BMW’s new 443bhp M350 xDrive made its first UK public appearance yesterday as Bicester Motion turned the clock back to 1976 for a suitably groovy celebration of one of motoring’s great years. Motoring editor Mark G Whitchurch joined the crowds as the Golf GTI Mk1, Ford Escort Mk2, Rover SD1, Aston Martin Lagonda, Ferrari 512BB and Lamborghini Silhouette shared the spotlight with tributes to racing legends James Hunt and Barry Sheene

Fifty years after 1976 produced some of the most memorable cars and motorsport names of the decade, BMW brought something brand new to Bicester Motion 2026 yesterday.

The M350 xDrive made its first public appearance in Britain only days after the latest 3 Series was formally announced, joining a Scramble packed with machinery from the year of James Hunt’s Formula One world title and Barry Sheene’s first 500cc motorcycle world championship.

Powered by a turbocharged six-cylinder engine producing 443bhp, the new BMW can reach 60mph in just over four seconds. It also features BMW’s new ‘Drift Moment’, which can redirect power towards the rear wheels to give the all-wheel-drive car a more playful feel and a stronger connection with traditional BMW M models.

Prices start at £66,785, putting the M350 xDrive firmly in serious performance-car territory.

Its arrival neatly summed up what Bicester Motion does so well. The former RAF Bicester station, once one of Britain’s most important military airfields, brings together pre-war engineering, concours-standard classics and the latest technology from manufacturers such as BMW in the same historic setting.

Workshops still operate in buildings where aircraft technicians once worked, aircraft remain part of the scene overhead and cars from virtually every generation fill the avenues and lawns.

For petrolheads, it is absolute bliss.

That breadth has helped make the Scramble one of Britain’s most successful automotive gatherings, drawing together every era, fuel type, nationality and price point. One of yesterday’s main themes was 1976, marking 50 years since RAF Bicester closed and celebrating a landmark year for cars and some of motorsport’s biggest names.

The Orchard Lawn brought together the Mercedes-Benz W123, renowned for durability and engineering integrity, BMW’s E24 6 Series, one of the company’s most enduring grand-touring designs, and the Porsche 924, which marked a changing approach to sporting motoring from Stuttgart. Alongside them was the Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk1, whose influence on the hot hatch can still be felt today.

Britain supplied the Ford Escort Mk2, which became both a rally legend and one of the country’s most recognisable family cars, the Rover SD1, still regarded as one of Britain’s best-looking executive cars, and Aston Martin’s extraordinary Lagonda. The Ferrari 512BB and Lamborghini Silhouette provided the Italian drama of a period dominated by angular styling, bold colours and ambition.

A replica McLaren M23 from the film Rush marked James Hunt’s 1976 Formula One World Championship campaign, while nearby sat the Suzuki LJ80 given to Barry Sheene, the motorcycle star who helped define British motorsport culture of the period. After a life beyond the paddock, it eventually entered Suzuki’s heritage collection.

Those displays also captured how much motoring was being reinvented in 1976, a theme picked up again in the celebration of the Lotus Elise’s 30th anniversary. Outside Building 90, the story ran from early Series 1 cars to some of the final Series 3 models produced before manufacture ended in 2021, including chassis 94, one of the earliest surviving examples.

When the Elise appeared at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1996, Lotus ignored the industry’s appetite for greater power and complexity and returned to first principles. Lightness came first, driver engagement mattered more than outright performance and simplicity was a virtue rather than a compromise. The formula changed the company’s fortunes and influenced countless cars that followed.

Designer Julian Thomson, whose early career became closely linked with the Elise, was also present, appearing in discussions organised by The Intercooler and contributing to Classic & Sports Car’s celebration of automotive design.

The historical timeline stretched much further at the Northern Tanker Sheds, where the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust and the Daimler and Lanchester Owners Club marked 130 years of Daimler in one of the day’s most thoughtful displays.

Beginning with the Daimler Grafton Phaeton, among the earliest surviving British Daimlers, the display traced more than a century of changing ideas about luxury and engineering. Particularly notable was a Daimler Super Eight delivered new to the Royal Household and subsequently owned and driven by Queen Elizabeth II, showing how the marque adapted to changing tastes and technology without losing its identity.

