UK CAR CAPITAL REVEALED

It isn’t just football results – Leicester is upsetting the classic ownership league tables, too!

Forget the cash- rich commuter belt of the south-east – new research has revealed that Leicester is the UK centre for classic car enthusiasts.

Classic car insurer, ClassicLine, analysed more than 100,000 pieces of data, with the results showing that the city has more than a third more policy holders than anywhere else in the country.

Further analysis shows that the car manufacturing heartland of the Midlands has a Bermuda Triangle of classic car hotspots between Leicester, Coventry, and Birmingham.

Away from the Midlands, southern postcodes including Guildford, Tunbridge Wells and Reading, are also high on the list – although none is placed higher than Coventry in third position.

Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club chairman and East Midlands organiser, John Griffiths, says: ‘ We’ve a good number of members who own classic Alfa Romeos in and around Leicester. Our region covers Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire but we choose Leicestershire as our focal point.

‘There are some really good driving roads to use for our club activities, like navigational runs and general convoy drives, and being in the centre of the country means that we can easily take the older cars to the club’s big events in other parts, and still return the same day.

‘A number of pubs have caught on to the classic scene, too, and have taken to organising classic car nights which a number of our members support. The 105 Series cars are most numerous (Spiders and Bertone coupés), but we also have members with Alfetta GTVs/ GTV6s and rarities like the 1900 Super.’

ClassicLine managing director, Ian Fray, says: ‘ It’s great to hear that people in the Midlands love their four-wheel friends more than anywhere else in the country, especially as the area has a strong automotive history.’