The classic car calendar is packed with events large and small, with something for everyone whether you're a marque aficionado or general enthusiast. Here are a few throughout the UK that are deserving of your attention, whether you're away on holiday or simply fancy a destination for a day out.
Now that spring ids finally here (officially, at least), hopefully we can all get out and about.
We will be adding to the list every week as more events are confirmed.
May 19-20: Spring Autojumble, National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, Hampshire
The first start-up of the National Motor Museum's 1950 BRM V16 will take place at Beaulieu’s Spring Autojumble after the painstaking rebuild of the treasured F1 racer’s complex engine.
On Saturday May 19 at 3pm, visitors will hear the incredible roar of the BRM’s powerful but highly-strung supercharged engine, which made it famous during its heyday when driven by Juan Manuel Fangio and Reg Parnell.
To watch the BRM’s newly-rebuilt engine running before being re-fitted, see www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhoytYf-joY&feature=youtu.be. Or to watch the last time this iconic racer ran in public, see www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvsyazElybo.
Beaulieu’s Spring Autojumble features more than 1,000 stands for classic car parts, automobilia and motoring literature. It will also celebrate the 70th anniversaryof the Morris Minor, one of the nation’s favourite classics, with more than 300 examples on display.
The centrepiece will be a real-life timeline, showcasing every phase of the Morris Minor’s development during its long production run, ranging from one of the earliest Minor ‘lowlights’ of 1948, through the special edition lilac Minor Million of 1961 up to one of the last Minor 1000 vans to go into service with the Post Office in 1972.
On the Sunday there's a Land Rover Rummage in which everything and anything Land Rover-related can be bought, bartered, swapped and sold, while the Trunk Traders features stalls selling surplus spares, tools, books and automobilia.
Full details at www.beaulieu.co.uk/events/spring-autojumble
May 19-20: UK Slot Car Festival, British Motor Museum, Gaydon, Warwickshire
Billed as Europe’s biggest and best slot car event, this returning festival will feature miniature racing in all its forms, with well-known Scalextric and Carrera alongside SCX, Slot.it, NSR, Ninco, H0 AFX and many more. New for 2018 is an amazing model village rally stage and more historic brands such as Minic Motorway, Playcraft and Wren.
Expect interactive activities alongside a new international slot-racing competition hosted by Slot.it, a mini racing competition, oval banger racing, a drag strip, H0-scale tracks, digital layouts, a slot stunt show and more than 60 trade stands.
Visitors can also meet the manufacturers and swap, buy and sell cars as well as meet other like-minded enthusiasts, plus play for free on a host of tracks showcasing the very latest innovations such as wireless hand throttles from Scalextric.
Advance tickets cost £10 for adults and £6 for children, with a family ticket at £39.
Full details at www.ukslotcarfestival.co.uk and www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk
May 26-27: Land Rover Legends, Bicester Heritage, Oxfordshire
A new event for Land Rover connoisseurs, collectors, preservationists, restorers and enthusiasts that celebrates everything special about the famed 4x4 maker past and present.
This year is the 70th anniversary of the introduction of the first Land Rover in 1948, and this event sets out to showcase the very best examples, from original vehicles to renovated and restored ones. As well as production models, the line-up will also include prototypes and pre-production vehicles, rare and bespoke conversions and military derivatives from the 1948 Series 1 to the very latest upmarket models.
Forums and presentations will allow enthusiasts to hear fascinating stories from Land Rover experts such as engineers and designers, as well as explorers who have taken the marque to the most inhospitable places on the planet.
The event takes place against the appropriately authentic and beautifully restored backdrop of the former military buildings at Bicester Heritage, which is well worth a visit in its own right.
There will be priority parking for anyone arriving in a Land Rover, while Land Rover clubs will display and demonstrate members' vehicles, while leading Land Rover restorers, specialists and associated suppliers will be located in and around Bicester Heritage’s magnificent main exhibition hangar.
Full details at the www.landroverlegends.com official website.
May 26-27: La Vie en Bleu/La Vita Rossa, Prescott Hillclimb, Gotherington, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
The home of the Bugatti Owners’ Club will once again be transformed into a celebration of fine French and Italian cars and motorcycles, action-packed motor racing on the hillclimb course, along with entertainment for the whole family.
