The car club that we are part of have done the IOW takeover for quite a few years but this year they had their strongest showing for a while and my wife and I have been wanting to go for a while. Booked the tickets months ago but due to work commitments could only leave after work on the friday and come back Sunday, many people take a week off as the island at this time of year is usually brilliant, weatherwise especially.
Slight hiccup the week before as the RS4 decided to play silly buggers and to snap the drive belt tensioner meaning it was in disgrace and wasnt going so instead cleaned and polished the S-Line and took that instead. Along with my wife's Impreza Sti Type R.
M3 on a friday afternoon was always going to be tricky and just made it onto the 7pm ferry...just ! Ferry crossing was quick and we were on the island and experiening the fantastic roads by 8pm. Must say the roads are superb, but the local drivers are not..the biggest bunch of doddery sun day drivers you could assemble
Anyway in our B&B by late evening and pint in hand by the seaside a short while later. The view was amazing.
Next day started cloudy and drizzle but sun broke through and the day could start properly. Driving around the island is so good as the roads and views are so interesting ( local drivers notwithstanding ) that you can really stretch the cars gears and just have fun, a lot of fun !!
We started in the North of the island from our bast at Seaview and headed south to pick up the Military road and once on there realised why it was so popular. It is about the straightest and fastest road on the island and with literally dozens of other car enthusiasts around , it made for a brilliant drive over to the Needles.
The approach to the needles less so as it is so narrow and threw in cyclists and walkers and narrow lanes and you get a painful drive but the views were worth it .
Back along the military road for a short stop to view the sea, take in some superb cars, meet a few Youtube celebrities ( some may recognise this man )
Back home to clean the cars in the Hotel car park ( which amused the residents no end ) before dinner of fish and chips by the sea front in Ryde. Not a bad view for your dinner.
Early start the next day for the actual IOW Takeover show as we had to be there for 7:30 . Realised why they needed such an early start as it must have been 2-3000 cars there . Every single car manufacturer you can imagine ( it has moved on from being a Ford show ) and the variety was mind boggling and that was just outside the arena for club stands. Takes about an hour just to walk around that car park. I cant add every photo we took but here is just one of them
Day was filled with just about every car themed show you could ask for, there were a ton of vendors and stalls, a dyno to test your car, music, even a dog show
Weather was scorcing and just a superb day for any petrol head, regardless of age.
Did spot quite a few Audi's of course
A few pics from our stand of our cars
Then a md dash back to the ferry at East Cowes only to discover that they had over filled the ferry so we missed ours and had to wait 2 hours for the next one ! Seems this is a common occurence and annoying but as it was sunny and nothing to do went to the pub
Back home after a long drive by 10:30pm and looking back , what a great show, weekend and island. Will be back again next year so if anyone has considered it, I say go for it.
Slight hiccup the week before as the RS4 decided to play silly buggers and to snap the drive belt tensioner meaning it was in disgrace and wasnt going so instead cleaned and polished the S-Line and took that instead. Along with my wife's Impreza Sti Type R.
M3 on a friday afternoon was always going to be tricky and just made it onto the 7pm ferry...just ! Ferry crossing was quick and we were on the island and experiening the fantastic roads by 8pm. Must say the roads are superb, but the local drivers are not..the biggest bunch of doddery sun day drivers you could assemble
Anyway in our B&B by late evening and pint in hand by the seaside a short while later. The view was amazing. Next day started cloudy and drizzle but sun broke through and the day could start properly. Driving around the island is so good as the roads and views are so interesting ( local drivers notwithstanding ) that you can really stretch the cars gears and just have fun, a lot of fun !!
We started in the North of the island from our bast at Seaview and headed south to pick up the Military road and once on there realised why it was so popular. It is about the straightest and fastest road on the island and with literally dozens of other car enthusiasts around , it made for a brilliant drive over to the Needles.
The approach to the needles less so as it is so narrow and threw in cyclists and walkers and narrow lanes and you get a painful drive but the views were worth it .
Back along the military road for a short stop to view the sea, take in some superb cars, meet a few Youtube celebrities ( some may recognise this man )
Back home to clean the cars in the Hotel car park ( which amused the residents no end ) before dinner of fish and chips by the sea front in Ryde. Not a bad view for your dinner.
Early start the next day for the actual IOW Takeover show as we had to be there for 7:30 . Realised why they needed such an early start as it must have been 2-3000 cars there . Every single car manufacturer you can imagine ( it has moved on from being a Ford show ) and the variety was mind boggling and that was just outside the arena for club stands. Takes about an hour just to walk around that car park. I cant add every photo we took but here is just one of them
Day was filled with just about every car themed show you could ask for, there were a ton of vendors and stalls, a dyno to test your car, music, even a dog show
Weather was scorcing and just a superb day for any petrol head, regardless of age.
Did spot quite a few Audi's of course
A few pics from our stand of our cars
Then a md dash back to the ferry at East Cowes only to discover that they had over filled the ferry so we missed ours and had to wait 2 hours for the next one ! Seems this is a common occurence and annoying but as it was sunny and nothing to do went to the pub
Back home after a long drive by 10:30pm and looking back , what a great show, weekend and island. Will be back again next year so if anyone has considered it, I say go for it.
