Stainless steel style

We've cracked it. The holy grail of classic car hire is here - at Great Escape Classic Car Hire we now have a DeLorean DMC-12 available for self drive hire. No need for a chaperone or chauffeur - this is the only DeLorean that you can drive.
We have been looking for a DeLorean DMC-12 to add to our classic car hire fleet for several years. But limited supply and rising prices have meant we've had to delay the addition until now.
The DeLorean is one of the best known cars in the world. Made famous by the Back to the Future films, the DeLorean is also infamous for its back story of bankruptcy, double dealing and drug smuggling. Today the remarkable gullwing car with stainless steel bodywork can be hired from our Cotswolds site by the day, weekend or week. It is also available for self drive wedding car hire.
"The DeLorean attracts attention like an alien space craft landing on the street," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape. "This is a car that is not quite like anything else. Our customers have been asking us to add a DeLorean for some time - at last we have found a car that we're happy to add to the fleet."
For more details on the DeLorean for hire call 01527 893733 or visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/. Book a date or buy a DeLorean gift voucher before Christmas and save 10%.
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The Jaguar E Type Shuffle

Great Escape Classic Car Hire has reviewed and improved its fleet of Jaguar E Types for hire for 2012. The result is a more diverse range of cars for customers to sample from three different UK starting points.
We've taken the decision to pension off our long servicing Jaguar E Type V12 coupe in the Cotswolds because its condition and reliability had begun to deteriorate during 2012. In its place we've moved our popular Jaguar E Types Series 2 coupe from Suffolk to our Cotswolds base. In Suffolk we've added a new Series 1 E Type coupe 2+2, also in red, to replace the Series 2 car that is moving sites. Complicated stuff but it's all detailed on our Locations pages. Or call us any time on 01527 893733 and we'll provide more details.
The E Types shuffling means that we have an even broader range of Jaguar E Types for hire during 2012. The fleet now includes Series 1, Series 2 and Series 3 cars and all body styles - 2+2, coupe and convertible. The Jaguar E Type cars are available to hire from our locations in Yorkshire, Suffolk and Cotswolds. Prices start at just £275 for 24 hours hire.
"We regularly review our fleet for condition and reliability," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape. "Customers love the blue E Type but unfortunately its condition has deteriorated below what we feel our customers expect.
"Removing this car and adding the Series 1 car improves the range and quality of E Types we have on offer for hire."
The new Series 1 Jaguar E Type in Suffolk is a 4.2 litre car with manual gearbox, red paintwork and 2+2 body style. The car has currently being fully refurbished in time for hire in 2012, including a respray, new interior and various mechanical jobs.
For more details call Great Escape Classic Car Hire on 01527 893733 or visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/

New Midlands satellite site

Great Escape Classic Car Hire has improved its service to customers with the creation of a new Midlands satellite site. The new location in Sutton Coldfield is home to our new Lotus Elan and gives Great Escape customers a convenient starting point north of Birmingham just off the M6.

Great Escape will relocate any local car to the new Midlands classic car hire site if it is more convenient for customers - depending on the length of hire, relocation may be free of charge.

The new Midlands location is a satellite of Great Escape's main Cotswolds site. Great Escape satellite sites tend to have smaller fleets with more limited facilities. They are generally run by some of the owners that Great Escape works with to provide cars to classic car enthusiasts.

"Location is one of the key determinates when customers are choosing a classic car hire supplier," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape. "Our Midlands site makes the process of hiring a classic car simpler and easier for customers. We will happily relocate any car from our Cotswolds to Sutton Coldfield if it is useful to our customers."

For more information on the new Midlands classic car hire fleet and the brilliant Lotus Elan M100 convertible for hire, call 01527 893733 or visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/.

The greatest driver's car of all time?

