It’s a celebration of automotive and motorsports history, filled with high octane events and celebrity sightings: The London Classic Car Show has got underway for 2015.

London-Classic-ThrillerWith the sound of Grand Prix engines filling the ears of its visitors, the event got started on Thursday January 8th at ExCeL in London’s Docklands.

Among the stars that have come to the event are Grand Prix legends David Coulthard and Martin Brundle, Top Gear presenter James May, television chef James Martin, broadcaster Chris Evans and more. They were among the names that were present for the launch of the event.

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For one of the guests, there was a special moment at the show. Formula One designer Adrian Newey was surprised with the arrival of a yellow Lotus Elan, which was once owned by has father and that he had not seen since 1980. The organisers of the show tracked down the car so that they could surprise Newey with it as it was driven into the event.

Speaking about the moment, Newey said: “It’s been a fantastic evening. Chris Evans called me up on to the stage to say a few words, then right at the end he asked me what was the first car I modified. Luckily I got it right! It was a genuine surprise and to see the Elan once again was just fantastic.”

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One of the parts of the show that many visitors were looking forward to is May’s exhibition titled The Cars That Changed The World. He has put together a group of 13 cars, six that he feels are obvious and six that are intended to cause disagreements among car fans. Yet he would not reveal what the 13th car was until the show started.

Therefore, on the launch night he introduced the car that he says is the most significant ever produced and is very personal to him. In fact, it isn’t even a real car; it is a toy. May’s 13th car is a model of the James Bond Aston Martin made by Corgi and complete with ejector seat.

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Speaking about his choice, May said: “The thing about the Corgi DB5 is that it was a great toy at the time. If you’ve got an iPod now you’ll probably think it’s rubbish, but at the time it was absolutely amazing,”

“Of course it is a personal and emotive choice and a lot of people will disagree with me. But that’s the point of this display. It’s about starting a debate rather than concluding one.”

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Other highlights of the launch night of the car show included Evans talking to Newey, Coulthard and Brundle about the upcoming Formula One season. Brundle’s own Eagle E-type is on show at the event.

A runway of cars that works as the centrepiece of the show, The Grand Avenue, also got underway with many different models and types of cars going on display. This included pukka Grand Prix cars and veteran cars from the early days of motoring.

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The London Classic Car Show runs until January 11th.

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