Celebrating NEC Classic's 35th anniversary

Once again motoring enthusiasts flocked to Birmingham’s NEC in their thousands to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show, with Discovery.

​Over 71,000 attendees joined the three-day celebration and grand finale to the classic motoring show season.

​Show Director Lee Masters said: “We are delighted to have welcomed so many enthusiasts and those in the industry to the show this year, especially in the current climate. Huge thanks as always to the motoring clubs who all put on tremendous displays, all our partners and exhibitors, and our amazing guests who brought the house down on the Live Stage."
 
This year’s show theme had been embraced by the 300 motoring clubs in attendance with many cars featuring on their own ‘Top Trumps’ card. Visitors crowded round headline sponsor Lancaster Insurance’s stand to buy their special edition pack.
 
Wheeler Dealers’ Mike Brewer hosted a wealth of motoring talent on the Discovery Live Stage with Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars’ Drew Pritchard and Paul Cowland, and the Goblin Works Garage team Jimmy De Ville, Helen Stanley and Ant Partridge appearing over the weekend. They were joined by BTTC driver Jason Plato and Shed and Buried star Henry Cole as well as fantastic car parades and the three-day restoration of a Jaguar E-Type.
 
Of the sixteen stunning vehicles on the Meguiar’s Club Showcase, it was Dave Rippard’s 1959 Morris Mini Minor that received the top honours and the crystal trophy. The judges had meticulously inspected the cars in one of the closest results to date.
 
The hotly contested Lancaster Insurance Pride of Ownership competition saw 20 diverse cars in the final but it was Ted Brooke’s 1961 Morris Minor Million that lifted the winner’s trophy. Voted for by the visitors, second place went to Ian Cummins’ 1991 Mazda MX-5 while Tahmid Haque’s 1988 BMW E30 325i Sport came third.
 
Andrew Evanson, Senior Operations Manager at Lancaster Insurance, added: “This year was extra special for us; with Lancaster celebrating 35 years of trading and the show enjoying its 35th anniversary. Bringing everything together was the inspired Top Trumps theme and it was fantastic to see how well this was embraced throughout the halls. 
 
“The show highlights what is so extraordinary about our community; the enthusiasm, dedication and a whole heap of passion and I felt a huge sense of pride as headline sponsor. It was great seeing the array of classics on display including Ted Brookes’ Pride of Ownership winning 1961 Morris Minor Million and as always the weekend was the perfect ‘close to the season’.”
 
It was the expert judges that decided the winners of the Classic Motorbike Show Pride of Ownership. Mark Taylor’s Ariel Square Four bike and sidecar came first with joint second going to father and son Alan and Paul Stopford with their two 1959 Triumph Bonnevilles. Third place went to Blake Hemmingway’s 1975 Honda XL250.
 
The Sporting Bears gave around 750 ‘Dream Rides’, a ten-mile passenger ride in one of over 80 cars available over the weekend. They raised just under £30,000 for various UK children’s charities.
 
A special test for the RAC Rally of the Tests brought live competitive motorsport action into the NEC halls for the first time. The crowds flocked to the barriers as over 60 cars ranging from Minis to Porsches tackled an agility test before heading back out onto the road. The event was won by Steve Entwistle and Mark Appleton in their Morris Mini Cooper S.
 
Silverstone Auctions two-day sale saw some record breaking results with the ex-works 1955 ‘Le Mans’ Triumph TR2 sold for £258,750, while the 2,000-mile Jaguar XJ220 sold for £362,812, both including premium.