ACMshow
round-up
48North Stars
You think the Scots will let a bit o’ damp spoil their Hot
Rod Hootenanny?Words & photography: Martin DrakeDeep across the border in Scotland is
a town called Stirling and, in amongst
all the attractions of the area, this
once sleepy place slowly began to
develop a small sound. It started out
like a small bumble bee flying around
from plant to plant but as the days
passed by this single bee started
to sound like a swarm, then, on the
weekend of July 17th-19th, the swarm
turned into a whole convoy of V8s.
This sleepy town just woke up to the
rumble of the Phantoms’ Hootenanny.
People slowly arrived at Stirling
Rugby Club, the venue for the
weekend of fun and frolics.
Unfortunately, as normal, Mother
Nature had an idea of her own
and decided to come along for the
weekend, too... The Phantoms set a
massive marquee up on the Thursday
night so the cheese and wine could
be laid out for all to enjoy on Saturday
night, but Mother Nature must have
had indigestion that day; she promptly
picked up the marquee at 1.30
Saturday morning and threw it at the
floodlight for us. Needless to say the
marquee was a tad shorter and not
as high as it was before so the cheese
and wine was put on hold for this year.
Unfortunately the Highland Games
were also cancelled due to a massivedownpour just beforehand, but no
matter what was thrown at this show
it was one of the best I have ever been
to, with a hot rod quiz in the bar on
Friday night and the live band Hotrod
Sinners long into Saturday night, along
with a free burger late at night cooked
up by the Phantoms BBQ.
This is the sort of show weekend
that you used to go to eons ago,
where if you got more than two tents
or caravans past yours you were
guaranteed to bump into someone
you knew or just get talking to the
person camped next to you about
their car or the pure passion of our
scene. Whether you turned up in a ‘32
Ford or a V-Dub, across the scale it’s all
the same and the weekend is a blast
from start to finish. One bonus of the
weekend was that Mother Nature must
have felt guilty for destroying the
marquee and the sun popped its head
out all day Sunday giving us a nice day
for the public to come along and see
what it was all about. With the show
field filling up, the Hotrod Sinners
playing outside the bar, traders to part
you from your hard-earned cash and a
show field filled with some of the best
American and custom cars in Scotland,
this is one weekend that you cannot
miss out on. AC Mshowroundup - phantoms.indd 48 21/09/2015 14:08:56