The spectacular, 261mph Bugatti Chiron will be taking to the hillclimb and be on static display in the paddock, accompanied by the no less impressive Bugatti Veyron Supersport and Veyron Pur Sang. There will even be an opportunity to win a passenger ride in the Chiron.
Other Bugattis on show will include many vintage models, more Veyrons and the first of the modern Bugattis, the EB110 from the 1990s, while the race programme will feature special classes for French and Italian marques, including a round of the Ferrari Hillclimb Championship.
The paddock will be packed many of the world’s most desirable, rarest and significant French and Italian cars, as well as other supercars by invitation only.
The heroic Duncan Pittaway will perform demonstration runs in his mighty 1911 Fiat S76 land speed record contender, the Beast of Turin. With about 300bhp from a 28.5-litre, four-cylinder engine the thing has to be seen to be believed.
Fans of British racers will be treated to a special class for ERA voiturettes which includes the iconic ex-Raymond Mays R4D, the most celebrated chassis in the marque's history, and - for the first time - an ERA E-Type.
Advance tickets cost £15 per day or £25 for the weekend – on-the-gate prices are £20 and £35 respectively. Entry includes free parking and all entertainment. Under-16s are admitted free.
Full details at prescott- hillclimb.com/events/tickets/la-vie-en-bleu-2018
May 27: Hutton-In-The-Forest Classic Car and Bike Show, Hutton-In-The-Forest, near Penrith, Cumbria
The spectacular Cumbrian parkland and historic hall will reverberate to the roar of classic cars, motorcycles, light commercial vehicles and more on the Spring Bank Holiday weekend.
Privately-owned classic cars are warmly invited, so it’s a great opportunity to show off your pride and joy in the spring sunshine.
There will also be an arena show, together with plenty of trade stands and an autojumble.
Located six miles from Penrith in the north of the Cumbrian fells, less than three miles from the M6, the show runs from 10am-4pm. At £7 per adult and £2.50 for children, admission includes free parking, full access to the park, gardens and tea room, with house tours from 1pm for a small additional fee. Well-behaved dogs are welcome.
Full details at www.markwoodwardclassicevents. com
May 28: Yorkshire Classic Vehicle Show, Ripley Castle, nr Harrogate, Yorkshire
This spring bank holiday Monday the 700 year-old Ripley Castle will be featuring a huge display of classic vehicles; not just classic cars but also motorcycles, vans, trucks and ex-military vehicles.
The displays centre on Ripley Castle's magnificent deer park, along with arena demonstrations, parades and a host of club stands, as well as an autojumble for parts and motoring paraphernalia. Chief among these is the ever-popular classic Land Rover display.
Visitors can enjoy the historic venue, too; admission to the car show (£7 for adults and £2.50 for children) includes the castle grounds, gardens and parkland. Castle tours run from 11am for an additional fee, and tickets can be purchased on the day. Parking is free.
Ripley Castle is three miles north of Harrogate, with easy access from the A1.
Full details at the www.markwoodwardclassicevents.com website.
June 2-3: Coventry Motofest, Coventry, West Midlands
The annual - and free - MotoFest is a unique blend of motorsport demonstrations, static displays, live music and anything else with a connection to Coventry's motoring and transport heritage.
It includes sprint events and demonstrations of superb cars, motorcycles and more on a circuit formed from the city's inner ring road. This year's event is reckoned to be host to the largest collection of classic cars and bikes so far, with more than 1,000 machines expected to take part.
As well as the live action demonstrations, there will also be a dedicated classic car and bike display area in Coventry’s city centre.
Add in pop-up displays and fringe events, as well as numerous static events, and it's easy to see why Motofest is claimed to be the largest free urban motorsport festival in the UK.
Full details at the Coventry Motofest website.
June 2-3: Argyll Festival of Performance, Inveraray Castle, Argyll
The magnificent, fire-breathing Beast of Turin, the Fiat S76 record-breaker from 1911, makes its first ever appearance in Scotland for this new festival celebrating the country's contribution to motorsport.