At Great Escape Classic Car Hire we live and breath classic cars. We like the well-known stuff like MGBs and Jaguar E Types, but we always like to seek out something a little different to bring our customers.
With our latest acquisition we think we've found a winner. In the 1990s Lotus built a brilliant convertible two seater called the Elan. It was expensive so nobody bought it. Now it's been virtually forgotten, except by diehard enthusiasts. They have discovered what we hope more will do now that one is on our fleet - the Lotus Elan M100 for hire in the Midlands is quite simply the best front wheel drive sports car of the last 25 years. That's a tall claim, but when you drive it you'll see why.
The M100 Elan is the Lotus you can confidentally drive more than 5 miles from home. It has bulletproof mechanics, it's built quite well and it is comfortable, spacious and rides superbly.
The latest addition to the Great Escape Classic Car Hire fleet is available to hire in the Midlands. Prices start at just £165 per day and include unlimited mileage, insurance and full breakdown cover.
"We're always on the look out for interesting cars to offer to our customers," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape. "One of the advantages of having a large fleet is that we can offer cars that are less obvious, such as the Lotus Elan M100.
"Anyone considering a car for the weekend or who wants to know what a great Lotus is like to drive, should grab the keys to this brilliant little car"
For more information call 01527 893733 or visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/.

Plans for new Jensen unveiled

We've always loved the Jensen Interceptor. After all, it was one of the two cars that got us into classic car hire in the first place. So at Great Escape Classic Car Hire were interested to read the recent article in Autocar with Brendan O'Toole, the man behind the proposed new Jensen Interceptor to be built in Coventry.

O'Toole runs CPP, a specialist low volume car manufacturer and supplier to top-end brands. When we originally heard of CPP's plans to revive the Jensen brand with manufacturer at Jaguar's famous Brown's Lane plant, we were somewhat sceptical. After all, plenty of people have tried and failed to revive Jensen over the years. Back in 1976 it was lack of scale and volume that killed Jensen. So we couldn't quite work out how CPP could make low volume manufacture economical.

O'Toole seems to have a plan. CPP already has a track record in low volume manufacture and has assembled a high quality suite of suppliers who can provide the specialist skills that it cannot economically provide on its own. CPP argues that by bespoking its products it can be viable for any production run between 1 and 250 cars. As well as offering this service to the automotive industry, it makes sense for CPP to also offer fully complete products to the end market in specialist niches based around desirable brands like Jensen.

In principle, this looks like a much more workable solution than some of the previous attempts to create pure stand-alone businesses. The question is whether enough people want to buy a Jensen Interceptor in the 21st century. We love them and there's no doubt that they still excude charm and character. But a new Jensen Interceptor will have to update the hairy-chested medallion man image that stuck with the car in the 1970s. In short, the new Jensen needs to be cool and desirable. Just as Aston Martin quickly discovered that James Bond won't sell cars for ever, CPP needs to make the Jensen Interceptor as good as it can be for the modern market, not a car that just rests on aging laurels.

We are very excited about the new Jensen and we wish CPP all the best. In the meantime, if you can't afford a new one or can't wait until it arrives, try the original - we have two Jensen Interceptors to hire from our bases in Yorkshire and Cotswolds. For more details call 01527 893733 or visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/.

Rewind to the 80s

The 80s gets a bad rap as the decade of excess. Big hair, big shoulders, big spoilers on your car. But there's one 80s icon we've discovered that proves that in the era of bigger is better, less meant more.
We're talking about the Peugeot 205 GTI. Light and small with a minute 1600cc engine and pleasing lack of go-faster paraphernalia, we've just rediscovered how good the 205 GTI is. The Great Escape Classic Car Hire Peugeot has just returned from a few weeks of fettling that has returned the car to the B-road banzai it should be. Frankly, this is one heck of a car.
23 years since our 1988 car was built and we're not sure its combination of peppy, rev-happy acceleration and go-kart like handling precision have been bettered. Here is a front drive car that entertains along every inch of the road. The steering is super-direct, with plenty of feedback, and the handling is a delight. The 205 doesn't achieve handling greatness at the exclusion of driver input and skill, in the way that say a Mazda MX5 does. This is a car you have to drive, that has character and verve. And it will catch you out. The Peugeot's lift off oversteer is the stuff of legends - for good reason. Release the throttle mid-bend and chances are you're going to hit the greenery. But it's these flaws that make the MX5 great. There are plenty of faster cars that will get you from A to B more safely and with less effort, but that isn't the point of a driver's car.
Today the Peugeot 205 GTI has to be the ultimate classic car bargain. Good examples start at £1500. They're easy to fix, pretty reliable and economical too. And at that price, sacrilige it may be, but if it goes seriously wrong, scrap it. There are plenty about.
Having driven E Types, Jensens, Astons and Porsches that cost more to service than the Peugeot costs to buy, frankly I'm amazed more people haven't caught on to the Peugeot 205 GTI. We'd like to see more people hire this amazing little car - and at just £95 for 24 hours, including unlimited mileage, it must surely be the most enjoyable way for a classic fan to spend under £100.
The Peugeot5 205 GTI is available to hire from our Cotswolds site near Stratford Upon Avon. For more details call 01527 893733 or visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/.

