Inventing the Wheel? John Elwin has been on his travels again, this time to the NEC for the latest incarnation of the Motor Show………. The British Motor Show Britain’s bi-annual motor show has struggled for an identity in recent times, lacking as it does a strong indigenous industry to use it as a platform to launch new models. Further, its traditional October date usually saw it following in the wake of Paris, a more attractive venue to unveil new cars. Consequently, the Birmingham Show has gone through something of a makeover this year. For a start it has shifted to a May/June date and has been rebranded ‘The Sunday Times Motor Show Live’ but will that be enough to give the event the boost it needs? Got Live if you want it…. On the plus side the ‘Live’ bit enables punters to actually drive cars, take part in a 4x4 Experience and the like, and this certainly seems to have led to an increase in advance ticket sales. The flipside though is that many manufacturers simply don’t take the show too seriously. Alfa Romeo and BMW, for example, are not exhibiting at all and others like Audi and Mercedes-Benz are only showing a single model. In Mercedes’ case that’s the Mercedes McLaren SLR – hardly a mainstream model. Sadly, the Birmingham show all seems a bit downmarket compared with Frankfurt or Geneva. We are certainly paying the price here for the decimation of our motor industry! New kids on the block It’s not all doom and gloom though, for although many of the ‘new’ models had already been seen in Geneva such as the Peugeot 407 for instance, the local manufacturer took the wraps of the SW estate version. Renault meanwhile gave the Modus its world debut; following on from the Espace and Scenic it’s a down- sized MPV based on the Clio and no doubt will be followed by a rash of rivals from other manufacturers. Toyota now is as much a European company as it is Japanese, and new versions of the UK-built best-selling Corolla made their debut. Wood Burners The thought of a diesel-engined Jaguar would have led to shock-horror not so long ago but the Coventry manufacturer was making much of it’s new 2.7-litre twin-turbo V6 oil-burning S-Type. And indeed diesel-engined sportsters are in vogue at the moment with various prototypes to be found around the halls. Vauxhall’s VX220-based machine has been seen before but others such as Mazda are getting in on the act with the Kusabi. The company says the concept points the way ahead for Mazda. Concepts, Concepts Indeed it was good to see so many concepts at Birmingham even if they were not all new – that’s the preserve of Geneva. Whilst Vauxhall again showed their acclaimed Lightning, Lexus displayed LF-X. Whilst not expected to make it into production the six-seat 4x4 crossover is a good indication of current thinking at Lexus. Nissan too showed that they are thinking along similar lines with the Murano and Qashqai. Meanwhile low-rent makers such as Hyundai and Kia seem to be looking towards a more sporty image with the former showing the rather attractive HCD8, a 2.7-litre V6-powered concept coupe whilst Kia went for an open- top solution. Underneath the Arches As to the Brits, it was rather left to the specialist builders to fly the flag. Farboud and Invicta supercars again made appearances (the former with rather attractive adornments!) whilst TVR probably added yet more models to their bewildering line-up. I wouldn’t want to be a production planner in Blackpool! More unusual is a newcomer from Marcos, but they took the wraps off the pretty TS500 whilst Morgan amazed the world with a Series 2 Aero 8. Noble used the occasion to reveal M400 and GTC variants on their M12 GTO. This is one company that is on the up even if they have just sacked all their dealers in order to give their customers a better service! Never Raced or Rallied In the dim and distant past competition cars were excluded from the show altogether, then came a designated Motorsport Day but now exhibitors are incorporating competition cars into their displays. Vauxhall, for example, are showing not one but two replicas of the mighty Monaro currently being campaigned in the British GT Championship. Also on the stand is the BTCC-spec Vectra they considered using instead of the trusty Astra Coupe this season. Word is it may appear later in the year in diesel form. Elsewhere, Citroen, Fiat, Ford, Peugeot and Subaru were all showing rally cars. Centre Stage Naturally it was sportscars that stole the show though, with Maserati’s MC12 taking pride of place, whilst Audi had their two R8’s and a pre-war Auto Union accompanying the A6 on their stand. However, it looked like a case of ‘Honey, I shrunk the drivers’ when basketball player John Amaechi posed with superstars Allan McNish and Johnny Herbert. Allan even had to perch on Johnny’s shoulders in order to see eye-to-eye with the big man! Marcos too brought along a Le Mans racer. Jaguar hung an F1 car on the wall, and Lego have built a replica of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari. Probably best not to head-butt the Monaco tunnel with that one though! Quality Street Inevitably it will be the exotica most people remember when they go home, with pride of place going to Rolls-Royce’s 100EX, commissioned to mark the makes’ 100th birthday. It was difficult to know which way to look however, what with the MC12 glowering across the aisle at the MacMerc, a trio of Ferraris reposing next door, and Lotus’ pretty collection of Elise and Exige models. There was an impressive line-up of Porsches too, a Carrera GT taking pride of place on a stand that was apparently larger than the Stuttgart plot in Geneva. That’s a measure of how important the UK market is to them. A Carrera order placed now would see you waiting until late ’05 for delivery evidently. Incidentally, they also had a bare- bones chassis to drool over – it’s remarkably compact. Not a great show then, but the innovations and live-action should at least assure it of success. |
John Elwin |
