Last year the NEC Classic – like all indoor events in the UK – was of course a victim of the covid pandemic, and after a two year absence, the NEC opened its doors again to welcome over 3000 classic cars and many thousands of enthusiasts, and it felt good to be back.
Held at Birmingham’s cavernous National Exhibition Centre, spread across seven halls, this is one of the biggest classic car events on the planet. The show includes car clubs, dealers, automobilia, restorers, a major motorcycle and classic car auction (hosted by Silverstone Auctions), as well as a whole bunch of retailers trying to sell their products or services to the overwhelmingly middle- aged male attendees.
The show is so vast that I can’t really do it full justice in one article, or even two, but I’ll attempt to give you a flavour across two pieces, the first of which will focus on the more exotic (loosely defined!) end of our hobby, including a look at the delights on offer at the auction and the second will be more about the everyday classics that were driven by our parents and grandparents and that are treasured and kept on the road by enthusiasts despite the lack of a financial return, as well as a few intriguing one-offs.
Being a member of three classic car clubs, I thought I would check out their stands first, so headed over to the BMW stand– what a disappointment. No E9’s, no E3’s, no Neue Klasse, one 02, a 1602 converted to electric power, and a whole bunch of Z-models, apparently to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Z BMW’s – only the Z1 is older, and is the only Z that would currently be seen as a genuine classic. Other than that, Z4’s dominated – these are not (yet) classics, and it’s not the first time BMW have misjudged the point of this classic car event. Just my opinion, of course.
Their rivals at Mercedes-Benz didn’t do much better, with only three genuine classics on show. A 300SL roadster is of course a showstopper of a car, and the 1934 W23 130 was a lovely nod to the company’s pre-war period. But besides these two, other than a W107, that was it.
Porsche on the other hand showed their compatriots how to do it – Porsche Classic put on a tremendous display that included 356’s and early 911’s as well as marking 25 years of the Boxster, while the Porsche Club area featured a 356, an iconic 911RS and a 928 S4 – that’s how you represent your company’s classic history; BMW and Mercedes-Benz, take note. Separately, the Porsche 924 Owners’ Club showed a trio of the ultimate 924, the GTS, one of which was owned by none other than Derek Bell.
Enough complaining – I spent a delightful half-hour on the Bugatti Owners Club stand, where the club was celebrating the 100th anniversary of Bugatti Type 13’s taking the first four places in the 1921 Brescia Gran Premio d’Italia Vetturette. This clean sweep of the podium was what convinced Ettore Bugatti that motor sport was the ideal way to promote his road-going cars and chassis, and the Brescia Bugatti was named after this dominant performance, a domination that continued through the 1920’s and in later years by the likes of the Type 35, itself the winner of over 1,000 races.
A variety of Brescia and other 1920’s Bugatti’s loaned by club members, decorated the stand – as well as a recreation of a Bugatti-designed spaghetti maker, where a Type 46 steering wheel does the work of the traditional hand crank – though there is some doubt as to whether it really works.
Another interesting item on the stand was a foot-high bronze sculpture based on the figure shown on the 1923 Brescia trophy – the original model for this trophy was a 1st century AD statue of Vittoria Alata, the symbol of Brescia and in a lovely gesture, the Bugatti Club Italia presented a miniature replica of that statue to the Bugatti Trust representing their friendship.
The Bugatti Trust is based at Prescott Hill Climb, as many of you may know, but although it co-operates with the Bugatti Owners’ Club, the two are separate organisations. Between them they had what was for me one of the stands of the show
Sticking with the more exotic end of the classic car spectrum, I’d already taken a look at the lots on offer in the auction online and featured one of them – a Porsche 914 – as a Prime Find. On taking a closer look at that 914, it confirmed my view that it was a very good example of the model, and in the end it fetched £21,375, within the estimate range but I did think it might fetch a little more.
There was a significant number of Porsches and Jaguars in the sale, including what I thought might potentially be one of the (relative) bargains of the auction in the form of an exquisite blue 1963 Porsche 356C – it carried an estimate range of just £50-60,000, selling for £73,125. Interestingly, as a comparison, an unrestored (though with rebuilt engine) 1965 356C SC with RHD sold for £90,000; I’m not sure, but I think I might have gone for the ’63 car, which was a little jewel.
A handful of fast Fords were also on offer, with not one, but two Sierra Cosworths breaking the six–figure barrier. Both were very low mileage, both were RS500’s, and £66,250 was paid for a 1971 Mk1 Escort RS1600, more than either of the two very good Maserati Merak’s for which the gavel fell at £56,250 for the yellow one, with the red one not finding a new owner, which somehow doesn’t seem quite right to me…Fast Fords have clearly entered the realms of the exotic in terms of price
A beautiful 1955 AC Ace Bristol achieved £219,375 and the car I would have most liked to take home if I had room and budget, a gorgeous 1966 Ferrari 330GT in black that sold for £208,125, but the star car of the sale – certainly the most expensive – was probably the 1967 Ferrari 365GTC in a lustrous metallic blue. One of only 22 RHD examples, it new owner had to fork out £540,000 to take it home. A stunning car and a good result for an auction where prices were generally strong, such as £40,500 for a 1969 Triumph GT6 MKII, admittedly fully restored.
Back to the club stands and two other excellent displays were the Alvis Owners’ Club celebrating 100 years of the marque with a super stand showcasing a number of the Coventry marque’s handsome and elegant cars, including an elegant 1958 Graber-bodied 3-litre and a lovely 1932 Vanden Plas-bodied Speed 20 DHC and while the Jensen stand was smaller, it too marked a significant anniversary, 50 years of Jensen with a stand modelled on Earl’s Court, with the two stand-out cars being a superb 1960 541R and a vivid yellow 1971 FF, which looked great in my favourite colour.
It’s always a delight to see a Gordon Keeble anywhere, and considering only 100 were made, there’s quite often one or two at any major event. One reason for that is that the survival rate of these gorgeous UK/US/Italian hybrids is astonishingly high – of that 100, some 70 are currently on the road and it’s expected by the owners’ club that another 10 to 15 will soon be joining them. There was one for sale across the aisle from the club, with a sticker price of £117,000, which was considered expensive by club members on the stand for what they deemed to be an average example.
The two on the club stand were separated by four years – the red one is the original GK prototype, built in 1960, while the superb pale blue one is the first production GK, built in 1964. There is remarkably little in the way of external differences – see the two front-end photos, though the interiors are quite different, but it speaks for the integrity of the original design how closely it resembles the production car.
American cars are certainly seen as exotic over here, and there were a number of fine examples – a 1954 Corvette C1 plus successors, a 1961 Buick Invicta (a new model to me), a huge ’81 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham and a red Dodge Challenger R/T on the Bonhams stand were all eye-catchers, but the most impressive American car at the show for me was the very menacing dark green ’68 Dodge Charger – I think these are amongst the most intimidating cars on the road, you’d feel almost obliged to move over if one appeared in your rear view mirror.
With a show this size, of course I can’t mention every interesting car there, but below are some photos of the more exotic exhibits at the show – lots of fabulous motor cars, and more to come in Part II!
(Additional photos from Silverstone Auctions)