Success at Silverstone

The Great Escape Classic Car Hire sponsored BMW 1600ti race car achieved another win at Silverstone in the hands of Tony Hunting, our Technical Director. The car, which is owned and co-piloted by David Cornwallis drove to the finish line despite a non-fault dalliance with another car on the track.
Tony, who manages our Suffolk site and maintains Great Escape's cars through his business GTR Classics, maintains the car for David. The BMW is an ultra rare 1600ti that has been lightened and prepared for racing, but is very close to standard specification.
Great Escape provides workshop space and contributes to the funding for the race car.

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New MGB in Worcestershire

Great Escape Classic Car Hire has added a second MGB convertible to its hire fleet in Worcestershire, located on the edge of the Cotswolds. The new car is a 1973 roadster in Old English White with black interior, chrome bumpers and a manual gearbox with overdrive.
The new MGB complements Great Escape's existing MGB V8 engined convertible. Both cars are available to hire on a self drive basis by the day, weekend or week. Prices start at just £165 for 24 hours, including comprehensive insurance, full AA breakdown cover and unlimited mileage.
"The MGB is one of the most popular classic cars of all time," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape. "This year we found that we could have regularly double booked our V8 roadster. So it made sense to add a second car, but this time in white with a standard 1800cc engine to give our customers some variety.
"We expect the white car to be very popular for weddings as a groom's car."
Great Escape Classic Car Hire operates the largest fleet of MGBs for hire in the UK including MGB roadsters and GT coupes and MG TD. The company has over 50 classic cars for hire in the UK from 6 convenient locations.
For more details call 01527 893733 or visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/.
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70 people, 30 cars, 6 days, 3 events, 1 Goodwood

The team at Great Escape Classic Car Hire is starting to unwind after its most successful Gopdwood Revival ever. Great Escape provided 30 cars to various corporate and private clients during the Goodwood Weekend in September, with a 100% reliability rate across the fleet.
The company organised three major events for corporate clients during the show and also provided a large number of cars to private self drive hire clients from its bases in Yorkshire, Cotswolds, London and Suffolk. This included two events from Winchester and Chichester which involved Great Escape's specialist logistics partner providing dedicated articulated trucks to move the vehicles.
"The Goodwood Revival gets biggers every year for us," says Graham Eason of Great Escape. "We ran three corporate events during the Revival and also provided self drive hire to private customers on our busiest weekend of the year.
"The fleet was 100% reliable and ever customer came back satisfied. I am pleased that we are able to successfully support and manage activity on this scale."
Great Escape Classic Car Hire is the UK's largest classic car hire company with a fleet of over 50 vehicles for self drive rental from 6 UK locations. For more information on Great Escape's corporate and private client packages, call 01527 893733 or visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/.
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2012 hire fleet announced

Great Escape Classic Car Hire has finalised its self drive hire fleet for 2012. The 50-strong fleet will only be slightly altered for 2012, with the loss of two cars and a few other cars moving to new Great Escape locations. You can view the new fleet by clicking on the Locations button at the top of the Great Escape website and selecting each location.
"We try to keep our fleet consistent year to year," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape. "This means that customers who buy vouchers or plan to hire a car from us are not unnecessarily surprised.
"However, we review our fleet each year to maintain the best balance of cars at each location. We also look at our fleet and replace some cars with more popular models.
"For 2012 we will be adding in several new cars, which we will be announcing over the next few months."
For more details on Great Escape Classic Car Hire visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ or call 01527 893733.
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BMW 1600ti ready for Silverstone

When Great Escape Classic Car Hire's Technical Director Tony Hunting brought the http://www.davidcornwallis.co.uk/ BMW 1600ti race car in for prepping at our Worcestershire workshop before its outing at Silverstone, it was a great opportunity for the team to get together before the camera with the car.