With a 28.5-litre, four-cylinder engine developing 300bhp and capable of 116mph, the Beast set the one-mile land speed record in 1911.
It was more than a century before the Beast was run again, following an intensive and meticulous restoration by its owner Duncan Pittaway. The current Beast comprises the chassis of one of only two Fiat S76s built and the engine of the other.
The Beast joins a stellar line-up of cars for the Festival including a Lotus 18 raced by Innes Ireland, Scotland’s first GP winner, and later raced by Jim Clark. Also confirmed is the Tyrrell 001, Ken Tyrrell’s first F1 car, as campaigned by Jackie Stewart.
An iconic Porsche 917K, stunning Ferrari F40, Cooper-Bristol T-51 and a Maserati Tec Mec will also be on show in the grounds of the historic seat of the Clan Campbell.
And to mark 50 years since the untimely death of one of the sport’s most famous sons, Jim Clark, a one-off Lotus 32B constructed for Jim to race in the 65 Tasman Series will join the line-up. The Jim Clark Trust is the event’s charity partner with a donation from every ticket sold going to support the Trust’s plans to further develop a heritage centre to celebrate this great Scot’s contribution to motor racing.
Full details at www.argyllfestivalofperformance.com
June 3: Simply Porsche, National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, Hampshire
As many as 1,000 Porsches are expected to join Beaulieu’s Simply Porsche event in the grounds of the National Motor Museum, held in association with The Independent Porsche Enthusiasts’ Club (TIPEC).
Now in its sixth year (and 2018 marks the German company's 70th anniversary of sports car production), Simply Porsche attracts a wide variety of Porsches of every age and model. The 356 that built the manufacturer’s reputation in the 1950s and 1960s will be joined by the 911 and its modern-day successors, the front-engined 924, 944 and 928, plus the latest Cayenne and Macan 4x4s.
Those arriving in a Porsche will be admitted for £10 adult and £5 children 5-16 if bought in advance online (£12 and £^ on the gate). Tickets to Simply Porsche include entry to all of the Beaulieu attraction, including the National Motor Museum and its collection of more than 250 vehicles, new-look World of Top Gear, On Screen Cars, 13th century Beaulieu Abbey, the Montagu ancestral home of Palace House and its stunning grounds and gardens.
Simply Porsche is one of nine Simply rallies at Beaulieu this year. Simply VW will be returning on June 16th as part of a vibrant motoring-themed Father’s Day weekend, while Simply Land Rover on June 24th will also feature the new Simply Rummage, offering sought-after spares for the nation’s favourite 4x4. Rally favourites also returning this year will be Simply Jaguar on July 8th, Simply Japanese on July 29th and Simply Smart on November 11th.
Full details at www.beaulieu.co.uk/events/simply-porsche/
June 9-10: XK70 Jaguar Festival, Shelsley Walsh hillclimb, Shelsley Walsh, Worcestershire
This event, which celebrates 70 years since the introduction of the ground-breaking Jaguar XK120, will take place at Shelsley Walsh in Worcestershire – with demonstration runs by three of Jaguar’s famed Group C endurance racing cars, including the 1987 Championship-winning XJR-8.
The organisers are aiming to attract a record-breaking 700 XKs from around the world to the historic venue, including those rare examples that were re-bodied in period by some of the world’s finest coachbuilders, such as Ghia and Bertone.
Also welcome are all other XK-engined Jaguars, including the Mk1 and Mk2, E-type and XJ6, plus more recent models such as the XK8 and F-type.
Le Mans winner Richard Attwood will be there, as will former Jaguar racers Peter Sutcliffe and Peter Sargent, plus the evergreen Norman Dewis, along with former jaguar chairman Sir John Egan and former Wheeler Dealers presenter Edd China, who will be filming at the event.
Entries are now open for the competitive hillclimb, which will take place on the Saturday, while Sunday will be packed with parades and demonstration runs – including the chance for enthusiasts to drive their own car up the hill.
Overhead, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will stage a fly-past, while family entertainment includes a vintage fairground, shopping village and live music, as well as various food outlets.
Discounted advance tickets start at £20, with under-16s admitted free when accompanied by an adult.
