COMING UP
As winter rallies segue into spring shows, the 2018 season ramps up in fine style
1-3 March WinteRace A field of 80 pre-1977 cars, a 400km route across the Dolomites and through some of Europe’s most beautiful mountain scenery, and snow, snow and more snow. winterace.it 3-5 March Antwerp Classic Salon Over 350 exhibitors from 14 countries are set to attend the 41st Classic Salon, which will boast a ‘goldmine’ of parts and collectables as well as displays from clubs, dealers and museums. siha.de 9-11 March Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance Stunning classics will again arrive in Florida and, as always, there will be some superbly strange machinery on display. Among the special classes announced for 2018 so far are one dedicated to kustom king Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth and one exclusively for electric horseless carriages. ameliaconcours.org 9-11 March Phillip Island Classic The largest Historic meeting in the Southern Hemisphere, held on Phillip Island just off Melbourne, attracts cars from Australia, New Zealand and further afield. Grids are organised by the Victorian Historic Road Racing Register and cater for Touring Cars, single-seaters, sports racers and pre-war machinery, too. vhrr.com 17-18 March Goodwood Members’ Meeting Top-drawer Historic racing on Goodwood Circuit in front of a deliberately limited number of spectators. No need to sharpen your elbows to get a good view here. Among the attractions this year is the return of the crowdpleasing Gerry Marshall Trophy for 1970-82 Group 1 Saloons. goodwood.com 18 March Pioneer Run As it has done pretty much every year since 1930, the Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club will gather almost 400 pre-1915 bikes, tricycles and sidecars in Epsom before releasing them for a 47-mile trundle down to Brighton. Nowhere else will you see so many early bikes in one place. sunbeam-mcc.co.uk 21-25 March Techno Classica Essen ‘Huge’ is the word most often used to describe the annual German show. It’s an accurate description, but Techno Classica has more going for it than sheer size, with carefully considered displays and the sort of support from clubs that makes it feel like a show for the people, by the people, in spite of the presence of many major manufacturers. siha.de 22-25 March Retro Classics Stuttgart Some 140,000m2 of space in south-west Germany is filled with classics of every type. No major event has more readily embraced the Youngtimer scene, and this year there will be a hall dedicated to cult cars of even more recent vintage, described by organisers as ‘Neo-classics’. retro-classics.de 23-25 March NEC Classic Car & Restoration Show Birmingham’s NEC is again the venue for this spring extravaganza, which offers displays of pristine restorations and untouched barnfinds, an auction, expert advice, and a trade village packed with parts. necrestorationshow.com 6-8 April Espiritu de Montjuïc The street circuit at Montjuïc in Barcelona fell into disuse in the ’70s but now comes back to life once a year, with single-seaters, GTs, touring and sports cars entertaining the crowds. peterauto.peter.fr
6-8 April MotorClássico A gathering of classics big and small in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon; among the exhibitors there are always several model car specialists. motorclassico.com 7-8 April La Jolla Concours d’Elegance There’s more than one seaside concours in California, and this annual event at La Jolla in San Diego boasts a location to rival any you might care to mention – and an equally compelling field of cars and motorcycles. lajollaconcours.com 16-20 April Scottish Malts This perennial favourite is so named because the route includes visits to some of Scotland’s famous distilleries – as if the epic scenery were not enough of a draw. heroevents.eu 19-22 April Gran Premio Terre di Canossa Italy has more than its share of great regularity rallies, and this one takes in some absurdly attractive parts of the country’s north-west. There’s also a ‘culinary itinerary’ to match… granpremioterredicanossa.it 20-22 April Motor Legend Festival Held at Imola and described by the organisers as a ‘motoring fairground’, this event will feature grids paying tribute to Enzo Ferrari, Ayrton Senna, Jim Clark and Martini Racing. motorlegendfestival.com 21-22 April Perthshire Classic Car Festival This brand new event, which promises to be Scotland’s premier classic car weekend, will be based around Scone Palace and has the support of HRH Prince Michael of Kent, who will be involved in all the activities – which are set to include a 150-car parade through Perth and a 300-car display at the Palace on the Saturday, and a Drive It Day on the Sunday. blairgowrieclassiccartour.co.uk 22 April Drive It Day at Bicester Heritage Bicester Heritage has organised a Sunday Scramble event to coincide with Drive It Day, and will as usual give members of the public the opportunity to look around the former RAF base and the workshops of the specialists that now call it home. bicesterheritage.co.uk