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Classic Shows has been organising and operating classic car and motorcycle events since 1985. In this time Classic Shows has run 1,000+ events at many of the leading stately and country home locations throughout the UK.
We currently own and operate a portfolio of c20 days of events located largely in and around the Midlands including hugely popular venues such as:
Many of these events have been running for well over 20 years and have become a ‘date in the diary’ for car owners and visitors alike.
In 2023 we added three new events to our portfolio at stunning new venues – Ragley Hall, Warwickshire, Wentworth Woodhouse, South Yorkshire and Stonor Park, Oxfordshire - and we are excited to develop and grow these events further in 2024.
Classic Shows events typically attract 500 – 1,000 classic cars and motorcycles displayed on the basis of age or category - pre-60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000+, American, Sports & Convertible, Kit Cars & Custom and Commercial / Military. There are also a range of club displays from marque-specific clubs (e.g. Jaguar Enthusiasts Club, Aston Martin Owners Club, Mercedes-Benz Owners Club) and mixed-marque clubs (e.g. The Littlejohn Club and the Muddsters). There will also be a separate section where all motorcycles – old and new – are located, generally in the heart of the action close to the judging arena.
But that is not all! Classic Shows events feature a wide range of additional content. A very popular feature of the events is the live commentary and judging arena where cars and motorcycles are invited in throughout the event and owners are interviewed whilst the vehicles are judged across the range of categories and culminating in the Car / Motorcycle and Club of the Show awards. All vehicle owners participating in the arena and judging also recieve a complementory commercive event plaque.
In 2023 we introduced regular live music usually involving an acoustic singer performing over lunchtime and this has quickly proved to be another very popular feature with visitors seen to be tapping along and even dancing to the music! What our for more developments on this and new performers or 2024.
Add to this retail stalls selling items including antiques, car parts, memorabilia, crafts, artwork and local produce, quality food, drink, bars and ice cream plus the added range of facilities provided by the venue such as formal gardens, cafes and shops, children’s adventure playground, and you have a fantastic day out for all the family, enthusiaists and day trippers.
In 2023 we worked with ex-Top Gear presenter Steve Berry to commission a series of films showcasing what to expect at a Classic Shows event. Steve visits many of our venues, talks to owners and draws out interesting content to provide a real sense of what to expect at a Classic Shows event.
Visit the Classic Shows YouTube channel here to view all films and don’t forget to keep an eye out for Dog of the Show!
Our events involve a lot of behind-the-scenes work to deliver the content-packed experience that Classic Shows is known for. This is a true team effort and many of the team who work behind-the-scenes will also be there on event day. If you see any member of the team at an event, please come and say hi!
DIRECTOR
ABOUT MY ROLE: I have overall responsibility for the business and for delivering quality, content packed events at stunning venues. My role involves considering how we can make our events even better, when we should add new events and speaking to a wide range of people including car and motorcycle owners, venues, sponsors and commercial partners, suppliers, and advertisers.
FOCUS FOR 2024: There is a huge opportunity to develop the new events we launched at Ragley Hall, Wentworth Woodhouse and Stonor Park and delivering this will be a big focus for 2024. Alongside this I am motivated to ensure our existing events continue to deliver and offer value-for-money.
FAVOURITE CAR: I have always been a Jaguar fan and recently purchased a Jaguar XJ from a former member of the Jaguar Enthusiast Club and absolutely love it!
FAVOURITE CLASSIC SHOWS MEMORY: Over recent times, this would have to be the Stonor Park Meeting of Classics, Sports & Supercars. This was a new concept for Classic Shows and after a lot of hard work and planning, it was very gratifying to see the event come together, and the content and features fit together so well. There was a fantastic atmosphere and a lot of people had a smile of their faces!
OFFICE MANAGER
ABOUT MY ROLE: My main role is within the office where I work alongside Matthew to ensure that all tasks are completed. Some of my duties include answering phone calls and emails, arranging facility hires for the events, processing bookings, assisting to manage social media and event preparation. Alongside my work in the office, I work at the events running the admissions gate. This consists of managing the gate staff and dealing with any enquires.
