After a couple of disrupted classic years thanks to the pandemic, 2022 was a year without cancelled shows or events, and in some cases, such as the Practical Classics show at the NEC, took place for the first time in three years. However, while a sense of normality has returned to our classic world, it’s all happened – still happening – against a background of war in the Ukraine, resulting in a combination of high inflation rates, food shortages and increased fuel prices resulting in a cost of living crisis not seen for many years – it remains to be seen what effect all this has on the classic car industry, though an early impact may be the lower prices and sale rates seen at some auctions recently.
There were a number of personal firsts for me over the past twelve months; the first full year of living in rural Worcestershire, as well as being the first full year of classic Porsche 911 ownership – more on that later, and since I’ve used the word “first” or “firsts” three – and now five – times already, let’s take a look at some of those to start with.
Moving to the West Midlands has made some locations more accessible, others that I used to visit regularly, less so – the one I miss the most is Brooklands. However, this year, I managed to get to the Donington Masters for the first time, where I met fellow ViaRETRO scribe Dave Leadbetter, and I’ll definitely go again. It was a mini-Silverstone Classic or Goodwood Revival – smaller in scale and with fewer classics brought to the venue than either of those two major shows, but there was still plenty to see including lots of racing and for a fraction of the cost of the other two.
The picture-perfect Cotswold village of Broadway (a 10-minute drive) hosts one of the smaller – 50 or 60 cars – events that I went to this year for the first time, but what cars, especially – thanks to a co-operation with the Bugatti Trust – a line-up of no fewer than ten glorious examples of the iconic French manufacturer displayed on the village green on one of the hottest days of the summer.
Ragley Hall is a stately home just 10km from our house – though it is somewhat bigger! Among other events it hosts a music festival, an air show and a classic car event for some 900+ vehicles, all arranged along the lake inside the house’s lovely grounds, which my superior half and I attended for the first time. There were plenty of interesting classics on show, including a 1972 Datsun 1800GL SSS coupé (a grey import) and a FIAT 125S among them, both rarely seen here; in fact the FIAT is one of just three remaining in the UK.
I visited a couple of significant motoring museums this year. I went to the Coventry Transport Museum in February (another first), a beautifully curated history of the Midlands – and therefore effectively British – motor industry, a complementary exhibition to the British Heritage Motor Museum at Gaydon, but the highlight of my museum year was a return to the fabulous Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, which I was able to visit as part of my road trip to visit family in the South of Germany. Mercedes have put on a superlative display of the company’s history, with some sublime cars on show, including two legendary 300SLR’s – the Moss/Jenkinson 1955 Mille Miglia winning car and the second of only two Uhlenhaut coupés, the other having been sold earlier this year for a staggering world record price of €135m.
Back to firsts, and to Chateau Impney – the still-not-reopened 20th Century pastiche chateau outside Droitwich, only 20km from me, provided the background to three events I went to this year, all organised by the Coffee and Chrome Collective; their biggest event attracted 1000 cars, including one of my cars of the year, a 1972 Iso Grifo. I doubt I’ll go as often next year as many of the cars became familiar but I’ll certainly go to one or two shows.
Sadly, I had to miss the Silverstone Classic this year as I was on holiday in Italy – the organisers having moved it from it’s previous end of July date to the end of August, a time of year when I am away more often than not – a shame, as it’s been one of my favourite events for the last decade or so. Tuscany was rather fabulous, though…
What I didn’t miss, however, was the 79th Goodwood Members’ Meeting or it’s less exclusive sibling, the Revival – I drove to the first in my 280CE, the second in die Zitrone, and both lived up to expectations in every respect, with the Revival and it’s car park providing one of the highlights of the year with a line-up of Ferrari’s and Aston Martins parked together that would have graced any museum, let alone a car park. Then there is the unrivalled line-up of racing cars that were campaigned with little regard for their financial value – Goodwood really does attract the best of road and track. These are major dates in the calendar and worth the extra long drive and additional overnight stay I now have – I plan to do both again next year.
