flat, tarmacked area with no facilities would also prove for a boring viewing experience. You wouldn’t want to be paying money for a car show only for it to be hosted at your local super-market car park. What I’m getting at here, is that simply getting a bunch of nice cars together isn’t the way to make your event stand out from the crowd.

Not sure who the owner of this LS is, but the spec is spot on. I love how it’s a relatively subtle build. The plates are still on, badges and trim is how it came out the factory and it’s not drenched in stickers. If I had an LS I’d make it look just like this.

Static, low, once piece wheels. I want one! I predict these will become more and more common soon as a great daily alternative to say an E36.

The second ingredient in making a stand out show is to involve the right people. You have to be selective in which cars you let into the venue and put on display. Yes, yes, all cars are great in their own way and just because one person doesn’t like it doesn’t make it less valuable and so on. We’re adults here though, and have to be emotionally mature in understanding that. There are certain standards which should be met though, and this isn’t a case of throwing a lot of money at a car either. The majority of the cars that excite me at shows do so for their creativity and craftsmanship above anything else. Importantly, whilst those standards are there they should be in place to encourage a wide range of cars to be put on show. Variety is king.

Groovy little mk3 this, always had a soft spot for them.

The third one is pretty simple, organisation. I would be absolutely terrible at this one myself as I’m the type of person to be late to my own wedding so perhaps I shouldn’t dive too deeply into this one. Generally speaking though, this would include things like ensuring there is an easy way to get from the general car park to the show. Ensuring there is enough food for everyone. Ensuring there are enough bathroom facilities. Ensuring the cars are parked up nicely.

You already know I had to grab some photos of this one… Lee Mitchell’s static E46 touring with the full AC Schnitzer kit. Rare loot this one, one I’ll be featuring on Candy in the near future.

There’s a MK2 here for every day of the week. No complaints from me!

So, now that my rambling is out of way lets talk about why we’re here. Rollhard Bicester is the best car day I’ve had since pre apocalypse. The show was absolutely fantastic and if you keep scrolling I’ll tell you why.

Love the brown factory tints on the Chromie E30. This is how I’d do one myself!

Effortless swagger with this car, with a briefcase and cane on the inside the for some reason I forgot to grab photos of…

Never spent the time to appreciate this Jag, looks like a fun car!

The venue: Bicester Heritige has it all. To quote their website, “The unique location is the UK’s only hub for historic motoring excellence and is the national centre for a £5.5bn per annum industry that employs over 34,000 skilled people.” It’s a huge engineering ground for anything to do with, well, motoring excellence. The site is a photographers heaven too, with a number of workshops scattered around the site allowing for some picturesque places to put a car in. It’s a site that is recognised across the industry too, with their website being full of praise from big stake holders such as motoring legends, journalists, even royalty. I’m sure they’ll be adding my praise on there soon…

The Phase 1 front end is always superior.

One thing I love about Rollhard as a brand in general is that it attracts the right kind of people. Individuals who are as passionate about the engineering side of things as well as how shiny the wheels look in photos. The venue and Rollhard’s mature ethos go hand in hand, creating a welcoming environment for all attendees to talk about the geeky things that push a project into that certain standard I mentioned earlier. I’ve never met as many strangers in one day who wanted to chat about cars as I did on Sunday. This was across the board too, ticking off all genres from those who create show cars to those with track weapons. Enthusiastic about the journey to the car show as they are about parking up and speaking to those who want to learn more. A perfect example of how the two sides of car fans will always in the end come together and bounce off each other. It was a great time.

This car screams MONEY. Ashleigh has come a long way since we first linked up for photos of his MK4 Golf back in 2017…

Now that the football emotions have worn off I have started to eat pasta again. Also I love Alfa’s.

Probably the most bonkers engine bay I’ve ever seen. Yup, that’s a gold turbo. Yep, those are gold stopwatches scattered around engine bay.

The organisation of the show was great. A variety of food stands were available on the day, including a lovely Greek kebab chicken type of thing which was my food of choice. There was also a groovy little sweet stand attracting a whole lot of people every time I walked past it. One of the (many) perks of the venue is that they also have their own brewery which sells their own beer. If you find yourself in Bicester and are partial to a beer, the Gullwing Lager is worth a try. Even the cups the beer came in were made from some engineered, eco friendly material that contained no oil. Saving the planet whilst enjoying cars and having a nice drink.

The real question is, one of these, or one of those Phase 1 Clios?

One of the most photogenic cars of the day this.

Seeing something like this makes me want to drive everywhere really quickly.

One thing that is worth mentioning again is the variety of cars on show. There was something for everyone there, and to an incredibly high standard.

I want a Porsche.

Check this Saab out. I have no idea what it is but it looks fast. It’s owned by the Stjarna Gloss chap, some of the best marketing on IG right now, worth checking out.

The show came to a close in the afternoon following an award ceremony. You can tell the people who run it are a tight group of friends who have spent years growing the business into a community above all. The result of the graft speaks for itself through the show as a whole. A great day out at an incredible venue with some insane cars. Funnily, the show was so good I forgot it rained for half of it, hence why some of the photos may be a bit fuzzy. Wet lens with no umbrella is not a fun time. Just before I wrap up the article and leave you with the remainder of the photos, I want to say a big thank you to everyone who came and said hello on the day. The amount of stickers, hoodies and hats I saw through out the day gets me gassed to continue growing Candy. The next drop of Ts and crewnecks is this Thursday at 18:00. I think the next show on the calendar is Edition38… will be a good one. See you there!