Northumbria Classic Car Hire & NE1 Motor Show

July 9, 2016 by Rachel Kershaw in Festivals and Events 5

The NE1 Motor Show is back in Newcastle city centre soon and what better way to get in the mood for the UK’s biggest open air city centre motor show than taking a spin in a beautiful, 1966, Ford Mustang? Thanks to Northumbria Classic Car Hire, James and I had the chance to do just that last night and I simply have to share with you some of our snaps from the memorable experience…

We picked up the gorgeous ‘Wimbledon White’ convertible from the owner’s home in Gosforth where we were informed that the vehicle was the newest member of his fleet of classic cars, he’d actually driven it up to the North East after purchasing it the night before!

Notice the reg on the van, ‘Pony’ is an affectionate name for Mustang so we couldn’t resist this pic!

Before getting behind the wheel, we spent a little while chinwagging about the history of the Mustang and taking a sneak peek at some of the other motors available for self-drive hire (including E-type Jags and a super cute Austin Healey). Phil, their proud owner, clearly has a love affair with vintage vehicles and it was nice to meet someone who has been able to turn their passion in to a successful business that brings joy to its customers.

With the sun shining bright in the sky and only a couple of hours to road test the Mustang, there was only one place to head for, Tynemouth! As we drove down Osborne Road and along the Coast Road to the pretty seaside village, we attracted dozens of admiring glances and thumbs up from passers by along the way! We also couldn’t help but sing Mustang Sally at the top of our voices and quote lines from the film Thelma and Louise (obvs)!

Driving a classic is a completely different experience to driving a new car, not least because of all the attention it brings. In the case of this particular beauty we also had to familiarise ourselves with it being a left hand drive with an automatic gearbox and of course, there were none of the gadgets and modern features we take for granted today, my arms got a real work out with the steering!

We weren’t able to drive through Front Street in Tynemouth, the road was closed due to the Mouth of Tyne Festival, so we pulled up in front of the Grand Hotel instead and pinched ourselves as we looked across the breathtaking coastline, we are so lucky to live in such a wonderful part of the world!

After our exhilarating experience in the fabulous Ford Mustang, James and I are now more excited than ever to soak up the atmosphere at the NE1 Newcastle Motor Show!

The region’s top motoring brands will be bringing their show-stopping exhibits to the festival. Grey Street will be lined with jaw dropping cars from Aston Martin, Bentley, Porsche, Jaguar and more. These will fight for attention with privately owned rare and vintage vehicles and Quadrophenia fans will also be catered for as cult classic scooters will fill the cobbled street on High Bridge.

NE1 Motor Show 2015 – Credit: Garage PR

For details of the full event schedule visit www.getintonewcastle.co.uk/ne1-events/ne1-motor-show and to keep up and share your pics on social media use the hashtag #NE1MotorShow.

Be sure to keep an eye out for Northumbria Classic Car Hire too, something tells me their fleet of vintage vehicles are going to steal the show!