The Classic Car Show Becomes A Global Success

The first series of The Classic Car Show is officially a worldwide hit and is now watched in more than 100 countries The producers behind the first series of The Classic Car Show (Wise Old Fox Limited) are no doubt overjoyed with the shows reception. It has enjoyed an overwhelmingly positive response with excellent viewing figures across all 13 episodes aired on Channel 5 in the UK and international sales success through Sony Pictures Entertainment means it is now in more than 100 countries around the world. Wise Old Fox Limited is a new ambitious independent television and film production company set up by Jim Wiseman and Stephanie Fox. 

Both car lovers, they met during their time working for the Top Gear brand. They have a combined production and direction experience of 25 years across genres such as entertainment, sport, documentary making, game shows, promos, adverts and live events. Having worked for major international brands such as BBC F1, Sport Relief, CarFest, Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Ferrari, Pirelli, Celebrity Golf Cup and Top Gear. Wise Old Fox has access to some of the best directors, camera operators and editors in the world when it comes to filming cars. 

This is exactly what they did when asked to produce The Classic Car Show. Over the last ten years the classic car market has become a multi-billion pound industry with values growing ahead of equities, fine art, wine and London real estate. Top-end Ferraris have increased in value by 55 per cent in 2013 alone* and collectively the classic car market has grown faster than any other asset class, increasing by 257 per cent since 2005**. It is this growth, global intrigue and unparalleled glamour that has driven the creation of The Classic Car Show. 

The Classic Car Show is presented by renowned motoring journalist Quentin Willson and the motoring-mad supermodel turned TV presenter, Jodie Kidd. This landmark new series has travelled the globe celebrating all manner of classic cars, from the glamorous and stratospherically expensive Ferrari 250 GT California Spider to more humble icons like the MGB GT. And viewers have loved every minute. The series debut on Channel 5 earlier this year saw average weekly-consolidated viewing figures of 642,000, an uplift of some 42 per cent for the 7pm Thursday slot. 


The series reached a peak of 922,000 viewers, achieved during its first episode which averaged 750,000. As a result of the success of The Classic Car Show on Channel 5, Sony Pictures Television, which distributes the show internationally, has sold the first series to more than 100 countries around the world including: Discovery Turbo in Latin America covering 43 countries; BBC Brit in Poland; History Channel in Japan; a multi-territory deal with BBC Brit in Africa, spanning 58 countries; SBS in Australia and Mega in Greece. 

The series featured celebrity contributions from the likes of Bruno Senna, David Gandy, Steve Coogan, Britt Ekland, Tinie Tempah, Derek Bell MBE and Sir Stirling Moss, uncovered rare barn finds and gave viewers the lowdown on which classics to buy now before their values go through the roof. The show’s unique ability to highlight undervalued cars was proved when prices of the classic Ferrari 456 doubled within weeks of it being mentioned on the programme. One of the most popular episodes was the show’s James Bond Special, which celebrated cars from the 007 series and even guest-starred ex-Stig and Daniel Craig stunt double, Ben Collins. 

Social media response to the show was also overwhelmingly positive. The programme also attracted high-end commercial partners, with sponsorship from Watchfinder. For the first time in its history, luxury car brand Aston Martin provided television viewers with the opportunity to drive away in a brand new bespoke Aston Martin V8 Vantage. This was one of the most successful TV car competitions ever with an unprecedented viewer response. Russ Lindsay said: “We’re incredibly proud of The Classic Car Show. 

The whole premise of the series was to create a series celebratory in tone without gimmicks or distractions. The episodes were packed full of content to delight classic car lovers and the contributions were second to none with the likes of Bruno Senna, David Gandy and Sir Stirling Moss. “We also designed the format and content of the show for an international audience, not just a UK one, and that has been reflected in the global sales.” Russ Lindsay is the founder of Infinity Creative Media Ltd and co-founder of James Grant Management, the UK’s largest independent media, music and sports talent agency. 

Over the last 30 years, Russ has managed many of the UK’s top media and sports personalities including Phillip Schofield, Ant and Dec, Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Clare Balding. During his time at James Grant, Russ produced the majority of their productions in music, theatre and television. Infinity has created a unique and compelling television model, being high quality EIS eligible ‘Investor Funded Programmes’ produced for worldwide sale, the first three being The Classic Car Show, The Wine Show and The Art Show. 

