Buckley’s deals on wheels
At £36 a ticket, the NEC Classic Motor Show is not a cheap day’s entertainment, but this didn’t seem to put off the punters – it was as packed as ever this year. Also, bigger than ever: I’m not sure I saw much more than half of it in a six-hour stint. Highlights included the ex-john Surtees BMW 503 and a lovely chat with the man on the A40 Farina club stand who told me he’d owned his red Mk1 – complete with slide-down windows – since ’66 and never bought another car.
There were great club displays of Alfasuds and Renault 5s, and, among the dealers, BMW CSLS were prominent at prices (c£150k) that made me wish I could find another for the five hundred quid I paid for my first, 15 years ago.
I didn’t get to the auction, but I liked the look of the Alfa 2600 Sprint I saw in the distance, which at £11,250 was rather better value than the delivery-mileage XJ-S (£131,625) in the same sale or the £286k ex-freddie Mercury Silver Shadow RM sold a week earlier.
The folks on the Lotus Elite/ Éclat/excel stand cheered me up about my latest Elite, and my wallet didn’t get much abuse: just a Lotus book and a £6.50 model of the Fiat 130 ‘Popemobile’. I had an enlightening chat with brochure dealer Andrew Currie, who told me press shots are his best earner now (easy to post).
Meanwhile, back in the real world, I’ve been offered an MG TF (the mid-engined one, not the 1950s car) and a TR7, both low mileage, and decided to pull out of the deal on the Silver Wraith, on the basis that one Rolls-royce is probably enough.
As I write, the rain goes on and on… so it’s the perfect time to get out my Lancia Gamma – only to discover the front calipers are sticking, and the run back to the house from the shed isn’t nearly enough to get meaningful charge into the battery. So I spent my Sunday waiting for a new jumppack to charge, before finally admitting defeat and returning to the barn for the faithful mainspowered battery charger. But even a good few hours hitched up to that was not enough, so on Monday morning I reluctantly selected ‘start’ mode – risking warping the plates in the battery – which at least had the desired effect. Once under way, my mission was to go to Ken Britton in Stroud (taking the long way, to get some charge into the battery) and swap the Lancia for the Oldsmobile Toronado… which also had a flat battery, although it was soon coaxed into life.
On the way home I stopped for a coffee with the better half, to recount my stressful morning. Her face was a mask of ‘we have been here before’ weariness as she said: “Your cars don’t like this weather… why not put them to bed in the barn for a nice sleep for a few months?” I can think of 100 reasons why not, but, annoyingly, she may have a point.