2021 started bleakly, as all events planned for the first half of the year were postponed or cancelled as the pandemic continued to affect pretty much everything we did – there was no New Year’s Day event at Brooklands, no January Bicester Scramble, the Goodwood Members’ Meeting was postponed not once but three times, events at Prescott and Shelsley Walsh were cancelled…things looked gloomy. Fortunately, as we approached the summer and the impact of the pandemic seemed to recede, things began to change for the better.
Live auctions returned, having been online only for the previous twelve months, and the classic car market seemed to be in pretty good shape. Prices were not at the levels of two or three years ago, but the percentage of cars sold was healthy enough, at least at the auctions I checked out, although the year-end sales saw a bit of a dip; perhaps a precursor for 2022?
The June Bicester Scramble took place as scheduled, albeit with attendance limitations, and it is still one of the most evocative sites for a classic event. Also as scheduled was the Silverstone Classic at the end of July and it was great to be able to go to what is one of my favourite classic events, even though the weather was very un-July like. Much of the racing was conducted on a treacherously wet track, but the commitment of the competitors was never less than complete, and there were many thousands of spectators’ classics to enjoy as well.
In the middle of the year we moved house, bringing the likes of Prescott and Shelsley within easier reach, and I was able to attend events at both of these historic motorsport venues – two at Shelsley – surely among the most picturesque locations in motor sport, in the UK at least. Local events also made a comeback – I was able to go to one of the Classic Motor Hub’s convivial Coffee and Classics morning again and to a Wheels on Wednesday evening at Spetchley Park, just 15 minutes from here; I hope to go to more next year.
The Hampton Court Concours of Elegance in early September is a regular highlight of my year and it didn’t disappoint, with a fabulous array of classics on display, even while in competition with Salon Privé, which was happening at the same time. Next year will be the 10th anniversary of the Concours, and I’m sure the organisers will pull out all the stops to mark the occasion appropriately.
Sadly, the uncertainty around foreign travel resulted in my withdrawing from the much-anticipated BMW Club Bavaria Tour – it did take place, albeit in somewhat amended form, and the pictures looked spectacular. Maybe next time…
In October I finally managed to attend the much-postponed Goodwood Members’ Meeting – blessed with fabulous Autumn weather, it didn’t quite live up to expectations (perhaps my own were too high?) but it was still wonderful to be able to go and enjoy the sight and sound of both incredibly valuable and relatively inexpensive classic racing cars belting around the famous airfield.
Indoor events returned after a two-year absence – the NEC Classic was as big as ever, with the usual wide variety of classics to enjoy, and as usual, one day wasn’t enough to take it all in. Museums were also able to open their doors again, and I spent an excellent afternoon at the British Motor Museum in October.
This has also been the year when I fulfilled a long-standing ambition, to own a long-hood Porsche 911, as I imported a Gemini Blue metallic 1972 2.4 911T. It took almost two months to get the paperwork sorted out, thanks to a combination of Brexit and Covid, so I haven’t driven it much yet, and it will spend the winter months tucked away in the garage, but I have every intention of using it as much as possible come Spring and Summer 2022!
More generally, here in the UK, getting our classics fuelled up has become more difficult as well as more expensive, with the introduction in September of E10 petrol as standard, resulting in many smaller petrol stations no longer stocking the E5 super-premium which most of us run our classics on, so those of us who live in more rural areas have got to travel that bit further to fill up our cars, and pay a substantial premium to do so. And if you regularly drive your classic into London (an increasingly onerous and unpleasant chore), you also have to pay an additional charge for the privilege of entering the expanded Ultra Low Emission Zone, and where London goes, other cities will surely follow, adding to the complications of classic car ownership. It’s not hard to see why the conversion of classics to electric power is picking up pace, much as the idea distresses me.
Despite these difficulties, interest in classic cars in the UK continues to grow, with the industry generating £7.2bn in revenues and employing over 34,000 people. The number of classics on UK roads is increasing every year – there are almost 50% more historic vehicles registered in the UK than just five years ago, according to the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs report published in February this year. Our hobby is proving to be increasingly valuable to the country – I don’t know if this trend is reflected elsewhere – let’s hope that our legislators are both aware of this and are prepared to make some concessions to nurture it.
To sum the year up, although an improvement on 2020 (hard not to be), I think it’s fair to say that this has been a spotty year at best. Share some of your classic highlights of 2021 in the comments section below – we’d love to know how your year was!
Finally, the ViaRETRO team wish our readers and fellow classic car enthusiasts a very Happy Christmas and a 2022 full of classic motoring!
PS Just as we thought normality was around the corner… when I started writing this piece, I was looking forward with some optimism to next year – however, recent events have cast a new shadow over 2022 as the world tries to deal with the Omicron variant and how it might impact our lives over the coming months, including whether or not the classic car calendar will be impacted again as it was at the beginning of this year. So far, events such as the New Year’s Day Gathering at Brooklands and the mid-January Bicester Scramble – I have my ticket for the latter already booked – are still scheduled to go ahead, but this might change even in the time between me writing this and publication.