This was 2020

2020, where do we begin. Certainly the most ‘unprecedented’ year in our memory, which saw us all endure a tumultuous shift in our everyday lives. But also continued to dish out death-blows the entire automotive and events industry like they were going out of fashion!


At the beginning of 2020, the Re:Fuel team sat down to set out our goals for the year and what we wanted to accomplish for all of you Re:Fuelers out there. Needless to say, this plan went out the window very quickly! I don’t think we need to say why….

One of the issues in the forefront of our mind, as petrolheads ourselves, was how insane we would all end up with no shows, meets or any sort of community spirit amongst our fellow enthusiasts. So we changed Re:Fuel to a digital format that saw us “virtually” meet with some fantastic Re:Fuelers and special guests, including Paul Wallace of Supercars of London, Leon from Autoism, Andrew from Petrolheads Welcome and Mr Luckyssupercars himself.

We then decided to try something very new indeed and put together some sim-racing events on Forza Motorsport 7, which saw Team Re:Fuel get trounced by pro-level racers Kinnichie and Jkai in the Re:Fuel Enduro Championship. We streamed the events live on Twitch so everyone could join in the fun; and watch some top notch racing!

Roll on July and not a moment too soon. Everyone had, by then, watched everything ever uploaded to Netflix and were resorting to the Bulgarian detective dramas with English subtitles. But, the 19th of July was different. The sound of all our engines thundering into life were heard across the Southwest as over 700 of you made your way over to the Re:Opening. As ever the cars were as diverse as the Re:Fuelers themselves and we all got to taste the great taste of the Fat Pony burgers and Lemon Jelli coffee once again. It was heaven. No, it was better.

August and we opened once again with an even bigger turn out. The day, once again, was full of surprises. Including the greatest thing to come out of Sweden since ABBA (editorial note: George, we didn’t have you down as an Abba fan!), our first Koenigsegg, with help from Bowel Cancer West who also became our official 2021 charity partner. You can find out more about them by clicking here

For what would be our final Open Day of the year, October saw us host our first ever Re:Fuel Revival. Celebrating the great vehicles of the past that cars of today owe their existence too. Re:Fuelers old and new got into the spirit and took part in the optional fancy dress. You think you’ve seen everything then you see a Commando rock up in a Camaro with a Biggles look-alike sitting in the vintage Buggati behind. We plan to make this year’s even bigger and better.

The year wasn’t all bad thanks to heroes like Sir Cpt Tom Moore and charity was on the mind of almost everyone. We did what we could to support our frontline workers with 2 charity auctions that saw some awesome items up for grabs, donated by fantastic Southwest businesses. But by far our greatest charity achievement of the year was our Exe-mas Wonderland Drive Thru at Westpoint Arena that saw us raise over £15,000 for the Exeter Homeless Partnership. The Exeter Food Bank also benefited from over 250 items of donated food that piled up in Santa’s grotto. Of course, being Re:Fuel, there was a nod to our Open Days too with visitors being able to drool over some phenomenal machinery like the Mercedes SLR 722s and Ferrari F40 propping up the Prydis and Hotel Indigo zone, as well as a stunning Ferrari 812 Superfast courtesy of the guys over at Windsor Carriage Company and a selection of modern day fast-Fords from Vospers Ford themselves.

Zach Allan
Zach Allan
Zach Allan
Zach Allan
Zach Allan

There’s a whole host of other things that happened in 2020 that we could talk about, like hosting the launch of Moonshine Detailing Products and setting up The Vault car storage. But we now must look to 2021 and plan the next chapter in Re:Fuel’s story.

Happy New Year to you all. Stay safe and roll-on 2021!