The Lancaster Insurance Classic Car and Bike Restoration Show 8 to 10 November 2024

“Everytime I drive it, it makes me smile”

Celebrating its Twentieth birthday this year, the Honda S2000 is one of the newer classics. It seems to have an enthusiastic following in the form of the UK S2000 Owners Club which originated in 1999. Talking to the team on the stand at the Lancaster Classic Car and Restoration Show they tell me that the cars are practical, sporty and ideal for trips into Europe, or long UK road trips. The normal ills of twenty year old cars apply, such as hood replacements, car park dings etc. but as one of the team said “Everytime I drive it, it makes me smile”. Surely the best reason for owning a classic car?

A couple of weeks before the show, I visited Ken Clarke Motorsport in Hinckley, where I found Ken working on a Rover SD1. No surprise there since Ken, an ex TWR engineer, built three of the original TWR Group A Rovers. What was interesting about this particular Rover was its history. In 1979, Motorsport magazine published a review of the car and seemed to be impressed. Being one of only two Janspeed Turbo Rover SD1s built this one is in its final stages of restoration but it was good enough for Ken to display on the Rover SD1 stand.

Another car of note was the Aston Martin DB7 Zagato. Rare as hen’s teeth (only 99 examples built) this one was there in all its glory.

This is a quite extensive show in four halls of the NEC so I certainly managed to get my steps in. There were clubs for all marques and then sub groups for the various models. The XJS Club may be unique in that the car is the member and the owner, merely the means of paying the membership fee. I am lucky enough to own an XJR-S and my car is a member. The stand was pretty crowded with various examples on display.

Sometimes you see something that really grabs the attention. In this case the Jaguar Mk Vii low rider on the National Street Rod Association stand looked fantastic. I am a touch “old school” so something that harks back to my youth and the days of Custom Car Magazine is always welcome.

Speaking of youth, the Awfully Pleasant Scooter Association took me back to the summer of 1971 and the trips out and about on Vespas and Lambrettas.

The Aston Martin Owners Club had a significant car on its stand. The “Mellor Spy Car”. Before WW2 Major Mellor operated in Europe, he used his Aston Martin to travel around. When the car was restored, many secret compartments were found. The car is now dressed as a 1935 Aston Martin Ulster. The full story is here:

All the major UK clubs are here, The MG Car Club was doing good business, but where do you draw the line on Classic Cars? My feeling is at the age of twenty years, if enthusiasts are looking after them a car qualifies as a classic car. So, the MG Cyberster was possibly a tad too young.

American tin was well represented, Mustangs, Plymouths, Chevies of various kind together with Corvettes were in abundance. I’ve written before about the shark-nosed Corvette and I still think they look good.

Now, I like red cars (who doesn’t?), they really look good in most settings, I suspect that’s why most Ferraris are red. But, sometimes you can go too far as with the Nissan 300ZX Owners Club who perhaps overdid the redness. A shame really because the cars are worthy of supercar status and a cooler setting would have suited them. In 1986, the late Paul Newman won a Trans Am race in a modified version. But if red is your thing here’s part of the stand.

Overall I had a very enjoyable day made better by many of the people I spoke to, including three gents from Lisburn in Northern Island who I coincidentally bumped into next to the Delorean stand. Unusually there were quite a few XJS examples on various stands and sales pitches, so perhaps the car is going through a renaissance.

There was plenty of variety for classic car and bike fans.

If you went, why not post your thoughts in the comments below?