PUTTING THE BRUM IN, ERM, BRUM

Cancel whatever your dad was doing. Brum Transport Fest, organised by the sterling team at Colmore Life, is motoring our way.

On September 18 and 19, Birmingham city centre becomes a glorious playground of cool classic cars, retro heritage buses and things people will rightly describe as “proper engineering”.

The free festival runs from 11am to 5pm across some of Brum’s best-known public spaces many with links to the region, alongside transport talks, live entertainment and plenty for families.

Expect nostalgia, horsepower and plenty of hot carburettor chat. ?

CARS
Centenary Square and Hippodrome Square will host an impressive display of heritage vehicles from organisations including the British Motor Museum, Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust, Aldridge Transport Museum, Reflective Car Care, Raw Rides and over 100 heritage vehicles owned by individual enthusiasts including the Gay Classic Car Group.

Daimler 4.2 Series (1984)
Included will be this Daimler 4.2 series saloon from 1984 — a big, elegant British luxury saloon from an era when a dashboard was expected to contain enough walnut to furnish a small dining room.

Daimler had been part of Jaguar since 1960, and these cars were built at Jaguar’s Browns Lane plant in Cov. So for a West Midlands transport event, it's absolutely on home turf.

If it looks vaguely familiar, there’s good reason: a Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Series III later became one of Arthur Daley’s cars in Minder. This particular one was first owned by the 6th Duke of Westminster, don'tchaknow?

Austin Allegro 1300 SDL (1979)
From the sublime to the ridiculous, few cars have been bullied quite as relentlessly as the Austin Allegro.

Launched in 1973 and built at Longbridge, it became a poster child for everything supposedly wrong with 1970s British Leyland: awkward looks, questionable build quality and, most famously, early versions with an almost-square “quartic” steering wheel.

This 1979 1300 SDL came later, by which point conventional steering wheels had returned, but the reputation stuck. Nearly 650,000 Allegros were built before production ended in 1982.

Today, surviving Allegros have achieved genuine cult status. Turns out being routinely called one of Britain’s worst cars does wonders for collectability.

Its cultural impact was considerable, too: Allegros have cropped up everywhere from The Sweeney and Doctor Who to Little Britain — usually when television required an instant visual shorthand for Britain in beige.

Rover 2000 SC (P6, 1972)
Then there's the 1972 Rover 2000 SC — a true product of the West Midlands, built at Rover’s Lode Lane factory in Solihull.

The P6 helped transform Rover’s image from a maker of traditional, rather formal cars into a modern British brand, winning the first-ever European Car of the Year award in 1964.

For many local families, Rover was more than a car company — it was a major part of the region’s industrial identity and provided generations with skilled jobs. The P6 also became something of a ‘young executive’ car, reflecting the changing Britain of the 1960s and 70s.

Even today, its distinctive styling makes it instantly recognisable as a classic piece of Birmingham’s motoring heritage. The Rover P6 became a familiar face on 1970s television, appearing in The Professionals, where it added a distinctly British touch to the show’s world of action and undercover crime.

Austin A30  
The Austin A30 (pictured above and top) was one of Britain’s most important small cars of the 1950s, helping put affordable motoring within reach of ordinary families.

Built from 1951, it was designed as a practical, economical alternative to larger cars and became a familiar sight on Britain’s roads. Its distinctive rounded shape and small size earned it the affectionate nickname “Baby Austin”.

The A30 also has a strong West Midlands connection, with production taking place at Austin’s Longbridge factory in Birmingham. Longbridge was at the heart of the region’s motor industry, employing thousands of local people. Today, the A30 is remembered as a charming symbol of post-war Britain.

BUSES 
Victoria Square will feature heritage buses courtesy of Transport Museum Wythall, including the beautifully restored 1931 Birmingham Corporation AEC Regent 661 with Metro-Cammell bodywork.

There’s a particularly lovely detail to its story: its Birmingham Corporation fleet number was 486, and its body is believed to be the oldest surviving steel-framed double-decker bus body in the world.

The 1931 AEC Regent, registration OV 4486, entered service from Harborne garage on December 4, 1931, and even spent a brief period working in London during the Second World War.

SUPER PRIX
Ratcliff Passage (which is here) will also host a special exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Birmingham Super Prix and the festival entertainment stage, with guests including The Gadget Show’s Jon Bentley, Practical Classics magazine editor Danny Hopkins and television personality and engineer Fuzz Townshend.

The exhibition will feature photos, nostalgia, posters, memories and stories of the Super Prix contributed by the public while stage highlights include: Introduction to Classic Cars, Building Cars in Birmingham, Classic Buses, From Bikes to Cars and Back Again, Pride of Longbridge, 40 Years Since the First Birmingham Super Prix, Champion Tinkerers: The People Who Keep Classics Going and Trams, No Trams and Now More Trams.

Brum Transport Fest is on 18 and 19 September in Victoria Sq, Chamberlain Sq, Centenary Sq and Hippodrome Sq. For more details, head here