Having had a few days of glorious spring weather, I was really hoping it would stay with us for the opening Classic Motor Hub event of the season…in the event, we got the sun but not the temperature, with the thermometer reading just 2 degrees Celsius when we set off in the 280CE (too chilly in the 911 – I know, I know) as up to 250 classics rolled into the former RAF Fighter Command Base for a morning of Coffee and Classics.
We’ve reported on events at the Hub a few times now, most recently at their season closing event last year as well as taken a closer look behind the scenes of the business itself, so I won’t go into huge detail about the venue here. Suffice it to say that it remains one of the most interesting locations for a gathering of classic cars, attracting a wide variety of cars driven there by their owners as well as letting visitors drool over some of the fabulous – and in some cases, fabulously expensive – classics on sale in their showrooms, as well as those in storage.
My superior half – attending with me on the promise of a good lunch afterwards, as usual – and I, after a lovely 50 minute countryside journey drove onto the site at 9.30 expecting there to already be a good number of classics lined up, only to find I had got the start time wrong and we were among the first to arrive. However this allowed us to get in early for a warming coffee and sausage bap and gave me a chance to take photos of some of the fabulous cars on sale at the Hub while there was almost no-one around.
Just a few of the cars I would love to have been able to afford to take home included the stunning Wedgwood Blue Aston Martin DB4 – a snip at £475,000 – or if you fancy going Historic Racing at the world’s most exclusive events, there’s a fabulous ex-Le Mans 1954 OSCA Tipo MT4-2AD, but you’ll need to ask the price. I decided not to risk the tsunami of envy that would overcome me knowing I could never afford it…
All Jaguar XK’s are desirable, but the blue 1954 XK120 drophead in the corner of the main showroom was possibly in the best colour I’ve ever seen on one of these elegant sporting Jaguars – mine for just £125,000. It’s not all wallet-draining classics on sale though – also on offer was a lovely plum 1972 Triumph TR6, a relative snip at £25,000.
Moving on to the cars driven in by visitors, there was so much to enjoy as the sun warmed up the morning that it’s hard to know where to start. Perhaps with the purple long-hood 911S parked outside one of the two main showrooms, which was joined later in the morning by a very lovely blue 1934 Riley 1.5-litre roadster.
One of the cars that attracted the most attention was a modest 1952 Austin A40 Sports in mint green. There were many expressions of surprise when the badge at the back of the car revealed what it was. The aluminium bodies were developed and built by Jensen before being shipped to Longbridge for completion. Only 4000 Austin A40 Sports were made, but over 50% are believed to survive, perhaps mainly due to that aluminium.
A couple of intriguing Japanese classics included a 1982 Mitsubishi Lancer and a Subaru 360 2-stroke kei car, the latter brought to the event by 2-stroke and DKW enthusiast Fredrik Folkestad. This tiny car was surely the smallest car of the day, smaller even than the FIAT 126. He didn’t have to drive it far as he lives just a few miles away, although he does claim it can be driven on longer journeys with a bit of effort.
The Lancer was a quite different beast – a bit of a hot rod, in fact, being a 2nd-gen 2000 Turbo. While it looks relatively understated, with small front and rear spoilers – and in the case of this car, backwards 2000 turbo script a la BMW low down on the front spoiler – being the only external indication of performance, these Lancer’s could hit 125mph thanks to the 168bhp the boosted engine generated. Another sporting car from the Land of the Rising Sun was a white 1987 Nissan Sunny ZX coupé 16 valve – with a claimed top speed just under 130mph, also a bit of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, even with the aero add-ons.
Several chic Italian sports convertibles were dotted around the site, including no fewer than four of the car made famous by Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate, the boat-tailed Alfa Romeo Duetto, with my favourite being one in white, which surprised even me. Such an elegant shape, and though I do like the kamm-tailed 2000 Spider that followed, the Duetto is the ultimate Alfa Spider for me. I would have been equally happy to take home either of the very pretty red FIAT 1200 convertible or Alfa Giulietta Spider, though.
As well as the pre-WW2 Astons, several examples of DB’s could be found both in the showrooms and among the visitors’ cars, from DB2’s through to a superb DBS 6 (on sale for £235,000) and all stops in between. I love looking at Astons, and would love to be able to afford one, but if I could do so, I’d actually probably buy something else…a Maserati Ghibli, perhaps, or a Ferrari Dino…especially one like the Giallo Fly example in the showroom.
For fans of American cars, there was a limited turnout beyond a couple of early Mustangs and a Chevrolet Corvair – although there are some majestic US cars in the showroom (see the gallery below) – but an immaculate metallic dark green 1952 Pontiac Chieftain and big black ’41 Cadillac Fleetwood were imposing presences, their size emphasised by the cars parked behind them – a very cute 1949 Lancia Ardea behind the Chieftan, and a white Porsche 356C behind the Caddy.
Between the wars classics driven to the event, besides the aforementioned Riley included a superb 1935 Lagonda 4.5-litre and a red 4.5-litre Bentley (confusingly, the DVLA has this car as first registered in 1951, which is either a mistake – not unusual for the DVLA – or means the car is a recreation). If this period is the one for you, the showroom had some fine cars to offer, as well as some even earlier, pre-WW1 cars, as the photo gallery at the end will show. Back to visitors’ cars of this period, though, a very charming two-tone green Morris Eight caught the eye as it was driven in, as did a wonderful 1934 Aston Martin 1 ½-litre Ulster in BRG.
Other highlights among many…Pininfarina’s elegant FIAT 130 Coupé always makes an impression, and an original Porsche 930 Turbo never fails to stir the senses, nor does an Alpina B9 BMW E28.
With so much variety and so many superb classics to enjoy, I can’t possibly mention them all, but hopefully the gallery below will give you an idea of just how many fabulous cars were at the event on Sunday – looking forward to going to the Hub at least once more this season!
