If I remember correctly I haven’t been to the NEC Classic Car Show since 2019. The show was cancelled in 2020 for reasons that don’t need explaining and I just hadn’t been available to go in 2021 and 2022. It’s the show stopping finale to the classic car season before most old timers go into their winter hibernation. Thousands of cars, hundreds of car clubs, countless stalls for buying just about every car nicknack you can think of all hosted in the UK’s largest event space. Did I mention it’s big?
I was there on the opening day on Friday and, as is ever with these events, it was still very well attended even on a school day. I had a press pass, but I hadn’t realised I was allowed in an hour early as I only received the email with instructions at 23:55 the night before. Someone was clearly burning the midnight oil on that one. But it’s much more fun with the crowds anyway. The only real problem I have with this event is that there is just simply too much to take in in a single day. In fact, it’s even possible to get lost there’s so much. If you really want to appreciate everything, being there for the weekend is the way to go.
My experience coming this time around was very different than the past. Four years ago, I was a semi-pro part timer (and that’s being generous) and having simply been to less shows and seen less cars I was much more impressed by all the big-ticket stuff. Now as a more seasoned pro, I was more drawn to the car clubs now, least of all because there’s people who I could talk to about getting their cars featured. That however is always more difficult at big shows like this, as normally a lot of the cars have already been featured given their higher profile and as it is so busy it can be difficult to catch the owners when they are free. I still had some luck though. What was the most amusing of all however was seeing cars on display that I had already photographed. Goes to show I am definitely shooting at least some of the right stuff.
Unfortunately the Auction was on Saturday so I didn’t get to witness that and I only had a quick glance at the cars from the other side of the fence (regular punters have to pay £10 for a catalogue to gain entry). Though I am not sure if I am happy or sad I missed out on seeing the stretched limousine Range Rover that once carried Mike Tyson around the UK. There were certainly some weird and wonderful things on display.
Did you get down to the NEC at the weekend? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments down below.
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