While going to Goodwood now involves a 300mile/500km round trip, it was not the longest classic drive I made this year; that would be the trip to the south of Germany to visit family – a trip I made four years ago in my ’75 BMW 2002tiiLux but this time in my Mercedes. I covered 1552 miles, travelling via Luxembourg on the outward journey, Trier on the return, and it did the whole thing in comfort and style.
The Hampton Court Concours of Elegance in early September has been one of my absolute favourite events for several years now and although it’s a little further away than before, it’s absolutely worth the extra miles to be able to see a collection of some of the world’s most exotic and rarest cars in one of this country’s grandest locations. It was also blessed with superb weather this year, which always helps.
Having easy access to Prescott and Shelsely Walsh, two of possibly the most picturesque motorsport venues in the country, has been great – there’re at least two or three events at each venue that are worth my while, although I was disappointed that I had to miss Shelsley’s Classic Nostalgia weekend due to covid. I did at least manage a Shelsley breakfast meeting and the Prescott Italia weekend was a delight.
My unsuccessful efforts to sell die Zitrone – no-one made an offer remotely close to what I (and others) believe the car is worth – means I still have a three-car German classic garage. It hasn’t been plain sailing, as I wrote back in October, with some high and unexpected bills, and there’ll be more to come in the first quarter of next year as the 911 still needs some minor fettling and the 280CE some paintwork. The 911 is nearly there – am really looking forward to using it a lot more next year.
I didn’t get to any classic auctions this year, other than a few minutes spent at the Silverstone Auctions sale at the NEC Classic, where one of the prices of the year was the £131k paid for a 19.. Jaguar XJS with just 100 miles on the clock. I did follow a few auctions online, and it seems to me that the middle market for classics has slumped somewhat – and I say that not just because I failed to sell my 2002 twice at online auctions. I don’t know if this is linked to the cost of living crisis, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Low mileage modern classics seem to be the thing at the moment – just check the prices of Fast Fords of the late 1980’s, ‘90’s and early 2000’s.
Bicester Heritage and the Classic Motor Hub both continued to throw up delights with every visit, with a variety of classics from the humdrum to the exotic, especially at Bicester, which attracts possibly a wider variety of classics than any other meeting than perhaps the Goodwood Revival. Classics ranged from Lamborghini Miura’s and Porsche 959’s through to Trabant’s and Morris Minors. It was at Bicester’s April Scramble that I found myself parked next to the most exciting car I’ve ever been parked alongside – a white BMW M1. However, I do think the organisers need to keep an eye on their ticket prices, which have now crossed the £20 barrier; they used to be £5…
Having started my classic year with the January Bicester Scramble, I ended it with the NEC Classic in mid-November, one of – if not the – biggest indoor shows anywhere, and which always contains a few surprises among the many regular cars you would expect to see. This time it was a couple of German Fords – a Taunus 20M Coupé and a more humble, but lovely 12M, and especially a 1965 DKW F102 – these are practically extinct here in the UK, so it was a particular joy to see such an immaculate example.
In amongst all the fabulous classics I’ve seen this year, was there a Car of the Year? It’s often difficult enough to pick a car of the day at any one event, but it would be hard to top a Le Mans winning Porsche 917 at Hampton Court…or perhaps something more humble, such as that practically perfect DKW F102 at the NEC Classic? Picking an Event of the Year should be a little easier, but I still can’t decide between Hampton Court and the Revival, so my virtual award goes to both.
The classic year 2023 will start for me on January 9th at Bicester – weather permitting – but after that it will be a different first few months as I will be in Valencia for most of February and March, so if any of our readers are aware of classic events in and around that superb city, please let me know!
Meanwhile the team at ViaRETRO wish our readers a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2023 with lots of adventures in your classics, whatever they might be!
