London, 03 November, 2018

The annual prelude to the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, the Regent Street Motor Show presented by title partner Illinois Route 66, as part of the Royal Automobile Club’s London Motor Week, was held on Saturday 03 November. The gathering attracted over half a million visitors during the course of the day to one of London’s most prestigious shopping venues, which is made pedestrian only from Oxford Street to Piccadilly Circus for the day, for the free to all show.

The title partner is very apt for a motoring event, as the classic “Mother Road”, the legendary Route 66, started in Chicago, Illinois, and wended its way 300 miles through the state, as part of its 2448 mile journey to the California Pacific coast.

Although many sections of the historic highway have been superseded by Interstates, there are still numerous sections that have been maintained as part of a great heritage, and Illinois has played its part in supporting this effort, so that visitors can enjoy the step-back-in-time experience by travelling the famous road through their state. Naturally their stand featured classic Americana, including a ‘60s Ford Thunderbird Convertible, the ideal wheels for cruising Route 66, a Dodge Charger, made famous for its “baddie” role in the film “Bullitt” and a Chevrolet Custom Pickup.

Fine and bright autumnal weather allowed visitors and participants alike to enjoy a pleasant day with a wide variety of offerings to enjoy, along with the shop and restaurants in Regent Street and its numerous intersecting thoroughfares. Each year the organisers ring the changes with the features, apart from the concours for veteran vehicles taking part in the veteran car run, which is a central feature of the gathering, as is the Silverstone Classic, with its large screen showing footage from the past summer’s meeting. It has always been family orientated with hourly song and dance routines from the West End Kids, and this year there was the addition of a Go Kart track for children between 4 and 10 years of age, and the world famous Hamleys toy store on Regent Street provided a Scalextric track across the road from their flagship store.

There were a number of anniversaries being celebrated, including 60 years each of the British Rally Championship and British Touring Car Championship. There was also the 80th anniversary of the VW Beetle, with a selection of models on display courtesy of the London & Thames Valley VW Club, whilst the Jaguar Drivers’ Club, had a suitably large display, as they had a trio of anniversaries to celebrate, the 70th anniversary of both the Mk V saloon and the XK series that started with the groundbreaking XK120, together with the 50th anniversary of the XJ series. In the modern motoring zone there were displays from Renault with their eco-friendly electric town cars, and Triumph Motorcycles also featured an impressive display of their two wheel products. The veteran car concours awards were presented during the afternoon of the show in eight categories, including an on-line spectator’s choice vote. The Judges award for the Overall Best of Show went to the 1903 De Dion Bouton entered by Harold Pritchard, whilst the Spectator’s Choice Award went to the 1904 Albion entered by David Pain.

Keith Bluemel
11/2018