Look out for blues and twos at The 999 Show at Beaulieu on Spring Bank Holiday Monday May 29th

Look out for blues and twos at The 999 Show at Beaulieu on Spring Bank Holiday Monday May 29th as all shapes and sizes of historic emergency vehicles join the celebration of the emergency services.

More than 30 emergency vehicles of the past will be on show in the grounds of the National Motor Museum, from fully-equipped fire engines to police patrol cars.

Equally eye-catching will be two World War II themed trailers, which recreate shelters that were familiar to blitzed Britons in period-perfect detail. A mobile recreation of a 1940s police station will be set up in the Beaulieu grounds, joined by an Air Raid Precautions mobile unit built using a vintage caravan.

Representing the long arm of the law will be a diverse selection of police vehicles, including an ex-Hampshire Constabulary 1966 Volvo 121 Amazon estate, one of the first foreign cars to be used by a British police force, and a sporty 1959 MGA Roadster used by Lancashire Constabulary.

Rapid traffic duty classics include a 1969 Lotus Cortina and V8-powered 1985 Rover SD1 3500SE. Look out for a wide variety of American police patrol cars, including Chevrolet Caprices, a Camaro and Impala, plus no less than six sturdy Ford Crown Victoria squad cars. As different as chalk and cheese will be an Austin Allegro panda car and a replica of the incredible 1970s Ford Falcon XB used in the Mad Max films.

The Blue Light Vehicle Preservation Group will display its members’ classic police cars, including an ex-Metropolitan Police special escort group 1994 Range Rover P38 and Vauxhall Vectra SRI 2.6 V6.

Three fully-equipped Dennis Rapiers will represent the proud heritage of the fire engine, with these huge but rapid machines joined by a 1939 Bedford WLG Heavy Unit fire engine, still in its wartime Auxiliary Fire Service livery. Classic ambulance fans will love the 1950 Austin Sheerline DA1 ambulance, which will be joined by a diminutive Smart car ambulance and American-built 2005 Ford E350 ambulance, plus a 2001 Dodge Ram Military Police security van.

The event, which will mark the start of the year in office for Lord Montagu’s sister Mary Montagu-Scott as the High Sheriff of Hampshire, will also feature a CSI Beaulieu murder mystery at Palace House. Find out from Specialist Operations Regiment, Royal Military Police forensic investigators how to hunt for clues, dust for fingerprints, collect evidence and photograph the scene of a crime. A cast of Beaulieu guides and actors will bring the story to life for event-goers to follow the murder trail around the Montagu family home.

Once the crime has been solved at the end of the trail, see how it feels to be locked inside a prison cell with a visit to the groundbreaking Prison Me! No Way!mobile prison cell van raising awareness for young people about the causes, consequences and penalties of crime.

Event demonstrations include the rescue of a celebrity casualty from the scene of a crash as the emergency services stage an extrication display on the Events Arena.

Expect the unexpected with a VIPkidnap which shows the role of bodyguards to protect potential targets from the threat of a real-life attack.

For family fun, see horses in the New Forest Agisters’ pound,dog skill demonstrations by the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service plus Police puppies and retired German Shepherds from the charity Pensions4Paws.

All of The 999 Show event features are included in a general admission ticket to Beaulieu. Entrance also offers access to the whole Beaulieu attraction, including the National Motor Museum and its collection of more than 250 vehicles, the World of Top Gear, On Screen Cars, the 13th century Beaulieu Abbey, Palace House – which has been home to the Montagu family since 1538 – and its stunning grounds and gardens.

This years Silverstone Classic will be bigger, better and more fuel filled than ever before. This is a must go to event.

• Biggest ever historic touring car extravaganza
• Bumper-to-bumper race action from Minis to Super Tourers
• Exciting new grid featuring Capris, Rovers and BMW M3s
• Big Bangers return to complete spectacular showcase 

Next summer’s Silverstone Classic is all set to break yet more records with its biggest ever line-up of spectacular touring car race action.

For the first time in history, the packed programme at the world’s biggest classic motor racing festival will feature no fewer than four separate touring car grids, providing fans with hitherto unseen levels of epic bumper-to-bumper entertainment. Adding to the appeal, all four grids will be included on the final day’s schedule under the evocative and exciting ‘Tin-Top Sunday’ banner.

Both U2TC and Super Touring races are already strong fans’ favourites at the Classic and continue to go from strength-to-strength. The former is for pre-1966 under two-litre cars and features Alfa Romeo GTAs, BMW TiSAs, Lotus Cortinas and hordes of giant-killing Mini Coopers. The latter is from a more recent era, putting the spotlight on the high-tech tourers from the nineties when, for many, saloon car racing reached its absolute zenith.

Adding some Yankee V8 thunder to the bill, the Big Engined Touring Cars also make a welcome comeback. The mighty American muscle cars from the sixties were last out in 2014 as part of the Ford Mustang’s memorable 50^th birthday celebrations.

While these three grids return by popular demand, the fourth is a never-before-seen new addition, ensuring the full spectrum of dazzling touring car history is included on the unprecedented Tin-Top Sunday racecard.

The Historic Touring Car Challenge (HTCC) was launched back in 2011 by Motor Racing Legends (MRL) and revives the heydays of the British and European Touring Car Championships from the seventies and early eighties. 

It was the golden Group 1, Group 2 and Group A era that spawned such racing icons as the TWR Jaguar XJS, Rover Vitesse, BMW CSL and Dolomite Sprint – not forgetting the evergreen Ford Capri which dominated the BTCC between 1976 and 1981. 

Such was the interest in the new series that entries were quickly extended to include further cars from the late sixties.

Now, as the HTCC prepares to make its eagerly anticipated Silverstone Classic debut in 2016, the regulations have been widened still further to include non-turbo cars right up to 1990. While not catering for the fearsome Sierra Cosworths which will remain among the Super Tourers, newcomers such as the BMW M3, Golf GTi and Astra GTE will be permitted to enter the fray.

“Featuring so many great cars from such a great era, the HTCC has already gained a huge fan base among both competitors and spectators,” said MRL Chairman, Duncan Wiltshire. “Its arrival on the coveted Silverstone Classic programme is yet more proof of its spiralling popularity, and the further widening of eligibility is certain to produce an incredible grid well worthy of this landmark occasion.”

The HTCC’s debut on Tin-Top Sunday at the Silverstone Classic will come in the guise of a 40-minute showdown on the full Grand Prix circuit with a compulsory pit-stop and optional driver change adding to the retro drama.

“Right from its very early days, touring car racing has always been a massive hit with the British public and that’s why we have created this very special Tin-Top Sunday,” explained Nick Wigley, CEO of Goose Live Events, the company responsible for the Silverstone Classic. “By adding the flourishing HTCC to our more familiar U2TC, Big Banger and Super Touring grids, Tin-Top Sunday will live up to its star billing as the biggest and best celebration of touring car history ever seen at the Classic. There really will be something for everyone.”

Fans wanting to experience Tin-Top Sunday can take advantage of Early Bird tickets now on sale for the 2016 Classic, offering significant savings of up to 17 per cent. There is also the all-new Family Ticket available for 2016 – this includes camping for two adults and two children across the whole weekend and gives a discount of more than 20 per cent on advance tickets if bought individually.

Full details of all tickets (which must be purchased in advance) – as well as hospitality packages and weekend festival camping – can be found on the event website at: www.silverstoneclassic.com.