12.05.19 – Petrolicious Drivers Meeting at Bicester Heritage
Last weekend the first edition Petrolicious Drivers Meeting took place at Bicester Heritage in Oxfordshire, UK. As well as being the best preserved ex-military airbase in Britain, the site is also known for holding their regular Sunday Scramble car shows alongside many more car related events.
The site found its first military use in 1916, when the Royal Flying Corps used the airfield as a training depot. Over the following ten years, it was developed into a bomber station and during World War II the site was used for training of all sorts of military piloting. In 2013, Bicester Heritage became the first centre for historic motoring in the UK and has been an important hub for automotive fanatics ever since.
With beautifully restored buildings and over 420 acres of land, the former RAF bomber station is the ultimate meetup spot for motoring enthusiasts, so it is hardly surprising that Petrolicious chose this to be the location of their first driver’s meeting. What better location could complement Petrolicious’s well known slogan ‘Drive Tastefully’? As one of the top online providers of high-quality visual content based around classic motoring, Petrolicious is an important multi-platform content provider for old and young timers alike. As well as publishing videos on their youtube channel and images on social media, their website has some of the most interesting and well informed articles on motoring and even their own marketplace where they sell classic cars!
But for now, enough with the text; it’s time to show some photos!
Naturally, the day began in the carpark. This, however, was no ordinary carpark. It had such a spectacular variety of old-timers driven by other visitors that before even making it to the main venue I stayed in the carpark for over an hour and a half! Take a look for yourself.
Eventually, after looking at about half the car park I forced myself to move on towards the main venue, and decided to come back to the rest of the carpark later. First I headed towards the main plaza outside the air-hanger, where different brands had their stalls. In the hanger itself you could grab yourself a beer at @wrigglymonkeybrewery, a brewery which served beer from the inside of their racing car and is run by true petrolheads; or take look at @Morganmotors future model featuring a BMW engine, as well as stopping by many more stalls (like my friends the @Themechanists for example). Outside in the plaza a variety of different automobiles could be seen; from different types of Ferraris to Lamborghini, rally legends, the DLS test mule for @Singervehicledesign and the Brumos 911. Oh, and not to forget the XJ220.
Walking towards the back of the venue, I came across some true heroes of mine that I had previously read about online but never seen in person. For example the BMW 320is, the replacement of the M3 for Italy and Portugal because of their taxes on petrol. The Mtech2 body kit looks incredible and makes the vehicle the ultimate sleeper, only identifiable by looking at the IS badge on the boot. I also came across two Porsche 964 RS 3.8, of which only 55 were ever built! One of these two being SpeedGelb (yellow) in which colour only 12 ever left the Porsche Factory.
Of course none of the other vehicles in the venue stood out any less! However, the BMW 1602 will stay in my memory though. Having driven from London to Lisbon and having participated in various rallies around the world, the Patina on the body was incredibly remarkable.
The day was filled with a vast amount of cars with fascinating and unique stories behind them! I might even say that there was something to cater to every kind of petrolhead’s desire. Despite spending seven hours at the site, there was still not enough time to look at everything in detail. Thanks to @petrolicious and @bicesterheritage for hosting the event, I had a fantastic time and it will remain in my memory for a long while! Also thanks to everybody who I met; it was great speaking and meeting with you all, and I hope to see you soon. Don’t forget to follow along my other work on Instagram @jasperphotographiert.
