Porsche Classics at the castle- 2023

[donutskidmark]

I previously considered the Porsche Classics at the Castle show as one of the highlights of the Porsche calendar.
Having paid £30 for a ticket I was rather disappointed to find on arrival today there were approximately 4 lame stands on the entire site, no atmosphere and nowhere near as many cars as the previous shows in its glory days. Put bluntly I thought it was crap.
If any of the organisers would like to contact me and arrange to send me a refund please feel free.

[Koln-RS]

I attended it during the early years and it gradually evolved into a really good event for classic Porsches, with significant attendees and cars.

However, it isn’t in the most accessible part of the country for many people, and people who’ve been before many be getting fatigued.

Ideally, it would be biennial in the south east / south west and the interim year somewhere central / north.

Just need to find some more castles.

[horacethefrog]

I was about to post something myself in a similar vein but you beat me to it. I also was there today and am very puzzled as to what is going on. The field on the right on the way up to the castle, which is normally full of cars, was largely empty and where there were previously a long row of trade stands there were just two. Admittedly the weather wasn't great but it didn't rain until late on so I'd be surprised if that explained the low turnout and it certainly wouldn't explain the absence of trade stands. Is it 'Porsche fatigue' after the many 75th anniversary events this year? I just hope this is a temporary blip and it will be back to the normal lively, popular event it used to be in 2024. It used to be every two years so perhaps that's the way to go. I do have to say I find it funny to hear Porsche owners complaining about price but, as my mother would say, look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves.

[ChrisW.]

It used to be organised by Fred Hampton and was taken over by the Porsche Club ... rather like the Lotherton Hall meet that was organised by Strasse ....

I can only say that when I attended Classics at the Castle it was a fabulous event with many very serious people from Porsche in Germany attending and Willie Green giving a talk ... so many great cars ... and a memorable evening "in the bar" afterwards.

I wonder what has happened ? Are so many early Porsche owners past their free tax disc date ?

This hasn't happened to early Mini owners .... ???

[donutskidmark]

To be fair I can’t see Classics at the Castle ever making any kind of comeback unless it’s completely taken over by new organisers who make a proper effort.

Regarding the ticket price of £30- personally I wouldn’t care if it cost £130 on the condition it was worth it…….with hindsight I wouldn’t have gone today even if it was free.
But the irony of Porsche owners moaning about money - ain’t it true some of the richest folk are also the tightest in general!

[horacethefrog]

donutskidmark said:

To be fair I can’t see Classics at the Castle ever making any kind of comeback unless it’s completely taken over by new organisers who make a proper effort.

Completely agree. I have a particularly low opinion of the PCGB's organisational abilities which began with a spectacularly badly organised event at Ragley Hall some years ago.

[GT4P]

Been a couple of times in the past and it was a really good event, jazz on the lake, take a picnic, great cars line up etc so I can understand the dissatisfaction but is this the way the brand is going now, from treatment over the last few years of allocations and so on! Personally I think the days of the true Porsche fan whatever financial background is over hence why mini events do so well because it caters for all and is not an exclusive b*llsh*T club!

[supersport]

ChrisW. said:

It used to be organised by Fred Hampton and was taken over by the Porsche Club ... rather like the Lotherton Hall meet that was organised by Strasse ....

I can only say that when I attended Classics at the Castle it was a fabulous event with many very serious people from Porsche in Germany attending and Willie Green giving a talk ... so many great cars ... and a memorable evening "in the bar" afterwards.

I wonder what has happened ? Are so many early Porsche owners past their free tax disc date ?

This hasn't happened to early Mini owners .... ???

Lotherton Hall was organised jointly by me and my wife as R7 ROs jointly with Strasse.

Prior to that we organised the same event at Harewood House, which had been started by Stasse some 20 years previously. It was successful as a joint venture between Strasse and the Yorkshire Region.

It was brilliant until the council put a stop to it. It was NEVER organised by the Club as an entity.

It was hugely successful until the council decided that they no longer wanted car events, well they did but only for 200 cars. In the final year we had over 800. Coved and the council ruined it.

We stood down down after the 2019 event. This year was largely successful again, but no longer had Strasse’s involvement.

[blackmamba]

ChrisW. said:

It used to be organised by Fred Hampton and was taken over by the Porsche Club ... rather like the Lotherton Hall meet that was organised by Strasse ....

