Having not been able to visit car shows or race events like most people over the last couple of years, I spotted an instagram story advertising this event and from that moment I knew immediately that I had to attend. So early on a Sunday morning we travelled down in my recently purchased VW T5 to Pendine for the ninth running of the Hot Rod Races and for a fiver we got to attend the racing for the day and also park directly on the beach… Winner!

With racing already underway on the historic beach in Carmarthenshire, we first took a walk around some of the amazing classic American and some European cars on display outside of the pit area. Classic Volkswagen buses, Beetles, Chevrolet, Ford and numerous V8, modified closed car and roadsters aplenty were in attendance… with participants coming from all over Europe to take part.

Racing is only open to members of the Vintage Hot Rod Association (VHRA) and their pre-1949 hot rods and customs, so it’s guaranteed old time action all the way.

There are classes for all types of vehicles and engines being run, with cars being built just to break class records. All vehicles run on a course with a 1/2 mile run up, followed by a time tying 1/16th of a mile, where the hot rods can hit speeds in excess of 120mph.

To sum up my first VHRA event, I would describe it as fantastic. You can get close up with the cars on display and close enough to the sights and sounds of the array of V8’s within the pit even without a pass. Towards the end of the day the fencing is removed and you can take time to walk around the cars and talk to their owners which was great. Experiencing the cars run down the track from a safe distance was awesome, I would advice a decent telephoto lens to capture the action, but I was running a modest 55-200mm on my Fuji X-T2 and the 70-300mm on my Canon R6, both capturing decent results along with a f1.8 50mm for close ups, that I was happy with for my first VHRA event.

I will definitely be back to visit in 2023 and hopefully this time to enjoy all of the action over the whole weekend.

To find out more about the Vintage Hot Rod Association and the great work they are doing click on their website link below:

VHRA