How reliable can a classic car be?

Trying to determine the reliability of classic cars is the sixty five million dollar question. For a classic car hire company like us, keeping our cars reliable and on the road ready for hire is a constant challenge, one that is not dissimilar to painting the Forth Road Bridge.

The problem with classic cars is that, like people, they get old. No matter how much exercise you get or how well you eat, illness can strike at any time. It's the same with cars. Old cars need to be used and exercised and they need to be maintained properly using quality parts and fluids. But as they get older the risk of breakdown inevitably increases.

At Great Escape Classic Car Hire we work hard to minimise the risk of breakdowns because they cost us money and they disappoint our customers. Our cars cover over 10 times the typical annual mileage of a classic car but our breakdown rate is less than 2% - significantly better than the average classic car.

We achieve this by operating a strict preventative and scheduled maintenance programme. Every car is subjected to a mechanical and safety inspection at the start of the season, fully serviced and then inspected and serviced every 3000 miles, 20 hires days or every 3 months, whichever is sooner. We check typical wear and tear parts like fuel pumps, starter motors, distributors, points and plugs.

At Great Escape Classic Car Hire we use our own workshop to carry out routine maintenance, backed by a group of specialist garages that are familiar with classics and in particular know our fleet.

This procedure keeps breakdown rates on our cars to a minimum. But when the worst happens we ensure we have proper and professional back up. So every car is covered by the highest level of AA breakdown cover. If our cars break down anywhere in the UK, the AA will attend to diagnose or repair the car - or recover the car to a location of the customer's choosing.

Despite all that, we also ask that our customers are sensible. We can never factor out the risk of breakdown but where the car goes and how it is driven can significantly affect the outcome. Customers are free to go wherever they like but we recommend that 100-150 miles per day is a good and comfortable distance to travel in a classic car. And means they will never be too far from our base to benefit from the best help we can provide.

Running our fleet of 50 classic cars has taught us the benefits of preventative maintenance. By anticipating typical faults - which are well documented for most classic cars - most classic car owners can significantly improve the enjoyment of their cars and also reduce the cost of owning them.

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

Driving a classic hire car with confidence

At Great Escape Classic Car Hire we've just spent several thousand pounds renewing our AA nationwide breakdown cover. This covers every one of our 50 classic cars for hire and every hirer. It means that wherever you go - and with our unlimited mileage package, it can be virtually anywhere - you're guaranteed of full breakdown support, whatever happens.

When you're hiring a classic car for the day or weekend we're pretty sure you want complete peace of mind After all, it's a big day - our cars are often hired for weddings, anniversaries and birthdays - so you want everything to go as smoothly as possible. So while the level of breakdown cover offered by your hire company is often easy to overlook - or you naturally assume it is in place - it remains a very important consideration when choosing a classic car hire company.

The reliability of our classic car fleet is vital to our business. So at Great Escape Classic Car Hire we spend at least 35% of all hire income on maintaining our cars. In 2011 we're even setting up our own in-house servicing department to further improve the levels of reliability. Our cars cover very high mileages for classic cars and our breakdown rate is very low. But no matter what we do and how much we spend we can never guarantee 100% reliability. That's why we invest thousands of pounds every year in providing full nationwide AA breakdown cover with our cars.

Unfortunately not every classic car hire company offers full nationwide breakdown support. While every member of the Historic & Classic Car Hirers Guild (including Great Escape) offers full breakdown cover, hidden in the small print of some companies' terms and conditions are clauses that make the customer responsible for recovering a broken down car. Some companies offer no cover at all while others only offer limited cover within a certain distance from their sites. If you venture outside a given distance from the collection site you may be liable for the recovery cost. You may also be liable for the breakdown company's call-out charge.

"Classic car hire is a real treat for those lucky enough to experience it," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape Classic Car Hire. "We want everything to go as smoothly as possible. But, along with every classic car hire company, we can't guarantee the reliability of old cars.

"That's why we provide full nationwide AA breakdown cover with every car. So if there is a problem, wherever our customer is they'll get full support. We believe it is wrong to expect the customer to be inconvenienced or financially penalised if the car breaks down.

"It is our responsibility to look after the customer."

The Great Escape Classic Car Hire AA recovery package is also supported by the company's own local recovery system. If a customer experiences a problem with a Great Escape car near to base, Great Escape is committed to attending quickly and where possible bringing an alternative car to the customer, so that they can then continue their journey.

"If we can we'll take a car out as quickly as possible to local customers," explains Graham Eason. "We then wait for the AA so that the customer doesn't have to Or we'll recover the car using our own trailers."

Great Escape is the UK's largest classic car hire company and has been named as one of the Heart of England's best tourism experiences. The company operates 50 cars from 6 UK locations. For more details visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ or call 01527 893733.

Try before you buy - 1974 Jensen Interceptor by Matt Nichols

Freelance journalist Matt Nichols recently hired our Jensen Interceptor for a weekend. Here's his verdict.