Full details at www.xk70.co.uk; details about the venue at the Shelsley Walsh website.
June 9-10: Classic and Vintage Commercial Show, British Motor Museum, Gaydon, Warwickshire
More than 300 classic and vintage lorries, trucks and buses will be on display at the 11th staging of an event that is one of the largest classic commercial shows in Europe.
On the Sunday the show will welcome a greater number of vehicles featuring classic British marques such as AEC, Austin, Bedford, ERF, Foden, Ford Thames, Leyland, Scammell and Morris, along with some overseas marques. Also on show will be light commercial vehicles, from the Morris J Type through to the Ford Transit.
Over the weekend there will be a commercial vehicle trade area where visitors can rummage through a selection of automobile spares, photos and brochures, while the Museum will host an Indoor Model Show featuring scratch-build kits in various scales.
Saturday will see the return of the 'Lorry Driver of the Year' competition, in which drivers test their manoeuvring skills on a specially designed course.
Full details at www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk
June 10: Vauxhall Heritage Centre Open Day, Luton, Bedfordshire
Vauxhall Motors' renowned Heritage Centre in Luton, which this year celebrates its first quarter-century, houses a fascinating collection of 75 vehicles spanning the company’s entire 115-year history – with almost all of them maintained in working condition.
Exhibits include the first Vauxhall model – a 5hp, single-cylinder, chain-driven ‘horseless carriage’ – to the latest 600hp VXR8 GTS-R.
Models celebrating anniversaries this year include 35 years since the first Astra GTE, 55 years since the first Viva and 40 years since the first Chevette HS – but arguably the most important is Vauxhall’s best-selling Corsa, which this year turns 25. Expect to see all four generations of the supermini outside the Centre on the day.
As well as production cars, the collection also features concepts and prototypes, including the ground-breaking XVR and SRV concepts from the Sixties and Seventies.
Vauxhall’s Heritage Centre Open Day will run from 10am to 4pm. Parking is free. As in previous years, the day coincides with nearby Luton Festival of Transport.
The Heritage Centre is situated behind Vauxhall’s Head Office on Park Street, Luton LU1 3HG.
June 30-July 1: Heveningham Hall motorsport and aviation concours d'elegance, Heveningham, Suffolk
The Heveningham Hall concours d’elegance returns for its third year alongside a country fair in the Grade 1-listed Georgian mansion’s 5,000 acres of parkland, featuring 50 of the world’s most iconic cars exhibited on dramatic grassed terraces.
Also, following a successful inaugural event last year, there will be a simultaneous aviation concours featuring some of the world’s rarest aircraft.
New for 2018 will be the opportunity for concours’ owners and specially-selected guests to demonstrate their cars on timed sprints within the Capability Brown-designed landscape.
The Heveningham Tour also returns following a successful inaugural event in 2017 that saw around 25 concours owners and guests - their cars including a 1951 Ferrari 212 Barchetta, 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Corse and 2017 Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta - make their way through the Suffolk countryside.
This year's 50-mile tour takes place on Friday, June 29, taking in Suffolk’s renowned Heritage Coast.
Full details at www.heveninghamconcours.com
July 1: Leighton Hall Classic Car & Bike Show, nr Carnforth, Lancashire
Set against the backdrop of the Lake District fells, more than 500 historic vehicles will be on show at the 19th Leighton Classic Car and Bike Show, only 10 minutes from the M6.
As well as a host of familiar - and many unfamiliar - classics, expect also beautifully restored motorcycles, vans, trucks, 4x4s and military transport. There will also be arena displays throughout the day, plus trade stands, club displays and the ever-popular autojumble to source elusive spare parts or automobilia.
Admission is £7 per adult and £2.50 for children and includes admission to Leighton’s grounds, gardens, woodland walks, play area and tea rooms. House tours run from 1pm for a small additional charge.
There's also the Leighton Hall Motorcycle Hill Climb on September 23 - see www.leightonhall.co.uk for more information.
Full details of the Classic Car & Bike Show at www.markwoodwardclassicevents.com
July 8: Simply Jaguar, National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, Hampshire
Returning for its third year, a sparkling selection of Jaguars old and new will be on show in the grounds of the National Motor Museum, so expect the latest F-type, F-Pace and modern and classic versions of the XK alongside many shining examples of the revered E-type.
