Tuesday 5 June 2012

Tatton Hall Park Classic Car Show 2012

Ariel Atom - Civic engine. 
Lomax 3-wheeler w/ Citroen DS engine/suspension.
 Roof chopped Fiat 500.
 Sebring V8 powered wide-arch Austin Healey 3000 replica.

 Honda Beat.
MGA 1600 Roadster. 
MGC straight-6, triple S.Us. 
 1964 Shelby 'Boat-Tail' Daytona Coupe - didn't say it was a replica but it's got to be. 


 Powered by ROUSH.
Alfa Romeo 155 V6 headed off an alarming amount of '90s metal that equalled the classics in number. Time waits for no man I guess. 
 BMW E30 325i and Ford Escort RS Turbo Cabriolet.
1949 BSA Side-Valve coupe. 
 Buick Special.
 Well these certainly weren't classics but it was good to see Cad Scoobies out in force with possibly the biggest stand of the show.

Chevrolet Corvair was Americas only ever air-cooled rear-engined car.

This was turbocharged to boot, making it a definite contender for strangest car of the day.
Daimler Dart V8 was superbly kept and looked fantastic.
Datusun 280Z was in concourse condition and was a real crowd puller.
 Dodge Charger.
 Ford Escort RS1600i.
Ginetta looked good from the front.
But better from the rear with a seriously turbocharged Hillman Imp engine. 
Hudson Hornet. 
 Humber and Rolls Royce.
Lotus Elan and pristine Porsche 912. 
Peugeot 205 CJ looked stylish as ever, though not out of place at a classic show.
Reliant Scimitar GT was joined by many of its kin on an impressive owner's club stand.
Renault 17 coupes. 

Renault Alpine A610. 
Toyota Celica Supra. 
Toyota Century was among a vast collection of '70s and early '80s Japanese cars.
 Alfa Romeo 'Alfasud' Ti.
Alfa Romeo Spider.
Alfa Romeo SZ supercar was a massive attraction, but on close inspection turned out to be a replica.
Size gives it away - the replica is no bigger than the Alfasud next door.
20 million quids worth with not even a velvet rope around them? No, these oddly proportioned Ferrari 250 GTOs are replicas too and head off the Italian Replica Club stand. Some had a blatant kit car feel but it was surprising how many modern Ferraris were almost convincing copies.
A truly superb example, but still a replica none the less, this Ferrari 330 P/4 Le Mans car had everything in the right place and was best on stand by miles.
Fiat 124 Abart 'Stradale' looked simply stunning in yellow.  



Snug, simple and stylish as only the Italians can do...     And was completed by these 'pepperpot' Lancia Delta Integrale wheels to be my favourite car of the show.  




I was hoping to see a Fiat Dino as I've not seen one in the flesh before, not consciously at least, and was overjoyed to find two parked up together looking divine. 



Enzo designed both the coupe and the better known mid-engined 'Ferrari Dino 246' to start off the range of a new marque called Dino after his son Alfredo who had fallen ill and tragically died after finishing design of the 'Dino' V6 engine that would become trademark. At the last minute, parent company Fiat pulled the plug on Enzo's new marque saying it was too expensive to introduce, so the coupe we see here was badged the Fiat 'Dino' and the 246 denoted as the Ferrari 'Dino'. Yada yada, I could waffle on about these things all day...

Lancia Delta Integrales looked fresh and fast as ever.

Lancia Fulvia S3 was absolutely stunning and in a concourse condition for its occupants - the Queen and Prince Philip [cardboard heads stuck to the seats].
I was over the moon to see a Fulvia, but a HF rally version would have been nice.
Rally Stratos looked very authentic and there was no reason to doubt it, but the paint and panel-fit wads just a little too good leading me to believe it was in fact a replica.
Period reg. plate is in keeping with the correct era and the car was advertised as a Lancia Stratos not Hawk or replica. Still though I'm not convinced the owner would leave such a rare machine sat in the paddock.
Any fans of the Gran Turismo game, Initial D comic and cartoon series or JDM cars in general would instantly recognise the significance of this Toyota Sprinter 'Panda' Trueno. Thats Sprinter, the Japanese name for the Carolla. Trueno, denoting that this has the pop-up front headlights, as opposed to the Levin, with fixed headlights and the White/Black colour scheme gives the name 'Panda', a popular colour choice over there. Wow, Japanese cars are a geeks dream...


















A Reanult KJ is my final guess.
Vauxhall Firenza 'Droop Snoot' was one of two genuine cars at the show.
See, heres the other one, parked next to an extremely rare and cool Chevette HSR Rally.
Laughing all the way chrome... Designers weren;t so health and safety obsessed when they penned this 1959 series two Chevrolet Impala. 
Mk 1. Ford Capri RS3100.
Mk 2. Ford Capri w/ the 3100cc Essex V6.


Ford Escort Cosworth rally version w/ Pilot graphics.
Ford Granada Fastback er, Coupe, erm funeral car?
Mk 2. Ford 'Lotus' Cortina looked good as ever, but the presence of a Mk 1. was sadly lacking.
A gnarly V8 hot-rod pickup based on a Ford Model T. [Correct me if I'm wrong.]
Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth.

Peugot 304 Cabriolet.

'Cal Look' Volkswagen Type 1 'Beetle' looked smart.
1951 Nash aero car. No idea if this is the original bodywork, with the 'ute' style pickup back, but it sure looked swell and I doubt I'll see one again.

The American Car Club UK had a decent sized stand displaying plenty of classic muscle from the Pontiac Firebird 'Trans Ams' pictured, to Corvettes and Cadillacs.