The Classic Car Show - 16th April 2015 - Channel 5

Tonight's episode begins with QuentinWilsons article about the Ferrari Testarossa. This car summed up the decade that was the 1980's. The cars designer, Sergio Pinninfarina called the Testarossa an exercise in flamboyance and it was never welcomed by the credit card carrying Ferrari inner circle like a Daytona or a 365 and prices plummeted. Nobody wanted them as they were too vulgar. What people forget is that the Testarossa is one of Ferrari's most successful cars selling 7,000 units. In 1984 the list price was £63,000, the equivalent now is £200,000 and there was a year waiting list. This was the first Ferrari that could be sold to a worldwide market due to emissions and safety features. This explains the number of cars sold and Ferrari made it easy to drive. The Testarossa can reach 185mph with a 0-60 time of 5 seconds. Going back to the remark about being too vulgar, the Testarossa is a very subtle car.  The bonnet is low but has nothing vulgar and looks plain in comparison to a Bugatti Veyron and the side vents that people disliked actually channeled air to the two radiators in the back of the car.

The Testarossa summed up the 1980's and that was its greatest success.

The Testarossa is the original modern supercar, aluminium bodied, reliable and a minimum amount of electrics that can go wrong. Up to that point, Ferrari's, Maseratti's and Lamborghini's were unreliable hard riding cars that demanded a lot from the driver and passenger, but the Testarossa is a smooth driving car with a big cockpit. You can buy one of these for £75,000 but prices will go up.

Next up is Jodie Kidd meets David Gandy as he picks up his first classic car.

David is a male supermodel. He shot to fame after winning a TV modelling contest in 2001 and is the face of Dolce & Gabanna. He has had the car fully restored by Hilton & Moss. The car is a 1960 Mercedes 190SL. After 2,000 hours of restoration, the 190SL looks incredible. After a year of decsision making David takes the wheel and gets used to his new classic. Driving around the roads both the car, driver and passenger look great.

Next up is Chris Routledge with his barn finds article. Today Chris has had a tip off about s very rare car in a garage. The car is an Owen Sedanca. This car was built in the 1970's super coupe and it was based on the Jaguar. The Owen Sedanxa was launched at a star studded party in 1973 but it never went into production. There was only ever a pre production prototype. It was a very innovative car. The rearing the car has elements of the Lamborghini Espada while the front end looks like a Lotus Esprit. The wheels are Wolfrace Slot magnesium alloy wheels. These wheels alone cost a small fortune in the 70's so you can tell that a good amount of money was put into this car. The interior is all original and is in good condition. If restored, the car could be worth £100,000. 

Next up, Alex Riley goes to visit a car obsessed family. The Prinn family from Southampton have gathered a collection of 33 Austin's in all conditions. They began with one in 1997 and most spare room including the garden is taken up with Austins. They sell parts to people that are looking to buy them. There are spare parts everywhere in a big garage. Alex is taken to another garage where Matthew Prinns car is kept. Mr Beans Mini. Matthew owns one of the original Minis from the series as he loves classic cars. Matthew takes Alex for a drive and they talk about the family dynamic and Matthew's love of classic cars.

Next up is Bruno Senna driving a classic car around the Brooklands handling track. Today Bruno is driving a Ferrari 308 Michelotto Rally Spec. This car took on Audi, Opel and Porsche on the international rally scene and won in the Targa Florio, Tour De France and Mont Blanc rallies. This 308 has a 3 litre V8 engine that produced 320bhp with a lightweight Pinninfarina body that can go from 0-60 in 4 seconds and a top speed of 140mph. This car looks seriously quick and low. Flying around the corners the car could be on rails. At the halfway point, the 308 is half a second quicker than the E-Type. By the end, the lead has extended to 8 tenths of a second completing the lap in 47:404.

Next up is Jodie Kidd driving a Jaguar XJ220. Revealed at the London Motor Show in 1988, it stole all of the headlines.

People queued to put a £50,000 deposit on a car that promised a 220mph top speed. This came from a V12 engine that produced 500bhp with four wheel drive. 

But four years after that launch, Black Wednesday shattered the global market and Jaguar delivered the car that dos not live up to it's promise. By the time the car was finished due to design and financial constraints, the V12 engine became a V6, four wheel drive became rear wheel drive and the price tag went from £360,000 to £400,000. That's £750,000 in today's money. Customers were furious and demanded their deposits back from Jaguar making this car Jaguar's biggest commercial failure. This is a shame because it looks like a good drive. There's not much roll in the corners, there is not a lot of under steer or over steer and it is very powerful. There are s couple of problems, the car is very low to the road and it's very wide so not great on country lanes where bumpy narrow road are the norm. In 1993, Jaguar entered the race version of the XJ220 in the GT class at Le Mans. It won easily but was then disqualified due to a technicality and it's racing career was over. Due to a committed band of followers, several recreations of the race version still exist, and thanks to a father and son team Justin and Don Law, Jodie will be racing one of these at the Silverstone Classic in the 90's Legends GT race. The car Jodie is racing is similar to the road car bar the big rear wing. The engine is a 3.5 litre V6 twin turbo that produces an amazing 700bhp. 0-60 in 2.5 seconds with a top speed of 235mph. In Jodie's race there are two Dodge Vipers, 5 McLaren F1's, Porsches and Marcos to name a few. Jodie then suits up and gets ready to race. She gets in with Justin Law but there is s problem. The car won't start. With the warm up lap underway, they swap into another XJ220 and make it just in time to the back of the field. With the race underway. Jodie is giving full concentration Justin has to remind Jodie she is presenting an article. As quick as the race began, it finished.

This was a good episode but for me, Jodue Kidd's article with David Gandy was the worst article. There was not a lot of information about the car e.g. How much he paid for the car or where he bought the car. To me this looked like an exercise in beauty, beautiful car (190SL), beautiful man (David Gandy), beautiful host (Jodie Kidd) driving around some beautiful roads. I like to have information and this just did not deliver for me. Good show otherwise.