A historical vehicle membership club celebrated 50 years since the launch of an iconic car series.

Scramblers, the Bicester Heritage membership club, held its most successful assembly to-date, filling the location with M-series BMWs, celebrating 50 years since the launch of the ‘M’ in a nod to the marque’s motorsport division.

Using the paddock part of the site, with Bicester’s grass airfield, and watch tower as a backdrop, Scramblers welcomed a range of models from across the ages, with a display provided by BMW North Oxford and Prodrive’s E30 M3 rally car.

Born from the success of the site’s public scramble events, Scramblers hosts exclusive members-only gatherings on the final weekend of each month.

These Scramblers ‘assemblies’ celebrate a variety of themes, with hot-hatches, 90s icons and British classics featured to date.

Scramblers recently launched membership tiers, named Pegasus and Merlin, give members access to a range of perks that are exclusive to Bicester Heritage and several of its specialist businesses, in addition to making a charity donation to the site’s charity partner StarterMotor.

Normally accessible by appointment only, Bicester Heritage sits on the larger Bicester Motion site, the best-preserved Second World War RAF Bomber Station in the country.

The quarter is home to 45 industry-leading specialist workshops that the Bicester Heritage hub for historic motoring enterprise is renowned for.

Scramblers exists to celebrate the historic motoring sector and the magic in the driving and preservation of classic cars, while making these experiences open and accessible for future generations.

Associate director of brand and marketing Philip White said: “The success of our M-Day assembly continues to prove the diversity in our Scramblers members’ interests, and more importantly, in what they drive.

Read more: One-eyed cat looking for new home

“We are already planning our theming for 2023 and look forward to continuing to welcome our members to explore and enjoy our Bicester location.”

In 2011 the Bicester Heritage site was designated as a ‘Strategic Development Site’ and was adopted in the Cherwell Local Plan 2015 for ‘Tourism Development’ providing support for heritage tourism uses, leisure, recreation, employment and community uses including the development of hotel and conference facilities.

The company’s vision is to ensure the accessibility of heritage motoring through nurturing a specialist community and creating an international centre of excellence for automobiles, past, present and future.

The onsite apprenticeship opportunities enable the transferral of skills and knowledge, through automotive innovation and technology.

The site, firmly embedded within the UK’s ‘motorsport valley’, is a popular destination for historic motoring enthusiasts, offering a global centre for automotive conservation, engineering and development.

 

Read more from this author

This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1

A message from our Editor

Thank you for reading this story and supporting the Oxford Mail.

If you like what we do please consider getting a subscription for the Oxford Mail and in return we’ll give you unrestricted access with less adverts across our website from the latest news, investigations, features, and sport.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok for more. 

You can also join the conversation in our Facebook groups: stay ahead of traffic alerts here, keep up to date with the latest from court here, share your favourite memories of Oxford here, get your daily dose of celebrity news here and take some time out with news that will make you smile. 

If you’ve got a story for our reporters, send us your news here. You can also list an event for free here.