PH/Autosport Show Feedback

[DiscoColin]

Jag-D said:

It does strike me as interesting that none of the major manufacturers seem to have a dedicated stand there, but maybe they save their efforts for the big motorshows in Paris/London/Geneva and Detroit?
I dunno

The majors have long had a general apathy for shows in the UK - the last time I remember a show here where even most of them showed up was most of a decade ago. The London show in 2008 got some support, with particularly good representation from Ford as well as the French and Japanese manufacturers. Alfa also were there and brought the 8C (complete with a couple of catwalk type models from Italy who didn't speak English - but clearly not selected for conversation ) but support from the Germans was basically Mercedes IIRC.

Sadly for quite some time now the big show for Europe is Geneva, which has always baffled me as the Swiss aren't exactly a major market. Frankfurt is also fairly significant I believe. It isn't just us though - I understand that the last Tokyo show was little more than the domestic manufacturers.

Anyway - back on topic. For me the Autosport has always been a welcome break from the post christmas back to work stress of the new year. On that count it still delivers adequately for me to keep me coming. If I weren't able to make a trade day I would certainly think twice though. Content wise I feel that it has shrunk significantly and view that as more indicative of the financial pressures on the industry as anything else. Personally I would have preferred it if they used more of the available space rather than squeezing in into fewer halls though. Even on Friday.

The indoor arena - well, there is less going on in there on Fridays anyway and I would have skipped it but for wanting to see how my new camera coped with it. Highlights for me were primarily the Audi being driven by Stig Blomqvist and the Lancia Stratos. I could very happily watch old rally cars go around there for ages, but the stock cars driving around the loop does nothing for me. Neither do the single seaters tip-toeing around at something in the region of shopping trolley speed. More classics doing their stuff and less 'races' would be the way to get me in there next year.

Travel - I usually drive, but this year I took the train. It was cheaper than the fuel (even before the ridiculous car park fee : at the ticket price charged that really ought to be included) and appreciably quicker than it generally takes me to drive - even with the change of train - so I will be doing that again in future.

Catering - don't use it. Never have. Big late breakfast and tough it out until I get home has always been the way. Though since I wasn't driving I did partake of some complimentary Macallan from the girls opposite the PCGB stand, who I personally did not find in the least bit unpleasant. All you guys with your supermodel girlfriends and film star mistresses have clearly been spoiled by all of that champagne sipping on your yachts moored in Monaco...

Members cars - anywhere where you can find a Z1, a 'Vette engined TVR, an Audi Sport Quattro and a Morgan in such an (erm) interesting livery is always going to work for me .

[williamp]

we usually go during the weekend, but this time I went on my own, on a Thursday as work, so I didnt pay.

Enjoyed it a whole lot more. It wasnt as busy, so I could look at the stands and talk to people. There was a lot of "suits" there like me (and a lot of students) but nobody under 18. The models were there too, but only the students were giving them any attention.

In all, I achieved almost everything I set out to do, so from a work perspective it was worth it.

I also liked the engineering stand- the Veyron block and cylinder head display was an exqusite piece of engineering. And the Mclaren F1 windtunnel model on the Bruntingthorpe stand was gorgeous.

And I got to meet Garlick. What more can I say?

(oh, and in the evening I met Marino Franchitti, Derek Bell and Paddy Hopkirk at a networking event).

Oh, for feedback on the stands: the Pistonheads area was evry well done- themed with black, it was obvious you were entering the area, rather then the autosport show. It had more of a "fun" element to it then the rest, which I think reflects the nature of the website (love the seating in the bar made from old car seats, for example- not a stand, but there so we could use them. The XJ40 sofa was very comfortable indeed.

In the Autosport show, some stands looked great, others didnt seem to make the effort. The Westfield stand looked great, with twoc ars avaialble for people to look in. Possibly more interesting was the stand promoting the fully electric car racing series, with the electric Westfield** on show. But it was facing the wrong way, so was easy to miss.

And I didnt see the live action show as I was too busy, so cannot comment

Hope this helps. To the OP, you know your target audience so only you will know if its worth it.

• The Electric Westfield. Any chance of a test drive, Pheads????

[Skipe]

Blib said:

epoch911 said:

Skipe said:

PH could of been bigger (No T350's and one Sag aswell ) but was OK (got my best bits book which was a good read on the train) and Autosport was way too mobbed.

To be fair to Alex and the team, quite a few of us were unable to make it with our cars cos of the snow, so I guess it might have made things look a little thinner on the ground. It was a real shame as they put in a hell of a lot of work beforehand to organise all the owners and cars etc.

Ant

There were to be an extra 8-10 cars at the show that didn't make it because of the adverse weather conditions.

My car included.

