Bicester Heritage Classic Drive-In Weekend.

Bicester Heritage once again opens up it doors to the public for its Classic Drive-In weekend. My friend Jonny decided to take the dust sheets off the S2000 and head down. Here’s what he had to say.

I’ve committed the ultimate car show sin! I forgot (never have the time) to clean my modern classic! So faced with the dilemma of turning up in the daily family wagon or possibly worse, turn up with dirty car, I chose at least to get the S2000 out for one of the last few times of the year before it gets tucked away for winter.

So my son and I headed out, taking care to cover our faces to avoid embarrassment. As we parked up on the outskirts of the airfield we could already hear the glorious sound of straight 6’s, V8’s and the familiar burble of boxers rumbling around the hangers. It feels like a very long time since I’ve been to a car show and first impressions certainly made me feel like it was worth the wait.

Prodrive had brought along their famous collection of Impreza rally cars from the era in which they did so well. The classic GC8 series from the 90’s had influenced a lot of my own choice in modern classics, so seeing a fleet of them in the flesh was very special. It was also great to see Road Rat magazine, now settled in to there new home on the airfield.

As usual at these types of car events the public car park can reveal many hidden gems, and this classic drive-in didn’t disappoint with a weird and wonderful collection of some of the most cared for cars in the country. After a good wonder around we grabbed some food from a local friendly pizza stall and headed over to the drive in cinema area of the airfield. The film on offer was Le Mans 66, it’s a great film which really captures the passion of building, driving and winning in a racing car (not that I’ve had the pleasure of the last one of those.).

It did occur to me that running a drive-in cinema at an event largely attended by classic car owners, some of whom may not have car stereos may have been a bit short sighted, however luckily for us I had recently reinstated my OEM stereo in the S2000 and got it working again so we were able to watch the film properly. It was a first outing for my son watching a grown up film in a retro classic car, and I must admit it was for me also, but never the less a very enjoyable experience and I hope to do it again soon.

Now if only the recently postponed (twice due to COVID) Sunday Scrambles could actually go ahead, because after all these are the meat and potatoes of the heritage centre for meets and in my opinion amongst the best of the gatherings in the UK.