The Classics

The back end of April saw me leave my beloved VW Golf at home & hop on a train. My journo & I boarded at Marylebone heading for Bicester; a sleepy outskirt of Oxford whose most famous landmark is an outlet mall popular with tourists from the east.

We were there on very different business for we were heading for Historic Bicester- a former RAF base that has been purchased & turned into a hub for classic & vintage motor vehicles. Walking around the site, there is clearly plenty to do with many (absolutely beautiful!) empty & delapidated outbuildings.

But there certainly is plenty of potential. The showroom below housing classic Vauxhall saloons was once a pumping station & looked much like the above properties.

There certainly seems to be plenty of support for the project from the Oxfordshire locals with a huge turnout of classics on our open day & tour.

From classic Jaguars

To much rarer motors from the ’20’s & ’30’s like the classic Riley & Model T Ford below.

Right in the heart of the site is Historit, a company that supplies secure, climate-controlled storage to it’s customers to house their pride & joy in. It has probably the largest plot on the site for their operation- an enormous aircraft hanger filled with over £10million worth or classics!

Just around the corner from Historit is a company whom specialise in restoring classic F1 vehicles.

And behind their plot is Ewan Getley’s shop specialising in restoring vintage Bentleys.

There are ten businesses on site at the moment with more moving in every month- the last fella we meet is Geoff Clark who runs a sandblasting business. Once upon a time, his business was based on a farm in the middle of nowhere- now he is right beside his potential customers. It’s like a one-stop-shop for vintage & classic motors.

That was part one of our day complete. After a lovely lunch, we were briefed on part two- a leisurely drive through the countryside to the houses of parliament for the first Bicester-to-Westminster Parliamentary Historic Vehicles Run. There was only one rule- you were NOT to use the M4 motorway!

We headed for the briefing room before everyone saddled up in their vehicles ready for the off.

My journalist Henry landed himself in the passenger seat of a stunning old Alvis, whilst I, after requesting a convertible for better shots was placed in the back seat of one of the most powerful cars on the run- a brutal 1925 4-litre Bentley Coupe.

We weaved our way down the A41 through Aylesbury & into Hemel Hempstead.

Before hopping on the M1 at Watford where we really opened the tanks on these beasts.

Henry looked like he was having a ball in that Alvis!

Before long it was just the two Bentleys leading the charge & at that speed, rattling around on the back seat of that 4-litre beast was a pretty hairy experience!

Before long, we were winding our way into London Town through St. John’s Wood, Baker Street & down onto Park Lane. We passed Buckingham Palace before rounding Parliament Square for the final stretch.

Within minutes there was a gaggle of tourists surrounding the 20-odd vehicles that made the trip. It must’ve been a pretty impressive sight for anyone that happened to be passing by.