The Great & The Good – Classic Motor Show 2009
IF YOU MISSED the Classic Motor Show at the NEC, well, you’re going to hate what I’m about to say. You see, it was the best show I’ve ever attended at the NEC – and yes that is the sound of me inserting and twisting the knife…
By now some of you will probably be familiar with the Charlesworth dictum: go to an event too many successive times and you’ll be struggling with your own complacency. This time though, I’m really glad to say that the 2009 CMS was a superb exception – it was bigger and better and I’ve got the blisters to prove it.
I attended the Friday between 9 and about 5pm, and even then I didn’t catch everything. I missed the live events, the pride of ownership and I’m really miffed at having missed the bike hall, but by then my shoes had turned into cheese graters (and I’d also been stupid enough to park in the West Car Park which didn’t have a shuttle bus service) and I was in danger of turning into a whimpering blubbering wreck!
That’s what I didn’t see, so let’s get on with what I did… Oddly enough, despite being very familiar with the NEC, this year I did get a bit disorientated, not just because the halls were packed with what felt like more stands than ever, but possibly because I’ve never seen so many people turn up on a Friday. There really was a fantastic buzz to the show, which does make me wonder if people have finally had enough of the news being full of doom and gloom.
Where to start? One of the most impressive show stands had to be the Citroën Car Club’s which packed all manner of LHM-suspended oddities guaranteed to entice chevron-obsessed anoraks such as me. Yes there was a Mehari, a Bijou (there’s one just around the corner from me) and a GS Birotor (driven one) which are all fine curios, but the stars of the stand had to be the exhibits from Citroën’s Conservatoire.
You’ll probably have seen one of the early 2CV prototypes before, but the 1956 C-10 ‘Coccinelle’ (or Beetle) was designed to fit in between the 2CV and the Traction Avant/DS. Powered by a flat twin-cylinder engine and featuring partial gullwing doors and hydropneumatic suspension, this stunning piece of futuristic design was axed in favour of the more conventional C-60. This was also on show and looks like the lovechild of an Ami 6 and a DS. The C-60 was eventually canned because it was costing too much to develop.
Finally, the last prototype making its belated UK debut, was the 1971 Projet L – forerunner to the fantastic CX. Being the last design to come from the great Robert Opron, it does draw heavily from Pininfarina’s BLMC 1800 Aerodynamic and does resemble from the front, dare I suggest this, the later BLMC 18-22/Princess range.
Two stunning Vauxhall concept cars on the Classic & Sports Car stand, also begged the question – what on Earth happened? The VXR could have brought a touch of Corvette glamour to Luton after wowing the crowds at the 1966 Geneva Salon with its tango-hued gull-winged futurism. Sadly though, it turned out to be a production dead-end after only three prototypes were built, but it does explain from where the Viva HC got its strip rear lamps. Meanwhile the 1970 SRV saloon or Safety Research Vehicle does raise the question – has safety ever looked so sexy before or since? We think it’s a resounding no.
Meanwhile on the Ferrari Owners’ Club and Maserati Club UK stands, there was further proof that classic cars are catching on to the trend of retaining original paint colours. If you’ve ever winced at the idea of a brown Ferrari 250 GT Lusso or a terracotta Maserati Ghibli SS, well, we’d reckon that the reality would leave you feeling very confused. The contrast between these beauties and the metallic red Enzo was really rather striking – either that or The Illness had just mutated into a more potent and hazardous strand…
Personal highlights? I loved the rechristened glam-rock XJ-S, the Lister Le Mans, the beautiful Hunter GLS on the Hillman Owners Club (yes, I drooled over that Holbay engine), an oddball DKW F800 minibus, all those Maseratis, a trio of MkI 1800s on the Landcrab Owner’s Club International, an Alta-headed Minor MM on the Morris Minor Owners’ Club and then there was the semi-inducing gorgeousness of a Giulietta Sprint Zagato nestling amid a clutch of ES30 SZs and RZs on the Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club stand.
However, none approached the dizzy sensation my inner MG anorak experienced at the autojumble, because after searching in a half-arsed fashion for around 16 years I finally managed to score a MkIII Midget BMC handbook. Yes, it had been facelifted by a kid with a felt-tip, but I didn’t care and quickly handed over the cash. They only produced them for two years, so I wasn’t going to pass over on this opportunity to have a proper period handbook to match the MG.
Yes it took two days before my feet stopped moaning and throbbing, but we will be back because I can’t wait to see what the organisers have planned for this unmissable event in 2010.
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