Great Escape MD Graham Eason, Operations Manager Russ Pemberton and Tony posed for a snapshot after the car had been fetled on the Great Escape ramp. The BMW runs in the Swinging Sixties championship co-driven by Tony with David Cornwallis, who owns the car and runs a company specialising in refurbished Thwaites dumper trucks. Great Escape provides sponsorship for the duo throughout the season.

The BMW's next outing is at Silverstone on September 16th when it will compete in the Swinging Sixties championship. The car required work to the exhaust and bodywork after a minor incident at Anglesey track.



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Good weekend for Tony

Tony Hunting, who runs Great Escape Classic Car Hire's Worcestershire workshop and manages our Suffolk site, had another good weekend's outing in the Great Escape-sponsored BMW 1600ti. Co-driving with David Cornwallis in the Classic Sports Car Club Championship's Swinging Sixties Group B class, the trio of drivers and car posted another good result at the Anglesey round of the championship.

The BMW team is very hands on with all vehicle prepping and maintenance carried out by David and Tony. The car carries a FIA certificate and is eligible to race in various historic championships including Goodwood.

During the Anglesey weekend the BMW was punted off by a Porsche 911 so will require some bodywork repairs over the next couple of weeks.

Anglesey was the car's first outing with its new Great Escape Classic Car Hire logos in place.

For more information on Great Escape visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ or call 01527 893733.



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E Type coupe back after rebuild

We've got our beautiful 1970 Jaguar E Type 4.2 coupe back after a 3 month, £5,000 refurbishment by a classic Jaguar specialist. The car will rejoin Great Escape Classic Car Hire's rental fleet in Suffolk based near Stowmarket.

The Jaguar E Type has been a popular part of our hire fleet for several years but we took the decision earlier this year to withdraw it and treat it to a major overhaul. The work included some attention to the rear suspension, engine overhaul, new tyres and a brake refurbishment. The work was entrusted to a specialist and has improved the car significantly. We have begun testing the car and it runs beautifully with a sweet and smooth engine and surefooted roadholding.

Great Escape Classic Car Hire has the largest fleet of Jaguar E Types for hire in the UK including two V12 convertibles, one V12 coupe and the 4.2 litre coupe. Jaguar E Types can be hired from Great Escape locations in Suffolk, Cotswolds and Yorkshire. The perfect way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Jaguar E Type.

You can find out more about the Jaguar E Type for hire by visiting http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ or call 01527 893733.

Moggy Minor cover star

Great Escape Classic Car Hire's cute 1962 Morris Minor convertible graces the cover of August's Practical Classics magazine as part of a major feature on 4 seater convertibles. The car is photographed alongside 3 other classics on the seafront in North Norfolk, a perfect setting for this most relaxing and sedate of open top tourers.
We work regularly with classic car magazines to provide cars for photoshoots. On this occasion we delivered the Morris to Peterborough using our dedicated transport facilities and then collected it a couple of days later from Kings Lynn.
The Practical Classics team were very complimentary about the car and the article mentions how the Morris consistently received the most attention throughout the shoot. Although the car didn't win the back-to-back road test, it did come second, pipped only by the larger Corsair.
"The feature looked at the best 4 seater family convertible for the summer," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape. "The Morris is a very good choice for anyone with a family because it is spacious, very easy to drive, easy to own and attracts huge amounts of attention. Our customers always report seeing the brighter side of life when they're behind the wheel."
Great Escape Classic Car Hire has three white Morris Minor convertibles available to hire in the UK, based in Worcestershire, Yorkshire and Suffolk. A red car is also available in Lincolnshire. The cars can be hired by the day, weekend or week and prices start at just £145 fully inclusive of insurance, breakdown cover and unlimited mileage.
For more details visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ or call 01527 893733.
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Red Hot Twins

Living on the edge of some beautiful countryside here at Great Escape HQ, I love great drivers cars. So our latest additions to the fleet are a bit of an indulgence really.

