The Classic Car Show - Channel 5 7pm 26th February 2015

Tonight's episode starts with Quentin Wilson's article about the Range Rover. Known as the best 4x4 by far it gave the driver the ability to drive off road in comfort and luxury that had not been put together before. The Range Rover evolved from the 1948 Tickford Land Rover. Flat sides, a tall roof, big glass windows and a tailgate that can drop down. Land Rover played with the design for 10 years but then they acquired the rights to a V8 from Buick that the project took off. Originally the Range Rover was not meant to be a pretty car, the interior was plastic so it could be hosed down, there were no electric windows or automatic gearbox. You were able to cruise on the motorway at 100mph, you could cross fields and deserts and climb hols with a 1:1 Gradient. The Range Rover has won several awards. Sales really picked up when Prince Phillip wax photographed standing on the split tailgate of a Range Rover. Land Rover then went up market offering a 4 door version with a leather and wood interior, electric windows, automatic gearbox and air conditioning. In the 1980's sales figures rocketed passed 100,000 and it soon had several imitators from Mercedes, Ford, BMW and Volvo. Quentin then puts the Range Rover up against the Lexus RX 450 in an off road test. Quentin drives the Range Rover and the Lexus IS driven by a trained 4x4 driver. Over the course of bumps and hills the Range Rover is better than the Lexus. In the 1990's BMW bought Land Rover and really took it upmarket giving it chrome a stunning interior and a 5 litre supercharged engine. The biggest irony for Range Rover is that most of them never go off road, people preferring to use it for the school run. They soon became a symbol for class hatred earning nicknames, one being the Chelsea Tractor. In 2012, Range Rover came out with its 4th generation Range Rover and it has good reviews. Currently selling 6000 a month with a year waiting list. The Range Rover also inspired every SUV on the market so it has an important place in history as an innovator.
Next up Jodie Kidd and Quentin Wilson travel to Monaco to visit the Historic Grand Prix. This event happens every two years. They travel to Monaco in a Citroen DS Decapotable, this car now makes around £150,000. They take the Citroen around the Monaco track but as racing is due to begin, they are soon ushered off the track. Quentin then goes to the COYS Auction room while Jodie takes a boat to the paddock. Walking around the paddock, Jodie walks past some old Ferrari's Jaguars and many others before meeting up with John Romano, a surgeon from Boston with a passion for classic cars. John will be racing a 1964 Brabham BT11 Climax. They have a chat about how he got into cars.Qualifying day and Jodie has a quick chat with John about how he's feeling and then leaves him to it. We find out ho he got on later in the show.
Alex Riley then does article about classic cars you can buy for £5,000. Today's subject is a Porsche 928. This was the car that was supposed to replace the Porsche 911. The 928 came equipped with a front mounted water cooled 4.5 litre V8. For die hard Porsche fans, this was a hard car to get to grips with although it was voted car of the year in 1978 , a year after its release. The 928 did not fit into a mold as it was too big to be a sports car and too small to be a GT car. Porsche made a lot of refinements to the car over it's 18 year life span to improvements. Alex is driving an S4, one of the later 928's. This comes with a 5 litre engine that produced 320 horse power that would take the car from 0-60 in under 6 seconds and a top speed of 168mph. The aluminium engine was in the front of the car and the gearbox in the back gave the car optimum weight distribution and balance. As for looks, the 928 is a pretty car, there are plenty of windows to light the cabin and a decent sized boot.
Bruno Senna is next with another lap in a classic car. Today Bruno will be driving a 1965 Mustang. This Mark 1 Mustang has been race prepared, with 350 Horse power, a 0-60 of just 5 seconds and a top speed of 145mph. Driving the car around the track, Bruno has to keep the rear end in line as the car has so much power. Power-sliding around corners looks great but it's not the fastest way around the track. At the halfway point the mustang is almost a second quicker than the Mercedes was last week. Bruno is able to keep the car in line without loosing the back end of the car. by the end of the lap he is over 2.5 seconds quicker that the Mercedes was.
We then have part 2 of the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. We return to the qualifying where Jodie is acting as his timekeeper and sign holder. Red flags are then shown which means a big crash has happened. Jodie returns to the paddock to find John. He is OK. Qualifying then resumes as John posts a lap time of 2.06 the session ends. John is happy to have qualified for the race. It's race day and Jodie has a surprise for John. She takes him to a seated area where Sir Stirling Moss is waiting to chat to him about driving around Monaco. They talk for a while and then once finished, John thanks Stirling for taking the time to talk to him. On the Grid, John is in the car and Jodie has goosebumps. Once the race has started, we learn that John  is in 22nd place. as each lap passes, Johns confidence grows, lap times get quicker and he starts to make his way through the field. The winner of the race is Andy Middlehusrt driving Jim Clark's Lotus 25. John finishes in 17th place.
This has been another good episode of the show. I would like to have seen more of the cars at the auction but i understand that they only have an hour show to broadcast.

