This year The London Classic Car Show was held in Syon Park in Brenford, West London. Syon Park is a 200 acre site on which stands the historic, and colossal Syon House.
There were a number of really interesting displays at the show. Two of which were very special centenary anniversaries.
The first was the centenary of the Bugatti Brescia. In 1921 Bugatti Type 13s came 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th at the Brescia Grand Prix. From that point forward, all multi-valve Type 13s were known as Brescias.
It was a real treat to see so many early Bugattis all in one place!
The Lancia Lambda was also celebrating it’s 100th anniversary. This was the first car to have a monocoque style body, rather than being body on frame. I can’t recall seeing the Lambda on my travels, so it was impressive to see so many at the same time.
Walter Heale’s Lambda race car was also on display.
Another personal highlight for me was display of late Victorian and early Edwardian cars, including a replica of the Benz Patent Motorwagen and a steam powered car! This particular era of motoring is really fascinating to me, as nothing was really standardised and every manufacturer’s creations were totally unique.
Across from there was a display of aero-engined cars. Although shoehorning aircraft engines into car chassis’ began to crop up in the 1910s, the practise really ‘took off’ (if you’ll pardon the pun) following the First World War, when there was a surplus of engines stripped from military aircraft.
The London Vintage Taxi association brought along a number of nice vehicles.
There were a couple of large manufacturer specific displays. The Mercedes Benz Owners Club had a nice array of cars on show. I particularly liked the stacked headlight estate.
The BMW stand was also excellent. I still have an inkling for a E24 6 Series. It’s by far the best looking car they’ve produced in my opinion.
A nice line up of Corvettes. There was a C2 aswell, not sure why I didn’t get a photo of that. I’m hoping that we’ll start to see the C8 here in the UK soon. The C8 is the first new car I’ve been excited about in a long time!
Dodge Vipers. The iconic livery on the race cars takes me back to my childhood and Gran Turismo 3.
Speaking of iconic, there was a Gulf liveried GT40 present.
A handful of NSXs and a R32 GTR were also there to represent the Japanese marques.
The final couple of cars I’d like to show you today are Citroens. I’ve really taken a fondness to pre-millennial French cars over the past couple of years. If the opportunity comes up, I’d love to own one.
The Traction Avant was an interesting machine. It wasn’t the first front wheel drive car, nor was it the first with a monocoque shell or independent suspension, but it was the first mass produced car to have all of these features that we take for granted today.
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By Richard Francis