I've gone and added a couple of B-road banzis to the Great Escape Classic Car Hire fleet in the form of an early lightweight Peugeot 205 GTi and a late model Saab classic 900 Turbo 16 valve. From 1988 and 1989 respectively, these bright red 1980s motoring icons are just brilliant to drive and leave us all here grinning from ear to ear. So I've put them on hire and hope our customers love them too. Otherwise I'm stuck for excuses to tell my wife why we've got them. So come on, bag a drivers delight bargain - because these cars are available to hire at the lowest prices we've ever offered. Just £95 for a full 24 hours of unlimited mileage fun.

The Peugeot 205 GTI is a car I grew up with and the Great Escape version is the purist's delight. It's obviously red, with a nice red carpet inside, and features the peppy 1600cc 105 bhp motor that gives the nimble little Pug better balance and roadholding than the more powerful 1900cc lump. Performance is brisk rather than startling by modern standards but the 205's roadholding is frankly astonishing - the steering feel and handling make this car hugely entertaining at any speeds. Just watch out for the lift off oversteer!

The Saab 900 Turbo is an entirely different proposition. The Great Escape car is the full fat 175 bhp 16 valve turbo version in elegant three door form with red paintwork and in true 1980s style, plenty of black body cladding. Inside it's luxurious with full leather, electric sunroof and cruise control. For a front wheel drive car the Saab is superbly balanced with communicative steering, well spaced gear ratios and tonnes of power. We recently drove back to back with a 1980s 911 and the Saab easily cleaned its nose against the bigger engined, more powerful Porker.

Both of our new 1980s hot hatch hire cars are available to rent by the day, week or weekend. Prices are just £95 for either car for 24 hours or £16o for a 48 hour weekend. That includes unlimited mileage, insurance and full AA breakdown cover. For more details call 01527 893733 or visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/

Classic Car Buyer

When Great Escape Classic Car Hire organised its classic car rally we also invited along a couple of classic car journalists to sample the day and tell us what they thought.

One of those who came along was Phil Wheedon, Editorial Director of Classic Car Buyer. Phil has previously driven our Rover SD1 Vitesse in Suffolk but this time took the wheel of our Jensen Interceptor, Jaguar Mk2, Jaguar e Type, Jaguar XJS, Daimler Sovereign and TVR Tuscan. Apart from a couple of comments about the paintwork on the E Type and the XJS' handling (both cars are already booked in for work), he was full of praise for the excellent condition of the cars, the route and the organisation of the event.

"it's the perfect present for any petrol head," said Phil in summary. "Great Escape has a fine concept on its hands and I hope the company does more of them."

Our next classic car rally is on July 2nd when we are taking a tour of the Welsh Borders. m Our Break for the Border rally is already booking up and places are limited. Prices start at just £295 for one driver (less than hiring the E Type for a similar period) and includes lunch, fuel, insurance, a 180 mile tour and even breakfast.

For more details call 01527 893733 or email graham@greatescapecars.co.uk.

They like driving in our car

The Great Escape Classic Car Hire Morris Minor Convertible in Suffolk is in the limelight again. This time Leigh Operatic & Dramatic Society (LODS) has hired it to film a promotional video for their production of the Madness musical Our House.

80s pop sensations Madness drove a white Morris Minor Convertible in the video for their 1982 Top 10 smash Driving in my Car. This evergreen song features in the West End musical Our House so the car was an obvious choice for the Society's video. They are using the car to promote the production by filming it driving through the town.

