Classic Car Shows, Classic Rallies & Vintage Racing News

Huntington Beach Concours d’Elegance is a two day event offers the family live entertainment while admiring some of the most beautiful automobiles and motorcycles in Southern California on the picturesque lawns of Huntington Beach Central Park.

Saturday’s “Back to the Beach” offers a wide variety of hot rods with a salute to Ford and “HEMI” and a tribute to “Donut Derelicts”. Grand Marshall Fireball Tim Lawrence, movie car designer, as seen on Discovery’s “World’s Most Expensive Cars”, will be filming “Fireball Tim’s World of Cars” and conducting DragTracks® racing. The Mai Tais Surf band and South Pacific dancers are sure to pick up the pace during the day.

Sunday features the traditional Concours with Ford and Ferrari and Ducati and Goldwing motorcycles as the honored marques. John Clinard, Ford’s western regional manager for public affairs, is the Grand Marshall. Dave Kunz, KABC-TV automotive specialist, will be the master of ceremonies. Free ice cream and Hot Wheels racing for the kids and a live band for the adults highlight the event. Also, the Sixth Annual Student Art Contest will be conducted at the VIP Luncheon.

The Concours hosts 120+ classes (19 for Ford alone) and over 400 cars, motorcycles and bicycles, as well as entertainment, food and vendors will bring back the good ole days with a dash of the future.

The “World’s Fastest Indian” motorcycle will be on display both days. Remember the movie? Proceeds are donated to the Huntington Beach Children’s Resource Center at the Huntington Beach Central Library by the Huntington Beach Concours d’Elegance, a non-profit corporation.

 

The final countdown to this year's Race Retro has begun, with just over a week until the doors open at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry - and whether you like your historic motor sport on two wheels or four - there's something for every motoring enthusiast.

Starting on Friday 12 March and lasting three days, the exhibition halls and rally stage will bring historic motor sport to life through the cars, bikes and competitors who made their names in the past, but are still highly regarded today.

Race Retro is celebrating 100 years of Alfa Romeo, and a delectable line-up of competition models down the decades will demonstrate just why this highly- successful manufacturer's cars are still competing today, despite their age.

Outside, there's an action-packed tribute to a later classic model - Audi's all-conquering quattro - with numerous models being put through their paces in the hands of the real Stig - acclaimed driver Stig Blomqvist.

Meanwhile, fans of 1970s and 1980s rallying are in for a treat, as Russell Brookes gets behind the wheel of the "Andrews Heat for Hire"-sponsored cars, including the Talbot Sunbeam.

The rally stage is always a big draw at Race Retro and - while many people will be waiting to see several Group B cars - for those who like their cars from an earlier period, Brian Culcheth is back behind the wheel of a Triumph 2.5PI, proving that four-door saloons can be just as much fun as any two- door.

Bringing the action right up to date is reigning British Rally Champion Keith Cronin, who will be at the wheel of the mighty Aston Martin V8 Rally GT, trying to beat the legends at their own game!

But for enthusiasts who like their motorsport in quarter- mile, straight-line style, Race Retro welcomes the UK's first dragster, which was constructed by Sydney Allard. Built to run in its home country, but mimicking Stateside dragsters, the Chrysler Hemi-engined car is currently being fully restored to its former glory.

 

Last week the Tour Britannia organisers had confirmation from the Llandudno Council that the four and half mile Marine Drive round the famous Great Orme can be used as a special stage on this year's event. It will run on the middle day of the Tour Britannia, Wednesday, September 8th.

The Great Orme is a limestone headland that stretches out into the Irish Sea to the north-west of Llandudno with the town sitting literally in its shadow. The Marine Drive has been used in the past, most notably on the RAC Rally. The road clings to the side of the cliffs with a good view down on the other side to the sea. In many ways it is similar to the Oliver's Mount stage that was so popular on the 2009 Tour Britannia though it is double the length. It also has echoes of some Irish stages like Donegal's Atlantic Drive and Cork's Cod's Head. For certain, it will be a stunning addition to the special stages of the Tour Britannia 2010.

It is normally in use as a toll road with one-way traffic circulating in an anti-clockwise direction. Tour Britannia does not allow reconnaissance of its stages so it has been decided to run the stage in the reverse direction, i.e. clockwise, to eliminate any competitive benefit that might be gained from a weekend spent in Llandudno prior to the event.

That is not to say that a weekend spent in Llandudno might not have its cultural and health benefits. The Great Orme is a nature reserve and possesses eight wells that in the past supplied water for the local copper mines. There is a tramway that takes visitors to the top of the Great Orme.

The headland also hosts two dry ski slopes and one of the longest toboggan runs in the UK. Down in the town, there is Llandudno Pier and the Parade, a curving Victorian promenade that looks out on Llandudno Bay. And for the nautical, there is the unique lifeboat station that is located inland so that the lifeboat can be launched to either the West Shore or the North Shore as required.

We are also pleased to announce the very positive news that entries for Tour Britannia 2010 are comfortably ahead of the numbers received by this time last year, but the house is not full yet and places are still available. Entry Forms and Regulations can be downloaded from our website www.tourbritannia.com

 

Click on the picture to enlarge
See all Bentley S1 Continental Fastback Photos

Bonhams achieved superb results this weekend at the Collectors’ Motor Car and Automobilia sale in Oxford, fetching a grand total of £1,017,317 and an 86% sale rate with 44 out of 51 car lots selling.

The top price (£166,500) was paid, as expected, for a fabulous 1956 Bentley S1 Continental Fastback with coachwork by H J Mulliner, while the other Bentley in the sale – a 1964 Bentley S3 Continental Coupé with coachwork by H J Mulliner, Park Ward Ltd surpassed its estimate of £40,000 – 50,000, fetching an impressive £62,000.

The 1989 Ford RS200, Group B Homologation road car, attracted the second top price in the sale - £87,300.

The 1936 Alvis Speed 25 Saloon was hotly contended for in a ten way bidding battle in which a number of European countries were represented. The car – a barn discovery - eventually sold to an Irish bidder for £31,050, beating its estimate sale price of £18,000 – 22,000.

 

Click on the picture to enlarge
See all Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance Photos

The Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance & Motoring Festival is now positioned as one of the last Concours in the national annual show circuit. The HHI Concours d’Elegance & Motoring Festival has quickly climbed the ranks among national Concours events. In just eight short years, Hilton Head Island is already considered by many as being among those elite USA events such as Pebble Beach, Meadow Brook and Amelia Island. The ninth annual Festival will be held October 29 – November 7, 2010 at both The Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa on Hutchinson Island (Savannah, GA) and at the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn (Hilton Head Island, SC).