Car

1974 Jensen Interceptor Mk111

Supplied By

Graham Eason

Great Escape Classic Car Hire
Tel: 01527 893733

http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/
Located

Suffolk, Dorset, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Yorkshire24 hr Hire Cost: £245.0048 hr Hire Cost

2 days, £445.00 (1 day - £245)

Additional 24 hours

£175.00

Security Deposit

£750.00 (Not pre-charged to card)
Having just spent the day with a 1974 Jensen Interceptor MK111 on a 250 mile circular route starting and ending in Worcestershire and taking in Bristol, Chepstow, Monmouth, Symonds Yat, Ross-on-Wye, Pershore, Evesham and Inkberrow, I feel strongly inclined to announce at every opportunity ‘This is your captain speaking, cabin crew please prepare the aircraft for take-off’. Because after the success of the day spent with the Alfa GTV I booked the Jensen, this time from Graham Eason at ‘Great Escape Classic Car Hire’ in order to compare driving one of the smallest 2+2 coupes from the 1970’s to one of the biggest. The Interceptor has also intrigued me from when I very first saw it appear in various films and as a lover of interior car designs I was smitten a long time back by the array of dials, vents and switches that expand its vast dashboard. Couple this to a 7.2 litre Chrysler engine and lazy 3 speed Torqueflite automatic gearbox and you get one car hero I just had to meet.
The particular Jensen Interceptor we had did not disappoint either, except of course for the slight chink in otherwise near-perfect armoury, I am of course referring to the 14mpg we averaged, or to put it another way travelling 250 miles consumed £100 worth of fuel. So I won’t be mentioning the E-word again because we all know that it’s a conversation stopper in this company. The aircraft analogy I started with works best in describing the way the car launches, reminding me of take-off in a commercial airliner, from the great swell of power as the turbines start to roar, to the slight delay as engine noise translates into actual forward momentum followed by the feeling you get sat inside as the pace increases almost exponentially that by the time terminal speed is reached the sheer size and mass of the thing means absolutely nothing will stop it, truly awesome.
In fact whilst driving along I found myself looking for situations where having just burbled through a town or village with the auto-box insisting on finding 3rd gear at just over tick-over, particularly in one case when sat behind an E-Type Jag at a set of traffic lights with the combination of very loud V12 and V8 engines meaning that passers by didn’t quite know what to do and ended up staring in disbelief with their mouths wide open. To then exit and on spotting the national speed limit signs either floor the throttle for the full kick-down experience of never ending thrust, or instead opt for the half throttle approach that keeps the box in 3rd gear to produce that lovely wobbly V8 sound as the engine purrs its way along before lifting again for the next corner or restricted speed area. Both equate to instant forgiveness of the Interceptor’s drink problem replaced instead by a new self-indulgent and potentially very expensive big-block V8 habit that is extremely intoxicating.
I also got accustomed to having to firmly press the large double width brake pedal at times because even from the off as soon as you select D on the auto-box the engine wants to, and lets face has the necessary torque to, drag the whole car forwards at walking speed without even a tickle of the throttle pedal. This initially caught me out when getting off the drive particularly with very cold and ineffective brakes requiring a very firm press indeed, making me feel like someone trying to keep control of a fresh four or six horse stage coach eager to get going shouting things like ‘woooo’ and sloooo’ whilst pulling on the reins with all their might. On the move this scenario repeats itself as you approach junctions and roundabouts especially when shedding off the last 5-10mph when it’s not only the near 2 ton mass the all round disc brakes have to cope with but also the shove from the engine fighting to maintain forwards momentum. In the end I either just snicked it into neutral, or if on a slow roll 2nd or 1st gear which all proved to be good, rein-like solutions.
Having tuned into both the acceleration and retardation aspects of this big coupe focus next shifted to understanding its handling capabilities and general road manners. I already knew it was big and heavy and as a marque came with absolutely zero motorsports history to hark back to, but the biggest surprise of all was just how well it dealt with corners whether one at a time or navigating left-right combos. Because the Jensen does it rather well, a credit to its 1950’s chassis design, meaning huge pleasure can be taken in placing it on the road with surprisingly low levels of under or over-steer despite the mass. In fact the only time things started to get a bit carried away were on stretches of road that caused the car to pitch front to back as the Panhard rod, acting on the live rear axle, oscillates the back of the car in a sideways arc as the weighty body bounces up and down. In these situations there is no choice but to lift and allow things to settle back down, although bump-steer aside the car was a pleasure to wind through the A and B roads of Worcestershire through to Wales and back again.
It was definitely a memorable day with the only small gripe being the lack of cabin ventilation meaning if it rains, which it did, then things get steamed up despite the impressive maritime styled knobs located on the wide central console indicating temperature and fan speed options. Jensen and time have both helped resolve the problem to some extent with electric windows that don’t always close properly leaving an inch or two’s worth of fresh air to circulate and help maintain vision. That said we thoroughly enjoyed our time with the Interceptor and what really did it was a combination of the cosseting comfort and ride, overall look and feel, dashboard switches and dials, massive V8 under the long square bonnet and easy going auto-box hiding the devil that lurks inside that comes out to reap havoc every time you prod it hard enough with your right foot, quite superb.
Matt Nichols