Fair enough guys, totally understandable. Actually thought the PH members area was good - just benchmarking it against PH area in 2008 which was very good. My Tiv has been in lock up for a while now and will bloody well remain there for a few more weeks too

I should of offered Jakki a ride in it in the summer to swap her for a calendar bugger it!

[Red Firecracker]

Ian Davidson said:

I'll have to explain it was half in jest, hence the smiley face.

I think any jest with a statement such as that is in poor taste, but maybe that's just me.

Ian Davidson said:

Though there is some truth in that, because whilst value for money as you say is important, I'd feel for me that £50 would still have covered that. Perhaps for people who go to shows every month, that might not be the case. For me though, I only attend the Festival of Speed and the Revival...then any other local meet from various clubs/forums.

I found that the time I was spending in the show was decreasing and the cost increasing. Gone are the days of the Racing Car Show as it was, unfortunately, we now seem to be in an era of a show that attempts to cover costs to stay afloat by bringing in stands that have little in the way of relevance.

Ian Davidson said:

If you don't feel the show is worth the money then you don't have to go. I will conceed though, it's unfair that the Live Show was included in the price. It used to be optional and I believe it still should be.

Agreed.

Ian Davidson said:

Other than that, I met a lot of great people all in one day and unfortunately if you had not realised the growing public proportion of whome are of the chav variety is increasing wherever you go in the UK - not just at car shows. It's not just the chavs who are irritating though...

Not sure what you mean, I should have realised what? Are you suggesting that I should expect to have to battle through the underclasses in a cloud of man made fibres and apparently heavy jeans at any event I choose to attend and not be surprised at it? I'm afraid this is not the case. I attend plenty of events through the year, many with a motorsport theme, and I've not found an event of the type with a bigger percentage of undesirables (I know, I know, they've paid their money same as me, but just get out of the damn way so I can get to the stand).

Maybe it's a sign of the times, but it has to be recognised that the same issues are being mentioned every year. Of course, as with any such situation, a dissenting voice tends to be heard louder that a voice that had a good time and doesn't feel the need to speak, but I do find it worrying that it is the same issues again and again that are being raised. You'll never please all the punters all of the time, but there does come a time when unhappy punters have to listened to before they become the majority.

Edited by Red Firecracker on Monday 18th January 20:16

[Viper]

I do a lot of work at the NEC for all the various shows, some of the usual problems are out of Haymarkets control, NEC restaurant food prices and parking fees are always there on every show nibbling away at your pounds, and i beleive are handled by the NEC (birmingham city council) with 30,000+ plus car park spaces its a nice little turnover every day of a major show. The thing is the car park fee never gets mentioned so some are shocked when they have to cough up the extra cash on departure

i always like the way the NEC restaurants change the price of the food on opening day

ive done quite a lot of autosports over the years and thought there was pretty nice selection of sporty motors this year, probably not as many as previous years but with the current climate and all that...Having said that im local to the venue, received about dozen free tickets for my pals and parked 30 metres from the main entrance next to Jensen's R6 so that makes it all a little more enjoyable

[Andyt25]

I enjoyed it but not as much there this year, seems to get less and less each year. Not worth the money to get in to be honest...£100 for a family of 4 is shocking plus £8 parking......I did enjoy myself but that £100 worth of enjoyment....

Also expected more members cars....I'm sure a few more members would have shown their cars if given the opportunity...I now I offered but had no response.

Please take this as honest feed back as I said I did still enjoy.

[beefcake42]

Thanks for the honest feedback guys.

We did have issues with the weather and the car displays were missing a lot of content,we did our best, finding cars right up to an hour before opening. The very generous owner of a Veyron found himself with a large bill following damage to a tyre on his way in... yes he was driving it, as he should be. He sent his Zonda instead.

Reading the comments the main gripe is cost. The ticket price we are responsible for, the parking, food and drink we are not, this is the NEC. I feel defending our £29 basic ticket price isn't really very constructive so I won't.

What I really want to know is what do you guys want for £29? I dont mean that confrontationally. I mean what do you want to see, what do you want to do while you are there?

I can't organise free sandwiches and as long as we are at the NEC we will be tied to use thier services/contractors... but I can organise cars, features and exhibitors.

Give me a list, idea's and suggestions and I will try and get things done.

Thanks to those of you that came, I can assure you that the exhibitors and organisers appreciate it.

Jamie

[Mark Benson]

beefcake42 said:

but I can organise cars, features and exhibitors.

Another trade day visitor, so ticket prices are a little more reasonable and less of a crowd so I shan't comment. From past experience I expect to be stiffed by the NEC on parking and food prices so I don't eat there and expect to be charged silly amounts for parking.

However, like several others I was accosted almost as soon as I walked in by the NPower sales monkeys which is not a good start to what is supposed to be a day of motorsport related activity and not at all appreciated.

