THOUSANDS of classic car lovers were able to feast their eyes on a vast collection of super cars and vintage vehicles at the biggest ever Bicester Heritage Sunday Scramble.

The popular car show returned for the first scramble of the year on Sunday with more than 1,500 cars joining the display to the delight of 7,000 visitors.

The home of Bicester Heritage, a preserved Second World War RAF base in Buckingham Road, was littered with Bentleys, Porsches, Lamborghinis and Ferraris and many more iconic motors.

Speaking on Monday, business development manager Philip White said: “We had over 7,000 visitors to the first Sunday Scramble of 2019 yesterday.

“As ever, the relaxed format of the event allowed all manner of families and enthusiasts to see behind the scenes at Bicester Heritage.

“With workshop and showroom doors open and our specialist businesses ready to welcome visitors, we are happy to report that this was our largest scramble to date with 1,500 classic cars joining the display.”

Among those joining the first event of the year were 22 car clubs from across the south whose vehicles gave petrol heads a chance to get up close to some of their dream cars.

Among the vast displays of international supercars though, there was also space for the diminutive British classic, the Mini.

The Oxrun Mini Club, formed just last year, were attending their first ever Sunday Scramble.

Group member Peter Farrell said there had been lots of interest in the group’s collection.

He added: “A lot of us are just reliving our youth.

“Everybody’s had a Mini at some point haven’t they?

“We did a run around the Chilterns and everywhere we went people were smiling, there’s just something about the car - it’s a classic.”

The event also provided a real glimpse into the past beyond the classic cars.

The Oxfordshire Home Guard and Home Front History Group spent the day entertaining and educating visitors.

The Home Guard history group, based in Launton near Bicester, travel across the region giving an insight into the real story of the civil defence organisation of the British Army which existed from 1940 to 1944.

Group secretary, Peter Salcombe, said: “It’s great to come to shows like this. We like to interact with the public to tell them what the Home Guard was really about and show what sort of equipment and weapons they would have had.

“We, ourselves, are very interested in the history of the period and we think it’s important that people don’t forget.

“Most people may know the Home Guard from Dad’s Army but we’re able to show people what it was really like.”

The Sunday Scramble is now in its fifth year and regularly attracts thousands of classic car enthusiasts to Bicester Heritage three times a year.