Verdict
1974 Jensen Interceptor MK111
Driving
Ticks all the boxes as long as you stick to decent sized and relatively smooth A and B roads and can live with the 10-14mpg.
Engine
Gentle until aroused when it becomes the beast from hell with a V8 soundtrack that should be bottled and sold to every petrolhead in the land
Performance
7,212cc V8 ohv four-barrel carburettor
300-330 bhp through the rear wheels
380 lb/ft torque at 3,000 rpm
3 speed Torqueflite automatic gearbox
1980 kg kerb weight
135 mph top speed
7.5 Secs 0-60 mph
Brakes
Brakes worked well, although keeping it in D wouldn’t let it drop below 5-10mph, whilst N, 1 and 2 all provided better options when crawling or coming to a stop.
Handling
Surprisingly good on fast flowing corners, but if the terrain gets bumpy so does the back of the car allowing the Panhard rod acting on the rear axle to start to affect the overall balance and steering.
Desirability
Looks the part although arguably because Jensen chose Chrysler over an in-house or British sourced motor residuals are nowhere near as strong as counterparts from the same era. We’d have one in a flash though.
Pro’s
Big beautiful 2+2 cruiser that stirs your sole with it’s excellent V8 motor, inspiring interior and cossetting ride and comfort.
Con’s
10-14 mpg and if you’re in the market some potentially expensive maintenance tasks given both the tight fitting big block V8 and large expanse of leather inside.
Overall
4/5

Classic car hire prices held until February 2011

At Great Escape Classic Car Hire we've decided to extend the season of goodwill by delaying the VAT increase on our prices until February 2011. So you can still buy gift vouchers and book classic car hire for any of our fleet of 50 cars from any of our 6 locations at 2010 prices.
"We decided to extend our 2010 prices and absorb the VAT increase as a gesture of goodwill," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape Classic Car Hire. "Times are tough for everyone and the VAT rise doesn't help. Our decision to offer a Christmas discount proved very popular with customer so we decided to extend the season of goodwill."
Great Escape Classic Car Hire operates the largest fleet of classic cars for hire in the UK from locations in Suffolk, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Yorkshire, East Midlands and Dorset. The fleet covers classic and performance cars from the 1950s to 2000s.
For more details call 01527 893733 or visit www.greatescapecars.co.uk
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And they're off

It's been a sad old weekend for us here at Great Escape Classic Car Hire. First off our trusty 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee gave up the ghost when the head gasket blew. It's towed virtually every one of our classic cars for hire this year, covering 10,000 miles in the service of delivering and collecting cars for customers all over the UK. It became more than a workhorse, more of a trusted member of the team. Sadly it's not worth repairing it so it's off for spares or repair via Ebay.
Then on Saturday we despatched our 1994 Jaguar X300 XJR and 1984 Ford Capri S to new owners. We love both these cars but decided to move them on. Both cars have been popular but we like to keep our fleet fresh - and with space at a premium we had to do some brutal cutting. So until we move to our new unit early next year we won't be replacing these cars. But expect some exciting new additions in the first quarter.
It is a shame for these cars to go as the Jaguar XJR is a real sleeper classic - brutal performancecombined with genuinely cossetting luxury. All for a bargain basement price. They can't stay this cheap for much longer. Same with the Ford Capri 2 litre S. Every Capri fan wants a 2.8 but we'll let you into a secret - in terms of bangs for your buck, the 2 litre is hard to beat. We really like the woofly urge of our Ford Capri Brooklands for hire but the 2 litre is wonderfully chuckable and light. And not much slower than the 2.8.
So congratulations to David and Martin the new owners of the XJR and Capri, we hope you enjoy your purchases. We did.

Kids make their Great Escape

The Great Escape Classic Car Hire Morris Minor Convertible based in Yorkshire was recently chosen by a major high street brand to help promote its new range of childrens clothing.
The red Great Escape Morris Minor was specifically chosen because the colour works well on camera and the car has a fun and cheeky image, in keeping with the style of photography.

Great Escape Classic Car Hire worked with the supermarket chain's agency to provide the car at very short notice. We trailered the car to London, provided a driver throughout the day to support the photoshoot and ensured the vehicle was immaculate throughout the day.
Great Escape Classic Car Hire works with many major brands to provide cars for photoshoots, TV, video shoots and film productions. Our experience means we have learnt the small touches that enable film shoots with cars to run smoothly.

For more information on the Morris Minor click here. To view some of the professional images, click here.
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Wales in a classic car

When my wife Janine and I decided to organise an 'away day' to plan 2011 for our classic car hire business Great Escape, Wales was the obvious destination. Although many of our customers head towards the Cotswolds from our Worcestershire HQ, the few that venture westwards come back with tales that have often tempted us.

