Something for the Weekend – The Great Escape

Classic car hire is very much here. However, there is one company that’s taking it to a new level in terms of the experience that can be offered, and with it, the notion of hiring a classic just got a whole lot more exciting.

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Chris Pollitt

Great Escape Cars, Classic Car Hire, Ford Capri, Jaguar, Morris

Slip behind the steering wheel of a different car and it’s a fun, new and exciting experience. That steering wheel may belong to something you’ve always wanted to drive, and by having your hands on it, you could well be releasing a lifelong dream. But here’s the thing. Drive it for three, four hours, and it’ll all get familiar. You’ll learn its idiosyncrasies, you’ll get to know it. And with that, the shine and excitement of the experience could be sullied. This is especially the case with a classic car. Old cars have faults and foibles. Niggles, if you will. And they come irrespective of how well said cars is maintained. Those niggles can get in the way of the romance that comes from driving an unfamiliar, ‘new’ to you, classic.

What if, then, there was some way to capitalise on that initial excitement but without any of the ‘realism’ that comes with prolonged time behind the wheel. Well, there is, and it comes care of the forward-thinking Great Escape Cars.

Saab, Great Escape Classic Cars. Saab Turbo

Graham Eason, the man behind Great Escape Cars started out like most other companies offering classic car hire. Customer looks on the website, the customer then chooses the car they want, customer pays, customer goes and has a day or two in said car. This is still a large part of Graham’s business, of course, but by offering it and listening to customer feedback, he stumbled upon an idea to buck the trend and change the way we look at hiring a classic car. How? By hiring lots at once, that’s how.

Great Escape now offers what it’s branded as Experience Days. We were invited along to one put on for those of us who tweet about cars too much to see what it was all about.

The premise is simple. The Experience Day is put in the diary, and with it, fourteen or so cars are booked out too. These cars vary wildly, and this is the key to the day’s success. On our Experience Day there were Jaguars, Porsches, Fords, Triumphs, MGs and more. A real diverse cross-section of machinery. Truly something for everyone.

In our case, we were paired up with another journalist, Daniel Bevis. In your case, you’ll just be with whomever you bring with you. After the pairs have been confirmed, you’re given a spreadsheet and on it are the cars you’ll be driving. Five in total. For us that meant a Capri 280 ‘Brooklands’, a Jaguar XJS V12, a Triumph Herald, a Mondeo ST200 and finally, a 3.8 Jaguar Mk2. Not a bad little gathering of machinery. You’re then given a booklet with step-by-step route directions. This is why it’s in pairs. One drives for a bit, the other navigates. Swap, rinse, repeat.

Great Escape Classic Cars, Car hire, driving day

On paper that all sounds a bit chaotic, but it’s not. Graham and his team have whittled the Experience Day into being nothing short of a well-oiled machine. Everyone has a chat and a look around the cars on arrival, coffee is drunk, laughs are had, a short briefing is given by Graham and then it’s time to hit the road.

The Ford Capri

The first car we had was the Ford Capri 280 ‘Brooklands’. This was the ‘run out’ model for the Capri, as is made notable by the Brooklands green paint, the 15-inch alloys, leather Recaro trim and of course, the 2.8i Cologne V6. This is as good as it gets when it comes to Capris, so obviously we were excited to get behind the wheel.

Capri 280, Capri, Capri 2.8i, Capri Brooklands

One thing to note about the Great escape fleet is that it’s not what you’d call immaculate, but we say that with nothing but affection. The cars are used, and they wear their years with a certain pride. The leather is cracked and worn, the body has the odd scratch, nothing to detract from the overall appeal, just signs that these cars are used. These are ‘working’ cars after all, so to expect factory-fresh perfection would be naive. The Capri is no exception, but it’s all the better for it. By not being an overly-waxed show queen, it comes across as being more approachable, more ‘real world’. Fundamentally, this means you’re not afraid to drive it properly.

And drive it properly we did. That 2.8i might not be fast by today’s standards, but man it pulls well and makes a great noise while doing it. Having owned several Capris in the past, it all feels pleasantly familiar, but given that our Capris were a bit rubbish, the 280 feels altogether more solid.

Capri 280, Capri, Capri 2.8i, Capri Brooklands

As we get further into the planned route, the roads open up into the Cotswolds and we get to enjoy the car without too much traffic, all to the backdrop of some spectacular views. It’s already a good day. Though soon our time with the Capri comes to an end as we pull in, after 20-odd miles, into the first coffee stop and driver swap.

