Bicester Heritage was an RAF bomber training school in the war. Walk past the technical workshops at seven in the morning and you can hear a Merlin warming, even when there isn't one.
We took three cars down for the January Scramble. A 1992 Mercedes 500E in dark green, a 968 Club Sport, and — slightly self-indulgently — the Toyota GR86 that has been sitting at the hangar for a fortnight. Two of them belonged to friends. The Toyota was just along for the ride.
The Scramble is — for the uninitiated — an open day at Bicester Heritage, on the first Sunday of every other month, when anyone can drive in, leave their car on the apron, and walk between the hangars looking at restorations in progress. Coffee in tin mugs. Bacon rolls. Cars that have been someone's life's work.
The highlight, this time, was an Aston Martin DB2/4 in the early stages of a body-off restoration in Hangar 113. The car had been off the road since 1971. The owner had had it for thirty-eight years. He was very calm about the whole thing.
We will be back for the March Scramble. If you would like to convoy down with us — leave Fenstanton at 06:30, in time for the gates — drop a note to despatches@three10.co.uk.
