A visit to The Classic Motor Hub: Martin Chisholm’s world of classic motoring

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Deep in the rural Cotswolds, we turn into a former RAF base. Spitfires were worked on here during the Second World War, but these days the historic site is devoted to vehicles on four wheels. This is The Classic Motor Hub. And although the name gives you a fair idea of what to expect, there is considerably more to it than selling classic cars.

We meet its founder and enthusiastic owner, Martin Chisholm. As soon as we arrive, he comes over to greet us. His first question is not about our visit: what have we got in the trailer?

Despite the early hour, Martin gives us all the time we need. Around us, the site gradually comes to life. The coffee shop opens, mechanics check over cars, some are prepared for sale and others are brought out of storage.

The Classic Motor Hub offers just about everything an owner of a classic car or motorcycle might need: sales, events, storage, maintenance and a range of other services. It is the brainchild of Martin, whose career did not begin in the motor trade.

He started at Christie’s, the celebrated auction house, drawn by his interest in historic objects. Cars were not his particular focus at first, but his enthusiasm for them grew. After several years, he moved to a car dealership in London, then returned to the auction world. Eventually he set up on his own, first in London and later in the Cotswolds. There, he found far more scope for storing classic cars, a business he has now been involved in for some twenty years.

About ten years ago, Martin began looking for a single base for his various activities and found this site. During the war, it formed part of an RAF Fighter Command station, of which old photographs still survive. Later, it served as a service centre for Claas combine harvesters. When Martin bought it, the site was in poor condition. Where others saw a great deal of work, he saw potential.

The original hangar is now the main showroom. A large neighbouring building houses cars for sale, offices, the workshop and the coffee shop. Alongside it is another important gathering place: the Club Room, a welcoming space where car clubs can hold their meetings.

Martin shows us around the site, which has room to park around 300 cars. Each year, The Classic Motor Hub hosts about ten Coffee & Classics gatherings of its own, as well as numerous other events and club meetings.

Above all, it is a delightful place to explore. Vintage posters hang on the walls, while automobilia, furniture and other objects add character at every turn. Over more than thirty years in the business, Martin has built up quite a collection. Here, at last, he has the space to give it all a proper home.

But where is the storage that prompted him to buy the site in the first place?

Martin laughs. The business has grown rather more than expected. The Classic Motor Hub now has another five storage facilities in the area. It also has a separate, private showroom for cars at the top end of the market. After all, the large hangar, built for aircraft in 1939, is open to visitors, while buyers and sellers of exceptional cars sometimes prefer a little more privacy.

Most of the cars are offered on consignment, and with three salespeople, the arrangement is clearly working well. Martin and his team have built a strong reputation over the years, and there is no shortage of interesting cars.

“England has wonderful cars,” Martin says enthusiastically, pointing out a few examples. He is right. The showroom has a remarkable range: a pair of Frazer Nashes, an elegant Delage, a Riley racer and a little Bugatti Brescia, to name just a few.

The selection brings together pre- and post-war cars. Martin says the team keeps a close eye on the market, but he is particularly keen to devote more attention to the pre-war cars. Many people, he feels, simply know too little about them to form a connection. There is also a lingering belief that they are complicated or unreliable, which puts potential owners off taking them out on the road.

In Martin’s experience, the opposite is often true. Many pre-war cars are relatively simple in construction, easy to understand and surprisingly dependable. That makes them cars to drive and enjoy, rather than merely admire.

As we finally head back towards our car, the two Frazer Nashes are started up for a customer behind us. Their engines burst noisily into life, filling the former RAF station with sound. They are magnificent machines, yet here they seem entirely at home.

The Classic Motor Hub is more than a showroom. It is a place where classic cars are sold, maintained and stored, but above all driven and enjoyed. If you find yourself travelling through the Cotswolds, it is well worth stopping by: for a coffee, a club meeting, a beautiful car or simply a wander among the classics.

There is every chance that something special will be waiting.

Text: Laurens Klein

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