PH25 | PH Review
Thousands of you descended on Bicester Heritage for our biggest event yet. Here's how it all went down
Hard to believe that it was only a week (and a bit) ago since we all descended on a Bicester Heritage for PH25. Over 6,000 PHers were in attendance to admire an eclectic mix of metal spread across the old RAF base, if you could drag yourself away from the thousands of interesting cars lined up in the parking zones. The perfect way to put faces to forum usernames and, of course, celebrate our 25th anniversary.
You’ve likely been to a Sunday Service at some point over the years, but PH25 was in another league. Every corner of the old airbase was crammed with PHer cars covering the five categories of our ‘best performance car of the last 25 years’ vote. No two cars were the same, with Subaru Imprezas lining up alongside Alpinas in the saloon car paddock, and a Peugeot 106 Rallye sharing lawn space with a Toyota GR Yaris in the hot hatch enclosure. Picking a favourite from the day is near impossible, though the burgundy Porsche 959 prototype (did you notice the pearl white wheels?) rightly drew a fair bit of attention – as did the Ford GT40, 2005 GT and 2017 GT all lined up in a row.
Outside the hanger, we had a selection of built-not-bought projects that you’ve likely read about in the Readers’ Cars section of the forums. It was great to see Scott’s (aka scottos) BMW 2002tii that featured on our YouTube channel last year, along with Paul’s (aka hoonigan) Gulf-liveried Southern GT GT40. And in case you weren’t familiar with their stories, their respective Readers’ Cars videos were playing on the adjacent outdoor cinema, along with the finales of the PH25 performance car series and our very own PH Project Car build. Hats off to those who kept watching through the occasional rain shower.
If, like us, you bolted to the hanger the moment things got cloudy, then you were in for a right treat. Inside was the closest thing you’ll get to a PH motor show, with MST showcasing its incredible Metro 6R4 built and Caterham bringing along its all-new Project V electric sports car hot on the heels of its Goodwood Festival of Speed debut. Meanwhile, on the tuning side, Liberty Walk showed just how wide it can make a McLaren 650S and Ferrari 348, while Revo brought along its latest Mk8 VW Golf R project that we’re very much looking forward to sampling. Special mention goes to the tank with a PH smiley stuck to the back of it.
Those wanting to grab their own smileys could stop by the new and improved PH stand. You may have noticed that we’ve spruced things up a bit in recent weeks, and we’ve been busy updating our clothing, caps and mugs with our new look. To get to the stand, you first needed to navigate yourself past some of our PH Auction cars, including an Aston Martin V8 Vantage and Kalahari Beige Porsche 944 – which are currently live at the time of writing, so there’s still time to get your bids in!
Next to us was the eBay stand, with PH Project Car proudly displayed out front. It was a real pleasure talking to you about how the project came about and why we fitted some parts over others (though I wish we’d kept some budget aside for a limited-slip differential, and you’ll see why in the finale). Though we’ve wrapped the series up, there’s still plenty of time to get your mitts on a very fast – if not Golf R-beating – Mk5 GTI. All you need to do is follow the link here, enter the competition and you could be the new owner of PH Project Car.
On that note, we also held a raffle on the day to win all sorts of fantastic prizes. We were inundated with entries, which has helped raise a massive £2,903 for Mission Motorsport. So even if you didn’t end up winning anything, give yourself a pat on the back for supporting a great organisation, which aids in the recovery of those affected by military operations by providing opportunities through motorsport.
Really, that’s just scratching the surface of a day that we certainly won’t be forgetting any time soon. Be sure to head to the link here to grab yourself a print of your car at the show, whether on display or on your way into the car park. And if you’d like us to put on another event the size of PH25 in the future, you can register your interest right here.
Finally, we just want to say a massive thank you to those of you who came to celebrate our anniversary with us, and to all PHers for 25 fantastic years. We couldn’t have done it without you. Here’s to the next 25.
Special thanks also go to the car manufacturers, tuners, restomodders, importers, merchandisers, insurers, financiers and prize givers who helped us put on an almighty birthday bash by exhibiting at PH25.
Should have had a separate TVR parking zone!
great to see so many interesting cars up close like the 959 and Spyker. No guide ropes. GR Yaris look like fun- not seen up close before
Highlight was the road registered 917. A true hero car.
My only feedback is let more cars in the tech display. At first I thought PH cant help who applies but they said at the presentation, 1400 cars applied only 200 displayed and we know from the scramble it can handle way more. For me, the hot hatch section felt light and there was loads of space for more. The performance parking was great, loads of variation but that's 'outside' the main event and a big Sunday service, so increase what can come in, maybe invite people from their garages, encourage people to leave a bit of geeky info in the window and it will be an annual cracker of a show.
My only feedback is let more cars in the tech display. At first I thought PH cant help who applies but they said at the presentation, 1400 cars applied only 200 displayed and we know from the scramble it can handle way more. For me, the hot hatch section felt light and there was loads of space for more. The performance parking was great, loads of variation but that's 'outside' the main event and a big Sunday service, so increase what can come in, maybe invite people from their garages, encourage people to leave a bit of geeky info in the window and it will be an annual cracker of a show.
My only feedback is let more cars in the tech display. At first I thought PH cant help who applies but they said at the presentation, 1400 cars applied only 200 displayed and we know from the scramble it can handle way more. For me, the hot hatch section felt light and there was loads of space for more. The performance parking was great, loads of variation but that's 'outside' the main event and a big Sunday service, so increase what can come in, maybe invite people from their garages, encourage people to leave a bit of geeky info in the window and it will be an annual cracker of a show.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I've been to several Scambles which have more cars on display and businesses opening their doors for a peek inside.
As has already been said the site can take more cars so lets see more people getting to display their cars.
Maybe next time you could have sections for 80's, 90's,00's and so on?
We choose the NSX R as our highlight of the day, can't remember ever seeing one. There was also a "normal" NSX.
They both looked great and as an owner proposition we both agreed they should be much less troublesome then their contemporaries.
2 Lotus Carltons, 2 959's in the same colour where would you see these again?
Also loved the early Pantera in orange, what a great looking car. Surprised that the engine bay mostly had the gearbox on it with the engine more mid.
And I got to see an Espada up close that was on a transport truck. I always thought these where very long but it actually looked small compared to todays exotica.
Lovely to see a good few TVR's in attendance as well.
Too many "wow haven't seen one of those in years" (Ford XR4i) to list.
So thank you for putting it on, I am sure it isn't easy and you can't please everyone. Hopefully this will be an annual event that will now grow and get bigger and better.
Surely there should have been an area set aside with a staircase for powerfully built phers to display their dominance ability with a set of golf R keys at the top behind them?
Or one of those ATMs with a public score board based on balance. So those in their sheds can feel vindicated (or maybe not).
But agreed it did look a great day out.
How about interspersed instead? PHer cars were interspersed around the old airbase in a manner that felt like somebody's school coursework project to design a car show had been left until the night before.
It was good for a first attempt but needs a can do better for the next one which i hope will be an annual event.
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