I can only say that when I attended Classics at the Castle it was a fabulous event with many very serious people from Porsche in Germany attending and Willie Green giving a talk ... so many great cars ... and a memorable evening "in the bar" afterwards.

I wonder what has happened ? Are so many early Porsche owners past their free tax disc date ?

This hasn't happened to early Mini owners .... ???

I think this is largely it, was a great event with some colourful characters and very interesting cars. The last couple of years have taken the soul out of the event, hiked up prices and added vey little. You can't buy tickets on the gate any more so with such an extensive choice of events available, people (including me) vote with their feet. The cars and owners are still around, just can't be persuaded to make the effort when the organisers can't.

[smudger911]

blackmamba said:

ChrisW. said:

It used to be organised by Fred Hampton and was taken over by the Porsche Club ... rather like the Lotherton Hall meet that was organised by Strasse ....

I can only say that when I attended Classics at the Castle it was a fabulous event with many very serious people from Porsche in Germany attending and Willie Green giving a talk ... so many great cars ... and a memorable evening "in the bar" afterwards.

I wonder what has happened ? Are so many early Porsche owners past their free tax disc date ?

This hasn't happened to early Mini owners .... ???

I think this is largely it, was a great event with some colourful characters and very interesting cars. The last couple of years have taken the soul out of the event, hiked up prices and added vey little. You can't buy tickets on the gate any more so with such an extensive choice of events available, people (including me) vote with their feet. The cars and owners are still around, just can't be persuaded to make the effort when the organisers can't.

Agreed. Other than the 2.7 RS garage find it was pretty woeful imo.
I wonder if the club is spread to thin across all the events in a season? Is there an event strategy in PCGB to drive visitors (no pun) to these events and have people coming away having made positive memories of the day e.g., driver talks (As previously with Richard Attwood et el), centre piece attraction.
The venue and location are unique, I genuinely hope someone can turn things around.

[ChrisW.]

supersport said:

ChrisW. said:

It used to be organised by Fred Hampton and was taken over by the Porsche Club ... rather like the Lotherton Hall meet that was organised by Strasse ....

I can only say that when I attended Classics at the Castle it was a fabulous event with many very serious people from Porsche in Germany attending and Willie Green giving a talk ... so many great cars ... and a memorable evening "in the bar" afterwards.

I wonder what has happened ? Are so many early Porsche owners past their free tax disc date ?

This hasn't happened to early Mini owners .... ???

Lotherton Hall was organised jointly by me and my wife as R7 ROs jointly with Strasse.

Prior to that we organised the same event at Harewood House, which had been started by Stasse some 20 years previously. It was successful as a joint venture between Strasse and the Yorkshire Region.

It was brilliant until the council put a stop to it. It was NEVER organised by the Club as an entity.

It was hugely successful until the council decided that they no longer wanted car events, well they did but only for 200 cars. In the final year we had over 800. Coved and the council ruined it.

We stood down down after the 2019 event. This year was largely successful again, but no longer had Strasse’s involvement.

I had the impression that Strasse would have liked to have continued with their involvement (it had been their baby) ... and having provided full info to the club were then left out ???

Strasse are a top independent outfit and I can't see them willingly giving the long and hard earned heritage of this event away ??

Maybe they just didn't want to kick up a fuss ... ?

I attended the 2022 meet at The Motorist where Mike Wilds gave a talk which I agree was very good ... I couldn't get to the 2023 event so can't comment ...

The big advantage of Lotherton Hall was that for families, families of visitors not interested in cars could visit the bird garden, adventure playground and the house ... making it a family day. The Motorist is different, better in some ways and worse in others. As you say, Lotherton Hall had changed their policy but ??

[DanG355]

I will give my opinion - but first some background on me to give some perspective:
I owned a 986 Boxster for 5 years from 2015-2020 followed by a 987 Boxster from 2022-2023 (never really bonded with it) and now own a 2001 996.2 C2 manual which I love.

I last attended Classics as the Castle back in September 2017. It was a fantastic day with a wide range of Porsches parked together in the car park when I arrived. I parked next to a '70's 911 which was great. There was a 917 on display which drew large crowds but I was able to get some great photos of it before the crowds descended. I may be remembering it with rose tinted glasses, but seem to remember hearing it fire up at some point as well. I spent the whole day at the event chatting to owners and club members and walked several laps of the displayed cars as well as the Porsche parking car pack where I was parked.

