THE WORLD’S FIRST EVER PETROLICIOUS DRIVERS’ MEETING TAKES PLACE AT BICESTER HERITAGE TO GREAT SUCCESS

THE WORLD’S FIRST EVER PETROLICIOUS DRIVERS’ MEETING TAKES PLACE AT BICESTER HERITAGE TO GREAT SUCCESS

Photography credit: White Wall Media / Petrolicious

Video Edit By Stumpy Media @ Classic Chatter

More than 4000 visitors attended the first ever Petrolicious Drivers’ Meeting from the renowned Petrolicious website at Bicester Heritage, Oxfordshire, on Sunday May 12.

The now-­ubiquitous Petrolicious #DriveTastefully motto was made real by the new event, which saw over curated 200 cars placed artfully around the restored former RAF buildings of the Bicester Heritage Technical Site and outside the huge events hangar.

Inside the hangar, the Petrolicious Drivers’ Meeting broke new ground for a Bicester Heritage car show by kitting out the 50,000 sq ft space with motoring artists’ area, trade stands and a cinema showcasing Petrolicious films. Next to the screen were the cars that starred in the films being shown – including a Ferrari Daytona, ‘The Rusty 911’ Porsche, a Golf GTI Mk2, NSU Ro80, Mercedes­-Benz 280SE, Lancia Delta Integrale and Bentley 4 ½ Litre.

Sponsors Jaguar Landrover SVO, Morgan and Aston Martin Works all had stands in the hangar showing new cars and old, while Bremont used the event to launch its new Jaguar D­typewatch, complete with not one but two D­types on display, as well as a Jaguar Project 7.

In the paddock area outside the hangar, it was impossible to miss the restored black and red­liveried Ford truck that served as Frank Williams’ first ever purpose-­built race transporter. Alongside were two historic F1 cars – the 1979 FW07 and 1987 FW11B – from Williams Heritage. The display marked the 50th anniversary of Frank Williams’s first Formula 1 race.

Elsewhere in the paddock were special displays from:

• The Slowly Sideways rally group, showcasing Group B and other rally cars of the 1980s­-onwards
• The Endurance Racing Legends group, with Le Mans and endurance race cars of the 1990s and 2000s, including Aston Martin DBR9, Jaguar XJR15 and TVR T400R
• The Singer Design and Lightweighting Study (DLS) 911 test mule, delivered by racer and Singer development driver Marino Franchitti
• A genuine Brumos team Porsche 911 RSR
• Multi­-million pound Ferrari display that included F40, Daytona, 330GT, 275 GTB and blogger Mr JWW’s F12 TDF
• XJ220 and Project 8 from sponsors Jaguar Land Rover SVO

On the tree-­lined avenues and amongst the evocative Grade 2 listed buildings of the Bicester Heritage site, some of the highlights included:

• Four ex­-Works Subaru rally cars, including ex­-Colin McRae and Kenneth Eriksson Imprezas
• Genuine Alan Mann Lotus Cortina Mk1 and Autodelta Alfa Romeo GTA, reunited 53 years after they last raced together
• Aston Martin DBR4 with Land Rover Series 2 tow vehicle
• Three hot rods, including a replica of the Two-­Lane Blacktop movie ’55 Chevy
• Zagato centenary display with Zagato versions of Lancias, Alfas, the latest Aston Martin Zagato from sponsor Aston Martin Works and a Porsche 356 Zagato owned by Coldplay’s Guy Berryman
• ‘Alfa Romeo Avenue’ with Alfas from the 1960s through to an 8C Competizione supercar
• Four homologation­-derived road cars: Ford RS200, Audi Quattro, Renault 5 Turbo 1 and Porsche 924 Carrera GT
• The rarely­seen 1966 Vauxhall XVR concept car from the Vauxhall Heritage Centre
• Cars from TV’s Wheeler Dealers presenters, Mike Brewer and Ant Anstead – Mike’s restored MGA, the Dowsetts Comet built by Ant’s company, and an Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato recreation built by Ant and owned by
• Plus 4 Works 110 and new Aero GT from sponsors Morgan Motor Company
• Rare Aston Martins including one of only 15 2­Litre Sports ‘DB1’ models built and a stunning black One-­77

Visitors were also able to book in professional photoshoots on their cars with Petrolicious photographers, in the Footman James Photographic Studio in a quiet but evocative corner of the Technical Site. Every single studio slot was taken, with cars as diverse as Alfa Romeo 1750GTV, Cobra 289, BMW i8 and Fiat Dino photographed there.

Adding to the mix, many of the specialists based at Bicester Heritage opened their doors to the visitors. These included specialist car dealers Pendine, Robert Glover and Legends Automotive, pre­war Riley and MG specialists Blue Diamond Services, Bentley specialists Kingsbury Racing, Classic Oils and training course provider Heritage Skills Academy.

Even the car park was stunning, with visitors in classic and interesting modern cars directed to the ‘#DriveTastefully’ parking area, resulting in a fascinating show of its own, with everything from lowriders to a road­legal Group C Jaguar race car.

More Petrolicious Drivers’ Meetings will be announced in the near future. Photography credit: White Wall Media / Petrolicious