Below is a link to the episode

http://www.channel5.com/shows/the-classic-car-show

The Classic Car Show - Channel 5 19th February 2015

Tonight's episode begins with Quentin Wilson is first up with an article about the E-Type Jaguar. This is a car that Enzo Ferrari described as the most beautiful car ever made. In the last five years The 1961 E-Type has quadrupled in value and is now worth around £300,000. Originally. Jaguar were only going to make 250, but the success at the Geneva Motor Show in 1961 meant that over 1000 were made. Having driven an E-Type, I can relate to what Quentin Wilson has to say about it. The interior us beautiful, the view over the bonnet is amazing and if you drive it to its full, it is capable of 150mph. The steering on the car is also light and despite being over 50 years old it still feels modern and has a smooth ride. The E-Type was to cars what The Beatles were to music.

We then see the new F-Type Jaguar as the modern homage to the E-Type. With a five litre V8 and a 185mph top speed it is beauty mixed with speed.

Next up is Will Best and an article about Crystal Palace race track. First opened in 1927 it became known as London's own race track. The 3 kilometre track with six corners hosted many events. Lined with railway sleepers for safety barriers it left no room for error. Eventually saftey concerns and noise complaints meant that the track hosted its last event in August of 1972. In five days from the film, Will Best will make his Motorsport debut at a sprint run at the restored Crystal Palace track. Will enlists the help of Gordon Spice, the man that held the lap record at the old track and was the British Saloon Car champion in 1969. Gordon then describes what it was like to drive the track 45 years ago. Will then goes to his uncle to get a car do the sprint in. Will's uncle prepares classic cars for racing and has an 1972 MG Midget ready for Will to use at the event.

With two days to go, Will then heads to Mercedes Benz World to learn about car control and driving on a track. Having done an experience at Mercedes Benz World, I can relate to what Will goes through while driving around the track. Once finished there, he goes around the wet circle to learn about wet control. This is a two part report that finishes later on.

Next we have some classic car adverts, one about a Range Rover and one about a Ford Escort.

Alex Riley's article this week is about one mans car collection. Chris Tallents has spent his life collecting some unusual vehicles. He has a Ford Jeep, an Austin Ant, a crane, a 1941 Army Fire Service Truck and a Shortland Armoured Personell Carrier to list a few. This truly is a most amazing collection of vehicles.

Next up, Bruno Senna drives a Mercedes Benz M90E, the car that Ayrton Senna drove in the 1984. Bruno really put this car through its paces at the Brooklands Test Track and even managed to go sideways as he posts a time of 53.838 seconds. This will be the benchmark for all of his future laps for The Classic Car Show.

Quentin Wilson then takes us through some investment cars. First we have a Mercedes 190E. Five years ago you could pick one up for £5,000, now they are around £12,000.

We then have a Peugeot 205 GTI. These used to be around the £4000 price mark. They are now going for £15,000. Lastly we have the Bentley Arnage T. This started life in 2002 at £122,000 new and went down to £25,000 a few years ago. Now they are around £30,000.

Lastly we find out how Will Best gets on with his Motorsport debut. After a saftey briefing, all cars go for scrutineering. Once the car has passed. It's time for some warm laps. This is a point to point sprint. On Will's first practice lap he manages a 58.44. Once these laps are over. It's time for the real lap. On wills first lap he spins but does not crash the car. His second lap is much better at 45 seconds. Will then has his last lap and completes the sprint in 45.22 seconds. With 5 days of training Will Best was able to knock over 13seconds off his original time. This I would consider a big achievement.

This to me has been the best episode yet as I have been able to relate to what the presenters are saying and doing. Please keep up the brilliant work.

Below is a link to the episode

http://www.channel5.com/shows/the-classic-car-show