Northern Invasion II – Highway 63 Takes on Redhill Cruise 2026

560+ miles, several laps of the cruise route, more fuel than we're prepared to calculate and one absolutely brilliant weekend. Redhill Cruise 2026 – you didn't disappoint!

After the success of last year's trip with The Leeds Cruise & Highway 63 joint cruise, there was never much doubt that Highway 63 would be pointing the cars south again for Redhill Cruise 2026. And so, with tanks full, alarms set at an offensively early hour and absolutely no intention of working out the eventual fuel bill, Northern Invasion II – Redhill or Bust was underway.

Southbound – Redhill or Bust

Our Saturday contingent met up bright and early with Mick Tebbs from the Don Valley Cruise at Woodall Services, where, after the usual morning greetings, caffeine and checking that everyone had actually remembered everything, we pointed the cars south and hit the M1.

The first leg went remarkably smoothly, which in hindsight should probably have made us suspicious.

Our next stop was Leicester Forest East, where we met up with Pete & May from Boston way, adding another car to our merry band of northern travellers. After a brief stop, a catch-up and the inevitable admiring glances at the cars, it was back onto the M1 and onwards towards London.

Next came Toddington Services for refreshments, a comfort break and, most importantly when you're travelling hundreds of miles in old American V8s, another opportunity to pour vast quantities of unleaded into them.

So far, so good.

Then came the M25...

Ah Yes... The M25

Traffic for most of the journey had actually been surprisingly kind to us, but once we reached the stretch around the M40, M4, M3 and A3, normal service was very much resumed.

Slow traffic became very slow traffic.

Very slow traffic became stationary traffic.

And all the while the temperature was steadily climbing – both outside and under a few bonnets!

Old American cars, a hot summer's day and the M25 at a standstill isn't necessarily the recipe for a relaxing afternoon, but thankfully the cars behaved themselves and, despite being delayed considerably, everyone made it safely into Redhill and to our accommodation without any major dramas.

That alone felt worthy of a celebratory beer.

Burgers, V8s & The Dream Cars BBQ

Once we'd checked in, dumped the bags and regrouped, it was time to head over to the Dream Cars BBQ and meet up with The Leeds Cruise and others in the Northern Invasion II, who'd made the journey south a day earlier.

And what a great way to properly kick off the weekend.

Burgers, drinks, plenty of familiar faces and a fantastic selection of American and custom machinery filled the place. After several hours on the road it was exactly what was needed, good food, good company and plenty of cars to wander around looking at while pretending we weren't already thinking about what else we could buy.

Suitably fed and watered, though, there was only one thing left to do...

Get cruising.

Redhill Cruise 2026

We headed back towards the centre of Redhill, joined the cruise route and finally got to enjoy what we'd driven all those miles for.

The atmosphere was brilliant.

American cars, customs, hot rods and all manner of interesting machinery filled the route, with people lining various sections watching everything roll past.

We completed a few circuits before heading towards the far end of the route at Horley, where we pulled over for a break and spent some time watching the cruise go by instead.

It's one of the things we love about Redhill. You're not just driving the route – you can park up, chat with other people taking part, watch the seemingly endless variety of cars passing and just soak up the whole atmosphere.

After giving the cars and ourselves a breather, we jumped back in and completed another couple of circuits before eventually parking up at the B&Q car park.

At this point, a tactical decision was made.

Pub

Purely for hydration purposes, obviously. We headed across to the pub opposite, grabbed a well earned refreshing drink and watched the cruise from yet another vantage point.

Eventually the cars were taken safely back to the hotel before we returned to the pub, this time without worrying about who was driving. 🍺

From there we spent the rest of the evening as spectators, having a few beers, watching the cars cruise past and simply soaking up the sights, sounds and atmosphere of Redhill until it was finally time to call it a night.

Breakfast of Champions

The following morning we discovered one slight flaw in our plans.

We were up and ready to hit the road before the hotel started serving breakfast.

There are moments in life that require difficult decisions.

This wasn't one of them.

McDonald's it was.

So we headed into Redhill town centre, suitably fuelled ourselves with breakfast and coffee, then regrouped and prepared the cars for the long journey back north.

But we weren't quite finished with Redhill just yet...

One Last Stop...

Before properly beginning the trek home, we called into the Krispy Kreme meet for one final dose of cars, coffee, doughnuts and questionable dietary decisions.

It was a great opportunity to have another wander around, chat with some of the people attending and grab those final photographs before accepting that, unfortunately, we really did have to start heading home.

Eventually we dragged ourselves away, climbed back into the cars and headed once more for everyone's favourite motorway...

The M25.

From there it was back onto the M1, pointing north and steadily ticking off the miles towards home.

560+ Miles & Worth Every Single One

By the time everyone finally arrived home, we'd covered over 560 miles, plus several circuits of the Redhill Cruise route itself.

There had been early starts, motorway queues, soaring temperatures, countless fuel stops, burgers, beers, doughnuts and an amount spent on unleaded that none of us particularly wants to investigate too closely.

But there had also been a hell of a lot of laughs.

More importantly, we'd shared another fantastic road trip with a genuinely great bunch of people.

For us, that's what Highway 63 has always been about. The cars might be what initially brings us together, but it's getting out and actually using them, travelling places, meeting people, supporting the wider scene and making memories along the way that makes these trips what they are.

Redhill isn't exactly on our doorstep. That's the whole point.

It's an adventure.

And the journey there and back with your mates becomes every bit as memorable as the event itself, if not more so.

A massive thank you to everyone who travelled with us, everyone we met along the way and, of course, everyone involved in making the Redhill Cruise weekend what it is.

Redhill Cruise 2026 – an absolutely brilliant weekend.

Would we drive 560+ miles and spend another small fortune on fuel to do it all again?

Of course we bloody would and no doubt about it, once again we'll be joining forces with our friends at the Leeds Cruise for another epic road trip.

Roll on Redhill 2027. 😂

Miles & Smiles. No Egos, Just Engines.

Highway 63 American & Custom Car Club