Bicester Heritage is home to the laid-back Sunday Scramble event and more. The unique and beautiful site makes the perfect venue for these relaxed, informal motoring gatherings, creating a timewarp atmosphere unlike any other location. Part of the Bicester Motion brand, Bicester Heritage transports attendees back in time along the tree-lined avenues of the Technical Site, and carefully restored 1920s and ’30s buildings that make up this unique former RAF site.
After the 10-year anniversary celebrations of 2023, three Scrambles will take place in 2024 withe The Wriggly Monkey Brewery and Sky Wave Gin both open along with the workshops of the UK’s finest automotive specialists.
Bicester Heritage is also the venue for other well-known events, such as RollHard x Bicester Heritage and Build It Live. With such a large amount of well-drained open space on hand and 50,000 ft2 of covered events space in one of its WW2 C Type hangars, Bicester Heritage is available for events, and as a film-and-photography location. The Imitation Game, Darkest Hour and Warner Brothers’ Pennyworth have als0 been filmed within the grounds.
Driving experiences are also a feature of the calendar, be it driving lessons for under-17s with Young Driver or for older thrill-seekers. SWB Motorsport offers military experiences and Car Chase Heroes bring classic cars and iconic movie cars onto the Experience & Demonstration Track.
Bicester Heritage is the centre of excellence for historic motoring within the UK, the national centre for a £8bn per annum industry that employs over 34,000 skilled people. Founded in 2013, Bicester Heritage has gone from a standing start to a home for more than 50 specialist businesses and growing, with a collective turnover of in excess of £50m. It is the largest player in the industry, and set to grow exponentially with a global reach.
The ecosystem of businesses based at a beautiful 444-acre former WW2 RAF Bomber Training Station acts as a ‘marina-like’ cluster, promoting skills and expertise, employment, qualified customer footfall, shared business incubation and aggregate growth. Collectively, Bicester Heritage is all about driving the future of the past.
The former RAF Bicester site, on which Bicester Heritage is now based, is of national historic importance. Neglected for the best part of 40 years, it was added to Historic England’s ‘At Risk Register’ in 2008 and designated the most ‘at risk’ of all Defence Estates in the UK.
Since Bicester Heritage’s tenure, the site is now held as a national exemplar of constructive conservation by Historic England. The time-warp base is truly unmatched in evocative character, with even the paint colours being correct to 1930s British Standards. An active airfield and test track complete its dynamic operation.
