Show Preview: Race Retro 2009
2008 WAS when I finally popped my Race Retro cherry. It had been the one show that I really really wanted to visit, but until then I hadn’t been able to – either through a cruel diary, a crap memory or lack of green folding.
It was certainly a lot bigger than I’d imagined and if you’re into classic race and rally machinery like I am, well, it certainly lives up to its promise – but then you probably knew that already because you’re probably a lot more organised than I am and have been many many times before.
The show is so varied and interesting that you really don’t know where to look first – there was just so much to take in. Oodles of rally machinery from a MG 6R4 and Lancia 037, to Rauno Aaltonen’s 1965 Lombard RAC winning Mini and Bjorn Waldegard’s Lancia Stratos. Racers as diverse as a fantastic little boat-tailed Austin 7 Ulster and supercharged MG J2 to a very rare Austin Healey 100S. Honestly, there are very few places in the world, were you’d be able to spot a 1918 Golden Ford dirt-track racer (based on a Model T with a lengthened and lowered chassis, complete with Frontenac OHV head) sat next to Ayrton Senna’s JPS Lotus Renault 98T.
Nestling amid all the iconic machinery, dressed in sponsorship liveries that I’d wistfully worshipped from afar, are the faces of yesterday who made the machines great. I spotted quite a few and I swear I would have remembered to write them down – and possibly cadge a few autographs too – were it not for the beer on the Safety Devices stand loosening the nuts of my journalistic capability. Retro motorsport bliss and a beer? Ruddy perfect.
Then, if you’ve got any drool left, there are the many fantastic trade stands from British Motor Heritage to Piper Cams and so much more.
I was and am hooked and I can’t wait to make a return visit, but in the meantime to moisten your tastebuds, here are some of our highlights from Race Retro 2008…
Rowan Atkinson’s ex-Works Jaguar MkVII
The last time I saw this race Jaguar MkVII, it was greeny, grey – well this is that same car after an in-depth rebuild. A complete restoration of its lightweight all-magnesium body and a beautiful repaint in Ferrari Verde Inglese has been carried out by Jim Stokes Workshops for Rowan.
Still sat on a set of centre-lock Dunlop racing alloys, this big Jaguar makes for a beautiful if unlikely racer. Peer inside and the interior boasts fantastic features such as a drilled three-spoke steering wheel, period buckets, a trip meter and pair of stopwatches mounted on the dash.
“It was in a right state – as you would expect a racing car of this size and age would be. The sides were all corrugated and we found ¾ inch of filler on it in some places. The engine was also in a very bad state and all we could salvage was the D-type cylinder head… When it was test-driven we got very favourable feedback. ‘Best 4.2 XK I’ve driven,’ said the driver. I said good because it’s a 3.8,” says Jim.
Some restorations can destroy an old car’s patina, but this manages to strike the perfect balance.
Andy Johnson’s Toyota Corona CTCRC racer
The Classic Touring Car Racing Club did have a couple of cars on their stand, but only one caught our attention Andy Johnson’s superb racing Corona. Mr Johnson was away when we visited the stand, so the club’s classic and historic co-ordinator took great delight in telling us about the car: “How competitive is it? I only ever see it in my rear view mirror… I do now though, that in its second race it did catch fire on the line.” Right, looks like we’d better give Mr Johnson a chance to defend the honour of his unusual Japanese racer.
This is, sort of, what it’s like wandering around RR – exhibits jump out and smack you right between the eyes. Where do you start?
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