The Chairman of Infinity is Lord Michael Grade; the CEO is Ross Westgate, a former news anchor at CNBC with over 20 years in the global broadcast business; the COO is Simon Drinkall who has 15 successful years in institutional and alternative investment banking. Classic Car Show executive producer and presenter Quentin Willson, said: “We’ve made TV history by celebrating classic cars in a deeply glamorous and passionate way and we’re all delighted that so many mainstream viewers, who aren’t hard core old car enthusiasts, have tuned in. 


The feedback from international viewers is the same – they tell us love the way we’ve brought beauty, style and sexiness to the world of classic cars.”

J&D Custom builds a brat bob from a Bajaj Pulsar

Vadodara based J&D Custom and Co. sent us these images of their latest build, which involves transforming a Bajaj Pulsar 220 into a brat style bobber, something, that its creator Jay D. Patel thinks is a one-of-a-kind specimen in India. Apart from the engine, transmission, rims and front forks, everything else has been fabricated in-house. The oval shaped petrol tank has been built from scratch, replete with a chrome cap, while half the frame, the custom swing-arm complimenting a mono-shock suspension have been all built or assembled in house as well.

However, Jay takes special pride in how the custom handlebar has turned out. All plastic switches from the stock handlebar has been done away with, and replaced with metal switches. He says “Handlebar was most challenging part of this whole build, because we got digital 2013 model pulsars which have all digital systems in it. So we can’t put metal switches with those digital systems, because every switch is connected with some sensors. So it was very difficult to customize that digital wiring & make a unique & simple thing.”

He adds that repeated trips to mechanics, wiremen and even some Bajaj guys in order to resolve the issue went futile, as they advised him agaianist it. Not wanting to give up, Jay burnt the midnight oil on hard work and research, and ultimately appointed all the metal switches succesfully. He also thinks that that they are the most eye-catching part of the whole build.

The grips are crafted out of brass, while illumination is handled by a vintage yellow 5 inch headlamp accompanied by two white LED fog lamps. The tail lamp is hand-crafted, and features LED elements which “shine like a rear red light of formula one car”. LED side blinkers also went into the mix. The alloy wheels are stock, but don a mirror finish contrasted with strips painted in black.

This custom motorcycle was built for a client, who insisted on a comfortable seat, hence the black leather job with more cushioning for the pillion rider, complimented by quilted stitching. A chromed tool box with leather belts and a warped, custom exhaust try to uplift the vintage charm. The foot pegs and levers have also been crafted in-house. Most of the wiring has been hidden with copper piping.

While the frame and swing-arm are painted in black, the tank and custom made side panels are painted with metallic bronze paint & airbrushed with off-white strips with the  J&D logo on it.

Triumph Speed Triple 1050R may ride into India real soon

Triumph Motorcycles India is likely to bump up its product portfolio very soon as the Indian arm of the British motorcycle marque has imported a unit of the Speed Triple with the “R” badge to India for ARAI homologation. Along with the “R” badge, comes slightly higher power and torque figures and a higher spec suspension setup. The latest update about the Speed Triple R comes from India’s import and export data website Zauba.com.

What’s new? The only difference between the standard and R badge models is purely mechanical. In terms of performance, the international variant of the Speed Triple R receives a 1050cc liquid-cooled, in-line three-cylinder engine tuned to deliver 137 PS of power and 111 Nm of torque against the standard model’s 126.7 PS and 104.82 Nm of torque. The motorcycle will come to India via the CBU route, and we expect to see similar power figures for the India-spec model.

Rest of the technical data of the Speed Triple R remains identical with the standard model but instead of the Showa suspension, the Speed Triple R benefits from Öhlins shock absorbers. The front receives Öhlins 43mm NIX30 upside down forks while the rear is equipped with Öhlins TTX36 twin tube Monoshock. Both, the front and rear suspenion,  come with rebound and compression damping. ABS, similar to the standard Speed Triple, comes as standard on the Speed Triple R and here too, you can switch it off in case you are feeling a little adventurous.

The brawnier motor will help the Speed Triple R compete with the likes of Kawasaki Z1000, Suzuki GSX-S1000 and the Honda CB1000R to name a few. That’s where the pricing will play a crucial role. While most of our readers would already know, we would still clarify that the price – Rs 600,708 – mentioned on the import/export data website does not take into account the import duties and various other taxes. The standard Speed Triple is priced at Rs 11.49 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Along with the added bells and whistles, expect the R badge version to carry a slight premium over the standard model. We hope not by a great margin.