The cars taking part covered virtually everything from grass roots club rallying, like the Nissan Micra, to
Audi Quattros and WRC exponents from Citroen, Ford, Peugeot, Skoda and Volkswagen. The star
attraction was the appearance of the legendary French rally driver Didier Auriol, in a replica of the Sierra
Cosworth that he drove to successes many moons ago. There was even something for Ferrari fans, with a
pair of yellow 308 GTBs in rally trim, one being the venerable original fibreglass bodied example of Tony
Worswick, chassis # 19619, which he rallied in its prime, and continues to run in historic gatherings like
this many years later.
There was further Ferrari interest in the main exhibition as the Ferrari Owners’ Club had a stand to promote
their various competition series, which featured the pristine 328 GTB of Jim Cartwright, chassis # 76009,
which has been a regular competitor in the Pirelli Formula Classic series for a number of years. Club
Secretary, Gary Dearn, and Director, Gary Culver, were amongst those manning the stand over the course
of the weekend. The Silverstone Auction, sited in a separate hall between the main show halls and the rally
stages, also featured five Ferraris within the lots on offer, including a pair as diverse as a 1965 vintage 330
GT 2+2 and a 488 Challenge car from 2018.
The show’s main feature displays are always gathered around the main interview stage in Hall, and this year
there was a quartet of diverse offerings. The Reis Pride of Paddock display featured cars from a variety of
motor sport disciplines, that had either “competed in a motorsport event since their manufacture and be
made or emulate a vehicle dated, pre-2000”. This provided a wide range of different offerings on display,
ranging from a 1937 Hillegrass Sprint Car, through sixties saloons like a Ford Anglia, Hillman Super Imp
and Alfa Romeo Giulia, to GT cars like a Jaguar E-Type, Lotus Elan and a rare Sunbeam Harrington Le
Mans Coupé. As a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Formula One World Championship there was a
“Greatest Grid” display, with a selection of F1 cars that have taken part in the championship over the years,
including a Lotus 24, a BRM P48, a Shdow DN1, a Williams FW07, a Jordan 194, a BAR 006 and a Ferrari
F310, albeit the latter only being a static show car. Nearby there was a “Motoring Milestones” display,
which featured an Audi Quattro rally car as part of its 40th anniversary celebration, Colin McRae’s World
Rally Championship winning Subaru WRX and a Mini Cooper built as tribute to the late Barrie Williams,
whose exuberant driving style thrilled crowds at racing meetings over many years.
On the subject of tributes, there were a further two tributes to recently departed motoring figures. The first of
these was to the legendary Jaguar test driver, the late Norman Dewis OBE, with a trio of Jaguars that he
was involved with on display, namely a C-Type, an E-Type and the gloriously curvaceous XJ13. There was
also a tribute to the late Russell Brookes, with a fine array of the rally cars that he drove during his
illustrious career.
Apart from the main feature displays there were plenty of interesting offerings on the trade and dealer
stands, together with historic kart demonstration runs, preceding the rally stage action, on both the
Saturday and the Sunday. There were also all the peripheral stands offering all sorts of memorabilia, from
scale models, books, brochures and almost anything one could care to think of that was automotive
related, together with a large autojumble area in an adjacent hall.
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