The Classic Motor Show at the NEC is the grand final to the Footman James – Rybec Shipping Car of the Year competition; new boy Andy Craig gets thrown in the deep end
Words: Andy Craig, Photography: Steve Hathaway, Steve Havelock
Talk about being thrown in at the deep end! I had joined the staff of Classic American just four days before the show and there I was guiding Steve Hughes’ s1969 Plymouth Roadrunner onto the stand (Steve was even good enough to let me fulfil an ambition of mine and do the ‘beep-beep’ with the Roadrunner’s famous horn!). Steve’s car looked stunning with its fresh JPC-restored bodywork.
Next up was Mel Atkinson’s gorgeous gold 1970 Cadillac Coupe De Ville followed by Steve Taylor’s incredible 963-miles-from-new 1959 Chevrolet Apache Pick-Up. Then came Steve Edwards’s 1969 Corvette ZL-1 tribute, freshly restored with the support of ’Vette Dreams (and which almost brought the hall to a standstill with the noise from its side-exit exhaust pipes when it was started!) and Mark Critchlow’s oh-so-pretty 1948 Pontiac Torpedo Silver Streak. Last onto the stand were Derek Speke with his ultra-rare and ultra-desirable 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham and Jamie Bell with his brutal Shelby Mustang GT500 which had been restored with immeasurable help from Roy Holmes of The Mustang Workshop. With all the show cars and the giveaway Ford Explorer in place, we were ready for the fun to begin.
As well as Classic American there was a strong presence from the American Auto Club UK, the American Auto Club Northwest, the American Vehicle Owners Club, the Classic Corvette Club UK, the Early Ford V8 Club, the Model A Club of Great Britain, the Mopar Muscle Association, the Mustang Owners Club, the National Street Rod Association, the North-East American Car Club, and finally the Pre-50 American Auto Club. There were too many wonderful machines on these stands to mention and the public’s constant interest over the three days was testament to this. Suffice to say that the American car scene was very well represented indeed!
The entertainment this year was provided by Elvis Brettini (you can book him direct for your show or event at www.elvisbrettini.com!) who thoroughly entertained the crowds on Sunday, providing the trademark Elvis moves and banter as well as performing some of the king’s great classic tunes.
As you can imagine, this provided an ideal backdrop not only for the Classic American stand, but for the whole of hall four where all the other American-themed stands were based. Whilst Elvis was doing his thing it was time for the judges to get busy crawling over-and-under the cars to decide on the winner of the Footman James-Rybec Shipping Car of the Year competition. The judges were Milton and Stuart from Dream Cars, Phil Albers (our resident concours expert with whom Classic American has been associated for some time), and yours truly.
Many thanks to Milton, Stuart and Phil for devoting their valuable time to helping us select a winner. Special mention here must go to Steve Taylor who had been invited to take part in the show for the fourth time – a first for the magazine. Whilst Steve’s remarkable pick-up wasn’t declared to be the winner, it was fitting
that his consistently fine eye for American metal was rewarded with the Classic American honorary Car of the Year award. With Elvis having left the building, it only remained to declare the winner of the Footman James-Rybec Shipping Car of the Year and to present Gary Pullan of Skipton, North Yorkshire with our gleaming Ford Explorer. After the judges scoring had been totted up it was announced that Steve Edwards Corvette ZL-1 edged out the competition to win the award. We’d like to sincerely thank all the people who took part in the show and especially to everyone who took the time to come and see us on the stand. We’ll be back next year with another selection of the finest vehicles from next summer’s shows for you to see up-close at the NEC – which gives you all plenty of time to get restoring and/or detailing in time for the show season!
