FORD TAKEOVER
The Isle of Wight Ford Takeover is one of the fastest-growing Blue Oval events on the calendar, and when the turnout is this good it’s easy to why…
We head to the Isle of Wight for a huge gathering of fast Fords.
The Isle of Wight may be famous for a few things; garlic, slap bass guitarists, treasonous Kings, widowed Queens, imprisoning legendary gangsters, and even the voice of Scar from Lion King! They all have deep-rooted links to this little piece of land floating in the middle of the Solent. But that’s not what we’re interested in today. No. For there is another huge hit surely soon to be added to the ‘things the IOW is famous for…’ list – the mighty Ford Takeover.
Starting as nothing more than a group of mates heading to the pub for quick gettogether back in 2014, the IOW Ford Takeover has grown exponentially over the last four years – now attracting over 1000 cars and 4000 people!
Having outgrown previous venues twice already, this year the organisers held the show at Beaper Farm campsite. The vast wide-open spaces provided the perfect venue for a family-orientated gathering of fast Fords, attracting owners’ clubs and enthusiastic Blue Oval lovers from all over the country. In fact, one guy and his girlfriend made the epic trip all the way from Germany in a highly-modified Focus ST225!
And they weren’t the only ones making a holiday of it. Yes, you can pop over on the early ferry and head back to the mainland on the same day, but the Ford Takeover is unlike any other show on the calendar in the way that it enables you to make a holiday out of the event. Most people stay over on the island for a few days before or after the main show day, soaking up the gorgeous scenery (of course, with plenty of photo opportunities for some amazing snaps of your fast Fords) and excellent hospitality the island offers.
That means that the island is brimming with Blue Ovals for days before and after the main event; convoys of fast Fords can be seen gathering at the island’s most popular attractions, and the throaty sound of growly exhaust systems and high-pitch chirps of turbochargers can be heard from coast-to-coast.
And then, on show day, they all congregate in the same place to share their passion for all things Blue Oval. The show has a totally different feel to anything else on the calendar; it’s much more relaxed than the hustle-and-bustle associated with events held at racetracks, yet there’s plenty going on throughout the day to keep everyone entertained, and of course, some truly spectacular cars on show!
This year, we even pulled together a small stand of our own – featuring IOW-based
past, present, and future feature cars – with Charlie Tiffin’s stunning S1 RS Turbo nabbing the Car of the Show award… and the enormous trophy that went with it!
This really is one of our favourite shows of the year, and if the organisers continue to put in the same hard work and dedication as previous years, there’s no telling how big this event can become. In fact, planning for the 2019 Ford Takeover is already underway, and the team has expanded to ensure that next year is even bigger and better!
We can’t wait to come back, and here’s the best bits from 2018 to show you why…