Wheelers Club History

The club was formed by Phil Chappell, an employee of Vosper Thornycroft based in Woolston, Southampton in 1977. He was keen to start his own club for traditional hot rods, not just old cars with their stock engines and a nice paint job. He didn’t want any American classic cars either.

He asked several of his colleagues if they would be interested in joining and helping him to set it up. He got quite a good response and approximately 10 met in a pub at Eastern Road.

Phil knew a DJ from Radio Victory in Portsmouth so he would promote the new club on the radio. It was then decided “Victory Wheelers” would be a good name. Phil would also chat with the DJ live.

During this same year it was decided that specially designed/printed clothing was needed for members to wear so one of the members came up with the original logo for the club. Two of the original members, Tony Lawrence and Derek Fisher decided to print T shirts with the club’s logo. They were bought from a clothes shop in Woolston costing £1.10 each as there was a discount for bulk buying and the receipts are still with the club. The silk screens were made by Tony’s neighbour and with help from Derek approximately 50 T shirts were printed.

The original logo was an oval with “Victory Wheelers” printed inside, following the top edge. In the centre there was a silhouette of the rear of a T Bucket, sat on a Jaguar back axle with large tyres. There was also a number plate, “257” which was Radio Victory’s frequency. The screens still exist and were used to print 2 T shirts which were worn to the 2010 South Coast Internationals at Beaulieu by Tony and his son Marc as a surprise for the members. A bit of nostalgia!

Our Club Trophy

Phil asked for trophies to be made for the first rod run to Chichester, opposite Jago’s factory. The first ideas were perhaps making a toast rack from model spanners and other tools, until Derek jokingly said “let’s make a Jag back axle”. Phil excitedly agreed and Tony ended up making a 1/8th scale model from brass, this trophy is presented annually to a chosen member that regularly displays a ‘nice car’ We are please to say that the trophy was restored by Tony just recently to its former glory.

For the those who don’t know a hot rod is basically a pre-1949 car, which has been modified from standard, usually by the fitting of a more powerful engine, and any other modifications such as different wheels, paint, interior etc. A custom car is a post-1948 vehicle again modified in a similar manner. The cut-off year of 1948 is used, as this is when American car design switched over from separately defined fenders to the more moulded modern shape. Because of the rarity of all American cars on these shores they are welcomed in standard form, together with American influenced British classics such as Zodiacs and Crestas.

The club became very popular, particularly through their decision to organise a yearly show, which not only gave enthusiasts a chance to get together for the weekend, but gave the public a glimpse of these unusual machines. The show was named the South Coast Internationals and quickly gained a reputation that meant cars came from all over this Country and the continent.

As the club is a non-profit making organisation it was soon decided to donate most of the profit each year to local charities. Once the show moved onto Hayling Island about ten years ago we began to support the RNLI. So much money was donated to them that they even named a lifeboat after us. Many other local charities have benefited as well to the tune of at least £60,000. The local traders on the Island were also grateful to receive much needed extra revenue over the show weekend. It also proved very popular with residents who lined the pavements to see these amazing cars.

As the show became more popular a larger site was needed. Unfortunately as the Council did not approve plans for sites on the Island we took up the Army’s offer in 2001 of moving to Thorney Island, near Emsworth, Hants. The Hayling Island event was resurrected 2 years ago as a one day event by the Club Chairman at the time Alan (Big AL) Partridge who sadly lost a battle with Cancer in December 2009, this show will now be held annually as memory of the ‘Big Fella’ by all who knew him.

During 2009/10 the club membership has risen to around sixty members who meet regularly and travel to Custom Car shows all over the Country. We host 2 major shows each year Hayling Island in May and our main event of the year in conjunction with The Beaulieu Motor Museum ‘The South Coast Internationals’. In July 2010 this event completed its third year with over 600 camping and 700 cars arriving for the Drive-In day on the Sunday. If you have a Custom, Hot Rod or classic American car we would like to hear from you.

VICTORY WHEELERS CHAIRMAN