So we booked ourselves into the superb The Drawing Room near Builth Wells for dinner bed and breakfast. This B&B is a real find, located just 90 minutes from our Worcestershire base in the heart of the Welsh Borders, it offers real home comfort and superb food in its small restaurant.

With the easy part done - choosing the B&B - I was left with the hard job of selecting a classic car to take. Strange as it may seem for someone who is in and out of classic cars all day, I very rarely get to drive the cars in my leisure time. We are usually hurrying from location to location to deliver cars or organise repairs, hardly the stuff of classic drives.

So I was faced with an unusually tough choice. In the end it came down to two cars - either my mint Alfa Romeo Alfasud Ti or my equally good Daimler Sovereign Coupe. With poor weather forecast and feeling knackered from another week hussling classic cars, I chose the Daimler.

The Daimler Sovereign is essentially a Jaguar XJ6 coupe with nicer seats. One of 1,500 4.2 Sovereigns made, this car is Regency Red (memorably described by Jeremy Clarkson as 'the colour of a vet's arm') with a tan interior. Many customers tend to overlook this car, favouring instead the Jaguar Mk2 and E Type, but anyone who does chance upon it absolutely loves it. The Daimler is quite easily the nicest riding car I have ever driven and is effortlessly stylish - there is something novel and entertaining that never quite wears off about dropping all four windows and experiencing the 'pillarless effect.'

So we packed up the Daimler and hit the road, travelling to Builth Wells via Witney, Leominster, Ludlow and Brecon and arriving a couple of hours later. The road were quiet but endlessly entertaining, even in a big old barge like the Daimler, Despite featherlight steering, the car handles beautifully. The roads around Herefordshire and the Welsh Borders are generally quiet but constantly amaze with oustanding scenery and an endless variety of dips, turns and straights.

Suitably rested and planned-out we hit the road the next day, stopping at Hay on Wye and then on to Symonds Yat before returning home to meet some customers.

All in all, a very relaxing and hugely rewarding journey of just a couple of hundred miles. So if you're planning a trip in one of Great Escape's classic cars, go West!

Alfa Romeo Spider now available to hire in Suffolk

Great Escape Classic Car Hire has added a second classic Alfa Romeo Spider to its hire fleet. The new car is based from Great Escape's site in Suffolk, near Stowmarket, and is the only classic Alfa Romeo for hire in East Anglia. The car complements the very popular Alfa Romeo Spider for hire from Great Escape in Worcestershire.

The new Alfa Romeo Spider for hire in Suffolk is a 1989 Series 3 car finished in the rare colour of metallic Medio Blue with a black interior. It has a manual gearbox and is fitted with the classic 1600cc twin carburettor, twin cam Alfa Romeo engine that featured in the original Alfa Romeo Duetto launched in 1966.


The new car can be hired from Great Escape Classic Car Hire in Suffolk on a daily, weekly or weekend basis. Every hire day includes a full 24 hours use, unlimited mileage, insurance for 1 driver and full UK AA breakdown cover. Prices start at £165 for 24 hours. Gift vouchers are also available.


The Alfa Romeo Spider was an expensive two seater convertible when it was launched in 1966 and competed with the Jaguar E Type convertible. Today the Alfa Romeo Spider is more comparable with the MGB convertible but is generally considered to be a more sophisticated and better handling alternative to the popular British car.


To find out more about hiring the Alfa Romeo Spider in Suffolk click here or call 01527 893733.

Great Escape Trumph Stag is in Vogue

Great Escape Classic Car Hire regularly provides classic cars for hire to TV, film, media and production companies. In the first two weeks of July 2010 our 1974 Triumph Stag for hire in the Cotswolds has been used for a photoshoot for Italian Vogue magazine and a new advertising campaign for clothing brand Lyle & Scott.
The Triumph Stag is low and stylish and a quintessential 1970s British convertible, so it fits perfectly with the reinvigorated fashion for this era. The Great Escape car is finished in Old English White with a black interior and a walnut dashboard with manual gearbox.
Great Escape provided the car to location at short notice with a dedicated driver. Our cars are fully valeted before despatch and then provided with cleaning materials so that we can clean off any travel dirt before the car is photographed or filmed.
Great Escape Classic Car Hire has the largest fleet of classic cars for hire in the UK and provides cars for film and advertising work on a weekly basis. Several of our cars have appeared in national advertising campaigns and prime time TV programmes and in successful music videos.
To find out more about our work for film and advertising companies call 01527 893733 or click here.

Jaguar XJ6 hits the mean streets of London

We took our 1974 Jaguar XJ6 saloon down to London again recently for a film shoot for a Sky crime documentary. The script called for a large 1970s saloon to transport the criminals and our low slung Jaguar XJ6 four door saloon fitted the bill. Our Sable car is identical to one driven by Arthur Daley in Minder so while this project was perhaps not as glamorous as the fashion shoots that the car has recently appeared in, it does at least express another aspect of the character of William Lyons' evergreen saloon.

