As in its previous incarnations at the Excel, the show featured a main stage where various motoring
personalities were interviewed through the course of the show, who this year included renowned designers
Ian Callum CBE and Adrian Newey OBE. The stage also featured “Car Stories”, with the feature cars on
display, and those who are, or had been, associated them in different ways, giving their views on them.
They included the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato and DB5 “Goldfinger” continuation models, the Porsche 962
and the Maserati 250F. The show also had a tribute to the life of Bruce McLaren, to mark 50 years since
his passing in a testing accident at Goodwood, and the eponymous company that he founded. The cars on
display ranged from the Austin 7 Ulster that he first competed in back in New Zealand, through F1 cars and
the thundering M8D CanAm car, all in the traditional McLaren orange livery, through to the current Senna
GTR model finished in chrome, blue and black. There was also a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the
Audi Quattro, with a sextet of examples on display in the area joining the balconies of the Grand and
National halls occupied by the show. The 50th anniversary of the Range Rover was also marked with a
display spanning the various models produced through the years, all having the distinctive and
unmistakeable Range Rover look that has evolved through the years.
There were numerous and varied car club stands ranging from The London Vintage Taxi Association,
through the Transit Van Club, the Fiat 500 Club UK, the Ford AVO Owners’ Club, the Lancia Motor Club,
Lamborghini Club UK, and Porsche Club Great Britain, to name but a few. The Ferrari Owners’ Club Of
Great Britain, was well represented by the Kent Area Group under the guidance of area group organiser
Peter Critchell, featuring an impressive display of nine cars, ranging from a 365 GT 2+2 to a 430 Spider F1.
For aficionados of the “Cavallino Rampante” there were plenty of other examples on the trade stands,
notably that of Joe Macari, which had modern supercars like a F50 and Enzo amongst their offerings, whilst
another Enzo could be found on the stand of GVE London, which also featured a 512 TR and a 550
Barchetta. There were also some older classic models spread around the stands, like the freshly restored
250 GT Lusso on GTO Engineering’s stand, a 275 GTS on that of Hall & Hall, a 365 GTC on the Classic
Motor Hub stand, a Dino 246 GT on The Market stand and a 365 GTB4 on Tom Hartley’s stand. If one
wanted to be politically correct in today’s environment, there was also a 308 GTS with electric motive power
on the Electric Classic Cars stand.
Apart from the wide variety of vendors of classic motoring ephemera, the show also featured a Coys
Auction, where there was a varied selection of offerings, including a rather distressed 1968 Mini Cooper,
needing a little more than TLC to make it roadworthy again! Here Ferraris were also a strong feature, with
nine examples on offer, including a pair of yellow LHD examples from Belgium, a Dino 246 GT and a
Testarossa, along with a red US specification 328 GTS. The sale achieved a 65% sell-through rate, with the
top sale being a 1974 Maserati Ghibli SS Spider, which achieved £800,000, whilst a 1983 Ferrari 512 BBi
with delivery miles only sold for £400,000.
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