THE CAR YEARS HITS TV SCREENS
Classic Car Weekly’s Alex Riley and Top Gear’s Vicki Butler-Henderson are to consider the merits of motoring’s great and good next Tuesday – and CCW
readers have been invited to join the discussion on social media.
Airing on ITV4 from 8pm, The Car Years kicks off with a double bill on 7 May – beginning with two of 1964’s most significant motors – the Ford Mustang and Porsche 911 – championed by Alex and Vicki respectively. By the end of each programme, a winner is selected, supported by a cast of classic car industry experts, including Classic Cars
contributor, Quentin Willson, Coys’ Chris Routledge and Richard Porter (script editor for The Grand Tour and Top Gear).
By 8.30pm, we’ve jumped to Alex’s Ferrari Testarossa and Vicki’s Ford RS200.
Future double episodes will be shown on ITV4 on 14 May and 21 May, between 8pm and 9pm. Expect the MGA to face off against the Mercedes-Benz 190 SL, followed by the Renault 5 Turbo and Audi quattro. 21 May’s double bill puts the Porsche Boxster and Lotus Elise together; the season finale concludes with the Saab 99 Turbo and VW Golf GTI MkI.
Co-presenter, Alex Riley, said: ‘Banter is the key. It gets rather heated at times – when Vicki and I clashed over the Saab 99 Turbo and Golf GTI, it descended into farce. Nevertheless, we kept it high-brow.’
Vicki urged viewers to get involved with the judging process. She said: ‘Please feel free to have your say about which car you think should have won on Twitter – and please feel free to go heavy on Alex Riley if his car beats mine! I feel so privileged to have driven these amazing creations, which played pivotal parts in the history of cars.’
David Bond, managing director of The Car Years’ sponsor, specialist insurer Footman James, said: ‘ The programme has the right balance of learning about what makes these iconic cars special and the stories behind how they came to life. I challenge anyone to watch the first episode and not head to the classifieds.’ @thecaryears (Twitter) thecaryears.com