London's Pall Mall to host trailblazers and motoring milestones

 

 

With glittering displays of more than 140 of the world’s most exciting and significant cars of the past, present and future, the newly-announced St James’s Motoring Spectacle, taking place on Saturday, November 2nd, will boast something for every kind of enthusiast.

 

Organised by the Royal Automobile Club, this specially curated display will take over most of London’s historic Pall Mall, which will be closed to traffic during the day. Rubbing door handles with modern supercars and pioneering veterans from the dawn of motoring, the event will celebrate major milestones in the history of Fiat, Renault and Volkswagen.

 

Almost every driver alive today will have owned or driven one of the hundreds of different models from these three giants of European car-making.

 

Both Fiat and Renault cars were first launched 125 years ago at the very end of the 19th century. Meanwhile, it is exactly 50 years since the Volkswagen Golf was introduced in 1974. From Fiat Uno, Punto and 500 to Renault 4, 5 and Clio, and on to the pioneer hot hatchback itself, the Golf GTI, they have produced some of the best-selling cars of all time.

 

Since its establishment as Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (F.I.A.T.) back in 1898, the Turin marque swiftly became one of the world’s greatest car manufacturers, and the largest single company in the whole of Italy. Almost simultaneously, Société Renault Frères was established by in Boulogne-Billancourt to the west of Paris, and it too flourished, to become one of today’s major international manufacturers.

 

With such long and successful pedigrees, early FIAT and Renault models are always represented on the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, taking place on the Sunday immediately after the St James’s Motoring Spectacle. Indeed, the Italian company’s anniversary will be celebrated in style when the chain-drive 1907 FIAT 130hp racer makes its first appearance in Britain on this year’s run. This follows a meticulous, three-year restoration at the Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile in Turin.

 

The monstrous 16.2-litre FIAT 130hp will also be one of the star attractions in the Fiat display on Pall Mall alongside a  collection of past and present Fiat models. These include much-loved specimens such as the Nuova 500 from the late 1950s and a mid-engined X1/9 sports car from the 1970s. These eye-catchers will line-up alongside several of Fiat’s latest hybrid and all-electric offerings, among these a very rare Fiat 500 Collezione, a new special edition of just 1,957 units.

 

Also embracing the past, present and future theme of the St James’s Motoring Spectacle, the Renault showcase—with enthusiastic support from the Renault Owners’ Club—will span the ages from a pre-1905 veteran right up to its latest 1980s-inspired, all-electric Renault 5, sales of which will commence early in the new year.

 

In comparison with Fiat and Renault, Volkswagen is a relative upstart—it can only trace its history back to 1937. But over the past 50 years, few cars have been more significant than the Golf hatchback. Over eight generations, more than 37 million Golfs have been sold since the first one rolled off the Wolfsburg production line in 1974, equating to 2,000 sales every single day over the past 50 years. Honouring that five-decade run, the comprehensive Pall Mall showcase will be bookended by one of the first Mk. I GL hatchbacks and one of the latest facelifted Mk. VIII R all-wheel-drive models.

 

The three carefully selected Fiat, Renault and Volkswagen anniversary collections will be highlights in the Heritage Display, one of five dedicated zones on Pall Mall. The four other zones will encompass Modern Design, with high-tech supercars; Education; the RM Sotheby’s London 2024 auction; and the much-loved St James’s Concours, featuring around 70 of the pre-1905 pioneers participating in the following day’s Veteran Car Run.

 

The St James’s Motoring Spectacle, set in the heart of Westminster, is a free-to-attend event with activities and interests for all ages. No tickets are required and the event will run from 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. on Pall Mall.

 

Full details of both the St James’s Motoring Spectacle and the RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run are available on the official www.veterancarrun.com website.