Postcard from Race Retro 2013
I’d never been to Race Retro before, but I had promoted the event and awarded 5 pairs of tickets to some of our readers, so I had a good idea of what to expect.
Apparently billed as ‘Europe’s Premier Winter Classic Motorsport Show’, this year’s event certainly was fresh, weather wise. I was expecting a mainly rally orientated event, and although the live action was all about the rallying, the club stands and halls and Silverstone Auction hall had plenty to offer the non-rally fans.
I took my son and we had a great time. The live action rally stage where loads of different types of historic rally cars blasted around a lengthened course for this year was cool, although they were certainly not giving the cars full beans.
We liked the Ferrari 308 GTB Michelotto, Porsche 911 and Audi Sport Quattro the best, although my son liked the Ford Escort that spat fire from the exhaust, “very cool”. 
We really enjoyed the four indoor halls, where the classic Team Lotus displayed several of Jim Clark’s cars including his 1963 World Championship winning Lotus 25. The Imp Club celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Imp with race, rally and trials versions of the little rear engined marvel while a terrific display of Alpine Renault’s marked 40 years since they won the World Rally Championship.
For motorcycle fans there was a tribute to Barry Sheene with four of his works Suzukis on display. Sir Stirling Moss, Murray Walker, Norman Dewis, Tiff Needell and other celebrities were on hand over the weekend, signing endless autographs and chatting with fans.
Club stands, events organisers, book sellers, artists and go faster parts specialists were all present.
I spent a lot of time in the Silverstone Auctions hall, ever so slightly agitated that I do not yet have a big garage, so that I could fit in some of the fine cars they had on display. I certainly would have been tempted for these four cars:
1950 Jaguar XK120 Roadster
1967 Alvis Burns Special
1965 Austin Mini ‘Super de-luxe’
You can see our top 10 cars at Race Retro 2013 here, and all our photos from the day here.
This event was a great day out, not much there for kids though, however I was delighted that some lads let my boy be driven around in a rally car which he really enjoyed. It’s certainly not an event that would replace Silverstone Classic or Goodwood FoS, and I’d certainly say the layout and venue for the event could be improved, but a good day out none the less.
Race Retro gets the My Car Heaven thumbs up. 😀
