2025 Annual Service | PH Review
From classics to supercars, home brews to racers, this year's Annual Service had it all. Here's how it went down
We can’t be the only ones suffering a case of post-Annual Service blues this week. Not least because over 7,000 PHers descended on Bicester Motion last Saturday to make our sophomore yearly bash, powered by Michelin (or our third if you count PH25 back in 2023) the biggest, most spectacular event we’ve ever done.
Like a Glastonbury line-up - only with some of the world’s greatest music acts replaced by some of the world’s greatest machines - the themed lawns for this year’s Annual Service were given a shake-up to not only shine a light on new cars, but to also give those of you who joined us last year more reason to explore. From the moment you walked through the entrance and into the paddock, you would no doubt have noticed the exotic and rarities display parked in front of the hanger. Among them were a speed yellow 993 Porsche 911 RS Clubsport, an Aston Martin V12 Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake and a V12 Toyota Century, while Matt Bird’s very own 986 Boxster - and definitely not Tim Harvey’s Manthey-tuned GT3 RS - drew the most attention at the neighbouring Michelin stand.
Elsewhere in the paddock, Richard Porter’s Honda Beat joined the Vauxhall Eagle Quest limo outside the Smith and Sniff stall, and just next door at our newly relocated PH stand was the awesome McMurtry Speirling, the very car that set the blistering record run up Goodwood hill in 2022. The pocket-sized rocket would form part of a jam-packed live stage schedule, which also featured the ear-piercingly loud TWR Supercat, Jaguar XJR-15 and the home-brew Larkin Feroxa that PHer tribetype40 has been documenting on the forums for the last three years. On top of that, we heard from Formula 1 commentator Harry Benjamin, a hilariously unfiltered Tim Harvey and Charles Rainford, plus a live podcast from the aforementioned Smith and Sniff to top off a superb lineup of automotive legends.
That, of course, is just taster of what the paddock had on show. More was in store when you headed further into Bicester Motion, with the modified lawn featuring everything from a BMW Z4 GT3 racer to a literal tank, while the opposing future classics were represented by the R35 Nissan GT-R, Toyota GR Yaris, Mk7 VW Golf GTI Clubsport S and many other soon-to-be classics. Further on, the supercar lawn was, as expected, brimming with machines most can only dream of owning. Cars like the new Ferrari 12Cilindri, Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica and (manual) Honda NSX, which sat near the Charles and Dean lawn and its mix of exotica.
Finally, we had areas for proper classics, from a BMW 3.0 CSL to Juan Manuel Fangio II’s Jaguar XJR-15 that won its support race at the 1991 British Grand Prix, as well as a lawn devoted to modern classics like the B7 Audi RS4, Lancia Delta HF Integrale and Renault Clio V6. And for those who fancied getting some time behind the wheel, Alpine were on hand offering test drives of its new A290 hot hatch.
Not only were there plenty of cars past and present to ogle over, but this year’s Annual Service also saw its fair share of announcements, too. Twisted turned up with its 6.2-litre V8-powered Range Rover Classic, as well as its bonkers Baja TBug, while Analogue Automotive chose to announce a lifted and bike rack-shod Terra Elise. That wasn’t the only restomodded S1 on site, as Lotus specialist HPE brought along its 500hp-per-tonne SV Elise R500, complete with a humongous venturi at the back. Then came the reveal of the carbon body MST will use for its Evo X. While not strictly a complete car yet, a Mk2 Ford Escort in bare carbon is still something to behold and sent anticipation levels for the final thing through the roof.
What’s more, we announced our shiny new PistonHeads app at Annual Service, though we’ll forgive you if you missed it given how much was going on. It’s free to download, of course - and if you do so by 23:59 BST on Sunday 17th August, you’ll be in with a chance to win some Michelin tyres. Just hit the blue banner at the top of the home screen and answer the question to enter.
If, however, you missed out on this year’s Annual Service altogether, then fret not. Our newly-revealed podcast, The Gassing Station, will soon have highlights from the day’s stage chats, the first of which is due to go live on 19th August. Keep your eyes peeled on our home page, too, as we’ll soon be inviting you to register your interest for next year’s show. Congratulations to our show car winners of the day, who were as follows:
- Best Readers' Car: Volvo 480 Turbo, jay-kay-em
- Best modified car: Datsun 260 Z, Jason Alty
- Best future classic: Lexus GS F, Jack
- Best modern classic: Mercedes-Benz 300E AMG, Craig
- Best classic: BMW 2000 Touring, Karl
- Best supercar: McLaren 675 LT, Mike Holt
- Best car of the show: Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale, David Hutchinson
- Best exhibitor stand: MST Cars
- Best car club: Caterham and Lotus Seven Club
For those who managed to join us, all that’s left to say is a big thank you for making this year’s Annual Service powered by Michelin the best car show of the year (in our humble opinion, at least). Moreover, by joining us at Bicester, you helped us raise over £15,000 for the Fire Fighter Charity and Dave Chester fund, helping those affected by the tragic fire back in May, while Sporting Bears raised £3,215 for the Dogs for Good charity. We also loved chatting to you on the PH stand, and it’s always great to put a face to a forum username. Tickets for next year will be going on sale soon, so register your interest here to be one of the first to know.
A special thanks goes out to the manufacturers, tuners, restomodders, importers, merchandisers, insurers, financiers and prize givers who helped make Annual Service a reality.
Feeling honoured to see my supercharged E92 M3 Edition Monte Carlo from the Modified Lawn display among the pics, too! 
Very poor.
Thanks to Matt for picking my VXR8 out as a 'wildcard' - made me think it *was* worth washing it the day before!
And massive thanks to the Pistonheads team - all the planning, prep, and hard work paid off. Looking forward to next year!
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff