Buckfastleigh Classic Car Show part 1
South Devon Railway, Buckfastleigh, Devon, Sept 2021.
Today NewtonClassics brings you some photography from the last show attended in 2021 back in beautiful Buckfastleigh, on the edge of Dartmoor national park. Devon is in the Southwest part of the country, and Southwest Devon is where I grew up around. The show took place during a nice and bright September day.
Best in Show – 1974 Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RS
RS stands for RennSport[=racing sport]. These are street-legal machines which have been derived from racing versions. In the case of this Porsche, some research found it was actually used for racing in 1974. There is a picture and link below.
There are many types of Porsche 911, this version however is particularly special and rare. This example was also immaculately restored and kept. It felt quite a privilege, as I did not quite expect something THIS rare to turn up at this little country show.
Note the use of negative space to write the Porsche text, and the neat little original 2.7 badge, a larger tuned up engine unique to the RS.
I’ve always found the shape and form of the earlier 911’s iconic. In RS guise, it’s slightly bulging and more muscular than standard, with wider arches and a lower roofline.
The blue on white is very stylish. From this angle we can see how low and hunkered down this car is, it’s also surprisingly quite a small and compact car. The modern 911 is much bigger.
Bystanders might just think it’s another Porsche, when the original RS seen here is in fact a racing homologation special. The whole car is stripped to about 1200kg, it has thinner glass, fibreglass panels, huge brakes, specially engineered suspension components, and more.
Here is the very same car, being used for fast road-rally racing in 1974! Credit: http://www.dungannonmotorclub.com/1974-circuit-of-ireland-mn/
There’s no mistaking a 911 outline
Road and track ready rubber 215/60 on the original 15 inch Fuschs alloys
CarreraRS is a very specific and rare model. Google the license plate you will find this car has racing pedigree.
The iconic ‘Fuchs’ style alloy wheel; painted to match the car details.
Those frog eyes, some love to hate the 911, mostly it’s universally accepted as one of the greats.
A True British Classic
Next, one of a 3 Triumph TR6’s that turned up. (Another will be featured in part 2). One of the greatest British sports cars with lots of power, rear wheel drive, and no airbags, traction control, no ABS, and well not much of any safety kit you would find on a modern sports car! You have to be a little bit brave and certain to drive one on the roads. Back in the day, they called it a “hairy chested beast”.
Triumph TR6 was produced from 1969 until 1976. This ‘hairy chested’ rear wheel drive 2-seater could reach 140mph. Terrifying with 1970s levels of safety kit!
Check out those tail pipes. Originally many had mechanical Lucas fuel injection. One modification is to switch this out for a more reliable Bosch system instead.
Triumph TR6 tail lights. One rumor states the rear design was taken from a previous Michelloti sketch, who designed the TR5. However most of the TR6 was styled by Karmann in Germany.
After this model, the TR7 was launched with a very funny wedge shape nothing like it’s predecessors. It was a flop, with wimpy engines. The TR6 was Triumph’s last real success of a proper sports car.
A very clean engine bay. 2500cc straight-6 in the Triumph TR6.
A British Icon
No classic car show in England would be right without some presence of a Lotus. Colin Chapman, who founded Lotus, was famous for his total dedication to ‘adding lightness’ to cars. Meaning the lighter he could make them, the better they would handle stop and go. Lotus to this day remain famous for being the first car manufacture and race car engineering firm to really push this philosophy on the entire industry, in their heyday winning the Formula 1 world championships.
The original Lotus Elan, which embraced all the lightness in order to deliver excellent handling and efficiency. Much has been written about Colin Chapman, a topic you can look up if you find this car interesting and don’t know the history of Lotus cars.
Small yet perfectly formed, Lotus engine is designed for performance, whilst also compact and with components shaved down wherever possible, in the pursuit of lightness …
I’m Bond, James Bond
Alongside Land Rovers which can always be found out grazing in the wild, a lesser spotted Aston Martin V8 is a rarer sight. And what a sight to behold! Those big brave brutish lines and hood scoop mean business alright.
There’s something quite American muscle car about this era of Aston Martin. I must admit, I quite like it. It also has restraint, it’s like a huge muscly bouncer that is wearing a really top notch tuxedo. To say this is on my dream car list would be an understatement. It’s near the top of it, more modern and represents much more value for money versus a DB6 yet with plenty of value to grow in future.
Rapid, extremely finely hand crafted top to bottom, advanced engineering and handling, luxurious, and will turn every head. What’s not to like? Ok, her drinking will get a bit out of hand if you aren’t gentle with the loud pedal …
Aston Martin V8
I mean, it’s gonna drink quite a bit. 14 mpg perhaps 20 mpg if you really coax it on the highway at a constant 60 mph … But oh boy, will you be doing it in style.
The Aston Martin V8 grand tourer was produced from 1969 all the way to 1989 by Aston Martin in the United Kingdom.
Lot’s of original details. The workmanship of these cars is stunning, they were built to last a long long time when well cared for.
Ultimate luxury inside the AM V8, other classics reflected off the highly polished glass …
Part 2 coming up!
Another Aston Martin and a nice Jaguar E-Type to see out part 1! I did catch a video snippet of the DB6 in motion with the exhausts sound as it left the paddock. That’s coming up in part 2 along with a lot more of the really smartly restored classics which came to the show.
Thanks to the South Devon Railway organizers and local community of Buckfastleigh for making it happen.
Aston Martin DB6 and a Jaguar E-Type coupe.