Classic cars are big in England. This year's London Classic Car Show didn't just bring together people who wanted to see . Many were also in buying mode - just ordinary people like you and me.
Among the supercars worth around 10 million kroner, there were also affordable cars. For example, a complete 1968 Mini Cooper project - forest wreck - estimated at NOK 100. Cheap? It was so swamped that it was actually difficult to get close enough to see. A lot of work, but undoubtedly classic. Also classic was a 000 Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth 1992×4 with a guaranteed 4 miles on the odometer for NOK 28000. A mildly renovated, 480-door, mustard yellow Range Rover from 000 would fetch an unbelievable NOK 3 million for it.
Car history anniversaries
The exhibition marked several highlights - such as Range Rover turning 50, that it is 50 years since car designer and Formula 1 driver Bruce McLaren died, that it is 40 years since Audi launched the Quattro and that James Bond film number 25 - " No time to die" is out. It is worth seeing for its spectacular Land Rover driving. James Bond is also a tribute to Aston Martin's legendary DB5. The Olympia Hall between Earls Court and Kensington has had many great Aston Martins on display over the years. I am fascinated by DB4 and DB5. These cars had completely superior driving characteristics and performance compared to the GT fleet of the time.
The landowner's favorite
I can hardly remember the last time I saw a 3-door Range Rover, - the cars made for English landowners. The Range Rover mk1 had a kind of aristocratic superiority that no other car of its era had. Remember that this was long before four-wheel drive SUVs became common property. At this year's London Classic Car Show two completely unique 70s Range Rovers were on display. I got to study them up close. Today they seem very primitive - but not without class. Why are they so rare today? There actually was one Englishman which gave me the answer. After all, the first cars were produced by reviled people British Leyland in the middle of their very worst era. The first vintages were probably far from it quality cars, to put it that way.
Electrification of old classics?
Will an old public car be as attractive with an electric motor? Imagine if the boxer engine at the back was replaced with an electric motor and the gas tank at the front replaced by batteries? The operational safety would certainly be absolutely superb, but the public car sound would be gone. Likewise the smell of hot engine and petrol that often fills the nostrils inside the compartment. I won't deny that electric conversion can be useful on certain models, for example bubbles and public transport buses. Far worse was seeing a stripped Triumph Stag get a Type 2 charging cable stuck in where the petrol should have been filled. I am afraid that posterity will refer to this as damage. Interesting, but expensive. Estimate £25 in addition to other restoration work.
Paul Stephens
The name not only belongs to a man obsessed with Porsche, but is also a brand name. The company builds and refurbishes classic Porsches to a high degree of perfection - high up on the price scale. What took my breath away were the 911s with Paul Stephen's own logo on the hood - so not sold as a Porsche 964 or 993 or something like that. It is about separate brands and separate model designations under the department AutoArt. The cars are built from "clean metal" according to their own specifications. They are wonderfully stylish in a kind of functional, harmonious simplicity. Everything is carried out down to the smallest detail. A pleasure for the eyes. These are cars you can buy and keep for the rest of your life.
Remember that you can click on all the images to see them in a larger format.
Coys
Coys values and sells all types of classic cars through auctions. They had several cars for exhibition that were going under the hammer on Saturday (22.02.2020) as a separate feature in the exhibition. I was not present at the auction, but will post the list of bids as soon as it is published on the auction house's website.
Absolute Classic Cars
The company in Lincolnshire, UK, drives - shall we say - more popular classic cars. One of them attracted a lot of interest at the exhibition. It was the last vintage of the Ford Sierra, last 200 built, Sapphire Cosworth 4×4, shown in the picture below.
List of cars
Bob Forstner
Fashionable car dealership with showroom facing Park Lane (below Marble Arch) in London. They sell, among other things, Paganini and Brabus. Prices only on request.
Hilton & Moss
Company that carries out high-end restoration of classic cars. At the exhibition, they showed both fully restored cars and cars undergoing restoration. The public liked the effect with mirrors under the cars. See more
PHOTOS
Pictures from the event.
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