Classic saloons such as the MkI, MkII and MkX, modern S-type, X-type, XF, XJ and luxurious Daimler-badged models are all welcome.
For those driving Jaguars into Beaulieu, participant tickets are £10 an adult, £5 a child (aged 5-16) if bought in advance online (£12 and £6 on the gate).
Admission tickets include entrance to all of the Beaulieu attraction, including the National Motor Museum and its collection of more than 250 vehicles, the World of Top Gear, On Screen Cars, 13th century Beaulieu Abbey, the Montagu ancestral home of Palace House and its stunning grounds and gardens.
Simply Jaguar will be followed by Simply Japanese on July 29 and Simply Smart on November 11.
Full details of all Beaulieu events at www.beaulieu.co.uk/events.
July 14: Oakamoor Hillclimb, Oakamoor Park, Oakamoor, North Staffordshire
This family-friendly revival event will feature more than 100 veteran, vintage and classic cars made between 1900 to 1975 to celebrate the tradition of the Oakamoor Hill Climb, which dates back to 1906.
Competitors still have a chance to enter (full details at the website below).
A range of family-friendly activities will also be available, along with local craft, food and drink stalls. The event coincides with the Oakamoor Wind in the Willows festival, which begins the day before.
The event will take place between 9am-5pm and entry is only £2.50 per person. All proceeds will be donated to Staffordshire Clubs for Young People (Staffs CYP), a registered charity which delivers a variety of projects to 5,000 young people across Staffordshire.
Full details at www.oakamoorhillclimb.org
July 27-29: CarFest North, Bolesworth Castle Estate, Tattenhall, Cheshire
The car-themed family festival, which has raised more than £10.5 million for BBC Children In Need over the past six years, returns for 2018 bigger and better than ever.
As usual, there is one event in Cheshire and one in Hampshire, on July 27-29 and August 24-26 respectively.
The Car Paddock will celebrate the very best F1 cars, convertibles, coupés, grand tourers, saloons, supercars and more. Also on the menu is a display of German cars set around a Bavarian beer hall with traditional food, music and entertainment.
Live music acts already confirmed include Bananarama, who will appear alongside Billy Ocean, The Feeling, Status Quo, Alfie Boe & Michael Ball, The Proclaimers and Madness. There will also be an exclusive performance from CarFest’s Supergroup, curated by The Kaiser Chiefs’ singer Ricky Wilson, including Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp, with more members still to be announced.
The CarFest Kitchen will include Joe Wicks, Nadiya Hussain and Candice Brown. Returning culinary masters including Tom Kerridge and Angela Hartnett will be joined by car-mad chef James Martin.
The Vintage Village is back by popular demand, featuring vintage market traders, tea rooms and sweet shops, and the chance to savour cars from the 1930s through to the 1970s.
The final batch of tickets for both events will be available from April 19 at www.bbc.co.uk/radio2
Full details (and for the CarFest South event on August 24-26) at www.carfest.org/
July 28-29: Shelsley Walsh Classic Nostalgia Experience, Shelsley Walsh hillclimb, Shelsley Walsh, Worcestershire
The superb Shelsley Walsh hillclimb course's annual nostalgia-fest Has as its theme 'F1 Through the Ages'. The main attraction at the 2018 event will be an F1 paddock filled with modern and classic Formula One cars.
The venue is the oldest motorsport venue in the world still using its original course, having staged speed hillclimb events since August 1905.
The F1 paddock will be open to all spectators and many of them will be put through through their paces on the narrow, twisting hillclimb set in the beautiful Worcestershire countryside.
As well as the lure of historic and more recent F1 machinery, there will also be vintage and retro racing against the clock for pre-1980s cars, demonstration runs, static displays, live music, entertainment and food.
There will also be displays of rare classic motorcycles and a selection of historic rally cars from the Eighties and Nineties.
Full details at the Classic Nostalgia section of the Shelsley Walsh website: www.shelsleywalsh.com/classicnostalgia.
