London Classic Car Show – TIGOSE news

London Classic Car Show’s bias:

Great Britain 1 – Italy 0 

For the second year running, London has hosted the Classic Car Show at its premier venue ExCel, and TIGOSE was at hand to support the event, both with its own stand, and with several Members and Preferred Partners taking their own.

TIGOSE’s stand hosted business partner EMTEC, which provides the supporting framework for TIGOSE’s Apprenticeship Programme, as well as Preferred Partners Aston Scott and EFG. Members Prill Porsche Classics, Performance Projects and Systems Store Solutions also shared the display.

Elsewhere, Preferred Partner and auction house H&H had a separate stand, just like Members JSW, CMC, EZ Power Steering, Frank Dale and Stepsons, Helix Automotive and Hoyle Fox.

Some 33,000 visitors attended over four days (18-21 Feb), lured by the presence of multi-million pound cars, some of them driven indoors on the Grand Avenue.

The Classic Six Nations Cup listed ten iconic classic cars from six nations. The winning UK team brought in the original Mini, Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, Le Mans Bentley, McLaren F1, Aston Martin DB5, Land Rover, and the Lotus 49 GP car (Graham Hill’s winner in 1988).

The Italians, with their Ferraris, Maseratis and Lamborghinis, from the well-known Miura to the rare Islero, came a close second.

The USA sported a royal flush of muscle cars, and were placed third ahead of Germany, France and Germany.

The event was officially opened by F1 World Champion Jenson Button. Other celebrities, to be spotted by the adoring public over the course of the show, were World Rally Champion Ari Vatanen, Sir Stirling Moss, TV pundit Suzi Perry and McLaren designer Gordon Murray, who also curated the special display of seven McLaren F1 cars, worth more than £50m.

Multi-million pound cars and rarities were not the only attractions featured in 2016: there was an entire hall dedicated to more affordable classics; one-make clubs and specialised dealers displayed a full range of the most loved models. Their presence effectively ensured that this year’s show was twice the size of the first one in 2015.

The new hall also incorporated ‘Speakers’ Corner’, a stage where experts were on hand to talk about all aspects of the classic car movement. Topics covered included how to choose the ideal classic, buying at auction and classic car values.

The show organisers have already announced the dates for the 2017 event: 23-26 February. Perhaps the challenge, next year, will be to make sure the Italians take their revenge….