One of London’s most majestic venues, Alexandra Palace, hosted the second Classic & Sports Car Show. 15,500 enthusiasts passed through the doors over the three-day event beating last year’s attendance.
Held from 28th – 30th October, visitors to the show were treated to an incredible display of the world’s finest classic cars, automobilia and fine motoring art – most notably the work of Tim Layzell who designed the Classic & Sports Car Show 2016 poster.
Opening the show on Friday was legendary Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis OBE. Also welcoming visitors at the Palm Court entrance throughout the weekend was the iconic XJ13 he helped develop.
World Champion on both two wheels and four, John Surtees CBE, reveled the McLaren F1 as the greatest supercar ever beating the best of Ferrari and Lamborghini. Gordon Murray’s masterpiece topped the finalists in the closely contested poll, beating cars such as the Lamborghini Countach , Bugatti Veyron and Ferrari F40.
Both Surtees and Dewis captivated crowds with anecdotes from their illustrious careers on The Live Interview Stage presented by Goodwood Road & Racing. There were surprise visitors, too. British Indycar ace and former F1 driver Max Chilton arrived to check out the show and joined stage host Henry Hope-Frost for an impromptu interview. Other guests included sports car racing hero John Fitzpatrick, touring car racing legend Steve Soper, TV presenter and World Sportscar Championship race winner Alain de Cadenet.
Outside the Palace, Live Parades where led by the six-wheeled Tyrrell Formula 1 car of the 1970s with the bark of the Cosworth DFV-powered racer reverberating North London. The weekend parades also included the BMW Owners’ Club, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the marque, Jensen owners who marked the 50th anniversary of the Interceptor and a stunning collection of modern high-performance vehicles from Supercars of Essex.
A selection of consignments for the Coys auction, the first sale to be held at The Classic & Sports Car Show, were also paraded in the Palace grounds. Other consignments from the auction were on display for visitors and potential buyers to admire during the event including a Lamborghini Miura P400 S delivered new to rock star Sir Rod Stewart in 1971, which made £909,000.
Chris Routledge, CEO of Coys, said: “We’re delighted with our first-ever sale at the Classic & Sports Car Show. The room at Alexandra Palace was packed throughout and in total we achieved more than £4 million-worth of sales.”
Also tempting visitors at Alexandra Palace to add to their car collection were the cream of dealers from the UK and Europe including Aston Martin specialist Desmond J Smail, DD Classics, Arthur Bechtel Classic Motors, Hexagon Classics, Gallery Aaldering, Stanley Mann Racing and many more.
Another crowd-pleaser was a feature showing the restoration of a unique Jaguar XK120 by Pininfarina by Classic Motor Cars (CMC) in association with Total, where regular Q&A sessions also took place to give visitors the chance to really get under the skin of the project.
James Elliott, Group Editor, Classic & Sports Car magazine, said: “It was great to return to Alexandra Palace and we’ve loved welcoming visitors of all ages to the event to enjoy all the amazing cars on display. With the live Parade adding some real visual and aural drama and Coys’ auction proving hugely successful, I’m really pleased that we’ve built on the success of last year’s event with a second show that was even bigger and better. I’d like to thank everyone involved in making this a reality.”
The Classic & Sports Car Show will return in 2017. www.classicandsportscarshow.com
