Pre-war cars honoured at the Royal Automobile Club Historic Awards

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Press release

The Royal Automobile Club honoured the stars of Britain’s historic motoring and motorsport worlds at a glittering Historic Awards on Pall Mall, London, last Thursday, November 21st. The packed event reflected not only the immense level of skill and expertise that exists in this interest in Britain, but also its very human element. This was an exceptional year for nominations, with the standard incredibly high across all categories, and the result is a superb list of winners representing all facets of the historic automotive world.

The Young Achiever award celebrates young people aged 30 and under who are making their own mark on the historic motoring world. The 2024 winner, 28-year-old Catherine Ruff, is an almost entirely self-taught machinist, who works from drawings and occasionally models to recreate high quality parts for vintage Bentleys, the Bentley Motors continuation cars, and many racing cars. She showcases her work to her 10,500 followers on Instagram, inspiring other young enthusiasts and encouraging women to join the world of engineering.

The winner of the Personal Endeavour award, Angela Hucke, Curator of the Bugatti Trust, was selected for her total dedication to and passion for the Bugatti Trust. A talented archivist and historian, Angela truly understands the Bugatti marque, its people and the machines, and is focussed on keeping all of that alive for future generations through a series of educational programmes run by the Trust.

There was a surprise in the Restoration category when the judges selected not one but two winners of this coveted award. Lead judge Simon Taylor explained: “We had to decide between three tremendously impressive restorations—perhaps the strongest set of finalists we’ve ever had. After long discussion and analysis of all three, we were left with a choice between two cars setting out to do completely different things, and which did them perfectly. The 1939 ERA E-type GP2, restored by Tip Top Engineering, aimed to bring back to competitive life an important historic racer. The 1927 Bentley Three-Litre with boat-tail body Martin Walter, restored by Julian Parker Ltd., faced the challenge of rescuing a unique and significant vintage car with only three historical photographs to use as reference points. Both are absolutely at the top of their game. In the end we felt there was only one decision that we could make—we had to have joint winners.”

The Royal Automobile Club started its Historic Awards in 2019, acutely aware that Britain's historic motoring clubs, events, associations, companies and special individuals deserved recognition for their unsung achievements. Since then, some 140 contenders have been accorded merit as finalists, chosen by judges invited solely for their expertise and independence of outlook. The awards extend the club’s 127-year pedigree in recognising motoring accomplishments and celebrating success through its trophies and medals.

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