7000 Brave The Cold For Bicester Heritage’s First Sunday Scramble of 2019

The UK’s informal classic car gatherings just keep growing! Classic Motor Hub, Brooklands Museum, Goodwood Breakfast Club and–of course–the Bicester Heritage Sunday Scrambles are all thriving. Bicester’s first Sunday Scramble of 2019 welcomed a records 7000 visitors along with an incredible mix of machinery, filling the historic RAF Technical Site and adjoining airfield. Stand out cars from the day included the ex-Gilles Villeneuve FW19 F1 car displayed at Sports Purpose, a battle scarred but highly-original Jaguar C-type, the super-rare 199mph Porsche 964-based RUF RCT EVO, a Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing sat outside the Heritage Skills Academy and the famous “Hairy Canary” AC Cobra in the Blast House showroom of Pendine Historics.

Overhead, the Finest Hour Experiences Tiger Moths were kept busy, giving passenger flights to the bravest visitors. On-site brewery Wriggly Monkey was doing great business with its latest creation, while sponsor Bremont manned their Nissen Hut-style bunkers on the Main Drive to show off their watches, and Bicester Heritage’s insurance partner Hagerty Insurance UK managed a fully-booked Valuation Arena, providing classic vehicle owners with face-to-face up-to-date prices for their cars. On the airfield the car clubs put on strong displays, with Porsche Club GB outdoing the rest with a massive line-up. Even in the car park there was plenty to see, including a Ferrari F40 casually parked up among the more run-of-the-mill cars–and of course don’t forget that the 40-plus resident specialists open their doors for Sunday Scrambles, giving rare access to amazing restoration shops, dealers, parts suppliers and training schools.

Dan Geoghegan, managing director of Bicester Heritage, said after the event, “The January Scramble is always a highlight of the year for us, not just to see who is out in their classics but also to get the first New Year Sunday off to the best possible start.  We were taken aback by the attendance and support, not least to see so many families and fabulous motorcars: the classic car world is clearly in excellent health. It offers a superb opportunity to get behind the scenes at Bicester Heritage, not to mention visit Britain’s best preserved pre-war bomber station come to life in such a dynamic way.  We are avidly planning for the Drive-it-Day Scramble on Sunday 28 April.” A new ‘Super Scramble’ has also been announced for the 23 June 2019, to replace the now defunct Classic & Sportscar Flywheel event.

Images by Amy Shore, courtesy of Bicester Heritage