August 4: National Metro & Mini Show, British Motor Museum, Gaydon, Warwickshire
The 60th anniversary of the Mini will be celebrated in style at this annual show, which has moved from its traditional June slot to early August.
The show will be supported by various Mini clubs including the 59 Register, the Mini Traveller and Countryman Register and the Cooper Sport 500 Register. Plans are also coming together for a Guinness Book of Records attempt on the Saturday before the show to create the longest line of Minis ever seen.
Tom Caren, show manager at the British Motor Museum, said “As home to both the first and last classic Minis, it is only fitting for the British Motor Museum to celebrate the car’s 60th anniversary. The 2019 National Metro & Mini Show will be held on the weekend before the International Mini Meet to allow our international visitors and Mini enthusiasts to plan for a week of Mini 60th celebrations.”
Visitors to the Show will also be able to explore the Museum’s collection of more than 300 historic British vehicles from the 1900s to the present day.
Full details at www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk
August 24-26: CarFest South, Laverstoke Park Farm, Laverstoke, Hampshire
The car-themed family festival, which has raised more than £10.5 million for BBC Children In Need over the past six years, returns for 2018 bigger and better than ever.
As usual, there is one event in Cheshire and one in Hampshire, on July 27-29 and August 24-26 respectively.
The Car Paddock will celebrate the very best F1 cars, convertibles, coupés, grand tourers, saloons, supercars and more. Also on the menu is a display of German cars set around a Bavarian beer hall with traditional food, music and entertainment.
Live music acts already confirmed include Bananarama, who will appear alongside Billy Ocean, The Feeling, Status Quo, Alfie Boe & Michael Ball, The Proclaimers and Madness. There will also be an exclusive performance from CarFest’s Supergroup, curated by The Kaiser Chiefs’ singer Ricky Wilson, including Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp, with more members still to be announced.
The CarFest Kitchen will include Joe Wicks, Nadiya Hussain and Candice Brown. Returning culinary masters including Tom Kerridge and Angela Hartnett will be joined by car-mad chef James Martin.
The Vintage Village is back by popular demand, featuring vintage market traders, tea rooms and sweet shops, and the chance to savour cars from the 1930s through to the 1970s.
The final batch of tickets for both events will be available from April 19 at www.bbc.co.uk/radio2Full details (and for the CarFest North event on July 27-29) at www.carfest.org
August 31-September 1: Déjà Vu Ulster Rally Reunion, Titanic Quarter, Belfast
Rally legend Walter Röhrl will return to the scene of his dominant win in the 1984 Ulster International Rally for the latest in Déjà Vu Motorsport’s popular rally reunions, in aid of charity, which have already raised £70,000.
What’s more, Paddy Hopkirk, a five-time Circuit of Ireland Rally winner, has confirmed that he will be returning to his native Belfast to also take part.
It’s 34 years since Walter and his co-driver Christian Geistdörfer blasted their Group B Audi Quattro S4 over the Antrim, Down and Fermanagh stages to obliterate the opposition. Those who witnessed their performance rate it as one of the greatest drives in Irish rallying history. The unbeatable duo defeated luminaries such as Russell Brookes, Jimmy McRae and local hero Bertie Fisher by more than four minutes.
The Porsche-contracted driver will return to Ulster to head a cavalcade of historic rally cars over famous Antrim stages such as Glen Dunn and Torr Head. He will be joined by many of his contemporaries and a host of other rally stars.
The cavalcade starts at the Titanic Quarter in Belfast at 10am, taking in a 150-mile route over classic rally stages used in the Circuit of Ireland and Ulster Rally.
Afterwards, there is a gala dinner in Titanic Belfast with classic rallying videos, interviews with star drivers and other entertainment.
Registrations and tickets for the gala dinner can be reserved at the RPM Motorsport website below. All profits will go to Macmillan Cancer Support.
Full details at www.rpm-motorsport.com/tours/ or email alan@rpm-motorsport.com
August 31-September 2: Concours of Elegance, Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, Surrey
Nearly 1,000 of the rarest and most important cars ever produced, from the 1890s to 2018, will gather in the beautiful gardens of the Palace for the annual Concours of Elegance weekend.