The Jaguar XJ6 arrived in London very early at the production team's offices just off Oxford Street. The Jaguar turned heads in the rush our traffic with several drivers winding down their windows to find out more about the sleek, low-slung coupe-like saloon. The car performed faultlessly on the 3 hour journey, despite the heavy traffic.

From the production offices we headed out to White City where the shoot took place. The Jaguar featured in virtually every scene. The script required the actors to load a body wrapped in carpet into the boot of the car. While this isn't something that the Jaguar design team anticipated when they developed the car we can confirm that the boot is perfectly sized for the purpose, although we hope no customers will put this to the test.

The Jaguar XJ6 Series 1, 2 and 3 is one of the most enduring and popular cars that Jaguar has ever made. Launched in 1968 and in production until 1992 the Jaguar XJ6 established a design style for Jaguar that remained in use until the launch of the current Jaguar XJ. The car was designed to resemble a coupe but with four doors and is arguably one of the most beautiful and fully resolved saloon cars ever made. Despite the cars undeniable good looks and high standard of fittings - including a walnut dashboard - like many previous Jaguars the XJ6 suffered a mixed reputation due to unreliability and overselling. Like the Jaguar Mk2 before it, when new the Jaguar XJ6 proved popular with aspiring people on both sides of the law thanks to its upmarket image cut with a dash of panache. The image of the second hand Jaguar XJ6 was epitomised by Arthur Daley in the TV series Minder. While the Jaguar XJ6 still retains an image of faded glamour it is fast becoming recognised for its style and engineering excellence. Alongside its elegant looks this is probably one of the best riding cars ever made.

Great Escape Classic Car Hire provides cars for TV, film and advertising projects on a weekly basis. To find out more visit our TV, Film and Advertising home page. Or call 01527 893733.

Love football, love cars, love a weekend away?

Great Escape Classic Car Hire has created three unique weekend packages specially for football fans with a classic car passion. The Red & White Weekend, British Bulldogs and England vs USA packages provide a unique opportunity to sample different combinations of classic cars with a football theme. Each package is available from Great Escape's central Worcestershire base, close to Stratford Upon Avon.
The new packages include 48 hours use of two cars, touring routes and advice on accommodation and places of local interest. Prices start at £495 and Great Escape provides a free delivery service to enable customers to switch the cars without returning to Great Escape's Worcestershire base.
"The World Cup is great for England," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape Classic Car Hire. "We've got some of the best British cars ever made on our fleet so we decided to create some packages that combine the chance to drive some amazing cars with a football theme."
Great Escape Classic Car Hire operates from four locations across the UK in Dorset, Yorkshire, Suffolk and Worcestershire. The company has a fleet of over 50 classic cars available for self drive rental, including classic cars from Jensen, Jaguar, Morris, Volkswagen, Porsche, Mazda, Alfa Romeo and MG.
To find out more about the packages click here or call 01527 893733.

Hire a 1950s classic Ford

The 1950s saw post-war austerity replaced with optimism and Baby Boomers. Our new Ford Consul convertible for hire from our site in Worcestershire sums up the times very well. Stylish but restrained, modern but not advanced, the Ford Consul brings to mind Grease and weekends on the south coast. We think it's a great addition to a wedding or as a weekend away classic car.

Our Ford Consul is finished in ivory with a cream and white interior and sits four people in comfort. The hood is easy to operate and finished in dark green, which goes well with the rest of the colour scheme.

Ford Consuls are a little before out time here at Great Escape and in fact recently we've been concentrating on adding 1980s classics like our Ford Capri 280 Brooklands. But when this Ford Consul became available for hire we couldn't resist - it just looks so good. And within a week of adding it on the fleet we have been taking bookings for it, so it seems that lots of people agree.

The Ford Consul from Great Escape Classic Car Hire can be hired by the day, week or weekend on a self drive basis. Or we can supply it chauffeur driven for weddings. Self drive hire prices include a full 24 hours use for every day you book, unlimited mileage, insurance for 1 driver and breakdown cover.

For more details visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ or call 01527 893733.

Rewind to the 1980s

When your business is running a classic car hire fleet you can end up spending quite a disproportionate amount of your time ruminating on what's going to be the next classic car that everyone will want to drive.

At Great Escape we like trying to second guess what cars people will want that we don't already have. Certain cars like MGBs, Jaguar E Types, Morris Minors and Jaguar Mk2 will always be popular. But for many customers in their 30s and 40s these are cars from an older era. What we've realised is that people love the cars they grew up with.

So here at Great Escape Classic Car Hire we've rolled up the sleeves on our collective white jacket, pulled up our white socks, smoothed down our rumbled Stay-Press trousers and donned our comedy baseball cap with cap-mounted beer and drinking straw to ponder the 1980s.

