There are events each year on the automotive calendar that I try not to miss. Then there are events that I will not miss.

We don’t need to go into why the last 18 months have been awful, but it doesn’t change the fact that they were and continue to be for many. For the last few weeks in Ireland, following the second total longest days of lockdown anywhere in the world, things have started to feel almost normal again. There was the recent 86FEST (which Ryan will fill you in on shortly, having made the trip over with Ben) and a scattering of small local meets, along with the promise of some larger events in the near future.

If there’s one thing that all of these periods of being stuck at home have taught me – from an automotive perspective at least – is that cars are so much better enjoyed in person. In fact, I would say that I’ve grown weary of trying to enjoy cars vicariously through others on social media. There are simply too many people seeking clout and trying to increase follower counts without really knowing why they want more. A lot of it just feels so… fake.

When I got the message that the 2021 edition of the Juicebox BBQ was going ahead less than a week before the day itself, I couldn’t make plans fast enough. This is also why so many people didn’t know it had happened until after the fact, as it’s always short notice. There’s a couple of good outcomes from this method of event planning, but I’ll go into those in the proper event post.

Instead, I thought it might be something a bit different to your normal Speedhunters scheduled programming to bring you the day before the Juicebox BBQ.

For the most part, Saturday featured lots of car cleaning and a trip to a wholesaler to get supplies for the big day in Philip ‘Flip’ Morrissey’s (of Flipsideauto) recently-acquired, Japan-import Honda Stepwgn, which he’s already added Work CR Kai wheels and a Mugen kit to.

After this short distraction which involved marvelling at the cost prices of stuff (seriously, how can anyone make money on water at €0.11 per 500ml bottle?) we were good to get back to doing car things.

You might remember Josh Greene’s S50-powered BMW we featured last year, which you can’t see here because he sold it to focus on his S15 build. The Nissan will be one to see when it’s finished, but unfortunately for Josh, he would be the one doing the now infamous push of shame down to the yard.

Flip still holds the record for having to push his FC Mazda RX-7 there two years in a row, however.

I had originally thought that this would have been a day of fascinating, interesting and dramatic things in the lead up to one of the best events on the Irish modified car calendar. But ultimately and I suppose predictably, it became another Saturday of nonsense with friends and cars.

These are the very best days, and the ones which I missed the most over the last year and a half. Aimless chat which almost certainly can’t be shared in public with a background of interesting cars. Just wait until you see what turned up for the actual barbecue itself…

Paddy McGrath
Instagram: pmcgphotos
Twitter: pmcgphotos
paddy@speedhunters.com