YEAR’THISTHISYEAR’S CLASSIC STARS

We celebrate the stories, people and events – not to mention the cars that played their own part – which made 2018 such a year to remember

The Classic Car Weekly Awards 2018

It’s been a whirlwind 12 months. One moment we were trudging through the snow at a bitterly cold Goodwood Members’ Meeting, and then slapping on the sun cream at shows just a few weeks later – but the one constant has been the endless stream of classics wowing us with some inspiring stories. It’s been a year of auction records, the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs has reported that show attendance is at a ten-year high and the cars we love have been getting into the public eye in all sorts of ways – including stealing the show at a Royal Wedding. So we’ve decided to round up the thousands of cars, events and people who have graced these pages since the start of the year, and name the ones that have made 2018 a year to remember. All of which involved gathering CCW’s team of experts in a room, locking the door, and a not-so-quick dash to the nearest coffee shop to stock up on supplies for the hours of argument that would inevitably ensue. A gallon or so of Americano later and we’d reached our verdicts – and that’s what we’ve brought you over the next 16 pages. After looking back on all the thousands of cars that have appeared in our pages over the past year, including the stars of shows across the country and the vehicles behind some of our biggest headlines, we’ve chosen the ones that we feel made a difference to the classic world this year. We’ve also asked for your help with the biggest award of all – only one classic can be named as CCW’s Car of the Year, and even having narrowed the shortlist down to just six contenders there was no end of arguing about this one. We had an auction recordbreaker owned by a racing legend, a touring car pioneer, the car behind a nationwide scrappage petition, a big screen hero, the star of Prince Harry’s wedding (sorry, Meghan), and just about the closest thing to a brandnew Morris Minor you’ll find without commandeering Jodie Whittaker’s TARDIS. We asked for your help to pick our winner – see page 46. We hope you enjoy reading about 2018’s headline-grabbers as much as we’ve enjoyed choosing them. All that’s left to do now is get ready for an even bigger 2019 – don’t forget to let us know what you’re up to with your classics.