The decade that fashion apparently forgot is now actually extremely fashionable. Pop stars have raced to revisit the age of gold Bacofoil jumpsuits and frightwig hair. And we're racing to cars like the Rover SD1, VW Golf GTI, Porsche 928, Jaguar XJS, Ford Capri and Ford Granada Ghia X. These cars epitimosed motoring 1980s-style and if you're like us you'll remember seeing or being in these cars when shorts were something you wore rather than something to help you unwind.

We've spent the last 12 months developing our fleet of 1980s cars and several iconic classic cars from this list are already on our fleet. If you fancy rewinding the clock and either getting behind the wheel of a car you've always loved or reliving your first car or your dad's car, call us on 01527 893733 or visit the Great Escape Classic Car Hire website.

Hire a Ford Capri Brooklands

It's just coincidence that after we've spent the last few days being amazed by the snow-plugging power of the Great Escape Classic Car Hire Ford Capri S, we've gone and added a second Ford Capri to our classic hire fleet. Our existing Ford Capri S 2 litre is now complemented by the ultimate Ford Capri - a 280 Brooklands. So now there are twice as many Ford Capris available to hire in the world - and they're both available from Great Escape.

Our new Ford Capri is one of the 1000 limited edition runout 280 models, known as Brooklands Capris because of the beautiful metallic green finish. The Ford Capri Brooklands was made over by Ford's Special Vehicle Engineering division (SVE) who tidied up the handling with suspension improvements, including adding a limited slip differential. The Brooklands Capri features the venerable 2.8 litre V6 Ford Cologne engine, which saw service in several high performance Ford cars of the 1980s.

The Ford Capri Brooklands has achieved true classic status over the last 25 years because it was the last of the great Ford Capri line and was the last classic old-school rear wheel drive Ford.

The latest addition to the Great Escape fleet is part of our growing line up of aspiring classic cars from the 1980s. The classic car hire fleet also includes VW Golf GTI, Porsche 928, Jaguar XJS, Alfa Romeo Alfasud and the Ford Capri S.

We have classic Ford Capri cars for hire from our Suffolk fleet, where our Ford Capri S is now based and our Cotswolds fleet, where our Ford Capri 280 Brooklands is based. Hire prices start at £145 for 24 hours and including insurance, unlimited mileage and breakdown cover.

For more information on the Great Escape Classic Ford Capri cars for hire, visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ or call 01527 893733.

Capri is snow-perb

The snow hit quick and hard yesterday, rendering my everyday 1994 Jaguar XJR redundant - big tyres, loads of power and driver aids meant it surrendered in the snow. So it was back to the Great Escape Classic Car Hire unit in Inkberrow to choose a better car to escape back home in.

It had to be the Ford Capri. 1970s and 1980s Fords were rally car champions and a good dose of this snow and mud plugging capability passed into the genes of the company's everyday car range. The Great Escape Ford Capri is a Mark 3 2 litre S so it is lighter than a V6 but with plenty of power. This, plus rear drive and fairly narrow tyres, meant it made quick work of the hills and valleys that typify Worcestershire. In three trips around the local area it proved a hugely adept and very safe companion, quietly passing stranded modern cars in a whirr of wheelspin and power lock slides. The beauty of the Capri is that it is safe and predictable - slides are easy to correct and the car constantly tells you what the wheels are doing.

So there you have it - forget 4x4s and traction control, buy a Ford Capri. Or better still, give Great Escape a call on 01527 893733 and hire a Ford Capri. Prices start at £145 for 24 hours. And as added bonuses it has a great heater and good stereo.

How great was the Alfasud?

Some cars are born to greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them, some just rust. So it was with the Alfa Romeo Alfasud. If ever a car encapsulated the very idea of an own goal it has to be Alfa Romeo's baby family car of the 1970s. Here was a brilliantly designed and executed car that out-performed its competitors on every level and yet somehow succeeded in bringing a once great car maker to its knees for the next 20 years.

The story of the Alfa Romeo Alfasud brings together engineering wizardy and political incompetence. in the late 1960s Alfa Romeo was owned by the Italian government - not exactly world renowned as masters of efficiency and focus - but was a low volume manufacturer of expensive cars. This didn't exactly suit the government who wanted to create employment and cars for the masses. So they hatched a plan to create a low price, mass market family car with the evocative Alfa Romeo badge on its nose. This ostensibly simple and wise plan hit a stumbling block when the government chose a factory outside Naples to build it.

To those familiar with the Hillman Imp, Triumph TR7 and DeLorean DMC12 it may seem as if European governments in the 1970s were following some sort of strange ideology that required them to make unskilled workforces build cars in depressed areas of high unemployment. Because like Hillman in Glasgow, Triumph in Speke and DeLorean in Belfast, Alfa Romeo was forced to make cars in a run down area using people who had never made cars before. To compound the problem, the Italian government struck a deal with Russia to buy vast quantities of recycled steel.

