Live from Henry’s Car Barn

The third or fourth car to arrive was an Alfa Romeo SZ, which rather set the tone for the rest of the evening. You could call it a live podcast recording, a panel discussion, a social event or whatever else, but in practice it was just a gathering of people who really love cars.

We hadn’t done anything like it before and weren’t sure quite what to expect. But as the courtyard at the wonderful Henry’s Car Barn gradually filled up with 911s, BMW M-cars, plenty of hot hatches, a couple of Alpines, several supercars and a good deal more besides, it was obvious we were all in for a fun evening – this was an audience of diehard, lifelong, to-the-bone enthusiasts.

My Ti co-founder Andrew Frankel and I were joined on stage by Henry Catchpole, one of our big-name contributors and himself a hopeless enthusiast. Henry explained what it’s like to drive the astonishing McMurtry Spéirling, the little electric fan car that smashed the Goodwood hillclimb record last year. We discussed the future of having fun with cars – a big topic for people like us at the moment – and we took questions from the audience of 120, some fun, others genuinely challenging, and we only stopped taking them because we ran out of time.

I had fun meeting so many subscribers and podcast listeners before and after the recording. Ti writers Joana Fidalgo, Colin Goodwin, Andrew English and Mel Nichols were there mingling with readers too. We put on food and drink and were fortunate to have good weather, plus a venue that couldn’t have been a better fit.

I must thank Singer Vehicle Design for bringing one of its restorations along for the evening. The gorgeous machine, finished in Singer Racing Blue, the results of the Dynamics and Lightweighting Study, provided a magnificent backdrop for the live podcast. None of this would have been possible without the support of our classic vehicles insurance partner Footman James, an insurance specialist geared towards the enthusiast if ever there was one.

You can listen to the podcast in full right now on whichever podcast app you use – just search ‘The Intercooler’ – or by clicking here. The video version will be on our YouTube channel soon.

We learned a lot, too, which will help us make the next one even better. And there will be a next one – look out for news on that soon.

Photography by TradePhotographer.com