Goodwin’s Green turned the focus across the Atlantic for America’s 250th anniversary. Red, white and blue surrounded military Jeeps, Ford Mustangs, classic Americana and newer machinery, drawing a steady audience throughout the day, with performances by the Bicester ECU Cheerleaders adding to the atmosphere.

The theme was rooted in the site itself. Hangar 108, overlooking the lawn, served the United States Air Force during the early 1990s, while the mix of British, European and American machinery across the Scramble underlined how often those influences have shaped one another.

The American connection continued in Hangar 113, where Bring a Trailer considerably expanded its presence after first appearing at the Scramble earlier in the year. The online auction platform took over the entire building with a display centred on central-seat cars, neatly transcending the usual left-hand-drive and right-hand-drive divide.

Crowds flowed through the hangar from opening until late in the day, alongside dealers, specialists and automotive businesses in an increasingly global market. Conversations were as likely to be about digital communities, auction platforms and international collecting as individual cars, reflecting a classic-car market transformed over the past decade and Bring a Trailer’s growing influence on both sides of the Atlantic.

Elsewhere, Top Gear assembled another crowd-pulling collection in the Paddock, Rollhard showcased Britain’s modified-car scene and StarterMotor attracted significant attention through its partnership with the Mazda MX-5 Owners Club and focus on younger enthusiasts entering the industry.

StarterMotor’s Golden Ticket Lawn avoided rigid concours criteria, with cars selected according to the interests of its ambassadors.

Bicester Motion’s new focus on endangered automotive crafts put expert signwriter Joby Carter at work in front of visitors, highlighting a skill once commonplace on commercial vehicles, workshops and transport businesses and now at risk of disappearing. It was a reminder that motoring history also belongs to the artistry, craftsmanship and manual skills that surrounded the vehicles themselves.

Families explored Mini Landers, children queued for face painting at the Little Top and visitors moved between food stalls. The atmosphere remained relaxed, inclusive and free of pretension, allowing the owner of a seven-figure collector car and a teenager at their first event to enjoy the same space.

As you might imagine, aviation was never far away, either. Organisers had expected a variety of aircraft arrivals during the day and, whenever engines sounded overhead, heads turned skywards before attention returned to the cars. RAF history is woven into the site, and so is its interest in what comes next.

YASA showcased vehicles using advanced axial-flux electric motors, while other displays explored electrification and changing approaches to mobility. The juxtaposition worked because the future was not treated as a threat to the past; each gave the other context.

By late afternoon, cars were filtering towards the exits as conversations continued beside the workshops and hangars, enthusiasts carried memorabilia to the car parks and cameras caught the final machinery against the former airfield.

In a single day, Bicester had brought together 50 years since 1976, 30 years of the Lotus Elise, 130 years of Daimler and 250 years of America. The real thread was continuity: from the earliest Daimlers to the latest BMW M car, wartime airfields to electric-mobility companies, and hand-painted signwriting to digital auction platforms.

Mark G. Whitchurch is a seasoned motoring journalist whose work—covering road tests, launch reports, scenic drives, major races, and event reviews—has appeared in The Observer, Daily Telegraph, Bristol Evening Post, Classic & Sports Car Magazine, Mini Magazine, Classic Car Weekly, AutoCar Magazine, and the Western Daily Press, among others. He won the Tourism Malaysia Regional Travel Writer of the Year in 2003 and is a member of The Guild of Motoring Writers.

READ MORE: Meltdowns, pre-race tears and ‘joyous bedlam’: inside Goodwood’s wildest race of the weekend. Forget the supercars and star drivers – for many, the Settrington Cup was the real crowd-puller at this year’s Goodwood Revival. Motoring Editor Mark G Whitchurch speaks to Master of Ceremonies Alex Kinsman about over-eager parents, rule-bending and the happy chaos of 70 children racing historic Austin J40 pedal cars worth up to £10,000.

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_{Main image: The new BMW 3 Series, including the 443bhp M350 xDrive, ahead of its first UK public appearance at Bicester Motion’s October Scramble. Credit: BMW Group}