I thought the PH 'branding' was good, differentiating it from the main show, but we didn't spend too long in the hall, neither of us finding too much of interest. The PHer's car display looked a bit last minute and the number of 'show girls' and their admirers got in the way of the stands themselves - one girl stops to pout for a photo and a dozen saddos gather round gawping and waving mobile phones.

The Autosport show itself was as per usual really, we got to speak to the exhibitors we wanted to and made a good few purchasing descisions for the coming season as well as catching up with a few people we know through the sport, which is what the Autosport show is all about for me.

[Goochie]

Mark - I think you've touched upon an important point with this show. Unlike MPH and Top Gear, there is an important trade aspect to Autosport and I can understand the show girls may not me most appropriate for the trade days.

However, they have become a part of the public days that people expect to see and from the point of view of the majority of (young male) visitors, they dont detract from the enjoyment of the day.

Many exhibitors rely on people to hand out leaflets etc. and I for one am more likely to take one from a "show girl" than a bearded fella.

[Red Firecracker]

Goochie said:

Many exhibitors rely on people to hand out leaflets etc. and I for one am more likely to take one from a "show girl" than a bearded fella.

Or as I overheard last time I went;

Northern Chap said:

That's how to sell ya product. Stick a couple of slags on it

Eloquent fellow.

[YKB]

I've been to the show for the last couple years with my son for his birthday. We've both always really enjoyed it. But this year although we planned to go I decided not to in the end. My reasons.

1. There wasn't a ticket offer on these forums as there's been in previous years.

2. I resent paying a booking fee on top of the ticket price when I'm paying on-line and printing the ticket myself! Come on, this just seems deceitful. If you want £31 a ticket, then charge £31!!

3. I've never been to live action show as I was told it was too loud for young children by the staff there. I'm fine with that but I don't want to feel as though I've paid for it.

4. I almost 'bit the bullet' and booked tickets the week before but with the weather being so bad I concluded that certain display cars may not come.

As I've put on shows at the NEC I totally understand that nothing can be done about their crazy food prices and parking fees. I've always brought my own food.

I really hope to come back to the show next year again, but I'm sure many PH members would appreciate some sort of deal with regards to tickets. A ticket without the arena show would also be good.

Thanks for listening

[CampDavid]

beefcake42 said:

What I really want to know is what do you guys want for £29? I dont mean that confrontationally. I mean what do you want to see, what do you want to do while you are there?

I'd rather not pay for the whole show tbh, why not sell the live action seperately? That way you won't get a load of empty seats from people who don't have any interest but are still required to book a time?

For my £29 I'd like

More stuff (I realise why you were down this year, last year was about right)

No sales people from non-motorsport companies (AA, RAC and magazines accepted, no gas and electric though!)

Better flooring! I know that you buy the flooring and then it's binned after the show but for the love of god please spurt out a little more for a decent floor. My knees took more of a pounding on Saturday than the 4 hours I spent on squash and badminton courts on the Sunday

PH to have a much larger amount of cars. To me PH isn't just about pricey cars, I can walk down to our carpark here in London and see a DB9 or two at any given time. I would like to see a selection of rare stuff, mint Intergralis, even the ex royal Metro would be a cool thing to have kicking about, that sort of thing. Icons of the 70s/80s/90s etc maybe

[SirClarke]

beefcake42 said:

Reading the comments the main gripe is cost. The ticket price we are responsible for, the parking, food and drink we are not, this is the NEC. I feel defending our £29 basic ticket price isn't really very constructive so I won't.

I think £29 ticket is perfectly reasonable for an all day, indoor show with live action etc. A 2 hour gig costs more, festivals cost in the hundreds etc. The food is expensive but I'm amazed that anyone could go to an event like this (at the NEC) and not expect festival prices, did anyone really think they'd get a sandwich for £2 or sausage and chips for £1.50? Make your own if it's that big a deal.

It could do with being clearer that the parking is an additional £8 as we weren't sure on this as we drove up.

beefcake42 said:

What I really want to know is what do you guys want for £29? I dont mean that confrontationally. I mean what do you want to see, what do you want to do while you are there?

Give me a list, idea's and suggestions and I will try and get things done.

More actual manufacturer stands would be nice although it sounds like many can't be bothered anymore or can't justify the cost.

I liked the Porsche turbo lineup and wondered if perhaps Pistonheads could do a similar thing with other models/marques. Say a lineup of Nissan GTRs from 32-35 (or even older ones), TVRs through the ages, ferraris in evolutionary order (seeing the F40, F50 and Enzo in a row at Wilton house was excellent and got a huge amount of attention).

I liked the member cars area as although those cars can be seen at meets you often don't talk to anyone about them so you don't know who owns it, what mods have been done, why they bought it etc. I genuinely found the little info boards very interesting.

