Classic and sports car preview: Bicester set for a motoring show like no other

If you prefer to live in the past then take a flyer on this...

Race around: sports vehicles and even a tank are on show (Photos Bicester Heritage)

Appropriately for a former RAF bomber base and now centre for the car restoration business, the Bicester Heritage site is to hold its inaugural classic and sports car show this weekend – including displays of historic aircraft rarely seen nowadays.

Like the Goodwood Revival later in the year, and other such retro gatherings, the organisers are hoping to evoke a “period” feel, with some great classic sports models and motorbikes taking to the track – everything from an 1898 Marot-Gordon Tricycle and 1904 Cadillac to a stunning 1957 Lotus Eleven.

As well as historic vehicles, the show will celebrate “the very best of aviation”, with displays and demonstrations taking place at the airfield over the course of the weekend.

Air we go: World War Two veterans Maurice Marriott and Eddie Habberley will be flying high (Bicester Heritage)

Among the aerial demonstrations will be a very special return to the skies for two Second World War veterans. Maurice Marriott, aged 93, and Eddie Habberley, 95 – who both served in the RAF – will take to the skies and back into the Tiger Moth aeroplanes that they piloted during their military careers.

Dan Geoghegan, managing director of Bicester Heritage, said: “The incredible 1939 Grant tank riddled with bullet holes drove around the technical site last week, and has sat outside our club rooms since. It has given everyone here a scintillating taste of the dynamism and unique character of the first classic and sports car show this weekend. We can’t wait to see what other fascinating gems will be pressed into action.”

Rotary club: helicopters will also feature at the Bicester Heritage show (Bicester Heritage)

Bicester Heritage will also feature a concourse displaying exceptional rare models in some inspiring categories: the dawn of the supercar, movie star cars, classic rally cars, and cars of the 1948 Earls Court Motor Show. The success of Bicester Heritage is something of a story in its own right. Founded in 2013, the site has gone from a standing start to a home for more than 35 specialist businesses, and growing, with a collective turnover of more than £20m.

Tanked up: get back on tracks with armoured vehicles (Bicester Heritage)

Before that, though, the vast 420 acre former Second World War RAF bomber training station was on Historic England’s ‘at risk register’, and had the unenviable title of the most ‘at risk’ of all Defence Estates in the UK.

Since Bicester Heritage’s tenure of the area, more than 80 per cent of the historic buildings have been delicately restored or reactivated for modern business use. The timewarp base is truly unmatched in evocative character, with even the paint colours being correct to 1930s British standards. An active airfield and test track complete its dynamic operation.

The classic and sports car show runs on Saturday and Sunday. For tickets and more information: www.bicesterheritage.co.uk/flywheel-festival/