COMING UP…
Two German giants, a pair of tantalising rallies in Scotland, plus Goodwood’s first outing of the year
27 February – 1 March Retro Classics Stuttgart
Cars, bikes, commercial vehicles and mountains of automobilia fill 140,000m2 of exhibition space in south-west Germany. As ever, ‘Youngtimer’ modern classics will have a notable presence. retro-classics.de
28-29 February Chester Rally Revival
Some stages are open only to entrants, but others can see the pre-1999 rally cars in action at Rednal Circuit in Oswestry. rallyrevival.co.uk
5-7 March
Winter Race
A field of 70 pre-1977 cars, an expertly plotted route through the Dolomites and some of Europe’s most beautiful mountain scenery, plus snow, snow and more snow. winterace.it
5-7 March
Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance Following its debut in 2019, ‘the most stylish motoring event in the Southern Hemisphere’ moves to a swanky new venue: Swifts, one of Australia’s grandest homes. sydneyharbourconcours.com
5-8 March
Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance
Amelia celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2020, but most of the attention at the concours will be on honouree Roger Penske, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom this year and remains a hugely influential figure. ameliaconcours.org
6-8 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 cars and pre-war machinery, too. vhrr.com
6-8 March
Antwerp Classic Salon Abarth is the marque getting the VIP treatment in 2020, but the displays in Antwerp will be as diverse as ever thanks to the presence of more than 50 car clubs from across Belgium and the Netherlands. antwerpclassicsalon.be
14-15 March
British Cars & Lifestyle
The Dutch town of Rosmalen welcomes British classics and, for better or worse, some of our comestible cultural exports, too. britishbest.nl
22 March
Pioneer Run
As it has done pretty much every year since 1930, the Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club will gather more than 300 pre-1915 bikes, tricycles and sidecars in Epsom before releasing them for a trundle down to Brighton. sunbeam-mcc.co.uk
25-29 March Techno-Classica Essen
It may be huge, but TechnoClassica has more going for it than sheer size, with well considered displays and club support that makes it feel like a show by the people, for the people. siha.de
25 March – 1 April. Route des Andes
This event starts and finishes in Iquique in northern Chile, but the 2900km route includes plenty of Argentinian asphalt, too. rallystory.com
27-29 March
NEC Classic Car
& Restoration Show Birmingham’s NEC is again the venue for this spring extravaganza, offering displays of pristine restorations and untouched barnfinds, an auction, expert advice, and a trade village packed with parts. necrestorationshow.com
28-29 March Goodwood Members’ Meeting You know the drill: world-class Historic racing on Goodwood Circuit, and a deliberately limited number of spectators – which means there’s no need to sharpen your elbows for this one. goodwood.com
28 March – 1 April Copperstate 1000
Pre-1974 sports and touring cars eat up 1000 miles of dreamy desert roads, on a route through Arizona and beyond that changes every year. The money raised supports both the Phoenix Art Museum and the families of fallen police officers. mensartscouncil.com
3-5 April
The Flying Scotsman
This year’s event begins just outside Crewe, and appropriately the entries include some two dozen Bentleys. Ninety-six cars in total will head east into the Derbyshire Dales and then north towards Yorkshire before setting a course for the ‘Riviera in the Highlands’: Gleneagles. endurorally.com
3-5 April
Veterama Hockenheimring Germany’s Hockenheimring hosts a giant autojumble that attracts some 20,000 visitors each year, and upwards of 2500 traders. veterama.de
4-11 April
Rallye TransMaroc
Beginning and ending in Marrakesh, but this rally takes entrants about as far from big-city tarmac as it is possible to get. You can hire a 4x4 if you don’t own one, and receive instruction on driving on sand. zaniroli.com
16-19 April
Gran Premio Terre di Canossa This event takes crews through some absurdly attractive parts of Italy’s north, from Salsomaggiore Terme to Scandiano. There’s a ‘culinary itinerary’ to match… granpremioterredicanossa.it
17-19 April
Oldtimer Show
Five hundred vehicles spanning a century are shown at Budapest’s Hungarian Railway Museum, with plenty of Eastern European rarities among them. oldtimershow.hu
17-19 April
La Jolla Concours d’Elegance There’s more than one seaside concours in California, and this event at La Jolla boasts a location to rival any in the world – and an equally compelling field of cars and motorcycles. lajollaconcours.com
18-19 April
VSCC Spring Start
It’s not racing season until the Vintage Sports-Car Club says so, and its first meeting of the year is at Silverstone, continuing a tradition dating back to 1949. vscc.co.uk
20-24 April
The Scottish Malts
Pre-1986 cars and their crews explore some of the best roads and distilleries Scotland has to offer, with a route that starts and finishes at Gleneagles. heroevents.eu
20-25 April
Tour Auto
The modern-day Tour de France is one of the world’s great driving events. Tracks featured this year are Magny-Cours, Charade, Albi and Lédenon. peterauto.peter.fr
21-26 April
Celtic Challenge
Pre-1970 cars assemble near Chester to begin a whistle-stop tour of the UK and Ireland, including ten regularity sections and the famous Ards and Dundrod TT road racing circuits. rallytheglobe.com
21 April – 19 May Trans-Africa Rally
Crews spend a month motoring through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland, but the itinerary also includes safaris and a cruise on Lake Kariba. destination-rally.com