The Classic Car Show, NEC, Birmingham, sponsored by Lancaster Insurance, just gets bigger and better each year (a record attendance of 71,000 this year!). Car Scene International was invited along and I am delighted to be able to bring you a flavour of what was on offer.
As you might expect, I tended to concentrate on the older cars on show together with cars that are a little out of the ordinary or had a special appeal to me. This show extends a special welcome to the U.K.’s many car Clubs. There are two clubs that I have a connection with, the Jensen Owners’ Club and the Peugeot Sport Club U.K. so, not surprisingly I stopped by their stands for a chat and took the opportunity to take a few photos.
I was at the show on Saturday 12th November, I arrived at just after 9.00 am. I collected my Press Pass from the superbly well organised Poppyseed Media Press Office and didn’t see the light of day again until 13.50 hrs. By which time I was pretty well done in every sense of the word. The thing that amazed me was that crowds were still arriving as I was leaving. It is a very popular event. The other thing that struck me was how friendly and polite people were. When you are taking photos you inevitably have to take up positions which impede other peoples’ right of way, as a result you are often bumped into. But most of the time people were very apologetic when they didn’t have to be it was me who was in their way not the other way round.
I caught up with a number of people from my past and made several new contacts. All in all it was a most enjoyable day out. I hope you enjoy and are stimulated by the photos.
I have arranged them in Car make order.
Alfa Romeo
Alvis
Armstrong Siddley
Aston Martin
Austin Healey
Bristol
Bugatti
Chrysler (Hillman)
Datsun
Fairthorpe
Fiat
Ford
Gilbern
Humber
Jaguar
A fairly original 1936 – 40 SS 100
Jensen
Jensen Owners’ Club
Lanchester
Lancia
Matra
Mini
Morgan
Peugeot Sport Club UK
Club Peugeot UK
Porsche
Railton
Standard
Swallow Doretti
Talbot
Triumph
Turner
TVR
Unipower
Vauxhall
Vetran Racers
1906 Fiat Targa Florio
1914 – 18 Fafnir Hall – Scott Special
1912 Sunbeam 12/16 HP Sports