Into this less than promising mix, Alfa Romeo threw possibly its best ever car design. Conceived by Rudolph Hurska, who had worked with Porsche, the Alfa Romeo Alfasud was a masterpiece of packaging and engineering. Under a body designed by Guigaro - one of his first independent commissions - was a spacious four seater car powered by a new Boxer engine and with exemplary ride and front wheel drive handling. The Alfasud was simply brilliant. It set new standards for ride, handling and packaging in its class, all at a price that undercut its European rivals. The Alfasud invented the sporting small family car before the term 'hot hatch' was coined and was arguably a better overall package than the Volkswagen Golf.

And yet, success was tantalisingly out of reach. The Alfasud failed for the company that made it and for the people that bought it. For Alfa Romeo, the new highly automated factory manned by car manufacturing virgins could never reach the required productivity levels that would have made the Alfasud profitable. Meanwhile customers could hardly believe that the brand new Alfasud they had bought six months previously was bubbling with rust.

The Alfasud could rust and certainly did. Stories of brand new cars leaving the showroom with rust are common. The poor quality Russian steel was the root cause, although Alfa Romeo's decision to inject foam into the bodywork cavities didn't help. The foam quickly got wet and the cars simply rusted from the inside out.

Alfa Romeo worked hard to eradicate the problems, albeit in a distinctly latinate way. Although they improved quality it wasn't quick enough and they kept using Russian steel long after the problem was known. The company addressed the productivity problem by pushing the Alfasud upmarket so that each car was more profitable, meaning fewer cars had to be made to hit their targets. By the time the last cars were leaving the production line in the mid 1980s the car was equal in quality to most European cars of the time and well protected against rust. But by then the legacy for quality and rust problems was well entrenched and it has taken Alfa Romeo until now to begin to reclaim its image. Producing shoddy cars like the 33 and Alfetta didn't help - starved of development funds, these cars were simply reworked older cars that struggled to survive in a market that had moved on considerably since the 1970s.

At Great Escape Classic Car Hire we have always loved Alfa Romeos - we have an Alfa Romeo Spider for hire - and we have harboured a soft spot for the Alfa Romeo Alfasud having owned several. Now we've just bought a beautiful 1983 Alfasud 1.5 Ti Green Cloverleaf that we are considering putting onto our classic car hire fleet. It is in excellent condition and has only covered 37,000 miles. The Green Cloverleaf Alfasud was the ultimate iteration of this wonderful little car and features a twin carb 105 bhp version of the 1.5 litre Boxer engine. It has taken us three years to find a decent Alfasud Green Cloverleaf because there are so few around. According to the Alfa Owner website - which we highly recommend - there are only about 65 Alfasuds left on the road. 10 years ago there were about 250. So this is now a very rare car indeed.

The Alfasud deserves much more recognition and praise than it has had so far. While the VW Golf GTI Mk1 has become a motoring icon that has cast a long shadow cast, the Alfasud is virtually forgotten. And yet here was a car that invented the sporting small family saloon and arguably created the mass market presence that has been essential to Alfa Romeo's recent success. It may also have created a legacy of poor quality and rust but beneath those problems it was a remarkable little car.

So now we're trying to decide whether to add this car to our classic car hire fleet or keep it for ourselves. Let us know what you think by calling 01527 893733, emailing info@greatescapecars.co.uk or visiting http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/.

Vote for the Jaguar XJ6

The Jaguar XJ6 is one of the greatest saloon cars ever made and it is now about to receive the recognition it deserves. The Great Escape Classic Car Hire Jaguar XJ6 saloon could be named as AROnline's Car of the Year by visitors to the influential British motoring forum. The 1974 4.2 litre Jaguar saloon in Sable with green leather was previously selected as a Car of the Month by the magazine and is now up for the annual prize against 11 other cars.
AROnline is a highly popular resource for fans of British classic cars. Visitors have the opportunity to select their Car of the Year from the 12 Car of the Month winners. The All-British cars competing alongside the Jaguar XJ6 include a Rover 2300, Vauxhall Chevette, Mini, Austin 1300 and MGF. To vote for the Jaguar XJ6 click here.
"The Jaguar XJ6 is a fantastic car and it is great that it is getting this kind of recognition," says Graham Eason of Great Escape. "Our car is a very low mileage car and finished in a rare colour combination.
"The Jaguar XJ6 is one of the most beautiful saloon cars ever made and the ride and handling are superlative for such an old design."
Great Escape Classic Car Hire operates from bases in Suffolk, Cotswolds and Dorset and operates a fleet of 40 classic cars from the 1950s to 1990s Every car is available for self drive rental by the day, weekend or week. Prices start at £125.

New Classic Jaguar Car Hire Specialist

Jaguars are one of the most popular classic cars for hire in the UK. Most classic car hire fleets are quite small so until now enthusiasts have had to pick and choose Jaguar cars, locations and websites in order to sample different classic Jag models. Great Escape Classic Car Hire has solved the problem by creating a specialist division to hire its large fleet of classic Jaguars.

The new division, Classic Jaguars, brings together the largest fleet of Jaguar classic cars in the UK. The cars can be viewed online at http://www.hireclassicjaguars.co.uk/.


