Silverstone Classic, Part 3 - July 2010

Written by Colin Rear

Sunday, 01 August 2010 19:10

LANCIA One of the rarest and most unusual vehicles of the whole event has to be this, a 1958 Appia Fourgoncino. This van, based on the little Appia Berlina had been owned by an Italian wine merchant, who had used it for carrying cases of wine around until very recently, and it was only earlier this year that the car was brought over to the UK. It was in absolutely top condition, and made for an impressive sighting. There were plenty of other rare cars on the Lancia stand. Flavia based models included a Berlina, the Zagato Coupe and my favourite, the 2000 HF Coupe Several Fulvia models, too, with Berlina, and the Zagato and regular Coupe models to enjoy. Aurelia GT Flaminia Touring Coupe MonteCarlo Delta Integrale Second generation Delta A lovely Lambda from the 1920s. Elsewhere there several Stratos cars. LAND-ROVER A small display of Range-Rover cars focused on the first two generations of this car, with examples of both and a former Royal Navy fire tender which will be restored to all its previous glory in the fullness of time. LOTUS The was a separate display for the first generation Elite model. Plenty of the 1960s model Elan and its slightly larger Plus 2 brother There were a few of the 1970s and 1980 cars, Esprit, Excel and Elite Some of the short lived early 1990s Elans Plenty of the more recent Elise featured, too. MARCOS A representative display of Marcos cars from the early 1800 models of the mid 1960s, to the more recent and far madder 1990s cars, along with a single Mini Marcos and one of the very promising TSO cars that were about to be produced when Marcos finally ran out of money once too often and the whole operation did cease. MASERATI Maserati shared the same central area as Abarth, with an area at one side reserved for a dealer display of the current three car range. The rest of the space was allocated to classic models, and plenty of different cars were on show. This Indy was probably my favourite of all the Maserati on show, and would make a splendid grand touring device. The Ghibli, seen here in SS form, is also a beautiful object and would be a pleasure just to look at, let alone to drive. The car was compared very favourably with the far more valuable Ferrari Daytona in the current issue of Classic and Sports Car. The Sebring was based on the 3500 GT, Maserati's first real road car sold in any volume. A couple of the Merak cars were on show during the day. Quattroporte 2 was previewed at the 1974 Paris Show, which was just about the worst timing to try to launch a costly luxury saloon. Only 12 cars were made, and this is the prototype, which has a number of unique features, even compared with the other 11 examples. The Kyalami was heavily based on the de Tomaso Longchamp, but with modified body panels and a Maserati engine. Fewer than 400 were made, and of these not many found their way to the UK, so to see 2 at this event must definitely constitute one of just many rare sightings. A couple of the elegant Khamsin coupes were on display, too. The Biturbo range was represented by a number of different cars, including the relatively rare 4 door cars, the Ghibli, and most unusually the rarely seen Shamal. From the recent offerings, there were a few of the 3200/4200 coupes, as well. This early 1960s Osca-Maserati was an unashamed racer.    Probably the rarest of all the Maserati on show was this, one of the very few 5000GT cars that were made. Apparently these were not very good, but that's hard to believe from looking at it! MAZDA A vast number of MX5s, from all three generations were assembled in seried ranks, according to the model generation. Most of them appeared to be not quite standard any more. MERCEDES-BENZ Highlight for many people was the brand new SLS AMG. I had a sit in it, and it was very nice. There is a problem, though. If you are less than about 6 foot tall, you simply cannot reach the door from within the cabin to close it. But if you are 6 foot tall, you will bang your head when you get out of the car. I am sure I would find a solution if I had one of these cars at my disposal! Oldest display car was a late 1930s 170V, a car which was carefully secreted away during the war. This 280 SE Convertible was really rather nice, too. On the Sunday, a 300SL appeared, parked up next to the SLS. I heard someone saying that the W113 Pagoda cars are now starting to breach the £100k mark for really top condition vehicles. They are nice, but are they really that nice? R107 cars will accordingly rise in value, too. These have huge appeal, too. The SLC models, perhaps less so.    That must mean that even the R129 SL cars must be next in line for the same value appreciation. This immaculate W116 model S Class turned out to be the very rare 6.9 version. A true "Q" car. This W123 Coupe looked nice. MG Most of the MGs were post-War models, but there were a few early cars such as this one. MGA MGB and MGC The recent Z cars were represented by at least of each of the ZR, ZS, ZT and ZT-T. Classics in the making, for sure. MORGAN Among the variety of Morgan cars was an example of their latest production offering, the Aero SuperSport. Comments I heard suggest that this car is not as well viewed as the sell-out AeroMax model, production of which has now ceased. MORRIS This event was clearly a gathering for the rather unlikely sounding Morris Isis Owners Club. The Isis was a short lived and rather unsuccessful six cylinder version of the popular Oxford. Most of the cars on show were the later Series 2 cars, which had tail fins and sported two tone paintwork. A lone Oxford Traveller was an interloper among the group. NSU Although the Ro80 got all the publicity, good and bad from the ill-fated rotary engine, it was not actually the first NSU with such a powerplant. That honour goes to this, the