Classic car fans in for treat at 2016 show
The organisers of this year’s London Classic Car show certainly look like they’re keen to step up on the success of 2015.
Following on from last year’s inaugural event, which included an appearance from legendary F1 designer Adrian Newey alongside hundreds of majestic looking cars on display, a number of well-known faces from the world of motorsport have been lined up to appear at the 2016 show, which runs from Thursday February 18 to Sunday February 21 at ExCeL London.
One particular highlight should be an appearance from Britain’s greatest-ever racing driver Sir Stirling Moss, who will chat about his book My Racing Life in one of the show’s new innovations, Speakers’ Corner.
Speakers? Corner will provide visitors with an open forum where guest speakers and VIPs will talk about classic cars as investments, about the pleasure derived from classic car ownership and offer advice about buying and selling at auction.
Moss will make a special appearance on Saturday February 20 at 12pm where he will be interviewed by Simon Taylor as he discusses his book. The talk will be followed by a book signing.
All sessions in Speakers’ Corner are completely free and operate on a first come, first served basis.
Another show highlight should be a tribute to the McLaren F1 road car and its mastermind Gordon Murray.
The McLaren F1 was, according to Murray himself, “an attempt to build the best engineered driver?s car ever made” and the show promises to delve deeper into the engineering behind this iconic model.
Produced between 1992 and 1998, just 106 examples were built. Of that figure a mere 64 were standard road cars, so there?s only a remote chance of seeing one in the flesh.
But visitors to the classic car show will enjoy a special display devoted to the F1 which will be curated by Murray himself.
No fewer than five F1s will be shown ? two standard road cars, two GTR racers and a “long tail” F1 GT road car.
Murray will also be joined on stage by rallying legend Ari Vatanen and an array of classic rally cars.
Those on display will include Lancia?s rear-drive 037 and the subsequent Delta S4, the Ford RS200 with its supercar styling, the Williams F1 engineered Metro 6R4, the punchy Peugeot 205 T16 and the trail-blazing Audi quattro that really set the ball rolling back in 1981.
Tickets for the Thursday February 18 preview evening cost ?40 and can be bought here.
I attended the event last year and my only advice would be to arrive early and give yourself plenty of time to stroll around the huge amount of exhibitors and ogle the cars in all their glory!
Opening hours and further background to the event can be found at the official site.