Regular ViaRETRO readers will already be familiar with The Classic Motor Hub – or The Hub, as it’s often referred to by everyone there – from our reports from some of their excellent Coffee and Classics mornings, and earlier in November, ViaRETRO was given an opportunity to find out more about life in the world of high-end classic car sales and The Classic Motor Hub.
First, a short history. Located near the town of Bibury in the heart of England’s beautiful Cotswolds, the Hub occupies what used to be an RAF Fighter Command base during WW2. The five-acre site includes the original ‘blister’ aircraft shelter – now used to house their Cotswold Collectors cars – and much of the original aircraft hardstanding, which is used for many of the classic events held on the site.
The history of the company itself is actually quite short, being opened less than four years ago in March 2016, with its official opening event taking place with the visit of a local military society later in the summer that year. However, the team behind it have many decades of collective experience and knowledge of the classic car and motorbike world.
The initial impetus behind The Classic Motor Hub came from its owner and founder, Martin Chisholm, who has been involved in the classic car industry for over thirty years, particularly on the auction side of the industry. Together with Angus Maccurrach and Richard Wrightson, the trio are partners in Classic Motor Hub Sales, and they lead a team of ten full-time and two part-time staff who are all passionately interested and involved in the classic car and bike world – well, almost all; there is one exception, but we won’t name names here!
Car and bike sales continue to be the major driving force (sorry!) behind the business, but The Hub provides a number of additional services to both its customers and the wider classic car world. The aim is to provide an almost complete service for the classic car and motorbike enthusiast, including storage, transport, detailing, private and public events, and a workshop for servicing and maintaining customer cars (but not classics owned by the general public). One service they do not offer is restoration, so in this respect they work with a variety of restoration partners.
In its short lifetime, The Hub has become very well known in classic circles, and perhaps the single biggest reason for this is their regular Coffee and Classics events, held during the spring, summer and autumn months and open to anyone with a classic car, free of charge. The first Coffee and Classics morning was held in October 2016 and attracted 130 cars, and since April 2017 the first Sunday of each month through to October sees up to 250 classics and their owners congregate around the site to check out each other’s cars as well as the ever-changing stock in the showroom – more on that later.
These Sunday morning events have proven to be so popular that they are now regularly fully subscribed, often several days in advance and have to be limited to a maximum of 250 cars. They attract a very wide range of classics, from a Fiat 126 to a Ferrari 166 – both were present at the same C&C on one of my visits. I have to say that they’re a really good morning out – 250 visitors classics, access to the showrooms, shop, coffee, snacks and live music – what’s not to like? Oh, and there’s a helicopter landing pad for their wealthier clients to use when they want to, ahem, drop in; indeed, the owners of several of the cars stored on site did exactly that while I was there.
Ben Stinson, the company’s Marketing, Social Media and Events Co-ordinator – who kindly gave up two hours of his morning to talk to me – describes the Coffee and Classic events as “for enthusiasts, run by enthusiasts, to mingle with other enthusiasts”.
Social media plays an ever-increasing role in the marketing and particularly event promotion of The Hub. It’s also one way in which younger people can be drawn into this generally middle-aged and male hobby of ours, and one of Ben’s key roles is to manage The Hub’s social media presence across all platforms.
As he tells it, these open mornings have led not only to an increased awareness in The Hub but contributed to a general increase in revenues, including in car sales, occasionally several months after the buyer was at an event – and ultimately, The Hub is a business.
Sales remains the most important generator of revenue for the business, accounting for about 50 to 60% of turnover, with many of the biggest sales done without any visibility to the outside world, often for cars that haven’t even officially been put on the market; indeed, such deals are probably the single biggest funding contributor to The Hub.
Customer car storage – they have some 200 cars in store and are practically full – makes up another c.25%, while events are playing an increasingly important part in the revenue picture, for although the C&C meetings are free, they generate traffic through the café and shop, and private events such as for specific car clubs – for which The Hub does charge – are also becoming a significant factor.
