Yes, there was a race that just took place on the sands of a cold beachfront, in old hot rods driven by ambitious racers in period garb. Sound familiar? If you look a mere 3,400 miles to the right of New Jersey you will find Pendine Sands Hot Rod Races in Wales, UK. Technically their gathering is 1 year behind TROG gentlemen, as this was the third annual event, which took place July 4th and 5th.

Actually racing on this particular beach goes back almost 100 years, and in 1924 Sir Malcolm Campbell was using the 7 mile strip of sand to set a 146 mph record in his 350hp Sunbeam better known as ‘Bluebird’, which was broken by J.G. Parry-Thomas in ‘Babs’ at over 150mph, only to be broken right back by Campbell in 1927 at 174mph! This was the late 1920s on a lumpy beach, folks… Think about the cajones it took to hit that speed. (Parry-Thomas was actually killed trying to take that record back.) Back in June, Malcolm’s Grandson actually honored the 90th anniversary of that first run at Pendine here.

Anyway, back to the Pendine Sands hot rod races… These guys are really competing in their event, and they are going for serious SPEED! Racing here is only for members of the Vintage Hot Rod Association (VHRA) and they must be running a pre-49 hot rod or custom car… They’ve already got blown flatheads running 115 on the sand, so you know they are serious! Enjoy these amazing photographs of this years races by Bastian Glasessner.