But, I do think the PH cars could have had more order or structure. Not sure what exactly but they did look a bit like they'd just been parked in a "first come first park" order. Perhaps have a Jap section (supra, skyline, rx-7 etc), Italian supercars (Lambos, ferraris), Super saloons (M5s, Lotus Carlton, monaros, big mercs), TVRs or something. I assume this website could probably get hold of almost any car they wanted through the memebers (within reason) so a more grouped/structured layout should be possible.

Would also have liked something more interactive, though I genuinely have no idea what. There just didn't seem quite enough to "do" to keep our attention.

And finally more like this:



Less like this?

[beefcake42]

That has made a very tired man laugh... and I agree, maybe we should offer discounts to exhibitors based on quality of promo staff.

I agree 100% on the electricity stand, unfortunatley my 'influence' only extends to the PH section of the show.

I like the idea's and suggestions so far, keep em coming. I have a meeting next week for ideas,theme's and feedback, all this is very helpful.

[kevin ritson]

During the trade part of the show there are seminars and talks. How about something along these lines for the public? Autosport and F1 Racing plus a few other stands have interviews - there are plenty of subjects that could be covered - eg: valeting and maintenance for owners, for the motorsport visitor perhaps tips on photography from some of the pros? Also there is often very little in the way of information about these - you have to walk from stand to stand to find out who is on when and it's not always obvious where to find it on the stand.

As above - the live action section should be sold separately, advance ticket sales will still allow the organisers to plan how many shows to organise.

To be honest there are a couple of things that always strike me about the show - there isn't quite enough to engage the non-racing public (which the Pistonheads element should address but currently feels a little under-developed) and in recent years the price has increased whilst the size of the show appears to have gone the other way.

[fatboy18]

Perhaps its the wrong type of show for this but .....I would have liked to see a lot more car accessory stands, these could also be put in a separate area. I'm in the market for a replacement Head unit for my car. I thought there might have been a few companies floating around selling this stuff but sadly the only one I found was selling stuff I would not put in my van yet alone install it into a decent car! I also like Motor racing Pictures and memorabilia, yes some of these areas were covered but I'm sure there could have been more! I was also in the market for some Race pedals, now apart from Demon Tweaks I was hoping for a lot more choice? Also you can never get enough of Garage equipment, Trolley Jacks, wheel nut removers etc Torque wrenches?

I had some cash in my pocket to buy a few things and came away from the show with wallet intact! Did buy a PH Fleece though

I thought the 'Aspira' looked fantastic, but what a small stand tucked up in the corner compared to the great looking stand that the GT40S were on all floodlit up!

As for the Live show, sorry to say I have no interest in that part at all. Ive been to the Auto Sport show a few times and have never bothered to see it

This is meant to be constructive, don't get me wrong I too had a good time

Oh and as for this young lady Coooooor. 10 OUT OF 10

[Goochie]

I used to go to Autosport many years ago, and remember the first year they introduced the Live Action Arena. Back then, it was an optional extra that added about £10 to the price.

Perhaps the stats showed that most people paid the extra so they decided to make it inclusive?

I never used to bother paying the extra but this year I did see the show and quite enjoyed it (except the GTR, short track motorbikes and the F3 (baby F1 type things) that were all very very boring to watch.)

[YKB]

SirClarke said:

I liked the Porsche turbo lineup and wondered if perhaps Pistonheads could do a similar thing with other models/marques. Say a lineup of Nissan GTRs from 32-35 (or even older ones), TVRs through the ages, ferraris in evolutionary order (seeing the F40, F50 and Enzo in a row at Wilton house was excellent and got a huge amount of attention).

I liked the member cars area as although those cars can be seen at meets you often don't talk to anyone about them so you don't know who owns it, what mods have been done, why they bought it etc. I genuinely found the little info boards very interesting.

But, I do think the PH cars could have had more order or structure. Not sure what exactly but they did look a bit like they'd just been parked in a "first come first park" order. Perhaps have a Jap section (supra, skyline, rx-7 etc), Italian supercars (Lambos, ferraris), Super saloons (M5s, Lotus Carlton, monaros, big mercs), TVRs or something. I assume this website could probably get hold of almost any car they wanted through the memebers (within reason) so a more grouped/structured layout should be possible.

Would it be a good idea to get more car clubs on board to coordinate stuff like this?? You then get some good display material and not just cars. This more like you get at Supercar Sunday at Gaydon in the summer.

Edited by YKB on Tuesday 19th January 17:56

[Rich_W]

Haven't been for a couple years. For most of the reasons above.

Something I haven't seen mentioned is to open up at least Friday to the public.
OR
Make the trade stand people stay on for the weekend.

Oh and scrap the live show completely. Or replace it with something that doesn't involve Terry Grant donutting (again!)

[fatboy18]

Get rid of the fun fair, you would not have that a a normal motorshow