And so down to the NEC for the
Footman James Classic Car Show - a first for me.
Lots and lots of cars from my childhood and my youth - two themes - "next generation" and "emotional connection". Also just how many of the stalls and exhibits were West Midlands based - even 35 years after the collapse of out motor industry there are still companies out there supporting and re-manufacturing our industrial heritage.
Just like orienteering - this has become an old man's event - several exhibitors wondered whether there will be a next generation of enthusiasts and looking at the reasons why a particular model or marque is loved and collected by a particular generation I can see why.
From a practical point of view - you can keep a 1902 motor going indefinitely, 1940s a bit more tricky, 1960s and 70s increasingly difficult and anything post 1990 has a serious expiry date hanging over its head. A 2011 Volvo XC60 is going to be economically unmaintainable well before it reaches its 10th birthday.
I asked each exhibitor "why?"
- Because one screeched into the filling station, put £2 of petrol and then burned rubber all the way to the horizon - single most exciting thing my 5 year old brain had ever experienced (1972 Hillman Avenger Tiger - available in banana yellow or flame orange)
- I would go to the library to look at "Popular Photography" and other glossy magazines and there was the 5.4 litre Gordon-Keeble.
- My Father had one and so did mine (two off Wartburg 353 aka "Farty Hans") - why else would you want a 1966 design, 1988 made, East German car?
- The Saint's Car (The actual Saint's Car a Volvo P1800 - not just the same model but the one driven by Roger Moore in the TV programme - Jaguar turned them down - fools!)
I did not see
ANY UK Made General Motors Cars (Vauxhall) - they were down for Hall 5 but there can't have been many...
Notable sights:
- Green and White 1988 Range Rovers - just like I drove for Cadbury in Ghana
- A "Janey" lookalike - a 1950's Ford "Pop" - like my Mother drove and eliminated a blackbird with on the way back from church in Alton (strnage what you remember 46 years on); Three gears, no synchro-mesh and windscreen wipers driven from the inlet manifold vacuum (at last a proper explanation as to why they kept speeding up and slowing down - it wasn't "the wind" after all)
- A yellow Austin Metro (my first car)
- Lots of DeLoreans!
- A Veyron
- Bubble Cars - I remember there was a Messerschmitt and a BMS that used to travel round Chester in the 1970's
- A Raleigh Chopper - I had a Tri-ang but the cool blond boy with the rich parents and all the girls - had a Chopper.
- Oldsmobile 88 with a cooler hood ornament than the one in Cuba
- Ford Anglia Tail Lights
- A Gold Ford Granada - straight out of "The Sweeney"
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| Just like mine - VNE 247X |
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| This was the WRC Group B version of the Metro (£40K new, £13K after rule changes, £26K to current owner - bit of an issue with Mrs Current Owner) |
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World rally group B was dropped after several in-competition deaths - the entire passenger + load compartment full of engine gives you an idea just how hot this hatch was.
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| For Sale - £1.25 million and it is yours (development cost - £5 million each) |
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| A Gordon-Kemble - "Tortoise and the Hare" |
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| Interesting Component |
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| Made an impression on me in the 1960's |
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The 997 cc Ford Anglia so does not deserve to have a "go faster" rocket fins
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| Oldsmobile 88 - no functional reason for this but doesn't it look great |
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| And all because... |
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| His Dad designed and built them. |
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| That is all the instrumentation you need unless... |
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| Time travel is your aim |
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| DeLeorean DMC-12 - All that curvy stainless steel - the owner is a martyr to oily fingerprints - everyone has to have a quick touch. |
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