Classic Jaguars from Great Escape has examples of virtually every classic Jaguar from the 1960s to 1990s available to hire from its sites in Suffolk, Worcestershire and Dorset. This is the widest range of classic Jaguar cars available for self drive hire in the UK. The new division enables visitors to browse the entire range in one place and hire any car from any of Great Escape's UK locations.

Classic Jaguars cars are available to hire at http://www.hireclassicjaguars.co.uk/ or by calling 01527 893733. They include the Jaguar Mk2, E Type convertibles and coupes with 4.2 and V12 engines, XJ6 saloon and coupe, XKR, XJR, and XJ-S convertible. Some of these cars are the only ones of their type available to hire in the UK. Prices start at £155 for 24 hours and include unlimited mileage, insurance and breakdown cover.

The new website includes descriptions and pictures of the cars and links to the Great Escape online availability check and booking system. Great Escape has also developed several unique Jaguar-themed classic car driving experiences that enable customers to sample several classic Jaguar cars in one day. These include the jaguar V12 Dilemma that compares the V12 Jaguar XJ-S with the V12 Jaguar E Type coupe.

Don’t let the chauffeur have all the fun on your wedding day

It’s the best day of your life and it’s all about you. So why is someone else driving that beautiful classic car on your wedding day? This is the question more and more couples ask as they ditch the chauffeur and switch to self drive wedding cars for their big day.

Great Escape Classic Car Hire, one of the largest self drive classic car rental companies in the UK, reports a significant increase in self drive wedding bookings compared to the same time last year. The company reports a 75% increase in this type of booking over 2008.

Self drive classic wedding car hire is the flexible and low cost alternative to hiring a chauffeur driven limousine and is proving increasing popular in these cash-strapped times. The credit crunch and the trend towards highly individual weddings appears to be behind the move towards self drive wedding car hire. Self drive gives couples the option of saloons, coupes and convertibles for transporting the Best Man and Groom and the family and bride to the church and on to the reception.

In a typical scenario the groom will hire a car like a white Jaguar E Type convertible to drive to the church with his Best Man and then whisk his wife away in it to the reception. Alongside the convertible the Bride and her Father hire a saloon, such as a Jaguar Mk2, which is driven by a family member or friend. This two-car arrangement would typically cost £700-800 with chauffeur hire but can be around half that with self drive hire. Self drive hire has the added bonus of being much more flexible because you don’t have to stick to strict waiting times. Companies like Great Escape hire their cars on a 24 hour basis so you also get plenty of time before the wedding to enjoy the cars.

“We are right at the start of the wedding booking season and already our self drive wedding bookings are much higher than the same time last year,” reports Graham Eason of Great Escape.

Great Escape operates a fleet of nearly 40 classic cars from locations in Suffolk, Worcestershire and Dorset. The company has developed its service for wedding couples to help make it even easier to build self drive hire into your big day. As well as a straightforward collection and return system from each base the company will also deliver and collect to local addresses or provide a low cost collection service after the wedding.

The Great Escape Classic Car Hire fleet includes classic cars from Aston Martin, Jaguar, Jensen, Triumph, Porsche, Rolls Royce, MG, Volkswagen, Ford, Mini and Morris. The cars range from the 1950s to 1990s and prices start at just £125.

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

Jaguar E Type versus Morris Minor Traveller

Great Escape Classic Car Hire has created the perfect antidote for classic enthusiasts pressurised by the credit crunch. Its new Tortoise and Hare Weekend package is designed to let customers vent their frustration in the company’s rapid Jaguar E Type V12 roadster, then spend a day relaxing and taking in the scenery in its sedate 1957 Morris Minor Traveller.

From Great Escape’s base on the edge of the Cotswolds customers can head in any direction and enjoy some great driving roads in Wales, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. The Tortoise and Hare package includes 24 hours use of each car, unlimited mileage and free delivery and collection to local hotels. The package costs a remarkably stress-free £390. Readers can claim £25 off the cost when they quote ‘Tortoise’ when booking.

The Great Escape E Type is a 1972 Series 3 5.3 litre V12 roadster in Old English White with black leather interior. The Morris is an unrestored one-family-since-new car fitted with the 1000 cc engine and features very rare Dark Green paint, which was only used for a few years.

The Tortoise and Hare Weekend brings together two of Great Escape’s four new cars. Alongside the E Type and Morris, Great Escape has added a metallic blue Jaguar XJS V12 convertible and a Sable 1974 Jaguar XJ6 long wheelbase. Great Escape also has an Alfa Romeo Spider and Jensen Interceptor available for hire.

The credit crunch has become a media obsession and inevitably it’s getting people down. This package is our contribution to making it all a little easier to bear.

There really can’t be a much better way to get away from it all than driving a great car on a great road in the sunshine in the Cotswolds. By bringing these two cars together we’re hoping to create a few smiles.

Great Escape provides classic cars for self drive hire for daily and weekend use. For more details visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ or call 01527 893733. Great Escape is the only classic car hire company with full online availability check, reservation service and online booking and payment.