Sixty-six of what are being called “the world’s most intriguing, unusual, exotic and genre-defining cars” will be featured February 23-26 at the London Classic Car Show in the London ExCeL.
Organizers have sorted those 66 cars into 11 categories “to produce a provocative automotive history embracing the expected, unexpected and the controversial,” they said in a news release.
The cars range from a 1904 Maudsley, powered by a 9.6-liter engine and considered the supercar of its day, to a Ferrari Enzo.
The categories are saloon, coupé, four-seat convertible, sports car, supercar, hatchback, shooting brake, sports racer, single seater, aerodynamic pioneers and, as a bonus, a Ferrari Tribute.
While the cars will be displayed at the show, they also will be paraded daily along The Grand Avenue, an indoor “highway” down the center of the exhibition hall.
To show the diversity of the displays, organizers noted that saloons (sedans) include a Hooper-bodied 1955 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, an avant-garde NSU Ro80 celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and FEV 1H, the Ford Escort that won the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally.
Among the convertibles are a 1931 Invicta S Type, a 1937 Alvis short chassis 4.3 Lancefield concealed hood and a Hispano Suiza HC6 with a tulip-wood body.
Aerodynamic pioneers include a Tatra T97, an Audi 100 sedan and the pre-war Alfa Romeo 6C Aerodinamica Spider, with its low drag body and centrally mounted driving position.
“None of the cars chosen for the Perfect Ten and for the Ferrari Tribute can be classed as ordinary,” said Bas Bungish, event director. “We have gone to extreme lengths to gather unusual examples under the different headings.
“For example, the hatchback category includes a Vauxhall Astra GTE, but this is no ordinary GTE. It’s the rare ‘Hide and Sleek’ special edition, built to mark John Cleland’s victory in the 1989 British Touring Car Championship and colloquially known as the Astra Champion. One of its special features was leather badges. On the outside…”
The London Classic Car Show is in its third year and will offer more than 700 cars on display. This year it also incorporates a second show, the Historic Motorsport International, which is devoted to historic racing and rallying.
for a moment i read”genre” as “gender” and thought oh please not here too…