Monday 1st January 2018

PH 2017: Sunday Service of the Year

Didn't attend a Sunday Service last year? Shame on you! For those that did, these were the finest...

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"Where has the year gone?" - the phrase that gets spouted every year, but the past 12 months really have flown by, and with the help of Sunday Services to keep us busy every month, 2017 has gone rather quicker than expected! It has been a cracking year for Sunday Services, yet again, with some new venues introduced alongside some well known - and some not so well known - locations around the country. All were thoroughly enjoyable.

We hit the ground running in February for a brand new venue to our calendar; we headed over to Prodrive's factory in Banbury for a sneak peek at the genius witchcraft taking place, and although there were no bubbling cauldrons, the cars and tech on show were fairly mind blowing. The factory tours showed us everything from the McLaren P1 spoiler mechanism to shells of Aston Martin racers; they really did give us an exclusive view and a day to remember.

The second event of the year was at Silverstone for our first piece of track action in March. Many of you will now know that Silverstone is becoming a bit of a tradition, and with discounted track time for PHers and passenger rides available (for free!) it is clear why it's one of the most popular of the year. So much so that we tend to head there twice, and it was no different in 2017. Unfortunately it was a little torrential in March, but of course that didn't stop the PH massive from turning up in force and getting a little bit sideways on track! Even with the rain it was a great fun day.

Next up we headed over to Aston Martin in St Athan for a first look at its new facility there. It was packed full of past, present and future Aston Martins, plus some celebrity specials like the James Bond DB10. The new facility is on a live runway, so areas that weren't in use were used by Aston Martin for live displays of some of their finest vehicles. Again, a fantastic morning.

We then had a teeny tiny last minute addition at Caterham for an 'Easter MondayService' to celebrate its 60th birthday, which also coincided with the completion of our member-built Caterham 310R, so attendees got to witness the last parts of the Caterham being assembled. Passenger rides and test drives were available from Caterham, so those that have never experienced the thrill got to do just that!

Drag racing was calling us in May, so obviously we headed to Santa Pod, the home of British drag racing, to burn some rubber and go very quickly in a straight line. And what a turnout we had! There was a huge variety running up the strip; from a McLaren 570S to a Datsun 240Z with massive V8 under the bonnet, the drag races were far from predictable. We even took our roof box wielding Skoda Superb PH Fleet car on track, where it fared very well!

Another last minute addition saw us heading to Silverstone again, but not for a track day; we were kindly offered 1,000 tickets to the Silverstone 500 (featuring Supercar Sunday and the British GT Championship) by Silverstone to give to our attending members. It turned out to be an absolutely cracking day. Racing, admiring super rare supercars, falling over on Segways and competing on simulators were all part of the attraction and meant there was plenty to keep everyone happy.

In August we had two Sunday Services; the first was a brand new venue, the Blenheim Palace Classic & Supercar Show. And despite the weather's best efforts, it was still a jolly good day with some very rare exotica on show - the Lamborghini Centenario, Aston Martin Vulcan and Mercedes CLK GTR Roadster to name just a few. The second in August was a more familiar one, with BMW. It was a rather special one as it was one of the first UK views of the brand new BMW M5, which was very nice indeed. Although parked up next to its much older predecessors was maybe not such a great idea... The E28 M5 is just so pretty.

September saw us back at Honda HQ for another slightly smaller event, but that didn't mean it packed any less of a punch! Honda put on a fantastic display for us; the Heritage fleet, the Mean Mower, the new NSX, Matt Neal's BTCC car and an array of lovely motorbikes meant it really was an excellent Sunday morning. Plus, of course, the fine cars our very own members brought along.

After feeling like we had track day withdrawal symptoms we thought it was time to head back to Silverstone to ruin our tyres in October. It being our third time back at Silverstone this year had us thinking we may as well have our own little PH HQ there; not sure the bosses would welcome that idea, though... The day was a resounding success, with lovely weather and some great cars off and on track. Ben and Matt were also out on track all morning giving some of you lucky members passenger rides in Ben's Megane and a Caterham 420R, which seemed greatly appreciated by those that went out.

