The credit crunch, falling house prices, rocketing gas and electric prices. Enough’s enough! Hit the rewind button to a time when the average mortgage was thruppence ha'penny, petrol cost less than ginger beer and cream eggs were definitely much bigger! Give yourself a weekend off by escaping to the Classic Motor Show, held from 14th to 16th November at Birmingham’s NEC.Over a thousand thoroughbred and popular classic, vintage, veteran and retro cars will be packed into five halls to wave farewell to the end of the car show season. The first car you ever owned. The car your dad took you to the seaside in or the car you always wanted to own. They will all be on display and then some. So in order for you to make the most of this massively popular event, make sure that you’ve got enough time and shoe-leather to spend.The Classic Motor Show promises to be a fantastic experience – and not just because of its impressive array of displays from national and regional clubs (many celebrating important model anniversaries) traders and classic car dealers. The Association of Rootes Car Clubs will be marking the diamond anniversary of Rootes Competition Department with a range of famous ex-Works cars and personalities on their stand. Meanwhile, the Seventies rally icon, the Ford Escort, will have its 40th marked by both the AVO Owners’ Club and the Ford RS Owners’ Club.Fans of more leftfield classics will also get the chance to see an impressive line-up of Honda S800s (the Honda S800 Sports Car Club is 30). The Ford 100E Owners Club is showing a Squire drag-racer for the first time and Mazdarotaryclub.com is planning to give visitors an opportunity to see an incredibly rare Mazda 110S Cosmo – the world’s first twin-rotor rotary-engined car.In addition to the clubs, there will also be a flood of other great activities to experience as well as the vast array of cars, services, parts and products. The Restoration Theatre is hosted by a team of restoration experts from the Leeds College of Technology. The team isn’t just there to demonstrate a wide range of techniques – but they can actually physically show you what’s involved and how best to tackle a project. You can even ask them about specific jobs and, if you say please, they’ll even show you how to do it!The Dream Rides roll back into the NEC, offering visitors a ten-mile ride as a passenger in a classic legend – so if you’re really lucky perhaps your dream car might be on hand to give you a taste of the real thing. All you have to do is make a donation to charity. We raised over ￡35,000 at last year’s show so that tells you how popular this is with the punters.Meanwhile Mike Brewer will return to the Live Stage will all provide visitors with plenty of fun and entertainment. And the tallest man in motoring, (he even looks down on Clarkson!) Edd China is back to get covered in even more oil, blood, sweat and tears, as he takes on a new challenge.And if you still want more, well, this year’s show also has an exciting first – an area solely dedicated to classic machinery of the two-wheeled variety. Adjoining the main display halls, the Pavilion is a 5000 square metre shrine to motorcycles and scooters which will be predominantly occupied by club displays. You name it and you’ll probably see it – from the humble Vespa to the mighty Vincent HRD.See, you’re feeling happier already!The Classic Motor Show is open from 10am until 6.30pm on Friday, 9.30am until 6.30pm on Saturday, and 9.30am until 5.30pm on Sunday. Ticket prices range from ￡15 when purchased in advance. For the latest updates or to book tickets, visit necclassicmotorshow.com