April’s Stafford Show – known officially by its somewhat long-winded title, the 40th Carole Nash International Classic MotorCycle Show – is not only the 40th iteration of the Stafford Show, but will also be encompassing a 1940s theme thanks to the date (April 25 and 26) covering the 75th anniversary of VE Day, and multi-successful racer Stuart Graham will be attending too.
The Forties link will be emphasised by one of the show halls featuring a Spitfire and a Hurricane taking centre stage, and visitors are encouraged to join in with the theme, much like the owners’ clubs will be doing on their own stands.
Cheshire-based racer Stuart Graham will be sharing his racing tales with the live audience throughout the weekend, explaining how he followed his father, 1949 500cc world champion Les Graham, into racing, regardless of the fact that Les was killed while racing at the TT in 1953.
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After claiming runner-up spot to Giacomo Agostini in the 500cc Belgian GP in 1966, Stuart earned a place on the factory Honda team, riding the stupendous six-cylinder 250 as team-mate to Mike Hailwood.
By 1973 Graham had moved to four wheels, and the British Touring Car Championship, before becoming a Honda dealer in south Cheshire (at which my mum’s Honda Civic was serviced… Ed).
As is always the case at Stafford, there’s far more besides – the racer paddock (with a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine also getting chance to clear its throat), no less than 900 traders, a huge indoor and outdoor autojumble, and the Bonhams auction.
View more images and read more News and Features in the February 2020 issue of Old Bike Mart – on sale now!
