Coventry Car Day will have more than 70 classic and modern cars on display in University Square (opposite Coventry Cathedral) and around the new Hub student building nearby. It's probably the widest range of cars ever seen in the city at one time – there are veteran and vintage cars, classics, current production cars, concepts, race cars and a few surprises - and the list is growing by the day.
Just two of those cars – a 1938 Alvis Speed 25 and 2012 Peugeot 208 – are shown above. Here are more highlights to expect on the day.
Ford
Ford's Evos concept, with its striking gull-wing doors, was one of the stars of the Frankfurt show in 2011 and shows Ford's thinking for future model design. The Evos will make its UK public debut at Coventry Car Day.
At the other end of the scale local enthusiast Nigel Hugo will be bringing his 101 year old Ford Model T (below).
Peugeot
Peugeot's crucial new 208 hatchback was launched in Geneva in March 2012, and it will be seen for the first time in public in the UK at Coventry Car Day, alongside some of the small cars from Peugeot's past.
There will also be examples of the diesel hybrid cars Peugeot has just launched – the 3008Hybrid4 and 508RXH – and an iON electric vehicle. There's also an appearance by the gorgeous RCZ coupé.
Jaguar
Coventry Car Day will have a line-up of Jaguars old and new to welcome two former company bosses, who will be making speeches on the day - Sir John Egan and Sir Nick Scheele.
Jaguar Land Rover will be bringing some of the company's latest cars, while classics lined up for the day include two E-types (including Malcolm Fry's 2+2, above) and Mike Sharman's rather special XJS (below). Look carefully at the shutlines around the boot...
Ferrari
Thanks to Ferrari North Europe, Coventry Car Day will have two of the current generation of Ferraris on show – the 458 Italia and California.
Ferrari has strong links to Coventry University: in recent years automotive design students from the university have worked closely with Ferrari on styling projects, and Ferrari's UK and North Europe press office has been an enthusiastic supporter of the university's Automotive Journalism postgrad course.
Mercedes-Benz
Many of the cars on display at Coventry Car Day have connections to the city, but surely there's nothing connecting the awesome Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG to the Midlands Motown? But indeed there is: Mark Fetherston, responsible for the exterior design of the SLS, is a Coventry University graduate. To celebrate, an SLS coupé will be on display in University Square.
Lightning
The Lightning GT is a British-built high-performance electric vehicle with 0-100km/h (0-62mph) acceleration in under five seconds. It has a range of up to 224 miles with an optional battery pack.
Exterior design of the Lightning was carried out by Coventry University transport design graduate Daniel Durrant.
Triumph
Stephen Cox's beautiful Triumph Stag and Phil Blake's rare TR5 will be among a host of Coventry-built Triumph cars, including two ex-works Triumph Spitfires from Jigsaw Racing and a variety of Triumph road cars from Club Triumph and other local clubs.
And more...
Coventry Car Day's display of cars will also include:
- Aston Martin DB7 Vantage
- Alvis TC21 and Silver Eagle
- Coventry Transport Museum's Alvis Speed 25 (with the Peugeot at the top of this page), Hillman and Triumph Herald
- Oval racing cars from Coventry Stadium
- PLUS Morgan, Lotus, Austin, Austin-Healey, Armstrong-Siddeley, Daimler, Morris, BMW, Land Rover, Bentley, Lanchester and many more
More cars are being added to the Coventry Car Day display every day. We'll update this post as cars are added to the list.