Events : Report – NEC Classic Motor Show 2016

Alexander Boucke

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This year’s Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show was an excellent finale to the 2016 show season. A new record number of 71,000 visitors headed into the vast halls of the NEC to see over 270 club stands or shop for the cars, spares and tools on sale.

Themed ‘Heroes and Heroines’ for this year, the visitors certainly got a lot to see from the enormous SSC Bloodhound show car down to a humble and rusty Morris 1100 bought for £60 in 2007 and pressed into daily service.

One car which certainly fitted that theme was Mr. Kiang’s 1932 Rolls Royce Phantom II from Malaysia – the car had caught fire on the 2016 Peking to Paris Rally and only continued to the end thanks to the sheer dedication of the owner.

The Austin Maxi Owners Club, usually struggling a bit with heroic themes, had the original 1970 Daily Mail World Cup London to Mexico Rally Maxi (below) – now back in the ownership of the original driver Bronwyn Burrell and team-mate Tina Kerridge, they are preparing to take the car rallying again next year.

1970 Daily Mail World Cup Rally Maxi

AROnline’s favourites got to win both the Meguiar’s Club Showcase with Andy Nash’s 1966 Mini Traveller and the Lancaster Insurance Pride of Ownership contest with James Cribb’s 1989 Austin Metro City.

Plenty of birthday parties were held, like the 30th Anniversary of the launch of the Rover 800 range, the 50th Anniversary of the Morris 1100 Estate or the 40th Anniversary of the Morris Minor Owners Club.

Another notatable exhibit was a long row of five original ‘Heinz 57’ Wolseley Hornet Crayford Cabriolet – mostly including the orignal picnic hamper and accessories 50 years after the raffle.

We met visitors from USA, Netherlands, Germany and Italy – all enjoying the wide choice of British cars on display. Compared to last year, the club areas appeared better arranged, with a larger proportion of the total area devoted to clubs and autojumble than at other shows.

The 2016 Classic Motor Show proved to be an excellent day out – even though there was too much to see in a just one day. The 2017 event will be held from 10-12 November.

Alexander Boucke

6 Comments

    • VW SP2 from VW Brazil (where they sold wacky variants such as rebadged mk5 Escorts as Pointer / Logus and, conversely, Ford badged Santana as Versailles.)

      There was one on EBay a while back.

      • There have been two very unusual VWs on the stand from JustKampers: The SP2 as already mentioned, basically a very pretty re-body of the VW do Brazil Variant (the orange Estate also in the gallery). The Variant is a development of the Type 3 (aka 1500), featuring a 412-style nose and rear end treatment. For the SP2 the engine was enlarged and more powerful. The closest European relation to the SP2 is the ‘big’ Karman Ghia 1500 Coupé. Both are from the time before VW do Brazil joined forces with Ford…

  1. I really enjoyed the show – travelled all the way from Glasgow!

    My strange highlights were the XR4i and the MG Metro Turbo – both which were as fresh as from the factory and for sale!

    You have a photo there of a dark/black Austin 1100 – I’d have loved to have seen that, its exactly like my Mums that I used to go to school in. Loved the 1100/1300 stand too!

  2. Some nice & interesting cars here. That Viva HB Estate in particular (I’m surprised there are any left) – looks like it’s a candidate for restoration. The Wolseley Landcrab also looks impressive

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