OUR FAVOURITE CARS

1973 TOYOTA CROWN ESTATE

The car I’d have driven home was David Boswell’s 1963 Mini Cooper ‘S’ – finished in Rolls-royce Brewster Green and specially built for Princess Margaret – but my surprise car of the show was Eddie Bellringer’s Toyota Crown. He acquired the Japanese rarity from a cousin of his mother, with just 18,000 miles on the clock, and his 42 years’ experience working for Toyota came in handy when renovating the high-spec wagon. The interior was cleaned up simply using soap and water, but Bellringer did have to replace some metalwork in the roof. I was intrigued by its styling quirks, such as the grilles behind the doors that duct air through the cabin and out via vents in the rear wings. JB

1973 LAMBORGHINI ESPADA S3

I couldn’t help but fall for the charms of this pink GT – the fact that it’s the model’s 50th anniversary was a happy coincidence – and it certainly drew camera phones all weekend. But no selfrespecting supercar manufacturer would offer so proasic a colour as ‘pink’: this hue’s official title is Rosso Granada metallic. It sits well with its original Senape (mustard) leather interior, which has recently been refurbished – the carpets and dash-top have been refreshed not long ago, too. This 36,000-mile example of the Gandini-at-bertone-designed four-seater looked fabulous – it’s just a shame we couldn’t fire up that 3.9-litre V12… now that would have drawn the crowds. LP

1968 FORD CORTINA GT

There’s always one car you can’t stop poring over, and for me it was the ex-bill Bengry Cortina GT. As the first of 72 cars to cross the Crystal Palace start line for the inaugural London-sydney Marathon in 1968, the Motorway Remoulds GT proudly wore number one on its doors. The team of Bengry, Arthur Brick and John Preddy eventually came 23rd, after a gruelling 7000-mile trek across 11 countries – and would have finished higher had the Ford not required a replacement back axle. The Mk2 has stayed in the Bengry family and been restored by Bill’s son Theo, who lent it to the Historic Marathon Rally Group display, where its ‘over the roof’ exhaust was a real talking point. MP

1948 BOND TYPE C

Marque enthusiasts Andrea and Clive Steggel celebrated the 70th anniversary of Lawrie Bond’s maverick Formula 500 racer by displaying the 1948 Type C as part of the National Microcar Rally stand, which is always among the show highlights. One of two survivors of just three cars built, this fascinating machine features a monocoque bodyshell, 497cc JAP speedway engine and inboard front brakes, and rides on special magnesium split-rim wheels. The car was painstakingly restored by Charlie Banyardsmith and weighs just 398lb. The Steggel family has had quite a year, too, having organised the UK’S biggest microcar event at Sycamore Farm, Cheshire. MW