USC 2005 REPORT - (click photos to enlarge)

We have now reached the end of another fantastic Ultimate Street Car at Santa Pod. 2005 saw the start of loads of new features for the show, and turned out to be unquestionably the best modified car show ever held at the 'Pod.

With three days of Run What YA Brung, hundreds of traders, thousands of club cars and lots of pretty ladies, it was an action-packed weekend that simply flew by.

USC 2005 will be remembered as a year of massive variety, with all types of modified cars represented, including 50's style hot rods, yank-style low-riders, Japanese street-racers, euro-cruisers, and even oddballs such as bike-powered rascal vans and Bond-bugs. This variety was reflected in everything from the Run What Ya Brung cars through to the show cars and club stands, and it gave the event a fantastic festival vibe that lasted all weekend.

The Run What Ya Brung gave members of the general public the chance to get their cars out on the strip to test performance and to settle scores, and it was great to see good times being set from the word "go". Also on track were a variety of demo cars including Pro Mod cars from the FIA European championship, with Danny Cockrill right down into the 6's. Of course the incredible Fireforce jet car also showed us what "quick" means, with thundering passes in the 5's.

The track also helped Stuart Meads to set a new world record for a street legal Mini, getting into the 9's at last! Roger Clarke Motorsport also smashed the Subaru Impreza record, getting an easy 9 in their incredible car, running a sub 2-litre engine!

The Run What Ya Brung winners are listed below. These are the fastest cars of the three days in each class, showing race number, elapsed time and then terminal speed.

Class A - FWD All Motor:
Oliver Danker - Vauxhall Nova 1.6 16v - 13.878 @ 99.53

Class B - FWD + 1 Power Adder: B516
Ian Nixon - Renault 5 GT 12.106 @ 110.05

Class C - FWD + 2 Power Adders: C211
Andy Nicholls - MGZR Turbo with Nitrous - 11.467 @ 132mph

Class D - RWD/4WD All Motor: D252 11.157 @ 125.96

Class E - RWD/4WD + 1 Power Adder:
Lee Stevenson - Bond Bug 1.3 Suzuki turbo - 1 0.969 @ 120.64

Class F - RWD/4WD + 2 Power Adders: F751 9.841 @ 142.81
Gulli Halldorsson - Subaru Impreza Turbo with Nitrous - 9.841 @ 142.81

Class X - Non Road Legal: X1700
Danny Cockerill - Chevy Pro Mod 6.619 @ 212.21

Off track, there were dozens of competitions to get involved in or to enjoy watching, including the burn-out competition, which was won on Saturday by Craig Dean in his old-skool Mercedes. Craig had a very successful day, also winning the exhaust flame-out competition in the evening in his ludicrous propane-injected Ford Sierra! This was the second flame-out competition held at USC and it was great to see how the game has moved on since last year, with some hugely entertaining entrants, including a mini-tractor! The Sunday burn-out competition was won by Elliot Finlay and Adam Thrift from Luton. Well done guys for putting on a great show. Our best wishes go out to burn-out legend and Santa Pod regular "Legs" who missed USC 2005 due to illness. Get well soon.

Saturday evening hosted the all-new Miss Promo competition, and was won by Babestation sex-pot Imogen after a hard-fought battle of pole-dancing and car-washing.

The Mr & Miss USC competition was held on an outdoor stage for the first time on Sunday, and the winners were:

				Mr USC - Nick Whillock, who showed football and breakdancing skills to shame his competitors.
				Miss USC - Vicki Coleman, who overcame bad nerves (from a lack of Brown Ale), to take the win in a pole-dancing face-off.

Drift shows took place throughout Saturday and Sunday up near the pits, and these guys put on awesome displays of power and driving skill. another welcome new addition to USC.

The USC Show & Shine competition featured the best-ever entry, with almost 100 gleaming show-cars lined-up for the competition on Sunday morning including Sean Egan's Blue Ford Capri as seen on MTV's Pimp My Ride. The judging was made by our mates at Fast Car magazine, headed up by Midge, who showed that he was a man not influenced by politics, and only by original show cars.

There is a full list of winners and photos on the Show & Shine page.

We hope you all had a fantastic time at USC 2005, and we look forward to seeing you next year! Thanks to everyone who attended the event, and everyone who helped make it happen.

To see more photos of USC 2005 check out the 2005 Photo Gallery.

If you've forgotten what happened last year, here is the 2004 Report.