I took a day of my half term to spend with my 6 year old nephew at London’s Classic Car show at the ExCell Centre in London’s Docklands. He’s recently found an interest in cars and seemed to have a slight obsession with modern Lamborghinis and McLarens. I was hoping to help influence him towards the beauty of old cars and classic engineering, he already has a good grounding with grandparents on his dad’s side of the family having owned some iconic cars – namely a Lancia Delta Integrale and an Audi Quattro. He seemed to enjoy the show but perhaps wasn’t as phased by the significance of some of the cars he was seeing, often hurrying me to move along from the 70’s and 80’s Porsche 911s of my dreams to find some Lambos!

I’m not particularly pleased with the images I captured of the day. The crowded show, challenging lighting conditions and less than inspiring backdrops of the cars didn’t make for the most interesting captures. Furthermore I was fairly underwhelmed by some of the quality of paintwork of the cars on show. I was expecting flawless finishes, however even on some of the demo cars for detailing products – paintwork left a lot to be desired.

The highlight of the show for both Aiden and I was the display of classics making their way down the track through the centre of the ExCell centre. Some of the cars really didn’t hold back, drifting, performing burnouts and revving hard to please the crowds. It was great to be so close to the cars and get a real feel for their performance. These photos were particularly challenging to capture!

Inspiration for Aiden’s grandad to get his red Audi Quattro back on the road…

All in all the show was a good day out and Aiden seemed to enjoy it too! Although he may well have been just as happy riding on the DLR all day.