Let’s take a stroll around the site, starting with the main showroom. I think it’s fair to say that The Hub deals largely in mid-to-very high-end classics, including some genuine rarities. The showrooms are a cornucopia of classic delights; wherever you look, your eyes land upon some very special cars.
A yellow 1989 Ferrari Testarossa, white 1969 Lotus Elan S4 SE and a gorgeous 1956 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider act as the welcome committee into the main show hangar, which is full of highly desirable classics. Over here, a lovely 1957 AC Ace Bristol in bright red and over there, a fabulous two-tone blue 1939 BMW 327/28.
If you’re looking to get involved in historic car racing, there’s some delectable racing machinery here, such as the spectacular 1947 Maserati A6GCS Monofaro, rebodied using an engine and gearbox once raced by none other than Juan Manuel Fangio, and just a few feet away, the small but beautifully formed ex-NART OSCA 1600 GTS Zagato – yours for just £600k… or for a more modest outlay that would enable you to venture into historic motor-sport, how about the pocket rocket 1963 Abarth 850?
Across from the main hangar are some smaller rooms, in one of which Stirling Moss’ 500cc Kieft Formula 3 racer – a tiny jewel of a race car – stands in front of a huge and imposing (and believed one of a kind ) Swiss-built 1913 Piccard-Pictet 20/30 in original condition and unrestored since the day it left the factory, and a 1929 works Aston Martin LM3 – astonishing cars, and across from this trio, another, this time including a 1909 Benz 25/45 Six-Seat Tourer, the oldest car on site at the moment.
In the corner, a door takes you into a second, smaller hall, one of which takes you into a room full of customer cars, including some fabulous machinery – a huge 1927 Hispano Suiza H6B (one of two examples of this famous marque on site) flanked by a blue 1936 Invicta S Type 4 ½ litre and a 1937 Lagonda LG45, a few of the many classics stored by The Hub. Speaking of storage, I was allowed a quick peek into the collection being looked after on behalf of the helicopter guests – a stunning white on blue Ferrari 225 Vignale, one of just six built, a silver Ferrari 275GTB, a glorious black 1934 Alfa Romeo 2300 8C Brianza, and these are just some of the cars in this incredible room, further details of which are understandably kept confidential.
After a very happy hour just wandering about the showroom and storage halls and being dazzled by the glories on display on what was a very chilly day, the café and shop offered both a place to warm up and relax with a hot chocolate and snack while letting it all sink in, as well as an opportunity to buy a wide variety classic motoring related gifts – I particularly liked the re-labelled “Marmite” jars, which hinted at an aspect of The Hub that plays a significant role in the way they go about things; yes, they take the business of classic cars and bikes very seriously – how can they not when they regularly deal in cars with seven-digit price tags? – but they also have fun doing so. It’s also clear that while classic cars, the majority of enthusiasts and indeed a significant part of the industry hark back to the good old “analogue” ways of doing things, the importance of being connected to the 21st-Century digital world is increasing all the time, particularly in terms of marketing and communication. Indeed, the words you’re reading now exist only in digital form.
Heritage motoring memorabilia, a particular addiction of Martin Chisholm’s, is scattered all around the site and you could spend a lot of time just checking out posters, models, books, photographs – all of which add immeasurably to creating the sense of history and of motoring in days gone by.
Ben’s own classic is a 1988 VW Golf GTi MkII, but he dreams of an Alfa Romeo 105 or 106 or even a Lancia 037. As for the next big thing, a couple of years ago the feeling was that it might be the BMW Z1, but Martin Chisholm’s current favourite candidate for up-and-coming classic is….the Honda S2000; watch this space!
The Hub welcomes visitors from Tuesday to Friday as well as Saturdays from 10.00 to 15.00, to wander about, buy a coffee, a gift, or indeed a car or bike, but whichever it is, you’ll be made welcome, and it really is worth an hour or two of any classic car (or bike) fan’s time.
Many thanks to Ben Stinson for generously giving up so much of his time to talk to me – for more information on The Classic Motor Hub, it’s events and ever-changing stock, go to https://classicmotorhub.com/.