Great Escape Classic Car Hire worked with the society to provide the car at short notice. Our car in Suffolk is one of three identical Morris Minor convertible cars that we provide for hire (the others are in Yorkshire and Worcestershire). All three cars are identical to the car used in the Driving in my Car video - white with a burgundy roof and interior

To watch the Madness video on Youtube use the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYZNSyP9vM

The LODS production of Our House is showing from 4th to 7th May 2011.

http://www.lods.co.uk/

For more information on hiring one of the Great Escape Classic Car Hire Moris Minor convertbles in Suffolk, Yorkshire or Worcestershire call 01527 893733 or visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/.

Murder on the M40

This bank holiday if you fancy a more leisurely drive through Oxfordshire eschewing the jam-packed M40, try these two tours we've found for size. We've been researching Midsomer Murder themed driving tours for a client and came across this great website. the routes take in some wonderful home counties scenery so they're entertaining even for people who don't enjoy watching the residents of a small English village being murdered on a weekly basis. Click here to find out more.

These tours are perfect for pottering along in a classic car. At Great Escape Classic Car Hire we have a range of 20 classic cars for hire from our site near Stratford Upon Avon. For more details visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ or call 01527 893733.

The Need For Speed

At the end of 2011 we took the plunge and invested in an in-house servicing and repair workshop at our headquarters in Worcestershire. Since we got the new facility fully up to speed in March we've been wishing we'd done it years ago.

By creating a fully functioning Great Escape Classic Car Hire workshop with ramp facilities we have been able to resolve simple and complicated repairs much faster. And lets face it, whatever we do and however much we spend, these old classic cars do like to breakdown occasionally. But now, when they decide to throw a wobbler, we can get them back on the road much faster. Which all means less inconvenience for our customers and overall a better customer experience.

Our new facility is managed by Tony Hunting, who has been working in classic car hire for several years. He still runs our Suffolk fleet at weekends but spends his week days in Worcestershire keeping our largest fleet on the road.

This week we've had some problems with our MGB V8 and normally trusty Jaguar E Type convertible. Thanks to our new workshop we managed to get these cars fixed and back on hire within a matter of hours, meaning that two customers had cars that otherwise we might have had to rearrange or switch to alternative cars.

For more details on our classic car hire visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ or call 01527 893733. We plan to extend our classic car servicing and maintenance facility to external customers during 2011.

Our first car rally - what our customers said

Great Escape Cotswold Car Rally - by Matt Nichols

Ten eagerly expectant teams assembled at Great Escape Cars northern Cotswolds base at 9:00am on Saturday 26th March to be greeted by hot tea and coffee, bacon sandwiches, croissants and perhaps most importantly of all a truly mouth watering selection of classic cars that had been assembled for this inaugural event. The main plan for the day was to navigate 120 miles in a circular loop starting and finishing at the Great Escape Cars main business unit taking in some of the most stunning scenery and picturesque towns and villages this part of the world has to offer whilst enjoying a fine selection of motor vehicles en route.The day itself was split into six pre-defined stages, each providing varied driving experiences from fast flowing routes right through to single track lanes so that each team could experience their allotted cars in different ways.

The event format, which was similar in style to the corporate days Great Escape Classic Car Hire organises (one for the employee suggestion scheme at work maybe…!) gave each of the ten teams the chance to get behind the wheel of half a dozen classic cars over six stages, each lasting on average 45mins and covering around 20 miles. As a bonus, because with 6 stages and 10 cars no one would be able to drive every car, there was an additional open session after the final stage where teams could take out any of the cars for a spin regardless of whether they’d driven them or not earlier in the day. So all things considered, and with the prospect of a tasty lunch included as well, there would be no losers on this the very first Great Escape Cotswold Car Rally.

