Why indeed? You may have speculated my absence from Ford Fair last year was due to offspring (or the resultant commitments) but as this was something I’ve successfully managed to avoid so far, there’s an alternative explanation - a mountain bike related injury meaning I was off my feet for several months over the summer.

As you can see though, I was back this year and although a bit of a flying visit due to another show on the same day (the Porsche event Megaphonics) I still managed to return with a well stocked memory card of photos from the day.

For various reasons these are coming to you many months after the show, the most recent issue (or excuse, depending on your perspective) is a web server move which broke several aspects of the site crucial to uploading new content and took some time to rectify. All now hopefully resolved.

As usual, we’ll start with a general round-up before moving on to model specifics.

Early in the day, this car was hidden under a cover. It’s certainly a good way to build intrigue, so long as you remember to loop back later and see what was revealed. I totally forgot!

If you’re driving a US truck and your numberplate looks like it’s a foreign format you can get away with American style plates right?

This Mk1 Escort was hiding something very tasty and very Japanese under the bonnet. More on this later.

Problem - you’ve spent a huge wad on supercharging your Mustang, but when it’s on display no-one knows unless the bonnet is up. Solution - add a window so everyone can see!

Quite a cool idea that I don’t think I’ve seen before.

There are a few of these sleeper Sierras around now. I’m not certain, but I’d imagine this is Cosworth powered like the others as it’s a straight swap.

One thing they all have in common, and immediately noticeable to the trained eye, is the large diameter wheels - essential for both brake clearance and decent tyre availability, so not something that’s easily avoided.

Jez from Carrera Bodyworks has been attending Ford Fair for longer than even I have, so 25 years at least. 

This car has been at most, if not all of them and each year there’s a change. Sometimes subtle, sometimes quite major. The stripes and door number are 2024’s additions.

It’s rare to see a Racing Puma these days, and it’s even rarer to see a modified one. Due to dwindling numbers and increasing values most have been left well alone.

As an owner of one of these I can’t imagine not driving or modifying it, and instead just preserving it in perfect condition. That’s not to say I disapprove of anyone doing that, I think it’s important to keep examples of cars like this so that they can be appreciated in a different way.

As an evolution of the Cosworth, the Escort WRC has some serious width to the arches, even more so than its predecessor. Wearing the clothes of such a muscular car but sporting the standard Mk6 Escort width just doesn’t work, and looks like the car equivalent of a child wearing comically baggy adult clothes.

About as perfectly relevant as you can get for an Escort 1.6 CVH.

Surely what everyone attending the show was hoping to see! Unveiled recently to a barrage of “disgrace to the name” type comments, this is actually somewhat clever of Ford’s marketing department. By using a classic moniker Ford have attracted a lot of attention to a model that would have received far less had it been called “Focus-E” or similar.

Anyone in the market for such a vehicle will not care about the name, and anyone upset by the name is unlikely to be a buyer.

I’m not sure if this a survivor Burner or one of the recent re-releases, but either way as a prop it’s a bit too mid 80s to be period correct for a 1995 car.

As a kid I had one of these (the bike, not the car) so it was great to see all the same.

I do love a good pickup truck and what set this one apart, other than the white/orange colour scheme was the ramp under the wheels to add a bit of dynamism to an otherwise stationary display.

Cleaning your vehicle at the start of the day can often eat into how much time you have available to view the rest of the show. Why not employ someone to do the dirty work while you enjoy yourself. Even better if you can pay them in Haribo or Robux.

They can’t be many of these left, and one in this condition must be an absolute unicorn. This incredible example is literally in showroom condition with a mere… 

…154 miles on the clock. That’s not since restoration, it’s from new. Apparently the owner bought it, decide he didn’t like it and rather than sell he just kept it, unused.

It even has the original point-of-sale price hanger with the 1991 retail price on it. Incredible.

Whenever I see anything like this my first instinct is to think how naff and childish (and clichéd) it is to have something like this, swiftly followed by the horrible realisation that the owner might have named the car “Kermit” as well… 

I’m then immediately reminded by myself that it could well be a tribute to a deceased child who loved the car and named it after the eponymous frog, which makes me feel quite bad.

Intellectual property solicitors could certainly clean up at a show like Ford Fair. From club names to “unofficial” merchandise, there’s a lot going on. In this case I could be mistaken and this is perhaps an officially sanctioned club consisting solely of Focus RS and ST owners employed by Ferrero International SpA.

This Mustang convertible sported these aero style humps covering the rear seats and roof mechanism. Very reminiscent of the Porsche 911 Speedster.

This Shelby GT500 sported ultra-sticky Cup 2 R tyres which certainly come in handy with 750bhp to the rear wheels.

It’s a serous bit of kit and just in this single shot we can see not only the tyres, but also some large Brembos and carbon fibre wheels. 

I’m unsure if this was part of the display or attending an incident. Either is equally likely. A quick Google would suggest The AA don’t just use Ford vans, so if it was on duty it was either specifically chosen or a fortuitous coincidence. 

It’s not a van, but it looks like one. It seems odd to extend the wrap on to the quarter windows, not only as it makes it look like a van, but for the secondary reason of hiding the colour code roll cage.

There were never very many Moondust Silver FRSTs produced (less than 50 I believe) so to see a 32 year old couple like this is excellent.

Interestingly, at least six of the 50 have K plates ending in PLE like these.