Not just bangs, but pops, crackles and other exhaust noises punctuating the air around Silverstone with the largest gathering of Fords on the show calendar.

With the cancellation of last years show there’s been a pent up feeling of wanting to get back to days like this and it showed in attendance with large crowds and a sizeable number of cars on display. Even the damp weather, repeated from 2019, wasn’t too much of a hinderance.

If you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t seen Carl Taylor’s Carrera Bodyworks built Escort RS Turbo, the car is every bit as impressive in the flesh (if not more so). I don’t think it was Rotiform’s intention, but what’s going on here is 19” AeroDisc thread-on wheel turbofans fitted to 17” wheels. It gives the illusion of 19s but with the ride quality, weight and rolling radius of 17s.

A bit of artistic licence here as these aren’t actually centre lock wheels, but the instruction is correct, the centre locks on the 991 Porsche 911 for example require 600Nm, around six times that of regular lug nuts.

A fuel tank in the boot is usually a clear indication that there’s something else in place where the tank would normally live. That’s certainly the case here with what appears to be an XR2i. More on this later!

There’s a lot to be said for keeping things period correct, but when it comes to safety the newer, the better. A modern helmet with HANS device is a metaphorical no-brainer when compare with the potential for a literal no-brainer a vintage helmet might subject the wearer to.

Tiger stripes may have come full circle and returned back to acceptance but they do have a base motorsport inspiration - from the Escort Cosworth Rally car of 1990-1993. Three spokes on the other hand have no such connection and remain pretty much universally unloved (Fiesta RS Turbo wheels excepted!).

On the upside they do make it easy to clean the brake calliper, or callipers in this case. The story here is when this car was built in the early 90s, there was no suitable calliper to cope with the 650bhp power output so two were used.

This Zakspeed/Group 5 inspired Escort runs in the Modified Ford race series and was situated with a collection of similarly impressive machines from the championship.

It’s always a rarity to see preserved or restored commercial vehicles as generally they don’t have the same emotional appeal as cars of the same age.

This long wheelbase dropside example owned by Nigel from Preston’s Dairy’s is still in occasional (and careful) use delivering milk.

Rather than just slot in uniformly into a line of diagonally parked other Escorts, the owner of this Mk2 made constructive use of the bumpy grass to create a dynamic stance.

The distance from other cars really helps here too.

Turning a Focus into a WRC replica isn’t unusual, but I see quite a few cars that don’t quite work. Either it’s an out of place mod, such as the 70s style chrome girl silhouette badge on the bumper of the Castrol wrapped RS from Ford Fair 2019, or the cardinal sin (in my book) of having a convincing exterior but with an untouched interior, complete with back seats and comfy recliners.

This ST almost managed to pull it off, the reduced size stick on front number plate is proper rally spec, but the rear was a raised lettering “3D” type. So close!

There were some cars at the show with questionable graphics inspired by films. Whether or not this appeals to your taste is one thing, and I suspect most people would say “no”, but not flipping the mirrored image so the text is correct seems like a huge oversight.

It may be replicating the mirrored / symmetrical look from Japanese drift cars, but the unflipped fox logo next to it would suggest not.

My local tuner BD had stepped up their game with this portable exhibition booth with literal steps up to it. Having only acquired it days before the show it was a race against time to get it ready.

This drag spec Fiesta was a serious piece of kit. I’ve not been able to find any information on it so I’ve no idea what power it’s running, or what times that power leads to, so hopefully we’ll see more of it soon.

Back in the day, this was a popular mod but it soon faded away. It looked better on certain cars than others and from examining it here, it’s pretty clear why this is the only Focus I’ve seen with it done.

Due to the tail light position in the C pillars, it leaves the whole rear belt line of the car featureless, and with a lot going on both above and below it doesn’t really work.

As appealing as they are impractical, I am a fan of lifted trucks like this. I’d imagine that much in the same way people make their cars really fast, then never track them for fear of damage, people make their trucks immensely capable and well equipped for rough terrain but then avoid it for the same reason.

In dwindling numbers these days mainly due to the Ford owner’s least favourite “R” word, there was one less this year than in 2019. Hopefully that’s due to a clashing calendar rather than anything more serious.

A timewarp example plucked straight from 1996, ft member Max’s Quartz has done a barely believable 4500 miles in its quarter of a century of existence.

Collecting a well earned Show & Shine award this photo’s just a teaser, with more to come shortly.