The event’s main display of about 60 vehicles will tell the story of the motor car from the 1890s to the modern day. Picking out the finest examples from the world’s most iconic and legendary car brands, the event is a celebration of rarity, craftsmanship, design and endeavour in the automotive world.
There will also be a range of exclusive supercars, displays from the owners’ clubs representing many of the world's most illustrious marques, as well as stands from purveyors of various luxury goods.
Many of the cars on display will be taking part in moving parades over the weekend. Cars already confirmed include Rolls-Royces with Figoni et Falaschi bodywork, rare vintage Bugatti prototypes and Ferraris formerly owned by Hollywood stars.
Tickets start from £25, with concessions from £17.50. Children under five and carers are admitted free of charge.
Full details at www.concoursofelegance.co.uk
September 2, 2018: Blenheim Palace Classic & Supercar show, Woodstock, Oxfordshire
This family-friendly event returns for 2018 with more than 300 of the world's greatest classic and supercars, set in the spectacular grounds of the Blenheim Palace World Heritage Site.
One of the highlights will be the Pirelli Prestige & Performance Competition, featuring 80 supercars and hypercars built between 1978 and now, split into eight classes of 10 ground-breaking cars.
Full details at blenheimclassicsupercar.com
October 7: Shuttleworth Race Day Sprint, Old Warden Aerodrome, nr Biggleswade, Bedfordshire
The season finale at the fantastic Shuttleworth Collection of historic aircraft and automobilia celebrates founder Richard’s Shuttleworth’s passion for racing, veteran cars and vintage aviation.
The Shuttleworth Sprint is a ‘classic’ sprint course along a grass runway. It’s purely fun, non-competitive or timed and no racing licences are required, though some of the world’s finest veteran and vintage race cars and motorcycles will be taking part.
Entry applications are welcome from all pre-1939 vehicles - and visiting car and motorcycle clubs are welcome.
As well as the smell of oil and the roar of engines at the sprint, expect vintage aircraft flying displays, live music, period paddock and exhibits, along with activities to amuse and delight visitors of all ages.
Full details at the www.shuttleworth.org/events/raceday/ website.
October 19-21: Lombard Rally Bath, Somerset
Although not a competitive event, this celebration of the classic era of rallying takes place on part of the route of the 1976 Lombard RAC Rally in historic rally cars.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, the Lombard RAC Rally was the largest spectator event in the UK. To recall those days, the new tour was conceived by former rally driver Tim Nash as a predominantly social event and a reunion of former competitors, and already more than 120 cars have been confirmed to take part.
And the drivers! Expect to see Stig Blomqvist, twice a winner of the Lombard RAC Rally; Jimmy McRae, five time British champion; Louise Aitken-Walker, Ladies World Champion; Rosemary Smith, not only a former Ladies Champion Driver but the oldest person to drive a Formula 1 car, aged 79; former manufacturer drivers Terry Kaby, Graham Elsmore, David Llewellin and Robin Eyre-Maunsell.
These and many more will arrive in Bath on October 19 to attend a Rally Question and Answer Forum at the Bath Spa Hotel. On the Saturday morning the cars will leave Bath to visit former rally stages at Longleat and Cricket St. Thomas, before arriving at the “Spectator” stage at Wiscombe Park between Axminster and Honiton in Devon at about 11am.
Lunch will be taken in Minehead before the cars run up the Porlock Toll Road and then return to Bath, where they will be displayed whilst the drivers attend the Rally Dinner on the Saturday evening.
The oldest car confirmed so far is a pre-war Alvis Special, which will join hordes of classic rallying machinery such as Minis. Ford entries include a 1958 Zephyr, Cortinas, Escort Mk1 and Mk2, Sierras, Puma and Escort Cosworth, while Triumph will be represented by a TR4, Dolomite Sprint and a selection of the brutal V8-engined TR7s. Less likely rally cars include the Rover SD1 and Volkswagen Beetles and Golfs.
No such event would be complete without the cars that changed the face of rallying in the 1980s – Audi Quattros and MG Metro 6R4s, among others.
As the tour around the old rally venues will be conducted at a leisurely pace, spectators will be able to approach the drivers and get a close-up of the cars.
Full details at www.lombardrallybath.co.uk
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