Another new location in November saw us over at a very chilly Denbies Wine Estate - the surroundings were perfect, the cars were wonderful and the wine tours were a much welcome bonus that morning. The highlights for me were the stunning Ford GT and a very mean Lamborghini Diablo, both of which I imagine were quite a handful on the icy roads.

Our final event of the year was the much anticipated Goodwood weekend that happened on 16th/17th, where we hosted a track day on the Saturday and our biggest Sunday Service of the year on Sunday - and with 800 cars parked up on track and twice the people, it was certainly one of my favourites of the year. The track day started off icy and, erm, a bit closed, but after 10am it dried out and was super grippy. With only 16 cars on track it was also a great opportunity for newcomers to practice with lots of space, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Sunday had a superb atmosphere and it was, as always, great to chat with so many PHers - if you you could hear us over Mariah Carey - and see some lovely cars.

We'd like to offer a huge thanks to everyone who came along to take part, and to all of the companies and venues that hosted us this year - it has been a year to remember. What was your favourite event this year? Do you have any highlights to share with us? Leave your thoughts below.

Finally, the calendar for 2018 is almost full already, packed with favourites and exciting new venues alike. Keep an eye on the Sunday Service forum for the full calendar soon, so you can get planning. Merry Christmas, and see you all next year!

[woodysnr]

How about a trip North (Scotland ) and join our largest gathering of cars approx. 400+ organized by Tartan Tarmac who hold a monthly meet the last Sunday of every month and support /co organize regular big shows up here Braehead Arena . Ignition .

[dandarez]

Blimey! Most of the hols PH 'NEWS' has been error filled, words missing, spellings (one had 'threw' instead of 'through') all corrected when pointed out of course, but really... come on, check before posting up. Or lay off the mulled wine.

Above it says and I quote:

'Did you go to a Sunday Service last year? Shame on you!'

Oh okay, I'll accept my shame for turning up at one.

[Pericoloso]

I did a few.
Prodrive ,excellent !
St Athans Aston ,excellent !

[ecain63]

Wasn't Silverstone in November?

[edoverheels]

I did the Goodwood Sunday Service - track day and the Sunday and it was great. if they are on next year then I would also go to the Honda and Denbies events.
Thanks PistonHeads, there has been much negativity on the end of year retrospective threads about Pistonheads generally but I think that it is great and I am grateful to the team and the online community. I don't like or agree with everything of course but if you don't like it then read something else.

[supermanraf]

Loved the BMW sunday service, and Goodwood is always really enjoyable! Well done Pistonheads, I had a great time at those two, and thanks to the venues for hosting us! Happy New Year everyone!

[Matt Bird]

dandarez said:

Blimey! Most of the hols PH 'NEWS' has been error filled, words missing, spellings (one had 'threw' instead of 'through') all corrected when pointed out of course, but really... come on, check before posting up. Or lay off the mulled wine.

Above it says and I quote:

'Did you go to a Sunday Service last year? Shame on you!'

Oh okay, I'll accept my shame for turning up at one.

Yes, you're right... Apologies for the error, not sure how this one got through. Or threw

At least that's one NY resolution sorted!

Thanks,


Matt

[ecsrobin]

Thankyou Pistonheads for another great year of Sunday Sevices.

I managed to attend:

Prodrive
St Athan
Honda UK
BMW UK
Goodwood

And you even managed to catch me and my dad at Honda:



I must drop off a load of biscuits/sweets/beer at some point to say thankyou for all your effort in arranging the events.

For me the highlight has to be Prodrive. Their talk they put on and the staff on hand to discuss the manufacturing processes was brilliant and you can never fault BMW for their breakfast!

[sahajesh]

Agree, I only managed two (St Athans and BMW) - both were great and I too will also remember to hit the shops beforehand and stock up for the PH team.

[SteveS Cup]

Only managed 2 last year, but Blenheim Palace and Goodwood were amazing! Thank you.

Hopefully attend more this year by getting in earlier with the signing up!

[Northern.N]

Attended the last Silverstone event and loved it as expected!

Hoping to attend as many as possible (geographically!) in the coming year.
Loved the variety of cars, the whole atmosphere and how friendly and ‘pleased to be there’ everyone seemed to be.
Looking forward to the 2018 calendar!