There’s every chance that by the time you read this, MotorMartin will have already voted for each of the cars on the shortlist below at least two or three times, with indecision and fickleness playing equal parts. And yet, that is surely part of the joy with a vote such as this, as spending time gazing upon the cars on the list is something that every classic fan will surely enjoy. It can’t only be MotorMartin that will be changing his favourite over and over again, can it?
With MotorMartin Towers seemingly buckling under the weight of all the motoring news arriving up on the top floor at the moment, it’s only the most interesting pieces that rise to the top and deserve to be posted as part of motormartin.com and so when the following news arrived there really was no debate.
The International Historic Motoring Awards (IHMA) have informed MotorMartin that as part of their celebration of the very best in the classic motoring world, they are inviting enthusiasts to vote for the historic Car of the Year.
MotorMartin urges all Classic car fans to put the following in your diary as you only have until November 1st to cast your vote on the IHMA website historicmotoringawards.com. And they have eight outstanding machines to choose from, it’s not going to be an easy choice:
The International Historic Motoring Awards (IHMA) have kindly provided MotorMartin with the following information regarding the eight finalists below:
Alfa Romeo SZ Zagato – fascinatingly, this unique 1960 prototype is half preserved exactly as found and half cleaned and conserved. Its first appearance was at Villa d’Este this year, where it won the preservation prize.
Ford GT40 P/1043 – the winner of the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours was fully restored to exactly authentic condition just in time to make a star appearance at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
Sir Henry Segrave’s Sunbeam ‘Tiger’ – 90 years to the day since it set a World Land Speed Record at 125mph, the Tiger returned to Southport Sands for another glorious run.
Jaguar D-type XKD 501 – the highly original 1956 Le Mans winner, sold for $21,780,000 by RM Sotheby’s, achieved the highest price ever paid for a British-built car sold at auction.
Jaguar XJ13 recreation – this just-completed labour-of-love project uses a genuine XJ13 quad-cam engine and recreates the car as originally built in 1966, before its 1971 crash.
Talbot-Lago T150-C SS Figoni et Falaschi – which this year became the recipient of the inaugural ‘Best of the Best’ of six winners of major concours – Style et Luxe, Concours of Elegance, Villa d’Este, Amelia Island, The Quail and Cavallino.
Touring Disco Volante Spyder – built in Touring’s 90th year on Alfa Romeo 8C underpinnings, the Spyder has won at both Villa d’Este and the Concours of Elegance this year.
Pegaso Z-102 Berlinetta ENASA Cúpula – a remarkable one-off, once owned by a Dominican dictator, it was the star of this year’s Amelia Island concours, fresh out of a challenging full restoration.
Previous historic Car of the Year winners include the Fiat S76 ‘Beast of Turin’, the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe CSX2287, Bugatti 57SC Aerolithe recreation and the famous Birkin Bentley. The International Historic Motoring Awards are presented in association with Octane magazine and EFG private bank.
Checkout the short film below, shared by Octane magazine for MotorMartin, showing aspects of the Historic Motoring Awards 2015 and gaze in awe at the motoring royalty on display. Seriously recommended.
Be a part of the celebrations
Rather unbelievably, tickets for the International Historic Motoring Awards gala dinner at London’s magnificent Guildhall on November 17th cost £210 per person or £1850 for a table of ten. They can be bought via historicmotoringawards.com. which isn’t a bad price for such a prestigious event.
I can’t wait to see which of the eight will be crowned as the very best classic of 2016.
Where will you go?