This year before we even attended a fellow Porsche owner commented that he wouldn't be going as didn't think it was worth £30. Having not been for many years and with fond memories I still attended.

On arrival I was a little surprised to see we were being put into rows depending on which model we owned - no issue for me but I did speak to a 928GT owner who was unhappy at there being no 928 parking and felt he was stuck out on the edge with 944's, although I can see there is a transaxle connection. I chatted to the owner who was an older gent and has owned the car for 17 years. Although not a pre-73 car I think his would be a real asset to a display.

I was impressed with the Paul Stephens cars on display - a great selection of very well prepared cars. As we continued to walk towards the main display at the castle it felt a little bare with a lack of cars on display where there had been on my last visit back in 2017. A we continued my walk towards the house I noted a lack of trade stands - the Design911 stand was set right back for some reason rather than be close to the main path/road with very few other stands about. The Design 911 guy I spoke to was friendly & knowledgeable and also gave us an excellent goodie bag.

I was a little disappointed not to see a 917 outside the house, but was good to see a 2.7RS & 993 in racing trim along with an excellent 904 GTS. Overall a great display - not quite on a par with the 917 but still great. We then crossed the bridge to the castle area and could only immediately see about 7-8 cars, a pizza van and a small coffee/bar area. I though there would be more choice of food & drink and although the bar staff were excellent they only offered a tea or a coffee (no latte/flat white/espresso etc.). A minor point, but still something that I would expect from my experience of other recent shows.

Finally I walked past the castle to the pre-73 display of 914's, 911's, 356's, 912's and a few others. A good display with a variety of cars and I guess if you came to see pre-73 cars as the event advertised itself as you would be quite happy. After walking around and taking some pictures and having a coffee we walked back to where the 904/993/2.7RS were and admired them for a while before walking around the few 911's and 356's that were parked in the field next to the main road/path. Some very nice cars but not as many as last time I visited.

We then decided to walk back to the car park and had a good look around the visitors cars - a good mix and nice to chat to a few owners and probably spent as much time here as we did up by the castle. At this point I could honestly have gone home feeling a little disappointed that I had seen and done everything in an an hour & a half - a far different experience to my last visit. We walked back up to the castle in case we had missed something or more cars had arrived. Yes, a few more cars were no on site but also some cars were leaving (this was about 11.30am - the event started at 10.00am). I returned to the car and left at about 12.30pm with mixed feelings.

- Definitely not worth £30 it cost for me & the wife as a club member when the Festival of Porsche 2 weeks ago offered so much more for £34.

- lack of atmosphere and excitement. I don't know how you create this, but the Helmingham Hall Classic & Sports Car show and even the small R12 Porsche East events had far more atmosphere and general good vibes.

- the focus on pre-73 cars is I feel now a hindrance rather than an asset. I think a display of more modern Porsches along the run up to the house would have been far more exciting and bought a wider range of owners to the event. AS someone else proposed, a 'Porsches At the Castle' event with a whole range of cars across the site would be better, even if the display of pre-73 cars by the castle is unchanged.

- as a former Boxster owner you can feel like you are treated differently to those with a 911. I think the allocated parking areas depending on model were very divisive even if the intentions were good with the Boxsters at the very back. Also some cards such as 928's, 968's, Cayenne's and some other models didn't; even have a sign up so were put around the edges or put in the Panamera section - again not an inclusive experience if you are an owner.

- the weather didn't help. I am sure the forecast of rain in the afternoon put some people off attending. As it was, there had only been a few spots all morning. Not something the organisers can do much about.

- there was a lack of a focal point, whether that is a P.A. system during the day describing cars, a guest speaker, signing of autographs or something else, it just felt there was a lack of something to give the day a buzz.

I appreciate these events take a lot of organising and am grateful to the organisers and staff on the day. I did enjoy the time I spent there and was great to see the 904 and also the mix of cars in the visitor car park. However, I feel this event really needs a reboot if it is to survive. I heard several people comment about a lack of atmosphere, lack of cars and the fact it was overpriced - none of which I heard back in 2017.

Would I attend again - possibly... Not at £30 though unless changes are announced for next time. There was a Wheels at the Warren event on the same day and having been to one of those in the summer for a cost of £5 I would probably choose to do that instead. With improvements to the event to address some of the points above (weather aside) I would attend again.

