The NEC Classic – It’s Very Big!

Not inexpensive for a few days out – but still good value, our reporter thinks. And you get your 10,000 steps in as well!

As the long hot summer – here in the UK, at least – has faded away into an already distant memory and the outdoor classic “season” came to an end for me in mid-October at the Classic Motor Hub’s final Coffee and Classics event, we come to the big indoor shows, and there are none bigger here than the NEC Classic, held just outside Birmingham.

The basic details are impressive – seven halls (the equivalent of 16 football pitches, apparently), 310 clubs, over 3,000 cars, a major auction, over 450 exhibitors, dozens of dealers and a huge autojumble and many trade stands both adjacent and unrelated to the world of classic cars; so yes, it’s BIG.

Even as a regular visitor, the sheer size of the show can be intimidating – which hall to go to first, which stands do I want to prioritise before the crowds arrive…

As a current and former owner of Porsche, Mercedes and BMW classics, it’s been my habit to start with their major club stands, and I did so again this time. For me, only the Porsche Club was a success from a classic perspective, celebrating their transaxle models in particular, with examples of the 924, 944, 968 and 928 on show. I was less impressed with the other two, although the Mercedes Club stand was boosted by the appearance of Die Rote Sau.

The auction this year, hosted by Iconic Auctioneers, was the largest in the history of both the show and the auctioneers, with 340 car lots split into two sections across Saturday and Sunday, plus 262 motorbikes and 88 lots of automobilia. The high end of the Saturday sale was mostly ex-competition cars, the exception being one of only 14 Porsche 993 Turbo Cabriolets commissioned by the factory’s Exclusive Department, for what was a built-to-order, and therefore effectively unique, Porsche – it reached £602,000 but failed to sell.

We also seem to have reached the era of the £200,000 Ford Escort Mk2, with one of the two examples on offer achieving no less than £261,000 including commissions (the other topped out at £170k). I know they were both RS1800’s, and in outstanding condition, but still, a quarter of a million pounds for a road-going Ford Escort Mk2…

This insanity was however surpassed by the £300,000 paid for the number plate JK 1; was it bought for, or sold by, well-known petrolhead Jay Kay of Jamiroquai? And I wonder what car it’s going to be put on?

Among the more affordable classics, my favourite was perhaps the “time warp” yellow 1978 Toyota Carina with just 22,697 miles under it’s wheels, but this exceptionally unexceptional classic didn’t find a buyer.

The FIAT Uno Turbo is a fairly unheralded and understated “hot hatch” but the model seems to be on the rise – two were on offer here; the 1987 example fetched £15,750, the 1991 car a strong £24,750. Also largely unheralded is the future classic that is Vauxhall’s VX220 Turbo (Opel Speedster in Europe) and built by Lotus on an Elise platform. It never really found a market, with just 7,207 built between 2000 and 2005. Anyway, a very smart metallic blue one sold for £16,650 – good value for a 150mph/240kmh car.

While a number of recent auctions have struggled, this one achieved some exceptional prices, and an overall sale rate of 80% would indicate a successful sale.

Back to the club displays…the Bugatti Trust always puts on a good show and did so again this year – just look at these French beauties! I especially liked the re-bodied yellow and black 1932 Type 55 roadster. Considering how few people can afford Bugatti ownership, the club really does make an effort to broaden the reach of the marque.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who, after so many years at so many shows, can find it difficult to find cars I haven’t seen before, or cars that are less common and/or unusual (in the UK, at least), and the NEC Classic didn’t let me down

For this reason, the most interesting club stand of the show for me was put on by the Renault clubs. Classics on their stands ranged from a Dauphine, through a superb yellow 1969 R8S (one of ten on the road in the UK), a Renault 10, 16, 18, and 21, and most impressively, an absolutely immaculate 1983 Renault 30TX in a beautiful metallic pale gold. None of these are common in the UK, especially the 30TX – I can’t remember the last time I saw one, and with only 6 Renault 30’s on the road in the UK, this isn’t surprising.

The Volvo Owners’ Club stand provided not one, but two exceptionally rare cars, models I’d never seen or knew of before. The first was a pretty 1956 P1900 convertible, the only one in the UK and believed to be one of 60 survivors of a mere 68 examples built. This fibreglass-bodied Volvo also had an interesting ownership history, in that it’s first owner was none other than the original Tarzan, Johhny Weissmuller. Its failure led to the P1800, for which we are all grateful, I think.

The second was a royal Volvo, no less – a 1953 PV831 limousine used by King Gustav VI which had been in storage since 2009. Efforts are being made to make the car roadworthy again, including trying to find an engine for it.

It’s always a delight to see a Unipower GT, and the trio on their stand – from a total production run of just 73 – looked terrific in their bright paint finishes. As the UK’s best-selling marque, British-built Fords were unsurprisingly well represented at the show, but German Fords are a very rare sight either on our roads or at shows. However, the Ford Taunus Club of Great Britain always manages to display at least one interesting model from Ford of Germany’s range; this time, a pale yellow Taunus 20M estate, from before the complete assimilation with UK Fords.

Despite their size, thirst for fuel and general unsuitability for UK roads and parking spaces, American classics enjoy stronger support here than you might expect, and not just Mustangs and Corvettes…the 1961 Chrysler Newport in particular is extremely flamboyant. My favourite though was the vivid red Pontiac Le Mans – I love the long, lean lines and slightly menacing frontal aspect.

Among other classics that stood out for me were the gorgeous 1959 two-tone blue Sunbeam Rapier Series II, every car on the Maserati stand, especially the Bora, the yellow 1971 Matra 530LX – the perfect colour for that car – and the metallic green Italian pair of an Alfasud and a Montreal, both delicious.

Beyond the above, there was the usual broad mix of the everyday and the exotic, as you will be able to see below (and this is just a small sample of the variety of classics on show) and the event remains a great way to spend a day or two wallowing in nostalgia and dreaming a little. It’s not an inexpensive day out, but considering all that it offers, it remains good value.