The line up of cars also provided huge variety in driving experience, even the two Series 3 E-Type Jaguars on offer couldn’t have been more different with the first, an original white V12 roadster suiting Jaguar purists, whilst the black coupe fitted with a later fuel injected XJS V12 engine coupled to a sports exhaust finding favour with those who preferred something a bit rawer. The words rocket and ship both springing to mind. Elsewhere a Jensen Interceptor covered off the big V8 coupe end of the spectrum, whilst the svelte like Alfa Spider took a lot of people by surprise in just how good it was on the road despite its modest power claims.A rare by anyone’s standards XJ6 Coupe caught me out the most and I personally think delivered the most complete Jaguar experience combining classic and coherent styling with cosseted ride and comfort whilst pulling you along with the legendary Jaguar straight six motor. Completing the Brownshill line up was an earlier 3.8 Mk2 and a later XJS convertible. Stuttgart was also represented in the form of a mint air cooled 911 Carrera Targa in gleaming white, a car that served as the perfect reminder of what this mark was really all about before middle aged spread and obsessive horsepower battles with Italian supercar manufacturers took over. With the left field choice on the day delivered by none other than a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit giving passengers the chance to choose whether they rode up front or sat in back…‘left here James’.

Last in the line up and by no means least was a late entry only there to fill the shoes of a second 911 that was unable to participate, but one that generated a huge reaction from everyone who got the chance to drive it, enter one TVR Tuscan in pearlescent paint. A car best described as a road legal GT2 racer minus roll cage and harnesses, truly awesome.

A far more conservative Mercedes 300SL performed the role of trailer car, just in case of breakdowns, of which happily there were none.Teams each had a route map with spare copies stored in all of the cars and before setting off everyone was advised where the next meeting point would be and roughly how long it would take to get there. To maximise driving pleasure whilst minimising the number of things to remember in swapping from car to car, all driving advice was delivered on a one to one basis at the start of each stage.

Teams were then left feeling confident about how to operate all of the different alarm systems and, for convertibles, roof mechanisms whether electric or manual.The day ran like clockwork with everyone respecting the arrival times at each stage and only too willing to share their own experiences and views on the cars they’d driven thus far. A momentum also seemed to build, particularly in the afternoon, with each changeover being quicker than the last as teams were eager to start their next stint of classic car driving.

Everyone I talked to throughout the day left on a high, even the lunch at Washbourne Court in Lower Slaughter was superb with most dwelling on their favourite car, TVR, E-Type Coupe and 911 Carrera featuring strongly here, as well as the cars that had surprised them the most, with the Alfa Spider a clear winner in this category. The Great Escape Cotswold Car Rally is certainly something to look out for in the future and offers a lot of advantages from satisfying basic petrol head needs and desires with the wide selection of cars on offer that in turn may also help narrow choices on which cars to rent out for longer durations. As well as providing the opportunity to exchange views whilst enjoying the company of others, the day also came with the additional selling point to those nearest and dearest of the promise of lunch at a suitably selected hotel and restaurant.

Overall this event ticked all the boxes and so comes highly recommended.

Verdict: 2011 Great Escape Classic Car Rally

Cars

The range of cars on offer was quite superb, from the raucous V12 E-Type Coupe and totally full on TVR Tuscan right through to the Jaguar XJ6C, a car to be enjoyed best at a much more relaxed pace.

Routes

Good planning coupled with some luck on the day meant that except for a hold up going into Stow the roads selected were incredibly free of traffic and able to be enjoyed to the full. Pro’s

Fine selection of very well prepared cars from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 00’s (TVR) driven across well chosen routes with like minded enthusiasts to share your experience with.

Cons

None that I could see.

Overall 4 out of 5

Customer Quotes

“What a fantastic day it was. My son and I loved it”. Peter Geary.

“The Alfa Spider. Having driven a ‘72 GTV Coupe, I was very keen to see how the Spider compared. A real surprise package and I have to say a great all rounder”. Peter Geary.

“The lovely Jag MK 2 3.8. That lovely straight 6 engine and I remember thinking that no car would look better against the Cotswold back drop than the elegant lines of this car. Pure Morse. The temptation to do a bank job 60's style was very tempting indeed - roaring off into the mist like one of the Krays. A lovely car with an interior that would do a gentleman’s club justice. Better than I thought it would be for such an old girl”. Peter Geary.

"The TVR. Sheer raw power, a brute of a car, Oh my god, raw and unforgiving, one moments lapse of concentration and that would be it. What a drive, the slightest move of the wheel sent the car off in a different direction, the noise, the drive, everything about this car made you grin. I still haven't got all of the adrenalin out of my system bonkers fun”. Peter Geary