A long reply, but as a 996 owner, club member and attendee of many car events this year I am probably amongst their target audience.

[DanG355]

[rob.kellock]

I'll happily take a tiny bit of credit for PCGB supporting the event in 2017 as I was Chair at the time! Back then, the Club wanted to try and do something to help promote the earlier cars and try and give something back to the members who owned them. The real credit for the Club's contribution was down to Chris Seaward and his team though.

This year (not on my watch) as in many previous years, the event was simply not a PCGB event - there is a note on the Club's website booking page - "Porsche Club Great Britain is facilitating the ticketing of this event, but is not responsible for it."

[mattman]

Disappointing to hear the feedback and the photos demonstrate how sparse it was.

Having attended a couple of Simply Porsche events at Beaulieu, at least the parking is a free for all unless you are part of a club. That makes wandering around a lot more interesting when cars of any age or model can be parked next to each other.

I've just purchased my 2nd Boxster and was looking forward to attending some vents next spring - hopefully things will improve by then

[GT4P]

Dang355 that’s how I remember it, can’t remember which year but also there was a 917 which fired up. Got some nice pictures of my wife in a couples ex Austrian police car a 356 and the gentleman and his wife dressed for the part

[ChrisW.]

I guess 20 years ago placing the focus on pre '73 cars to include the 2.7RS made some sense ... but I wonder what would happen if the guide-line was moved to include all pre '95 cars ?

This would include all impact bumper, 964, 993, 944, 968 and 928 cars from which there are many special cars for display, the 911's in particular sharing the same gene-pool as the 2.7RS ... involving far more owners even though nearly all are older than 30 years !

Maybe then reduce the ticket price to £20 with the intention of balancing the books with far greater attendance ? Then you might get the trade stats back / serious catering offerings / and something special in the evening ?

[Andy OH]

DanG355 said:

……...As someone else proposed, a 'Porsches at The Castle' event with a whole range of cars across the site would be better, even if the display of pre-73 cars by the castle is unchanged…...

I replied to a Porsche Club GB - Essex Facebook post on Sunday evening suggesting that it could possibly expand to become 'Porsches at The Castle' as that would have attracted, I'm sure, a lot more people and bring an eclectic mix of classic and modern Porsche cars. There were some very nice examples of GT cars on the approach to the entrance where the Paul Stephens cars were, which in my opinion the Paul Stephens cars should have been on display to the right of the drive way which was largely empty with the exception of about a dozen or so cars and not parked under a good number of trees.

There were also a whole host of very nice cars in the main car park which is more or less tucked out of sight unless you parked in there.

For me yesterday was a big disappointment compared to last year which was a great event and also compared to the Porsches by the Lake which was held at Little Easton Manor in May which was a fantastic event.

I have no issue paying the entry cost but the Castle Hedingham event needs, IMHO, to expand to include those Porsche cars that are also very special post 1973 of which there are plenty to choose from. Keep the pre '73 KG era cars parked around the Castle but have AG cars, even if only RS/GT/Spyder/special edition cars along the driveway and in the field to the right of the driveway up to the house. I think that would be a brilliant event.

I also appreciate how difficult it must be to organise events such as these but unless the organisers listen and hopefully change the format slightly, they may not have in future the people attending. The event yesterday was most definitely significantly down on numbers compared to last year.

Edited by Andy OH on Monday 18th September 16:41

[DanG355]

It must be your post I saw Andy suggesting the Porsches At The Castle on the FB page.

Both Chris and Andy raise some good suggestions for the future of this event. I also wonder if PCGB could take over the running of it again? I have added this thread to the Essex PCGB FB page in case they do take any interest in it. I guess it depends who is actually running the event these days...

Regarding the post about events next year - the Festival of Porsche at Brands Hatch was the best event I attended in 2023 and you get a full day of Porsche racing as well as all the static displays and owners cars parked up. So many fantastic cars from 356's to the latest 718's, 911's and Taycans, every notable 911 including all the GT cars, GT4 RS & GT3 RS full bore demo laps on track by racing drivers and a wide choice of food & drink.

Travelling there early on a Sunday morning and becoming part of a convoy of Porsches on the M25 and then the local roads as we got closer was one of my best experiences of the year.

[philnotts]

Is anyone going this year?

Not sure how the site map compares to 2023? 5pm today deadline for ticket purchases.

https://www.porscheclubgb.com/events/2024/septembe...