INSPIRATION FOR REPURPOSING

Charles Barnett reports from The Spring Classic Car Show.

THE Practical Classics Classic Car and Restoration Show with Discovery, to give it its full title, took place over the long weekend of 18th to 20th March, at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre.

Among the exhibitors in the extended autojumble section was EHB Coachworks, a small company that, despite its name, takes bodyshells of models, strips them and mounts them either on plinths or in 3-D wall frames, as ‘sculptures’ The end results are attractive, though a tad expensive, I thought (from £60.00 for a 1/43, £80.00 for 1/24 and £100.00 for 1/18, all plus the cost of the model itself ), but it occurred to me that here’s an idea for those of us with a battered or broken diecast or three, that are not good enough for the collection display proper, but too good to leave in the junkbox, give away or throw away. Take it apart, strip the paint off the bodyshell, either polish the bare metal body or repaint it, find a nice piece of polished wood (or several, for a frame), dig out the superglue and, hey presto, a nifty ‘objet d’art’ to adorn the walls of any collector’s model room – result!

The other exhibitors at the show included around ten model specialists, most of them with large stalls, so we had the equivalent of a small toyfair, with a wide variety on offer, old and new. I came away with, among others, a lovely Dinky conversion comprising the 1950s Commer Superpoise (breakdown truck, etc.) mated to the Pullmore Car Transporter trailer. Finished in Red, with “Dinky Auto Service” decals, spun wheels and windows, it really looks the part. Others from my haul included a nice plated Corgi Ford Consul Classic from the Golden Guinea Gift Set, not often seen, a very early Spot-on Ford Zodiac, original early French Dinky Citroën 2CV and Dinky Studebakers Land Cruiser and Golden Hawk.

Plus, of course, there were over 1,000 classic cars on show from over 150 clubs, and plenty of restoration tips for those of us with 1:1 classics that we’re working on. So a full day out for sure!

Next year’s event is planned for 24th to 26th March 2023. For more details, go to www.necrestorationshow.com. ■

Above left to right Selections of models old and new on sale at the show; EHB Coachworks' display of mounted diecast bodyshells; My haul of model purchases from the show.