Bicester Heritage opens its doors a handful of times each year for its series of Scramble events. The format is largely the same each time. Bring a pre-1990 interesting vehicle, park up, and enjoy a morning wandering around.
This year’s spring Sunday Scramble fell on Drive It Day, 23rd April, adding to the attraction of the venue’s well-oiled format. Drive It Day unites cherished vehicle owners and promotes all that is good about our British motoring heritage and what better place to head to on this special day that the historic Bicester Heritage?
The technical sites’ engineering and restoration workshops fling their doors open and welcome visitors to look around the projects and units. Cars line the internal roadways of this former WW2 RAF Bomber Training Station – informally parked yet curated enough to show the cars and the venue in their best light. The edges of the airfield are filled with an eclectic mix of classic and cherished cars. And the atmosphere is palpable, mixed with the scent of petrol, oil, and artisan coffee wafting through the air.
Each time we visit Sunday Scramble there is something new or different to see. From the Bentley Motor showcase in the Tanker Sheds to Piston Broke Social’s display of iconic wedges. And the classic 4×4 display celebrating 75 years of Land Rover to the pedal car area for junior enthusiasts. As you’ll see from the photos, there were so many incredible cars on display. But to give you a glimpse of the day, here’s a quick roundup of the vehicles that we were particularly drawn to.
Starting with the dark grey 1972 280 Mercedes Benz, this had to be our car of the show. Lowered and outward camber wheels, this Merc had the perfect stance. There were plenty of unusual vehicles too, the unique 1969 Austin Zanda styling model – a prototype on loan from the British Motor Museum, and the six-wheeler vehicle – all glass and wooden coach-built frame – it’s totally bonkers, but we loved it! The dark green Datsun Truck ticked so many boxes and the 1937 Opel Kadett is a rare find. Custom cars were popular this year, and the red Austin custom really stood out from the crowd. Outside in the airfield area, we were drawn to the stunning dark blue/black 356 Porsche and all-British MKI Ford Fiesta – the interior was well worth a look too.
Sunday Scramble at Bicester Heritage is one of the must-do events on the classic car enthusiast’s social calendar. It may be a 4.45am start and 222-mile round trip for us, but this cars and coffee event is well worth the effort!
Enjoy the photos!
