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 Now
in its fourth year, the Race Retro International Historic Motorsport Show
[shurely an Exposition at the very least? - Ed] took place over the weekend
of 23 - 25th March at the National Agricultural Centre nr. Coventry UK,
concurrent with the annual Historic Motorsport Awards at the nearby Chesford
Grange Hotel.With four exhibition halls, a display of motor racing transporters outside the main entrance, a Bonhams' auction and a rally stage adjacent, there was something for everyone at this year's event, whether your rebuild was incomplete, your trailer needed new decking or you're ready to join our Club's hillclimb or race series! Undoubtedly "stand of the show" was that of Jim Stokes Workshop. Best known for their involvement in building the superb Lancia D50 replicas in conjunction with Guido Rosani - Jim's team displayed two of their current projects alongside Roger Saul's race winning Alfa P3 2 seater and a pre-war 1750.The "mystery car" on their stand was a 1923 Alfa Romeo RM, which they believe may have been used to transport skiers to/from a ski lodge in North America and combines an Alfa chassis/engine with dry sump lubrication mated to Citroen half track suspension. Attracting almost as much attention was the recreation of the Ferrari 156 Sharknose which has been under construction for almost four years and owes its existence, in part, to parts provided by Bernie Ecclestone and Sir Anthony Bamford. With another 12 months work ahead, will we get to see the finished car at the '08 Monaco Historique? (Many thanks to Jim Stokes for his time, info and the history lesson!) Elsewhere the were plenty of Ferraris to catch the eye - the GP Masters stand created much interest with a 312PB and 312 Fl on display, complimented by a 500 Mondial on "Speed Street" and a 275 Drogo built by GTO Engineering, close to the Centenary display of the Isle of Man TT. The FOC stand displayed a 308GT4 with John and Anne Swift, Richard Allen and Peter Everingham offering advice on joining the Club's race or hillclimb series' whilst Richard Preece and Derek Seymour coped with a lack of power for the Club's DVD presentation! For those of us interested in other Italian marques - the Top Hat series displayed a rear engined Fiat Abarth, The Blockley Tyre Company - proprietor Julian Majzub's recently rebuilt pre-war Maserati 26M and the Oxford Motor Union a Maserati 250F supplied by ace preparers Hall and Hall, whilst down at the Rally Stage there was an immaculate example of the supercharged and turbocharged Lancia Delta S4 Group B. With autograph signings, demonstrations and interviews from Russell Brookes, Vic Elford, Derek Bell, Michele Mouton, Paddy Hopkirk, Phil Read and Dickie Atwood amongst others there was much to keep the sizeable attendance entertained. Saturday night's charity dinner for the Historic Motorsport Awards raised money for the Motorsport and Joey Dunlop Foundations - "Historic Race Driver of the Year" was a deserving Gary Pearson, whilst the "Historic Personality of the Year" was the equally historic Barrie "Whizzo" Williams and "Restoration of the Year" was awarded to Kevin O'Rourke and Mototechnique for their restoration of Irvine Laidlaw's ex-Pilkington Ferrari 250GTO. So the '07 season is underway and just around the corner is one of the highlights of the season - the Paris based Tour Auto, see you there!
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