"Wonderful venue and fantastic people," that was the comment from motor racing legend Sir Stirling Moss when he visited Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb, near Worcester on (Sunday).
Sir Stirling was guest of honour at the Midland Automobile Club‟s 'Classic Nostalgia' weekend, a vintage themed meeting held at the world‟s oldest motor sport venue, where people were invited to wear suitable dress to add to the period atmosphere.
Cars of all shapes and sizes from many decades competed against the clock up the iconic track while family entertainment including singers, bands, barbeques and dancing girls performed in the Courtyard. The car parks areas were lined with cars from several clubs including Morgan and MG, while thousands more cherished machines provided a wonderful display all of their own lined up in the public car parks.
F1 television commentator Louise Goodman hosted a question and answer session with Sir Stirling, sponsored by Peter James Insurance in the renovated courtyard area, where he spoke of the vast differences between modern drivers and cars and the highly enjoyable, totally acceptable and almost requisite „Playboy‟ image required of Formula 1 racing in his day, also admitting to having two sets of scrapbooks recording his career, one set for motor racing and one for 'Crumpet!'
On Classic Nostalgia itself, Sir Stirling said: "This is a terrific occasion where all sorts of truly rare and magnificent cars can be seen in their full glory and I am thrilled at the reception I have received here from old and younger fans alike and for the opportunity to be reunited with some of the important cars from my racing past."
One lucky visitor was Catherine Ball, from Solihull, Birmingham, who bought a charity raffle ticket at the event and won herself a passenger ride up the hill in front of the vast crowds, being driven by Sir Stirling Moss in a multi million pound historic Ferrari 250 SWB,
One hundred cars took part in a Concours de Elegance competition with the overall winner being Roy Powell, who had travelled from Teeside in his stunning Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk111, originally having had no intention to enter the competition, but ending up by driving home with the top accolade.
Andrew Davis of the MAC Sports and Classics Section added: I feel the outstanding success of our 2014 Classic Nostalgia meeting demonstrates our achievement in providing much broader family appeal to add to the traditional and established motor sport excitement, which this year also included a spectacular aerobatics display by a period Pitts Special biplane.
"With more music and dance performances in the Courtyard and extra family entertainment, combined with the serious competition for classic cars both on track and in the Concours arena, I believe it all added up to create a truly exceptional day."
