RESTO SHOW RETURNS
Barn finds and restoration projects take pride of place at Birmingham's NEC
The Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show, with discovery+, returned to Birmingham’s NEC on 18th-20th March after a two-year absence, and some 25,221 attendees enjoyed live working and demonstrations from the 152 car clubs exhibiting, as well as over 1000 display vehicles. That visitor number was only slightly down on the 28,846 who attended in 2019, which is good going given the fact that many people are still wary of crowded venues and the spiralling cost of fuel.
A number of awards were presented at the show. Our favourite was the 1949 Jowett Bradford ice cream van owned by Harry Larcombe, which also stole the visitors’ hearts on the Carole Nash Barn Find display to win Barn Find of the Show. The fiercely contested Lancaster Insurance Pride of Ownership competition, with 20 finalists on show, saw an incredibly shocked Laura Godtschalk and her 1992 Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet lifting the trophy in the public vote. Second place went to Brian Kent’s striking 1965 Humber Super Snipe Estate, while Shaun Hunter’s 1973 Ford Escort Mk1 came third.
The National Car Club Awards celebrated the work of the clubs, both at the show and throughout the year, presenting 12 awards. Highlights were Bob Wilkinson who received the Lifetime Achievement award for launching the Classic Car Loan Project, and the Car Club of the Year award which was presented jointly to three clubs – the TR Register, the Triumph Sports Six Club and the MG Car Club for working together to create their first interclub event.
Other winners included the Gay Classic Car Group and Boston Classic Car Club for the Best Stand at Show in the large and small section respectively. The Morris Minor Owners Club won Best Live Working on Vehicles at the Show, while the Jowett Car Club was celebrated for Best Live Demonstration on a Car Club Stand at the Show. Best Barn Find/ Unrestored Car at Show was presented to Daniel Moore’s 1935 Rolls-Royce 20/25 Enclosed Limousine on the RollsRoyce & Bentley Enthusiasts stand, and the Best Restored Car at Show was won by a Hillman Husky belonging to Lawrence
Delaney on the Hillman Owners Club stand.
During the event, over £30,000 was raised for charitable causes. The Sporting Bears Motor Club reached a new record for this event as members raised £20,018 over the weekend by giving dream rides in their cars. This money will be shared between three deserving children’s charities – Action Duchenne, Birmingham Children's Hospital Charity, and Me and Dee. Classic Car Auctions (CCA) had its biggest ever sale, putting the hammer down on £3million worth of vehicles and a 78% sale rate – they donated all catalogue proceeds to The Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, raising over £9000 for the charity.
Also raising money for the same cause was the Wartburg Trabant IFA Club, who displayed a Zaporozhets 968A that was built in the currently under-siege Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya on the Dnieper River. Said Event Organiser of the club, Richard Hemington: 'We are shocked and appalled by the tragic events in Ukraine. The conflict and humanitarian crisis is causing unspeakable suffering to innocent people. The club professes no political affiliations, but welcomes all who have an interest in the technical pedigree of the eclectic vehicles produced in former Eastern Bloc countries. The club does not celebrate nor share the politics of those regimes, and acknowledges the suffering that many people endured under them. We had planned our display last year, before the war, but being moved by events in Ukraine we have been encouraging support of the appeal by the UK’s pan-agency Disasters Emergency Committee providing humanitarian relief, and we have been encouraging visitors to join with us in making a donation to the DEC.'