As mentioned, the show this year was presented by Enjoy Illinois Route 66, promoting the first part of the
famed “mother road” that ran from Chicago in Illinois to Santa Monica in California, with the first 300 miles of
the historic road running through Illinois. Visitors had the opportunity to enter a free draw on their stand to win
a 4 night trip, including flights and accommodation, to the state. Their display featured car associated with
American road trips, from the pre-war era there was a leviathan of a Hudson limousine, with more modern trips
covered by a ‘60s Chevrolet Corvette and a Ford Mustang. There was a celebration of the 60th anniversary of
the Fiat 500, with a colourful array of models on display, including a rare Steyr Puch variant, the Austrian built
performance model to rival the likes of the Abarth and Giannini performance models. There was also a
celebration of “London’s Car”, the Talbot, whose cars were built in one of the first purpose built British car
factories in Kensington, and some 30,000 cars were produced between 1905 and 1938, when the company
ceased to exist as an independent brand after having been acquired by the Rootes Group in 1935.
The Silverstone Classic always features an impressive presence to promote the following year’s event, and
they had a large screen showing action from this year’s event, together with a car display. This was made up
of a Lotus 72 in the iconic black and gold JPS livery, American muscle in the form of a Mercury Comet, a
Jaguar XK 140 and a Peugeot 908 hdi fap sports racing car. There was a further competition element further
up the street, as Aston Martin sponsor Hacket had a Vantage GT8 GT racing car on display outside their
flagship showroom. As with the Silverstone Classic, the international removals company Abels always have
an impressive display of their historic vehicles through the years, which this year included a horse drawn
wagon, complete with a pair of very patient and mild mannered horses.
There was also entertainment in the form of a pair of Top Gear driving experience simulators, and
musical/dance interludes were provided by the West End Kids who gave regular performances through the
course of the day. Whilst all this was going on the veteran cars in the concours were being judged, and at the
end of the day the award went to a 1903 dark green 4-cylinder Darracq owned by Malcolm Ginns
Keith Bluemel
11/2017
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