Classic Motor Show breaks box office records
This year’s Classic Motor Show broke box office records over the weekend when it welcomed around 48,000 visitors into its classic motoring extravaganza, and increase of around 8,000 visitors on last year’s event.
Held over three days, organisers and exhibitors alike were besieged from the outset with classic fanatics flooding into ever entrance to get a look at the 1,400 vehicles on show. The show also welcomed visitors from neighbouring shows MPH and Top Gear Live, creating a joint visitor total of over 91,000 motoring enthusiasts over the course of the show.
Dealers had to replace sold cars with new stock at the end of each day with over £500,000 worth of cars sold at the show with more in the pipeline for after the event. Brown and Gammons, who came back to the show after a long absence, commented that it was the best show they had done for ten years. Classic Car Tours took an unprecedented number of bookings at the show whilst other traders frantically replenished their stocks. New products such as Oil Spy, Contralube and Car Skin received a favourable response and the Autojumble was crammed with people looking for elusive parts and tools.
Fundraising motor club the Sporting Bears also created a new record, raising around £38,000 with its Dream Rides – a ten-mile ride as a passenger in one of the many amazing cars on display which ranged from a 1936 Lagonda to the latest model of the Audi R8. Three charities will benefit from the funds. This year’s chosen charities include the Midlands based Thomas’s Fund, Derian House Children’s Hospice in Lancashire, and Julia’s House, Dorset.
The centrepiece of Hall 1 was the Meguiar’s Club Showcase, bringing together the crème de la crème of vehicles from 16 major marquee specific events that the company supports throughout the year. A flawless 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 owned by David Moores was selected as the ‘Best in Show’ by a panel of independent judges
Steve King, Meguiar’s UK Managing Director commented: “This year’s event was a real spectacle and it was great to see so many people over the weekend enjoying everything that the classic car scene has to offer. “The Meguiar’s Showcase features a fantastic and diverse selection of vehicles, and we are proud to continue working closely with the show organisers and our many friends from various car clubs across the UK. Meguiar’s is also pleased to announce that it will be extending the official partnership agreement with the Classic Motor Show for a further three years, up until 2012.”
Over 240 car and motorcycle clubs exhibited at the show with vehicles ranging from ‘barn find’ vehicles in need of restoration to extremely rare Ferraris and even a chrome Bugatti Veyron.
On the Wheeler Dealer Live Stage, host Mike Brewer challenged TV mechanic Edd China to build a Pilgrim Sumo Cobra replica from scratch over the duration of the show, which was successfully completed and even driven off the stage at the end of the show.
The Classic Motor Show Mini or Mo as it was called throughout the year was also presented to competition winner Juliet Spare from Moseley. Juliet, a newsreader for Smooth Radio, was presented with the car by Mike and Edd on Friday.
The dedicated Classic Bike hall proved extremely popular with visitors including Top Gear presenter James May. The Pride of Ownership award was given to John Lay for his vintage Levis while in the Café Racer Concours awards were given to Mick Sobolak and his Norvin (Best Classic Café Racer, Pre 1969), Paul Sharman and his CND 850 SF (Best Post Classic Café Racer, 1969 to 1984), and Darren Smith and his Buell M2 Cyclone (Best Modern Café Racer, 1984 to present). The Best Café Racer in Show award went to Mick Barton and his Barton Norvin.
Paul Matthews, Managing Director of show sponsor Footman James said: “This year’s show was a resounding success. We received a record number of visitors to our stand, resulting in a 45 per cent increase in quote numbers compared to 2008.
“With cost and value so high on everyone’s agenda, our agreed value theme was very fitting. Our motoring horror stories stand really drew in the crowds and our Price Right Challenge on the Live Stage was hugely popular with show-goers. Once again, we were proud to be the sponsor of this flagship industry event.”
Next year’s Classic Motor Show will take place from 12th to 14th November 2010. For more information, the latest show updates and to book tickets, visit necclassicmotorshow.com.