The Classic Car Show - 2nd April 2015, Channel 5

Tonight's episode begins with Quentin Wilson's article about the Mercedes SL Convertible. The SL was made by Mercedes as a car to blast down the autobahn, it came with either a V8 or a straight six engine. Power outputs got bigger until the 560SL could reach 145mph. This was Mercedes longest running car. It was made for 18 years and  during that time, Mercedes made 240,000 of them. A 1986 420SL at the time cost £29,000. The example shown had just sold for £28,000. This car has been helped by its appearance in many US television shows. JR and Bobby Ewing drove them in Dallas and one also appeared in the open sequence of Hart to Hart and lots more. During its near two decades of production and in the following decades, the SL has been a desirable car and on many people's car lists. This car was also a tough car, it was one of the first Merc's to have a crumple zone and a safety cell. The windscreen was so hard that it doubled as s roll bar and you had to be strong to remove Tf hard top. The interior of the car was strong as well, the seats were made with a material called NB Tech, an imitation leather that is the upholstery equivalent of Kevlar. The carpet weave is so tight and dense to make sure it does not wear away. This then is a sensible classic that is tough, reliable, quick and does not depreciate. Is this the perfect classic?

Next up is Quentin Wilson and Jodie Kidd driving a 1968 Buick La Sabre on an American road trip. They will be travelling 400 miles from Downtown Los Angeles to San Francisco on the Pacific Coast Highway also known as Highway One over the course of three days. Before they take to the Highway, Jodie and Quentin meet with Chad McQueen, the son of Steve McQueen. They have a quick chat about Steve McQueen's car chase in Bullitt. Quentin remarks about it being the best car chase sequence ever and I agree. There are other car chase films out there but Bullitt set the benchmark that has never been bettered.

They depart from their meeting with Chad and head out on the Highway. After some driving and naming the Buick "Boris" the pair head to a hotel in Santa Barbara for the night. Day two begins with Quentin at the wheel of Boris, today will see Quentin and Jodie cover another 200 miles to Carmel. They turn off of the highway and head down the Palmer Road through the Santa Maria Wine Valley. Here you can stop off and do wine tasting and take in the local scenery. After deciding that Quentin really does like the Buick, the pair spot a collection of American Classics and pull over and chat to the owner. His name is Bob and amongst others he has a Dodge Dart Swinger, a 1956 Ford Thunderbird, a 1963 Valiant, a 1970 Dodge Charger, and a 1960 DeSoto. The pair then head onwards to Carmel and the scenery is amazing. Watching this makes you want to do this trip yourself. As this is a two part story the rest of this article will finish later.

Next we have Jennifer Saunders driving the Fiat Cinquecento around London. This is a small car that comes with a 479cc engine and it's quite noisy. While driving around in the Fiat, Jennifer comments that the brakes are not very good and that when she does brake, she is willing the car to stop. With the Fiat being small it's easy to park but a problem with it that most of the boot is taken up by the fuel tank. Any shopping will need to go on spare seats. It has to be said that the Fiat did look good around the streets of London and due to its size you will not upset anyone by using more than one parking bay.

Next up Bruno Senna is driving s classic car around the handling track. This week, it's the turn of the 1955 Mercedes Benz 300SL Gullwing. Launched at the 1954 New York Auto Show, the 300SL Gullwing this car is arguably the first supercar pin up. It came with a 3 litre fuel injected engine and aerodynamic shape meant that the Gullwing could reach a record breaking 160mph. On the track the car looks a bit of a handful as the car is not race prepared and Bruno looks like he is really having to work hard to keep the Gullwing on the concrete. At the half way split the Gullwing is over 3.5 seconds slower than the Lightweight E-Type. Going through the rest of the lap you can see how much body roll the Gullwing has. By the end of the lap, the Gullwing is over 8 seconds slower than the E-Type.

Next up, Quentin Wilson takes us through some future classics. First up is the Subaru Impreza Turbo. 0-60 in 5.5 seconds with a top speed of 150mph this is a quick saloon car. You can buy a good example at the moment for £4,000 prices have gone up around 10% in the last year and this trend is set to continue.  Next up is the Triumph Vitesse. These came with either a 1.6 or 2 litre straight six engines that could take the car to 100mph and 0-60 in 12-15 seconds but they also came with overdrive. Prices are not consistent at the moment as no one really knows what they are worth but the going rate for a good condition car is between £5,000 - £10,000. Lastly we have the Reliant GTE Coupe. This car was fibre glass bodied and came with a Ford 2.5 straight six or a 3 litre V6. Top speed of 120mph and 0-60 in around 11 seconds. A mint condition one will cost around £9,000. 

We now go back to the American road trip and we pick up with Jodie and Quentin on the morning of day three, driving 170 miles from Carmel to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. 

The pair stop in Santa Cruz for lunch taking in the local scenery. They spot one of the rides that was used in The Lost Boys. They then head off again towards San Francisco. More stunning scenery is driven past and then they find a traffic jam as they head towards the Golden Gate Bridge. They make it through the traffic and reach their destination. Although this would not have been my first choice of car both presenters enjoyed driving if and it did look good on the trip. You can rent cars like this for £200 per day. That is great value in my opinion.

This has been a superb episode. I really want to drive the Pacific Coast Highway and see it for myself. The only problem I had with this episode was the background music during the whole of the SL article, personally I would not have had as much so that the engine could be heard a little more. Well done on a great job