The Classic Motor Sponsors Meguiars and Footman James proved a massive hit with the audience. Meguiar’s stand featured the breathtaking finalists of its Club Showcase concours competition. Despite fierce competition from a Ferrari, a Jensen, BMW, a Jaguar E-Type and a Panther Kalista, the winning car was a 1999 Rover Mini 40LE owned by Mark Wynn-Smith.

Paul Matthews, Footman James’ Managing Director, said: “This year’s show was a great success for us - with huge numbers of enthusiasts coming through the doors, the stand was constantly busy. It was fantastic to see that the show was packed to the rafters despite the current economic climate – it just goes to show that the passion and enthusiasm within the industry remains as strong as ever. Our extensive on-site research, carried out throughout the show, should give us further insight into enthusiasts’ thoughts and opinions on today’s marketplace.”

With over 300 traders and over 1,000 cars on display, the main problem for visitors was seeing everything in one day as the show spanned five halls of cars with displays from 180 of the UK best classic motoring clubs and two halls of classic motorcycles, which was a new feature for 2008.

A popular focal point of Classic Bikes was the Ace Cafe London display, which included a Rickman Metisse Cafe Racer, a Triumph T140 Flat Tracker style racer and the cafe racer Little Miss Dynamite, built to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the cafe. Ace Cafe London founder Mark Wilsmore said: “The classic bike hall showcased a very impressive display of motorcycles from the various owners clubs in what was a superb show, better than I had ever seen before,  which the number of visitors proved testament to.  We will be talking to the organisers about how the Ace can be even more involved in next year’s show and the continued development of Classic Bikes at the Classic Motor Show.”