Classic & Sports Car UK – September 2019

September 2019 Classic & Sports Car 21

It paid to put in the legwork and
unearth hidden treasures dotted
around the site, such as the largest
gathering of Graber-bodied Alvis
cars ever seen in the UK, assembled
by Bicester Heritage MD and Alvis
enthusiast Dan Geoghegan.
Car clubs were out in force on
the airfield, with the BMW Car
Club GB effort proving particu-
larly impressive. Celebrating 50
years since the introduction of the
E3 saloon and E9 coupé into the
UK, the display included one of
only 12 E3 estates believed to have
been built and thought to be the
only remaining roadgoing example
(C&SC, May 2018). Lucas Hutch-
ings brought a stunning Taiga
green 1972 3.0 CSL, one of just 500
right-hookers, and a remarkably
original – not to mention increas-
ingly rare – E3 3.3 LiA.
Meanwhile, Hangar 113 hosted
two further additions to the usual
Scramble programme: a packed
autojumble and the Art in Trans-
port display, the latter showcasing
the work of automotive artists.
A fabulous day packed with
eclectic and seldom-seen cars, but
the jury’s out on whether it’s worth
the significant ticket-price hike
over a ‘standard’ Scramble.

From top: Graber-bodied

Alvis collection; ‘Hairy

Canary’ Cobra out on track;

’53 Carrera Panamericana

Ferrari 250MM; 1965

Porsche 911 Paul Smith

‘art car’ of Bicester

resident Sports Purpose

CORVETTE 40TH COLLECTIVE

The Classic Corvette Club UK Nationals on 30 June at The Sharnbrook

Hotel in Bedfordshire marked the club’s 40th anniversary with a fine

line-up of cars spanning all generations. The earliest was Mike Lacey’s

1956 C1, and the youngest was the 2019 C7 ZR1 of Florida resident

Nigel Dobbie, who imported the car specially for the event.

It wasn’t just the club that was celebrating. Member Douglas Rae is 90

and has owned his C2 Sting Ray coupe for 50 years, since buying it from a

German count in Munich in 1969. One of the most interesting C3 Corvette

Stingrays on show was Barry Jibrail’s 1978 Anniversary model with a

Greenwood Daytona bodykit. The original four or five examples were

raced by John Greenwood, while Jibrail’s car is a ‘continuation’ example

that’s been the subject of a full body-off restoration.

Daren Parish brought along his 1958 C1 roadster, which looks fairly

stock from the exterior – aside from the large alloy wheels and modern

paintwork – but underneath has been greatly upgraded with an LS1 V8

engine among a whole host of other modifications.

Lotus gathered a cross-section of

its historic models in the capital on

16 July to celebrate the launch of

the 1973bhp Evija, its all-electric

supercar. But while what’s claimed

to be the world’s most powerful

production car was silver, the

classics that made their way to the

event at the Royal Horticultural

Halls were all in variations on the

marque’s famous Norfolk Mustard.

To drum up interest in the first

new model since Geely Auto took

control of Group Lotus in 2017, the

yellow Lotus convoy drove around

central London during the

afternoon, and there was a classic

Routemaster bus on hand to take

visitors on the old Route 41, past

Hornsey where Colin Chapman

built his first car in 1948.

As well as a current Elise Sport

220, Exige Sport 410 and Evora

GT410 Sport, the selection included

a ‘wedge’ Elite and Éclat, Elan +2,

S1 Elise, Elan Sprint and M100,

Exige S, plus both Giugiaro and

V8 Esprits. There was even an

ex-Ayrton Senna Lotus 99T Grand

Prix car on static display, too.

Evija’s classic welcome

Models from across

the generations were

represented in Beds

Yellow models from across Lotus’ history united for the launch of the new Evija (inset)