Prinz Spider, which predated it by three years. , OPEL About the only Opel I spotted was this second generation Monza. PIPER Three of these cars were at the event. I was surprised to learn that it is believed that there are 43 still around somewhere! PONTIAC A Firebird Trans-Am from the 1970s was the only Pontiac that I recall seeing at the event. PORSCHE I would guess that there were more Porsche cars on display than any other marque. There were two separate displays, as like many other marques, there is more than one Owners Club, but the majority of them were in a huge central area, partitioned with some particularly nasty orange plastic psuedo fencing, which allowed for separate models to be kept in individual lines. There were a few 356 models including one which was displayed with the associated kit that would have been on board when it saw service as a police patrol car with the Austrian police. Although Porsche made more than 100,000 of the 914 models, most were sold in America and few ever made it here. Accordingly, there were only a few in the displays. . 924/944/968s 928s Classic 911 models were definitely in the minority compared to more recent cars. 911s from the 1980s now seem quite small, and narrow compared to the current cars, and for good reason. They are smaller in every dimension 993 cars There was but one lone 935 "flat nose" car. 911 RSR models in some particularly vibrant colours The slightly more civilised 911RS cars were also well represented. Plenty of recent 996 and 997 cars. Porsche UK had some band new cars on display, including the latest Boxster Spider. There were a couple of the little known Porsche tractors from the early 1960s to enjoy, too Parked up behind the hospitality suites, I came across this Carrera GT. RENAULT The focus here was on Alpine based cars, with examples of the A110, A610/GTA, as well as an R5 Turbo and a Clio V6 ROCHDALE The Olympic was a stylish glass-fibre constructed coupe based on Riley mechanicals. This one appeared to have received an upgraded engine at some point in time. ROVER One of the last of the SD1 model cars. In pretty decent condition, unlike most of the few survivors. SKELTA A what? An Australian supercar, aimed at the person who wants something different.... or so the marketing blurb said! STANDARD This Standard 8 was the only example of this marque that was captured by my camera. SUNBEAM There was a sizeable group of Tigers, with a mix of Marks 1 and 2 represented. Elsewhere, I did come across this early model Rapier This is the later Arrow-based Rapier in H120 guise, with the Holbay tuned  engine which endowed the car with lively performance This is a Sunbeam from a much earlier era. TOYOTA The Mark 1 MR2 owners had a lot of cars assembled, but I do not appear to have taken any pictures of their cars   TRIUMPH Plenty of cars in the Stag Owners Club area, who were celebrating 40 years since the launch of this iconic tourer. There were a few other Triumphs in various places around the display areas, including TRs and Vitesse cars such as these. TURNER These small sports cars were based on the Triumph TR3, but with a distinctive body shell. TVR Plenty of TVR, with a preponderance of the volume selling Chimaera and Griffith model, but everything from the 1970s 3000M, through the S, to the last of the line Tuscan 2, Tamora and Sagaris were part of the TVR Car Club's display. PITS and PADDOCK There was plenty to see whenever I ventured into this extensive area, ranging from static displays, to pits where there was a hive of activity preparing, tuning or repairing the competing cars. This 1914 Sunbeam was an example of a sports car from a bygone age. These little historic Abarths were competing with bigger cars from the 1960s. I confess that I don't recall this Corvette being out on the track, and given the characteristic and loud noise it makes when in action, no matter where I was, I am sure I would have heard it! A separate display was of vehicles from the nearby SantaPod drag strip, some of which might have looked reasonably standard, but were not. Others did not even pretend. The Cortina estate allegedly had over 950 bhp at its disposal and the 2 Fiat 126 based cars were interesting, One had a Toyota engine in the back, the other had a large engine that occupied the front and the driver's seat area, so the driver sat where you would usually find a back seat. Great fun to listen to and to watch in action! Lots of opportunity to wander among all the activity as cars were being prepared for action, and with a disparate selection of race classes, plenty of interest and variety to enjoy. The Abarth Trofeo races took place late on Saturday and was the first race on Sunday morning. The cars are all identical, and each of the UK Abarth dealers sponsors one, though only 12 cars were in action during the weekend, making for quite a small grid. ON THE TRACK Although a number of the Grandstands are open for anyone to access during the weekend, and some good viewing locations are available as a result, it proved quite difficult to find places to capture photographically what was on the track without getting lots of catch-fencing in the foreground of the picture. As it transpires, although I did watch quite a few of the races, the only pictures are of the Abarth Trofeo races on both the Saturday and Sunday, and here they are: Anyone who had to pay the full ticket price at the gate would definitely opine that this is not a cheap event, and indeed it is not. There is so much to see, though, so by buying tickets early at a much reduced price, the event starts to look like better value for money. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for a deal for 2011 tickets, for sure. And now for the rest: Part one Part two

Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 August 2010 11:55

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