Seminars

Two very well attended seminars were held at the Royal Academy of Arts. On the Wednesday, a panel of experts discussed approaches to restoration and preservation taken by the art, automotive and tailoring worlds. On the panel were Royal Academy senior collections curator Hannah Higham; chair of the Savile Row Bespoke Association Mark Henderson; Marc Allum, from BBC1’s Antiques Roadshow; William Medcalf, founder of Vintage Bentley Ltd; and Jonathan Wells, chief design officer at Morgan Motor Company.

Thursday’s discussion, around the future of fuel and the road to net zero, proved even more popular, drawing a busy crowd that included Rowan Atkinson. Topics covered incorporated a car’s lifetime carbon impact, hydrogen, electric and synthetic fuel technologies, the place of EV conversions and government policy.

The speakers for this were HCVA executive director Guy Lachlan; Blick Rothenberg’s customs and excise duty partner Simon Sutcliffe; Patrick Fairfield of Lunaz Applied Technologies; Vintage Bentley Ltd’s William Medcalf; and Finn Casey from Cranfield University. Both discussions were expertly moderated by Simon Taylor.

Wednesday

Topic: Restoration and Preservation: How Tailors, the Automotive Market and the Art World Approach Sustainability.

Synopsis: With an increased mainstream and social media focus on how the earth’s resources are consumed, and the way in which cultures around the world are impacted, this free-to-attend seminar will see a panel of experts discuss the approaches to restoration and preservation that are taken by the art, automotive and tailoring worlds. Subjects include preservation versus restoration in the art and automotive worlds, recycling, upcycling, fast fashion and sustainability in tailoring and the materials of the future.

Speakers: Hannah Higham, Royal Academy senior collections curator; Mark Henderson, chair of the Savile Row Bespoke Association; Marc Allum, from BBC1’s Antiques Roadshow; William Medcalf, founder of Vintage Bentley Ltd; and Jonathan Wells, chief design officer at Morgan Motor Company.

Moderator: Simon Taylor.

Thursday

Topic: The Future of Fuel: The Road to Zero Emissions.

Synopsis: The future of mobility has never been more controversial – and in particular, how we fuel our cars and bikes, whether new or classic. In this free-to-attend seminar, our expert panel will discuss short-term versus long-term solutions, lifetime carbon impact, hydrogen, electric, synthetic fuels and classic car conversions.

Speakers: Guy Lachlan, executive director of the Historic and Classic Vehicles Alliance (HCVA); Simon Sutcliffe, customs and excise duty partner at leading tax and business advisory firm Blick Rothenberg; Patrick Fairfield of Lunaz Applied Technologies; Vintage Bentley Ltd’s William Medcalf; and a representative from Cranfield University.

Moderator: Simon Taylor.

Sponsored by Blick Rothenberg

Cars as Art Seminar 2023

Our previous event from 2023, the free-to-attend Classic Car Seminar in association with Blick Rothenberg was held in the prestigious Benjamin West Lecture Theatre at the Royal Academy of Arts.

The discussion was on the topic of Cars as Art: The Investment-Level Collector Cars That Transcend the Car Hobby to Become Rolling Works of Art. The breakfast round table had contributions from leading experts from the collector car, art and investment worlds.