We're Back! Starting with Rise Nation: Hall of Fame

We’re back! It’s been a long time since our blogs last graced your screen, but we intend to return to form with regular updates - we’ve been busy! There’s plenty to catch up on, ranging from a new warehouse (currently being renovated) to fresh additions to the development car fleet to new shows and events we’re attending. That’s all to come, but we’re kicking off our return with a look at our third and most recent show of the year, Rise Nation: Hall of Fame, which we attended just last weekend at the Nekkerhal in Belgium.

After a long drive and an overnight ferry ride from our HQ in West Yorkshire, our show team eventually arrived at the venue, a striking hangar-style building that stretches over 300m long, and began setup for the weekend’s event, as hundreds of show cars descended on the site and began being guided into place. Our own chosen local show car was a stunning static Audi A3, which featured customised BC coilovers allowing for an incredibly low cambered effect. Unfortunately for our car owner, a badly timed wheel alignment followed by a tyre debeading and subsequent recovery to the venue meant he was significantly delayed and almost didn’t make it on time. By the time the car was unloaded, the main path through the venue was now blocked by other display cars. Luckily for us, the show staff were incredibly accommodating and managed to get a side door opened up, giving us just enough space to sneak the A3 into position. 

Our team retired to the overnight accommodation - after introducing Matt, our resident American, to the wonder of kebabs - he’d never had one before, which was a crime that had to be rectified. Bright and early the next day we hopped in with Collin, our native helping us for the weekend, in his slammed (and excellent) Nissan Primera P10. White Japanese car on white wheels? It doesn’t get much better than that. 

Arriving at the show we completed our final setup elements and prepared for a busy couple of days. And busy it was - our ever-popular racing sim (featuring our very own 6.7 V8-powered R33 Skyline) had a constant queue the entire time, with a busy Matt keeping note of the fastest lap times of the day, with prizes for the winner. Collin and Tom, our other members of the show team, were also run off their feet with a constant flow of people to meet and chat to. Our RC car also made regular appearances throughout both days, complete with basket full of stickers and sweets. As always, it made for an entertaining and engaging addition to the stand, with plenty of people helping themselves to the freebies on offer. 

The show itself featured some stunning cars on display, with everything from Mk1 Golf GTIs to RWB Porsche 911s and everything in between. We had fun spotting many different cars on BCs, both in the show and in the car park, as well as meeting friends from our partners like Liberty Walk and Auto Finesse. Eventually it was time to pack up and head home. We bid farewell to Collin, Tom prepared for a week travelling to visit some of our local dealer network, and Matt headed back to the UK with the show equipment.

Overall the show featured an incredibly high standard of show cars, great levels of attendance and we had a brilliant time in Belgium. We look forward to returning to Rise Nation in the future!