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Modified Motors, Ireland’s modified car mag had organised <em>Loud and Live</em>, at the Ecclesville Centre in Fintona. This two-day car show was a huge success, and has been referred to by many as "the best to date" – I certainly thought so.

<strong>Friday Night
</strong>Fintona – where the hell is that? The typically huge thread on the forum about the show had a common reoccurring question. Where exactly <em>is</em> Fintona. I posted up a map which I printed so I could lead the convoy of myself, Armo (in his <em>Modified Motors</em> featured Focus), Orla (silver Pug 206), and Zetec125 (Fiesta) down the M1 and up some twisty back roads. On arrival we gave the cars a quick wash after some electrical issues with a smoking pressure washer! Darren and Justin from the mag were there to meet us and were on hand all night to help everyone get set up. We then all piled into the back of the corolla and she scuffed the arches all the way back to Belfast in the pouring rain.

<strong>The Show
</strong>It only seemed as if I had just got in and I was heading back out again, this time in Gaz’s Vtec, where some rapid progress was made back to Fintona. We arrived around 10am (when the show was due to open), and were greeted by a worried looking Darren from <em>Modified Motors</em>. "Where are the cars?!" as our eyes scanned round an empty looking carpark. It seems that most people were either lost or in bed, as by midday the carpark was filling and people were pouring through the gates. As I walked through the crowds in the main hall it was easy to see that the general layout of the stands throughout was one of the best of any show. All the cars were roped off in clear sections and they were well spread and easy to see from the walkway. I spoke to Mark Lunney at the <a href=”//mysite.freeserve.com/performancecarclub” target=”_blank”>Performance Car Club</a> stand who agreed that the layout was great in the way the stands were roped off to prevent scrapes, damage (and even fingerprints) but were generously spaced so the public could still get to have a really good look at some of the fantastic machines on display.

The Ecclesville Centre is primarily an equestrian center with the main hall being adapted to take cars. Straight through the door was the cruise-scene stand, where I finally met Cacs from the forum, along with Adam and his green CRX. Beside them were some private entries (including madmodding’s corsa) and more websites including ultamotiv (with their project flip-painted corsa) and jon44w. At the other end of the hall beside Shaymac paints was Performance Car Club, with Ibiza GTi, M5, Escort RS-Turbo and Lotus Carlton. On round across from the the Power Style stand was the RMS stand of Focus, Fiesta and 206. The PS2 was at hand for some Gran Turismo action (which attracted an endless supply of 8 year olds cramming the stand!)

<strong>Outdoors
</strong>One of the main attractions of the show was definitely the fact that both the Steer from the Rear display team <em>and</em> the stunt driver Terry Grant would be performing at the show. We were not disappointed – they both provided a stunning display of precision driving, donuts and burnouts. Steer from the Rear were on form in two of their flip-painted Nissan 300zx twin-turbos, and Terry Grant introduced us to "the Legend" – a one-seater diffing machine. He would circle hard, lock the throttle open and then climb onto the roof of the car as it spun, then leave it and jump into his TVR and simultaneously diff it beside <em>"the Legend"</em>. Also, the new <em>Opposite-Lock</em> Corolla twin-cam display team (featuring Damo from cruiseirl) was on fine form, nearly treading on the toes of RMS photographer Jacqui (Rugrat) as she was diffed around in front of the crowd. Max Power babes including Olivia were out to be diffed round (to be followed by a glory lap on the TVR showing lots of flesh!) Davy Hollinger was out in his yellow supercharged twin cam as was Alan McBride with his Evo 7. The surprise of the day was the owner of the yellow Ferrari who asked Terry Grant to diff it for him, who obliged with some tarmac scorching action.

<strong>And Finally
</strong>Modified Motors deserve real praise for this show. It was a big risk running a show well out of the likes of Belfast where it is easy to get the crowds. From the seemingly slow start on the Saturday morning, the show went from strength to strength, and when the sun came out on Sunday afternoon, the venue was totally packed and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The feedback from the public and stand owners alike was very positive – good layout, regular tarmac action (and lots of scantily clad women) had a lot to do with it.

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Andy is the founding member of RMS, and when he's not following motoring events around the UK and Ireland he can be found on the track (sideways, having competed in top level drifting for a decade), or of course he'll be on the forum.