Coventry Motofest 2016

“It’s been our biggest and best-ever Coventry Motofest. Thank you so much if you were part of another amazing event.” These are the words of James Noble, the festival director of this automotive spectacle, and having been to it ourselves, we absolutely have to agree!

There was a massive turnout this year, as 125,000 people came to see the free show that featured cars, motorcycles, live music, trucks, buses, armoured vehicles and so much more.

In all, there were two days of activities throughout the ring road circuit and Coventry’s own Radio Plus 101.5 FM hosted the music and banter throughout the day.

One thing that makes this festival so popular is that it’s a perfect place for the whole family to hang out for the weekend because there were local bands playing live on Greyfriars Green and in Broadgate helping to boost the atmosphere.

We of course had a few personal highlights that we spotted, including the Rover-BRM. If you haven’t heard of this, it was a gas turbine-powered racing car that was developed in 1960 by Rover and British Racing Motors – hence the name.

Another model we couldn’t keep our eyes off was the Aston Martin Vulcan; there’s something about this manufacturer, it just never disappoints. It’s always a genuine pleasure to see a classic in the, um – flesh? In real life anyway, getting up close to this machinery is a real treat and we’re sure it was shared with everyone who was there.

There were heroes of automotive competition history in attendance too and one that we particularly enjoyed was the iconic Mini Cooper S that was driven by none other than Paddy Hopkirk.

At this year’s Coventry Motofest, the Mini that won the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally was driven around the festival’s sprint circuit. Excitingly, Paddy and his original co-driver Henry Liddon were the team who took the car to the weekend’s track – it really was a special moment to watch.

Normally, the Cooper S sits proudly in the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, but its engine was upgraded specifically for this event and it was running just as smooth as ever.

It wasn’t just normal cars that took to the racing circuit, as things got heavy with 1,000 bhp, five-tonne trucks storming against each other on the ring road circuit. The vehicles came straight from the British Truck Racing Championship series and they looked as intimidating and powerful as you can imagine.

What a sight they were; we’d pay good money just to see the trucks compete with each other again!

Coventry Motofest 2016 has been called the best-ever year of the festival, but we’re champing at the bit to see what next year brings – roll on 2017! Take a look at a few extra snaps below!