FOCUS FOR 2024: A focus for 2024 is to further develop my digital marketing skills to keep up with the ever-changing market.
FAVOURITE CAR: I love seeing all the classic cars at our shows but one of my favourties is the Ford Model T.
FAVOURITE CLASSIC SHOWS MEMORY: My favorite classic shows memory is the Classic Shows Christmas works do back in 2021. After a strange few years of Covid it was lovely to get the whole team (office and events) together to celebrate. It was a jolly evening and nice excuse for everyone to get together out of event season!
SENIOR COMMENTATOR
Les Clayton, our enthusiastic senior show commentator has motoring in his blood. In his early career Les worked on remodelling and fitting out specialist vehicles as well as cars for racing. After which he found himself using his bodywork engineering skills for the motoring press, as well as the film and television industry. The media bug eventually got to him and for many years he combined his day job with what he describes as his paid hobby of being a freelance broadcaster and motoring correspondent, working for the local as well as the national motoring press and radio, with a little bit of telly thrown in.
Although well into retirement, Les’ time is still divided between his now, part time role, as a freelance consultant engineer and assessor for the insurance, motor, and leisure industries and his “dream job” of commentating at classic car and motorcycle events around the country. Over the past three decades or so, Les has voiced more than 400 shows.
Les has worked with Classic Shows for almost 30 years and says, understanding the role that the motor vehicle has played in our industrial history is a key to knowing why the British people, of all ages, still have a love for all things motoring and that Classic Vehicle Shows play a very important part in maintaining our great motoring heritage.
SENIOR COMMENTATOR
Guy benefits from a wide range of motoring experience and knowledge being a former chairman of the Guild of Motoring writers and author of award-winning books and magazine articles. Add to this hosting television motoring programmes and racing at Goodwood and Monaco. Guy has been a passionate motoring enthusiast all of his life.
SENIOR COMMENTATOR
Most of Richard’s working live was as a vehicle inspector and claims assessor for leading insurance companies, the introduction, via his late brother, to a BBC presenter, lead Richard to becoming a freelance commentator and motoring correspondent. Working for both local and national radio and being a Regional and vehicle valuation Officer for the Morris Minor and Mercedes Benz clubs, Richard was also invited to become an International Concours Judge both in the UK and overseas.
When not working, we enjoy driving our 1955, national concours winning series two 4-door Morris Minor saloon, which is one of the very last batch to be produced with a divided front windscreen and vintage size rear screen. Over the years, the Morris has been the main feature in many motoring magazines along with cameo appearances in TV programmes such as Channel Four’s Motoring Classics, and Heartbeat.
SENIOR COMMENTATOR
Growing up with a number of quirky air-cooled VWs in the family and from exposure to 1970s American TV shows, Andy’s motoring interests began with VWs and American cars. Andy, trained as an actor, alongside TV’s The League of Gentleman, before a career as a theatre lecturer and some ‘on-set’ TV and film design crew work on such shows as Channel 4’s Hollyoaks and Brookside.
As a host of much of ITV4's automotive content; Auto Mundial, Motorsport Mundial, Historic Monaco GP, Macau GP highlights and EVO Car of the Year, Andy currently records more automotive-related TV than most, with over 100 episodes of weekly automotive TV a year (UK and internationally)! Bizarre facts: Other work as a voice artist, includes a stint as the voice of Alpecin shampoo and he sold his VW camper van to TV couple Vernon Kay and Tess Daly.
Andy writes and edits for a leading classic vehicle auction house and is a regular contributor to Classic Car Weekly and other well-known motoring magazines. He has also appeared as a guest on the live ‘Meet the Experts’ stage at the NEC Classic Motor Show. His main passion is for the quirkier classics, hence ownership of a 'survivor' 1973 VW Thing from California. Previous classic ownership also includes Minis, Trabants, Pontiac Fieros and Nissan Cubes.
