Latest news

Our mission, should we decide to accept it, was to create an online event on the Classic Car Enthusiasts Forum – Powered by Lancaster Insurance that people could engage with throughout the Bank Holiday Weekend. It would embrace all forms of 1970s motoring life, from Dr. A.F. Kendal’s Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II and Peter R. Mayo’s Panther De Ville to Lewis Buchan’s Reliant Super Robin. There would be a quiz, testing people’s knowledge of F1, sitcoms and the type of car in which Frank Spencer failed his driving test. And it would pay tribute to those models celebrating their 50th birthday such as Wayne Chilcott’s Cortina Mk. III GXL, a car as uber-1970s as several gallons of Hai Karate.

From the outset, we also wanted the Show to incorporate advertisements and public information films from the period – including, naturally Charley Says (starring the voice of Kenny Everett) and Tufty The Road Safety Squirrel. To be perfectly honest, this was my excuse to indulge in a large amount of “research” – i.e. watching vast amounts of YouTube footage. One result of my viewing was the notoriously dire Vauxhall TV advert of 1973; I cannot remember seeing it as a child although others had clearly not yet forgotten the Wicker Man-style nightmare - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDk1pM78ce0&fbclid=IwAR20MRJOnnwoB9a9tMrctz-nOpug2OqUPiYb0E5zjah6hmXacZMNzFJxwpA

A further aim was to illustrate the changes in car design throughout the decade. Two of our exhibits dated from 1970; Cal Slater’s Vauxhall Viva HB was one of the very last of the line, and Terry Waller’s Austin 1300GT was a 1962 design clad in “groovy gear”.  Gary King’s Datsun 120Y Sunnys - an Estate and a Coupe – dated from a time when many Britons were considering buying ‘a Japanese car’ for the first time. It was also a priceless opportunity to renew acquaintance with some old favourites such as the MG Midget and the Triumph Spitfire.

Some of the exhibits were not so much rare as almost vanished; James Ross Sinclair’s Lancia Beta 2000 Berlina, Brian Darby’s Lada 1600ES and Emily Meunzberg’s one family from new Opel Manta A.  Richard Watt owns the Cavalier that starred on the Vauxhall stand at the 1975 London Motor Show while Jane Weitzmann’ 1972 Honda N600 Hondamatic might be the only example left on the road. Similarly, Nigel Ford’s Fiat 127 Sport is probably one of three remaining in use, which makes made this writer feel exceptionally old, as he craved such car when he was aged nine years old.

As to the unofficial prize for “The Most Unusual Car In The Show”, this must be awarded to the 1970 4-door Cortina Lotus Mk. II belonging to Stephen Osborne.  Such a Ford was never officially available, and Mid-Anglia Constabulary specially commissioned it as the Chief Constable disapproved of two-door traffic cars. A few years ago, the Cortina was reunited with its original crew.

Above all, the Show was an opportunity to re-live so many aspects of the decade, from by-gone TV idents to children’s television. And as for the Q&A sessions with Karl Russell and his Bond Bug and Bron Burrell and her 1970 World Cup Rally Austin Maxi – they are still ongoing!