Prescott Hill – owned and run by the Bugatti Owners’ Club (surely one of the most exclusive car clubs on the planet?) – is host to many hill climb events, two of which we covered last year before the pandemic forced prolonged closures on, well, just about everything.
On Sunday I went back for the first time this year, and on this occasion, the BOC was hosting a charitable classic car event – many of the UK’s classic car events are organised to raise funds for charities – rather than a competitive hill climb, with owners allowed to run their cars up one of the most famous – and oldest – stretches of racing tarmac in the country. The previous day, many owners took part in a Classic Cotswold Tour, though not all of those cars were present on Sunday.
My plans for Sunday had originally been different, so by the time it became possible or me to attend the event, it was too late to register for the display and hill run, so die Zitrone and I went along purely as spectators for what turned out to be a splendid day out. In the event, we weren’t the only Golf Yellow 2002tii present.
Arriving at 9.30 on a bright September morning after a short drive along very picturesque country roads, I grabbed a coffee and started a tour of the classics on show. Prescott Hill – like Shelsley Walsh – is set in beautiful countryside, surrounded as it is by rolling hills and fields, and the drive there is equally scenic. I got there early enough to get a chance to walk the hill, and it’s easy to see where the main challenges are – the hairpin loop and the very tight left hander at the half-way point before the final sprint up the hill – a couple of drivers got caught out there.
There are excellent vantage points all the way up the hill.
Among the first cars I saw were two of the rarest cars in the UK, one that used to be an everyday family car, another that was completely unknown to me. First up, a Datsun 1.6GL Estate whose owner told me that he had been using it as a daily for most of its life, and looked like it, but that was part of its charm. He also informed me that it was one of just two licensed examples on UK roads, so an extremely uncommon sight and a perfect Concours de l’Ordinaire contestant.
Even rarer – making it effectively unique in the UK – was a charming red 1923 Stoneleigh Chummy. This was the sole example still running in the UK, and only a very few others are known around the world. Built in Stoneleigh near Coventry and equipped with a 9hp Armstrong Siddeley engine (Stoneleigh Motors were part of the Armstrong Siddeley Group – there were also a couple of Armstrong Siddeley’s at the event). It’s always a delight to stumble across such rare gems at events like these.
Although this was not a competitive hill climb, that didn’t prevent some enthusiastic sprints up the hill, particularly from drivers of some of the more modern Porsche’s, but there were a number of superb classic representatives of the Stuttgart marque, and not all of them 911’s. I spotted one that looked just like my recently acquired Porsche, except it was a 911S…and no, I’m still waiting for the paperwork on mine, current ETA is week commencing October 10th…
Wandering around the paddock I came across a trio of my favourite 1960’s and ‘70’s sports saloons, including a fellow Golf Yellow 2002tii, last seen alongside my own car at Silverstone, a lovely Alfa Romeo Giulia GT and most intriguingly, a bright orange 1969 Gilbern Genie – these three looked really fabulous together.
Further up the paddock area was a superb trio of Lancia’s – a Delta Integrale, a Fulvia HF and a lovely Fulvia Zagato – Lancia used to make such wonderful cars. While we’re on Italians, there was a well-patinated 1982 Alfasud Sprint Veloce present in various shades of brown – still with its original owner!
Sticking with trios, three 1930’s Lagonda’s could be found together in the paddock, one of them complete with Fortnum & Mason picnic basket mounted on the back. Two were 16/80’s, powered by six-cylinder 2-litre capacity units sourced from Crossley Shelsley, with the third being a 45M Tourer in burgundy with black wires, it’s 4.5-litre 6-cylinder engine making it more of a rival for the big Bentley’s of the day.
Another long-vanished name from the UK manufacturing scene is Lanchester, and there was a lovely two-tone blue 1953 drophead on show, between a white E-type and red MGA.
There was a healthy turnout of “traditional” British sports cars from MG, Austin Healey and Triumph – I especially liked the red TR3 on a smart set of wires; some cars should have wires – as well as a row of original Mini’s including a very smart pale blue Minivan.
British specialist manufacturers were represented by Buckler and Berkeley – there’s an air of the accomplished amateur about these cars that I find admirable – as well as the odd Morgan, and an old favourite here at ViaRETRO, Tim Carpenter’s Unipower GT, the only one of 71 built still in regular use in the UK, although another 39 are scattered around the world.
Among the American cars present, a spectacular gold with gold interior 6.4-litre 1966 Ford Thunderbird caught the eye, parked next to a fine example of the sophisticated (or overly complicated, depending on your point of view) French/Italian hybrid that is the Citroën SM, this one a 1970 car equipped with a 3-litre from the Maserati Merak rather than the more usual 2.7-litre engine. More unusually, a 1967 AMC Rambler Rebel drop-top, made by the fourth of the USA’s main car makers and driven by the same owner for 45 years. Also in the paddock, a huge 1972 boat-tail Buick Riviera with 7.4-litre V8 power, as well as a “ratted” Plymouth Barracuda; I’m afraid I just don’t get the interest in this “look”, but perhaps that’s just me.
What else? Well, at the home of the Bugatti Trust and Bugatti Owner’s Club it was no surprise – but still special – to see a genuine 1928 Bugatti Type 37, and another personal highlight was the 1965 Ferrari 275GTS brought along by the Classic Motor Hub – stunning, and mine (or indeed yours) for a mere £1.25m…and much more, as the gallery below will show.
This was a splendid way to spend a few hours on a sunny September Sunday – not only for the classics on display but the gorgeous surroundings of Prescott Hill, which has rapidly become one of my favourite places to visit – I might even make it there again before the “season” comes to an end…
