The show was further expanded from previous years, with the addition of an extra exhibition hall to satisfy
demand from exhibitors, thus making a total of six halls crammed with classic vehicles, associated products
and facilities. Within this number there were some 300 one make or model car clubs, with around 3000
vehicles on display, ranging from bubble cars to a leviathan Fowler steam engine. There was certainly a great
variety on offer for visitors, and there were over 71,000 over the course of the weekend. This year’s show
theme was ‘Built to Last’ and there were various interpretations on this, some displays featuring “Old and
New”, and others very original preserved examples, whilst the Veteran Car Club had an impressive “Coming
Home” tribute to the end of the Great War.
Within the cars in the show there were some real rarities and also some oddballs and intriguing engineering
feats. Amongst the former were a twin engine Mini and the 2nd Talbot Sunbeam Lotus Prototype, whilst one
of the oddballs was the Thunderbirds 2 Replica built on a Toyota Previa. Engineering-wise, how about the
modification of a 6 cylinder Jaguar cylinder head to fit a 4 cylinder home cast block, then repeat the exercise
and drop the pair of power units into a Mini body shell, along with many other detail modifications to make the
“Twin Jag Mini”, which competed in touring car races in 1965! These days no show is complete without an
anniversary, and the Ferrari Owners’ Club celebrated the golden anniversary of the Dino with a quartet of 246
GTs flanking a 308 GT4 model. In the corner of the same hall the TVR Car Club display featured a “Pub2Pub”
Chimaera model, which claimed the longest journey made by a sports car, covering 25,000 miles through 27
countries and 3 continents, as the sign said “one tough TVR”.
Of course 2018 celebrates the 70th anniversary of Porsche and there were impressive displays of models
courtesy of Porsche Cars Great Britain, Porsche Club Great Britain and the Porsche 924 Owners’ Club.
Porsche Cars had a display of specially commissioned by them restored cars, all finished in “liquid metal”
silver paint, a colour normally only available on the 918 Spyder, together with a vast colourful array of
Boxsters finished in iconic Porsche racing liveries, think “Pink Pig”, “Martini”, “Psychedelic” etc. 2018 is also
the 50th anniversary of the Ford Escort, with numerous examples on display from “humble” standard cars to
all singing and dancing rally cars. There also seemed to be a theme of “bare bones” running through a number
of the displays, with a variety of bare body shells and rolling chassis’ around the halls.
The show also featured the final of the Meguair’s Club Showcase, with 16 exceptional classics from car clubs
around the country for the judges to chose the recipient of the overall trophy, which went to the 1964
Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle of Lyndon Creamer from Gwynedd, North Wales. Another trophy up for grabs, this
time by people’s choice, was the show’s title partner, Lancaster Insurance’s Pride of Ownership competition.
With over 100 entries, the 20 finalists were on display for visitors to choose from, and it was a rare 1969 Ford
Cortina Savage Mk2 owned by Rob Sargent that took the award.
Within the show there was also a Silverstone Auctions auction where total sales exceeded £4million
including buyer’s premium with the biggest seller of the sale being a 1966 Aston Martin DB6 Automatic
Sports Saloon which achieved £214,313.
There were also a number of cars from the collection of musician Jay Kay, including a 1967 “Bullitt” Mustang
replica, which sold for £54,000, and a 1989 BMW M3 E30 Johnny Cecotto Ltd Edition which made £85,500.
Other lots sold at the sale were an ex-Frank Sinatra 1984 Rolls-Royce Corniche Convertible which was gifted
to him by fellow Rat Pack members, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin, which sold for £140,625, whilst an
ex-Steve McQueen 1945 Willys Jeep sold for £84,375.
Keith Bluemel
11/2018
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