Experts reveal their favourite show classics

By Greg MacLeman

| 3 Nov 2015

Autoglym's Best British Car Ever poll stirred up some fierce debate in the months leading up to the unveiling of the Jaguar E-type at the inaugural Classic & Sports Car – The London Show, with each of our 100 experts having a different take on what makes a car truly great. But what were their favourites?

Now voting has ended and the winner crowed, we thought it only fair to pass on some of the comments of the celebrity guests who attended the event, including McLaren F1 and Jaguar XJR-15 designer Peter Stevens, triple Le Mans 24 Hours class winner David Brabham and former chairman of Jaguar Cars Sir John Egan.

Jaguar E-type

“It was a revolution when launched – the car that added most to Jaguar’s image” – Sir John Egan

“Unveiling the Best British Car Ever was special. But for it to be the actual car Norman Dewis OBE drove to the Geneva Motor Show – the oldest surviving drop head E-type and frankly priceless – made it all the better.” – Ant Anstead

“I love the styling so much I had an E-type as my wedding car! It’s great to see the famous ‘77RW’ at the show. What a piece of history.” – David Brabham

“What an icon. And to have the actual car from the Geneva Salon – nothing more needs to be said!” – Stuart Turner

Lotus Seven

“There was a touch of genius about everything Colin Chapman did. Including this one.” – Stuart Turner

“Minimalist, lightweight, enormous fun, easy to work on and great value for money; the perfect sports car. I remember cycling across to Lotus’ original showrooms in Hornsey to beg a brochure from a young Colin Chapman and then building a balsa wood model so I could have my own ‘7’.” – Peter Stevens

McLaren F1

“Surely the greatest British supercar ever? A legend of a vehicle. Groundbreaking in so many ways and has a real presence when you see it in the metal.” – Ant Anstead

“Still a delight for me to see because it will always remind me of the great little team of guys who worked together on the car; it was very hard and concentrated work but we had a lot of fun together and produced something that we are still very proud of.” – Peter Stevens

Vanwall VW4

“No doubt about it – Vanwall cars were great looking racers.” – David Brabham

“Another famous Moss car and very good effort to get the UK back into Formula One.” – Sir John Egan

Bentley Speed Six

“Being a ‘Bentley Boy’ I always enjoy looking at the heritage of the company.” – David Brabham

“Wonderful two-times Le Mans winning car, less flashy than the Blower 4 1/2s, a properly impressive race winning road car. All the French jokes about fast lorries can’t undermine the fact that it is a great machine.” – Peter Stevens

“Brutal yet beautiful. Looking at this wonderful machine and comparing it to the latest range shows that the current custodians have made a good fist of designing new-style Bentleys.” – Sir John Egan

Austin Seven

“The first low cost ‘proper’ car. It could seat four people, was economical and reliable, looked perfectly proportioned and has a fine little engine and gearbox. It also became a successful racecar and was the basis for the Lotus Seven.” – Peter Stevens

“Having read ‘Building and Racing my 750’ I ant out in the 1950s and bought two Chummies…for £5. I got too distracted by rally navigating to ever get to race them. Great to get reacquainted with this car here.” – Stuart Turner

Ford GT40

“The GT40 is a car that our team has been very closely involved with over the years. It’s always great seeing them in the metal to note the subtle differences between the marks. The car at Alexandra Palace is beautifully restored.” – Henry Mann

“Iconic. Had one on our press fleet when I was in PR at Ford. In the books at I think around £7k at the time!” – Stuart Turner

Click here to read the full Classic & Sports Car Show report