A
merican car shows seem to be a little like Greyhound buses, you don’t see any for a while and then two come along at once. Hot on the wheels of the all-American show in August a second followed less than a month later but this time concentrated on classic Americans. What is a classic American? You might think of Frank Sinatra or George Clooney but many of the cars that turned up were more ZZ Top than Frank or George. By which I mean there were plenty of ‘rods’, both ‘hot’ and ‘rat’. Be they immaculate and shiny or rough and rusty they had all had count- less hours of work dedicated to them. Ford seemed to be the most popular to modify by the look of vehicles at this event. Of course there were Cadillacs, Dodges and Chryslers as well, most in
WINGS ANDWHEELS
immaculate condition with gleaming chrome and flaring fins and wings, some seemingly challeng- ing our own Brooklands Aircraft Collection!
It is this undeniable glamour that makes people flock to these events, and indeed it was a crowded day, with cars spreading along the Banking. Additionally, it is the power of many of these cars, with massive V8 engines burbling away, that is attractive and a far stretch from most of our home-grown motor industry of the same period.
Cast your eyes around and you could imagine yourself in a movie: ‘It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark and we’re wearing shades – hit it!’
Tim Morris News Roger Heard’s Jaguar D-type replica takes to the runway (Katharine Allen).
O
nce again crowds headed to Dunsfold Park on the August Bank Holiday weekend for the annual outing to Wings and Wheels. As ever, the Museum organised the motoring demonstrations on the runway, sourcing some incredible cars and motorcycles.
Leading the way in the morning and afternoon sessions was the Museum’s Napier-Railton, in good company with the new re-creation of the famous ‘Marker’ Bentley Outer Circuit racing car and other Le Mans-type Bentleys. Something seldom seen these days was a Gordon Keeble, one of only 90 left in the world, while even rarer was a Plymouth convertible. As far as the owner is able to ascertain, this is the only remaining right- hand-drive car of its type in the world.
As well as being an excellent off-road vehicle and able to carry five people around in comfort,
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the amazing turn of speed of a Range Rover Sport SVR was demonstrated, with the driver achieving a nought to 60mph time of under five seconds each time the car ran on the runway. The sound- track provided by the V6, V8, V10 and V12 engines in the many super-cars was also a treat, with Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins, TVRs, Porsches and Nissans providing the noise. Despite all of the super-cars putting on a great show of speed, one of the most impressive this year was a Nissan GTR. With over 470bhp and four-wheel-drive this was very much a case of ‘now you see it, now you don’t’ as it disappeared down the runway at ever-increasing speed with no fuss or bother.
Should you regard tyres as something to be vaporised during exciting starts, then the Chevrolet Impala SS Nascars would have im-
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