The Triumph Herald

Triumph Herald, Triumph badge, classic car

Without the bad, you can’t appreciate the good. Though that might be a bit harsh. The little Triumph Herald that, in bright red, looked like it had been pulled straight from the set of Last of the Summer Wine wasn’t inherently bad. It was however, and let’s be diplomatic here, comical. Yes. Comical. But that’s what these days are all about. It’s, as the name suggests, an experience. And the little Triumph certainly added to that with all its little quirks and idiosyncrasies. 

Triumph Herald, Triumph, Triumph Herald front

How this car got signed off for production back in 1964 we’ll never know. As you sit in the car and look at the enormous steering wheel, you immediately notice that the clutch is to the right of the steering column. As such, you sit in a sort of zig-zag way. Comfortable it is not. It’s also not a forgiving car. There’s no synchro on first, so it ‘bites’ you every time you try to engage it when still rolling. Standard for the day, but takes some getting used to in 2019. The handling is wayward, the brakes are too much for the little car and the wind noise is atrocious. But man alive, how we giggled as we were driving along. It was fun and silly, and because we knew we were jumping into a Jaguar next, we could forgive the Triumph and laugh with it rather than at it.

The Jaguar XJS V12

Jaguar XJS, XJS V12, XJS rear, XJS hire

After lunch at the newly-launched Caffeine & Machine it was time to tame the big cat. Namely a Jaguar XJS V12. Because to have fewer cylinders is for peasants, or so we can only imagine the original ‘80s marketing material read. This was a real treat, and a perfect representation of what these days are all about – driving cars you’ve never driven before.

Jaguar XJS, XJS V12, XJS interior, XJS hire

It was like driving a memory foam mattress. The big Jag just swallowed up bumps and lumps in the road without fuss or drama. You simply have to point that egregiously long bonnet roughly where you want to go, then push down on the throttle. The car seems to do the rest without fuss. That leads us onto the engine. There’s no drama or noise despite having twelve cylinders. It just picks up pace without making a peep. It’s disconcerting at first, but then becomes somewhat reassuring. Almost as if the Jag is saying “don’t worry, I’ve got this”.

The Mondeo ST200

Ford, Ford Mondeo, Ford Mondeo ST200, ST200

You might scoff at the notion of a Mondeo, and you’d be a fool to do so. Again, this day is an experience day, and the further apart the cars you drive are, the richer that experience is. The Mondeo proved that. And it did have merit, being the rare ST200 model. That means a hair over 200bhp, which is pretty much Sierra Cosworth power, but without the turbo lag. Instead, you just get huge dollops of torque as you plough through the gears, imagining you’re late for a meeting with other middle-management types.

Ford, Ford Mondeo, Ford Mondeo ST200, ST200, Mondeo interior

Compared to the previous cars we’d driven, the Mondeo brought with it a pleasing turn of pace, which was welcome at this point. It was another experience, and one that you may well not go out of your way to obtain, given the unfairly unspectacular reputation of the Mondeo. But through this wonderful mix and match day of driving, we did get to have a go, and we’re glad of it. We’re less glad that our bookmarks tab is full of V6 Mondeos, though. 

The Jaguar Mk2 3.8

Mk2 Jag, Mk2 Jaguar, 3.8 Jaguar

Call the law, there’s a robbery going down. Or at least that’s what we told ourselves as we ploughed through the manual gearbox of the 3.8 Mk2 Jag. We must admit, we’ve driven this car before, but that’s not a bad thing. Our previous drive was brief, which left us wanting for more. It was nice to be back, once more surrounded by wood, leather and a faint whiff of petrol.

Mk2 Jag, Mk2 Jaguar, Mk2 Jaguar interior

By no means the most immaculate example with its wonky badges and occasionally flaking woodwork, the Great Escape Mk2 is a worn and well-worked machine. But to us, that’s how a Mk2 should be. We were raised under the flickering glow of TV shows that showed these cars in action, be it Morse or baddies in The Sweeney, the Jag was always keen to screech a tyre and lean into a corner in the name of entertainment. So, naturally we embodied that as we drove, and it felt right because it was indeed a bit weathered. It felt right. It didn’t feel like we were asking Banksy to touch up the Mona Lisa.

Was it a good day out?

In a nutshell, yes. This is a brilliant and intelligent take on the notion of hiring a classic car. You get to meet new people, you get the giddy thrill of being on the road with a gaggle of other classics, you get to drive cars you didn’t anticipate you would ever drive, and you get to have fun. It is, simply, a brilliant way to spend a day.

Great Escape Cars, Caffeine and Machine, classic car hire

If there is one car that tickles your pickle, you can always book it individually for a later date, safe in the knowledge that you know what it will be like. This isn’t just an experience, it’s also a way to shop for a car you might want to spend more time with. Or it might just encourage you to come along to the next one and drive some more of the Great Escape fleet. But whatever you take from it, you’ll absolutely love it.

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